Snow white and the seven…. Wait a second…
No, that's not what this story is. But it's similar. It is an interesting story, but also somewhat different from the fairytale we all know and… love? Well, I don't love it. It somewhat bothers me sometimes. Some random prince shows up while she is singing into a well, she runs away screaming, a freaky witch comes then she gets kissed and HAPPILY EVER AFTER! Well, that's the cartoon version anyway, and the real story of snow white is even MORE WEIRD!
In any case… this is called:
"Snow white and the seven…"
Disclaimer: I don't own.
Chapter one: The duchess and the fairy
This story starts out in an old country manor in the middle of a beautiful country in fairy-land. It is quite near to the castle where the royal family lives, and in fact, inside lived a duke! This manor has many levels, many rooms and acres of gardens and beautiful places to walk and stroll. Many maids, workers, cooks and servants are needed to run such a big mansion, but it is run, and quite well. Here is where the story takes place.
In this mansion lived a duke, as I mentioned before. This duke was a very good friend of the royal family and would quite often sit at the king's own table or at times he would even go hunting with him when the season was right. He was a good, kind duke and was married well to a beautiful duchess. In fact, they had the most splendid love story! But that is for another time. The duchess eventually gave birth to a son and then years later to a daughter. But to the dismay many, and especially the duke, the duchess died during the birth of her daughter. This daughter was named Kari. Kari began to grow into a sweet young girl. Everyone loved her, even all the workers and servants at the manor. The duke, of course, loved her the most as every day she would grow more and more to look like her mother. Her brother, Tai, was a constant companion, but over the years, he developed a disease and died. This was very hard on the family, and the Duke became more and more distressed. When Kari was six, the Duke thought it was best to try to find her a mother figure for her since he wasn't quite sure he could raise her quite the right way!
So, the Duke came home on her seventh birthday with a beautiful woman of the court that he had met at the castle. Kari loved her right away, probably because she adored beautiful faces, and this woman was beyond a doubt, quite beautiful. Two years later, the Duke married her. Things went well over all, and Kari continued to be the sweetest to everyone, including her step mother.
As the years went on, what Kari didn't know was that her stepmother, whose name was Patrice, grew to hate her. Patrice saw what a gorgeous girl Kari was growing up to be, and out of her vanity, she grew jealous. When Kari turned fourteen her father died of a sudden heart attack. Of course, there were many deaths in her family already, but all the other times, she was so very young, and since she had grown so close with her father, his death nearly killed her. But, being the mature and sweet girl she was, Kari stayed alive and encouraged all the people in her household. All, that is, except Patrice. Finally, now that Kari's father was gone, and she was the leader of the household, she turned Kari into a maid and sent her to work as… well, pretty much a slave to her will.
And this is where we really start the story; on the eve of Kari's seventeenth birthday, in the chambers of Duchess Patrice.
Patrice glided up to her vanity and opened up the drawer as she sat down on her cushioned stool. She paused a moment to stare at herself and admire in the mirror and then gazed down at her hands which were now inside the small drawer. She was fingering a small glass box, almost hesitating to remove it from the drawer. She took one more glance around the room, making sure not a soul was in it and then finally placed the small glass box on top of her vanity. The small box began to glow in the light that then shown on it. A small, sinister smiled crept up on her cheek as it often times did when she took out this box, and she opened it.
Upon opening the box, a small figure from inside stepped out. It was a glowing fairy with beautiful shiny wings. His face was young and handsome, but his eyes and wings showed age. His hair was light and clean and almost seemed to float in a non existent breeze. And his eyes, they were the brightest blue, but they were filled with hunger and with fatigue. He stared up at her expectantly. This duchess had definitely had herself a rare catch of a fairy, for he was not an ordinary fairy off a flower; he was special.
"What is it you desire?" he finally asked with a weary tone.
"You know what I wish to know." She gleefully folded her hands. "I just need to hear it from you."
"Ask me a question and I will answer." He yawned and leaned back against the glass.
