Page 35 of Snow White and the Seven Little Miners
He realized then that he was surrounded, the other six miners and two strangers standing nearby, all staring at him. And then one of the miners let out a joyous whoop that echoed off of the surrounding trees and sent night birds scattering into the sky, and suddenly they were all shouting and cheering and crying. He found his arms full of Dagobert and Bernhardt, the others pressing in around him, peppering his face and hair with kisses and tears.
“Let him breathe, let him breathe,” Der said after a long moment, and most of the men loosened their grips on Makellos.
“Get him inside, it’s freezing out here,” Hardwic chided. For the first time, everyone seemed to realize the cold, and they ushered Makellos quickly back into the cottage, placing him by the fire wrapped in a blanket and pouring him a mug of tea.
Once he was settled in place, Makellos found himself facing the two strangers who were standing off to the side, the dark-haired man’s arms wrapped protectively around the blond as they watched. He stared at the glittering universe in the taller man’s hair. “You must be Ulrich.”
The man smiled and gave him a small bow. “Indeed I am, your highness. And my beloved, Zel.”
“A pleasure to meet you, Prince Makellos,” said Zel with a nod that made the fair youth’s golden braid swish into clearer view, proving nearly long enough to brush the floor.
“Prince Makellos is dead,” the young man said with a small smile. “Until such time as he is able to return to seize the throne from the evil Queen, he is still cold and lifeless. I am Snow White.”
Twenty
“We haven’t much time,” Ulrich said a little later as they all sat on the benches near the fire, nursing more tea and cookies. “Schön will rise at dawn, and soon thereafter will learn that her son lives.”
“We are prepared to fight,” Sigurd said firmly.
“Yes. If you can get us inside the castle, we’re ready to kill the Queen,” Sigmund added.
Snow glanced around. He had only just come back to them. Slipping into the palace was dangerous, even for the most cunning and brave of men. He did not want to risk losing any of them, not when he had been granted such an extraordinary second chance at life. “I do not wish you to risk your lives for mine,” he said softly. “Please.”
“As long as the Queen lives, you are in danger,” Grim said, his voice full of dark promise. “We will protect you in any way.”
“But you are not killers,” Snow said softly. “I do not wish to put that burden upon any of you. Not for my sake.”
“Not just for you,” said Bernhardt, his wise eyes on the mug of tea in his tiny hands. “For everything we have had taken from us. Our homes, our families, our lives.”
“We have never had the chance or the will to strike back,” Hardwic said, taking one of Snow’s hands and giving it a squeeze. “If we are ever to do it, it must be now. While we have friends and allies.” He turned his cheery smile toward Ulrich and Zel.
Snow glanced around the room as the other miners murmured their agreement, trying to think of what they could do. An uprising would involve planning, and they had limited time to do so. And open rebellion could result in innocent people being hurt.
Something caught his eye. Something red and shiny. He rose to his feet, slipping through the assemblage and over to the table. Upon it still sat the apple with the singular bite out of it, and, next to it, the page Zel had laid down that described the effects and the antidote. He read it over, aware that all eyes were on his back, watching his every move. There was a collective inhale from the little men as his fingers closed around the apple, still as red and perfect as it had been when his mother, in her peddler disguise, had first handed it to him. He lifted it up to study it. It looked to be such a simple, innocent thing. Small, but deadly, the way his coterie of lovers was. If there was a way to make it even smaller…
He turned to the group, his eyes landing on Der. “Would you be able to turn this into a powder?”
Der blinked at the question, glancing from side to side at the others, as if unsure whether Snow was addressing him, before he cleared his throat. “I should think so. It would have to be dried first.”
“Easily magically accomplished,” said Zel with a sly smile. “What did you have in mind, Snow?”
Snow’s lips formed a devious little smirk that he turned on Zel and Ulrich. “If you can get me safely into the castle, I know a way to kill my mother, and none of us will have to lift a single finger.”
Ulrich’s own smile mirrored Zel’s crafty one. “The Thieves Guild is at your service. Just tell us what you need.”
Dawn was just breaking over the horizon when Ulrich transported Zel, Snow, and the seven miners to just outside of the Thieves Guild in the town. One moment they were standing in the miners’ cottage; the next, the sounds and scents of the streets of Falchovari greeted them. Grimwald crossed his arms. “Huh. It ain’t natural,” he said with a small glower at Ulrich.
The sorcerer only smiled one of his mysterious smiles. “Neither am I.”
Dagobert turned in a wide circle. He had been so young when he was taken from his family, he had hardly any memory outside of the mines. The houses and shops were so tall and close together, almost like trees in a forest, and there were shops with beautiful glass windows displaying everything from baked goods to fabric to tools. He pressed his face up against a window to stare at a pair of finely crafted ruby red leather shoes on display there. He had never seen anything so elegant or bright.
Snow smiled and leaned down next to him. “If all goes well, we’ll be able to get you as many fancy shoes as you want.” Dagobert giggled and nodded, touching Snow’s blue waistcoat, then grabbing at his own tunic with a haughty air and a lookdown his nose in his imitation of the Queen. Snow laughed, and it was the most beautiful sound Dagobert had ever heard.
They all met with Zel’s parents, Gregor and Sophie, the newest heads of the Thieves Guild since the recent unseating of the previous leader, Lothar. There was a crew of Thieves Guild members ready to help them, especially after Snow shared his plan to kill the Queen. One of the members, introduced as a whisperer, was rather scarily familiar with the interior of the palace, including its hidden entrances and weak points. Snow made it a point in his mind to never find himself on the wrong side of the Thieves Guild if this plan worked.
As the populace began to rise and come to life, the group dispersed. Snow, Grim, Der, and their whisperer guide headed one way, toward the palace. The other little men, along with members of the Guild, circulated into the streets. They knocked on doors and stepped into shops. “The Queen wishes to make a royal announcement at noon. It is requested that all who are willing and able please assemble outside of the streets in front of the palace.” The word spread quickly through the town, which buzzed like bees in a hive. The Queen so rarely made an appearance to her subjects; she had always acted as though they were beneath her. An announcement in person could either be very good or very, very bad. Most of the townsfolk suspected the latter.
Snow, Der, Grim, and their whisperer guide slipped silently into a drain and followed it from its exit into a river, back along its path. The tunnel was not tall enough for Snow or thewhisperer to stand fully upright, though Der and Grim had no trouble. It stank of sewage, and Snow had a dark feeling in his heart as they followed it, for he thought he knew where its egress was.
