Schönheit's Arc

Chapter 2 of 4

Schönheit followed her wolf through the trees. The dragon flew ahead, low over the ferns, tracking a scent. But the girl was not where the mirror had shown her. Schönheit knelt and pressed her palm to the moss. Boot prints. Heavy ones. The Queen's huntsman had crossed here, and he was close. If he reached Snow White first, the only unbound mortal in the whole forest would die with a knife in her chest, and Schönheit's one chance would end. She stood and made her plan. She would not hunt the huntsman. She would move the ground beneath him. The forest was hers. She called the roots up, tangling the man's path, and turned the ferns to point the wrong way. Then she sent the wolf to circle wide and drive the girl toward safe ground. Schönheit found Snow White crouched behind a fallen log, the kitchen knife shaking in her grip. A girl carrying a basket stood in front of her. Little Red walked to her grandmother's cottage every Sunday, and she was not afraid of the woods the way others were. She had seen worse things between these trees. "There's a man following you," Little Red said. "Two ridges back. He has a bow." She said it the way she might say it looked like rain. Snow White did not cry. "I know," she said. "He's supposed to bring back my heart." Schönheit stepped out from the trees. The wolf came to her side and sat. Both girls went still. "Come with me," Schönheit said. "He will not follow where I take you." Snow White looked at the goddess, then at the wolf. "Why help me?" Schönheit had no clean answer. She wanted the girl bound to her forever, freely, as her love. But the rule she had written held her fast. Love must be chosen. She could not lie now and poison the choice before it began. "Because you belong to no one," Schönheit said. "That is rare here. I would keep you safe long enough for you to decide what you want." Little Red shifted her basket. "The cottage past the stream has empty beds," she said. "Seven of them. No one lives there now." She pointed with her chin. "Go there. The man won't cross the goddess's roots." Schönheit led them to the little house with the thatched roof and the glowing windows. She stood at the door and set her hand on the frame. The roots thickened. The path behind them closed. Somewhere back in the trees, the huntsman shouted, lost and turned around. His voice faded. Snow White sat at the long table and finally set down the knife. "For now," she said, "I'll stay." Schönheit had won the girl's safety. But she had promised the girl a free choice, and a free choice could still say no.