The duchess leaned in toward the small fairy. "Tell me, fairy, oh fairy of beauty, who is the most beautiful in the world?"
"You mean, besides me?"
"Don't toy with me." She glared and leaned in closer, almost touching her nose to him.
"Alright, fine." He rolled his eyes.
"Tell me, fairy, who is the most beautiful in all the land?" she asked once more. The fairy nodded as he thought hard about his answer. Though every night she would pull him out and ask him this question, and every night he would give the same answer, he felt a small change in the way things were. He sighed a moment and looked over toward the open window that was near the vanity. From outside, he could hear the soft and pure voice of Kari who was singing to herself as she finished up her night's chores. He turned his gaze back at Patrice, fearing to give his answer.
"My lady, you know for years you have held me in this box, and for years I have in all honesty told you how beautiful you are, but now, as you know, is the eve of a certain girl's seventeenth birthday; a girl who has grown in beauty inside and out." The fairy could see Patrice's face begin to rage as he went on. "Her heart and soul mixed with song and topped with her outward beauty have now come to outweigh you by far, and I am unable to continue to call you the most beautiful woman in the land." At those final words Patrice seized him in her hand, threw him back into the box, and after shutting and locking him in her drawer, she ran out of her quarters in determination.
Outside in the courtyard was Kari who was quietly singing to herself a song. Many things were going through her head as she was taking down the hanging clothes from the clothes line. She was thinking about her father and her brother, and how she missed the birthdays she used to have with a family that loved her. But not once did she begin to think bitter thoughts. She knew that the treatment from her stepmother was wrong, but she bore it well and decided that she lived just as good a life as anyone else did. As she hummed she leaned over the well and stared at her reflection in the water. Yes, she knew she had grown so much older, and inside she knew she wanted to break free and live her own life.
"Oh well." She finally said aloud and laughed at herself. "Who am I fooling?" she laughed again and plopped herself down on a bench that was beautifully set beside the well. "I'm forever trapped in the clutches of my 'evil' stepmother." She sarcastically remarked to herself. Of course she had no idea that there was someone listening who immediately decided to interrupt.
"Evil stepmother?" the deep voice of a young man started her from behind. Kari whirled around in fear and excitement to see, yes, a young man sitting on the top of the stone wall that curled around the premises of the manor.
"Who are you?" she demanded, grabbing a clothespin and holding it up threateningly. Well, it was really the only thing around she could grab. He chuckled.
"Calm down! You may not know me, but I know who you are quite well!" he hopped down off the wall and began to walk towards her. With each step the young man took closer, Kari backed away a few more, holding up her clothespin, ready to attack.
"Stay away!" she warned, not sure what to do if he didn't. The young man smiled comfortingly which made her almost let down her guard.
"I'm not here to hurt you, Kari." He assured her and held open his hand for her to lay the clothespin in. He was young, probably around 20 or 21. He had dark black hair and deep colored eyes and his face was quite handsome. Kari knew there was something good about him; something noble. Barely knowing what she was doing, Kari calmly let him walk up to her and she slowly set the pin in his hand.
"Was that so hard?" he smiled again and winked. Kari began to feel butterflies fly around in her veins as he walked right up close to her, nearly a foot away from her face.
"Who are you?" she asked once more, quietly.
"My name is Ken, our fathers were good friends."
"Our fathers? You knew my father?" she began to get excited and her pulse doubled.
"Yes, quite well, in fact. I saw him a lot! But I never saw you." he stared down at her, obviously admiring her beauty. "My name is Ken. And your name is Kari." He winked again.
Kari suddenly stepped back in awe. "Ken? KEN? You are the prince!" Once she realized who she was actually talking to, Kari lost all courage and ran off toward the house, even leaving all her laundry behind.
"Don't go!" he called after her. "Wait!"
But she was already gone and into the house which, really wasn't all that safe for her anyway… especially considering what her stepmother was planning and all.
Of course, you'll just have to wait for the next chapter to find that out. Please read and review!! I have such a cool plan for this story, so please keep up!!! The next chapter will be much longer.
Tshk