Once upon a time, in a German kingdom during the Middle Ages, there lived a king and a princess. A beautiful princess named Snow White.
But, all was not well as the Queen had just passed, leaving a mourning husband and a young daughter without a mother.
To get his daughter a mother (and to comfort his own broken heart), the king sought out a bride among the daughters of his noblemen.
Of all the ladies, one stuck out to him: Grimhilde.
Grimhilde's father eagerly accepted the king's proposal as he had trained Grimhilde all her life to make a politically advantageous marriage, though this left the young woman with serious self-esteem issues.
Initially, the marriage started off marvelously, with Grimhilde even getting along famously with her new stepdaughter. This only increased when news came that the new Queen was with child.
The Queen gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Evelyn. Snow White was ecstatic to have a baby sister, and the King was overjoyed.
But, the happiness was short-lived as soon after, the king became ill and died.
Both the Queen and Snow White were inconsolable in their grief, but soon, Snow White began to be concerned about another matter: in her grief, Grimhilde had been neglecting Evelyn.
When she broached this with her stepmother, the Queen was enraged at the implication and turned cold towards Snow White.
During her grief, the Queen began to delve deeper and deeper into dark magic, resulting in her purchasing several potions and a magic mirror, which contained a spirit that would give honest answers to whomever was its master. Her low self-esteem resulted in her asking it, who was the fairest in the kingdom.
The spirit answered that it was Snow White, which threw the Queen into a rage, which she hid from her stepdaughter, despite beginning to loathe her out of envy.
She felt her position threatened even more, when she heard reports that Snow White had taken to nurturing her little sister in her absence.
She confronted them, but when she tried to pick Evelyn up, she began crying, and could only be soothed when Snow White took her back into her arms.
The Queen, envious of her stepdaughter's beauty and relationship with Evelyn, decided to force her to become a scullery maid. After all, who could see beauty behind such filthy rags?
Snow White was stunned by her stepmother's sudden cold disposition and began to question her mental well-being, but, worried for Evelyn's safety, she decided to obey her orders, cleaning the castle while Grimhilde tried her best to connect with her baby.
Prince Florian, the youngest son of the king of a neighboring kingdom, came to visit the court. It was expected that he would propose a marriage to the Queen in order to become king, but, instead, he requested Snow White's hand in marriage, having met her earlier and being charmed by her beauty.
That was the last straw for the Queen. She ordered a hunter to take Snow White into the forest and kill her, bringing back her heart as proof of the deed.
But, the hunter could not bring himself to kill the innocent princess, so he broke down and confessed to her that the Queen wanted her dead.
Snow White was hit with a mix of emotions at the revelation. Shock that her stepmother had sunk to such madness. Worry for her own life. And terror that Evelyn's life could be in danger.
She wanted to go back to get her sister, but, as the Queen was the ultimate authority in the kingdom, she knew it would accomplish nothing but her own death.
She ran away deep into the forest, where she found a cabin, where seven dwarves lived. She agreed to cook and clean for them in exchange for being given shelter.
Meanwhile, the hunter returned to the Queen and delivered to her a heart that he claimed belonged to Snow White, but really belonged to a pig.
Grimhilde was satisfied. Now, with Snow White out of the way, she was the most beautiful in the land. Now, she would have her daughter, her kingdom, and the prince all to herself.
Unknown to her, the hunter, fearing his deception would soon be discovered, met with Florian, and told him of the Queen's evil deeds. The prince and hunter organized a mob to storm the castle and overthrow the wicked ruler.
Grimhilde brought the heart to the mirror only to be informed that it was the heart of a pig, not Snow White. She was infuriated at being tricked, but before she could order retaliation on the hunter, she heard the castle being stormed.
In a panic, she swallowed a potion that would change her appearance, so that she could hide. But, to her horror, the potion took away her beauty and left her a hideous old hag.
The mob, having overpowered the castle guards, stormed the dungeon where they only found an old woman, who explained that she was a prisoner, and that the Queen was tormenting her personally, when she heard the battle, so she fled.
They believed her story, so they left her alone, leaving Grimhilde in her misery. Her throne was lost to her now, and with it, her beauty and her daughter.
Little Evelyn would never recognize her, and even if she did manage to regain her original form, she'd only be executed.
Her sadness as she thought up a target to divert the blame on. This was all Snow White's fault and she would pay for it.
Gathering up her remaining potions, she left the castle in a hurry, until she came across an empty hut to hatch her plans for vengeance in.
Prince Florian had taken the castle and recovered Princess Evelyn, but the Queen managed to escape, and he still needed to find Snow White. He tasked the hunter to escort him through the forest to look for her.
In the hut, Grimhilde made a poisonous brew before dropping an apple in, which turned it into a poisoned apple, that would send anyone who ate it into a coma. Snow White, assumed to be dead, would then be buried alive. A fitting punishment for her, the madwoman thought.
She ventured out into the woods, carrying the apple in a basket, in search of Snow White, when she ran into Florian and the hunter. Both men looked surprised at such an elderly woman walking in the woods alone and questioned her on her reasons for being there.
Grimhilde claimed that she was looking for the Queen to help capture her.
The hunter took hold of her basket and found the apple. Sensing dark magic from the apple, he threw it onto the forest floor. A squirrel came by, took a bite out of the apple, and fell into a coma.
The hunter accused the hag of being a witch, threatening her with death if she did not confess everything.
Her plan ruined, Grimhilde broke down, confessing that she was the Queen.
Florian and the hunter scoffed at her claim, until she continued, detailing her work with dark magic, including the potion that she used to change her appearance and how she made the apple she planned to kill Snow White with, before showing them her royal medallion, proof of her identity.
Now convinced of her identity, Florian expressed disgust at her for planning to murder her own stepdaughter, before taking her back to the castle, where she was placed in irons.
Florian and the hunter then set back out through the forest, until they came across the dwarves' cabin, where they found Snow White cleaning.
She was surprised to see the prince and hunter there together. She was informed that her stepmother had been overthrown, her sister was safe, and it was now safe to return to the castle.
After a sad farewell to her dwarven friends, Snow White returned to the castle with Florian and the hunter.
She was overjoyed to be able to hold her baby sister in her arms once again, and Evelyn was equally happy to see her back, but, the impending fate of her stepmother still gnawed at her mind.
She decided to finally confront Grimhilde in the dungeon, and was shocked by her new elderly appearance. Grimhilde only spat venom at her stepdaughter, cursing her for her beauty.
Snow White was baffled by how a such a sweet woman could have turned into such a vicious, vindictive monster. She pointed out that, if Grimhilde was jealous of someone else's beauty, then why would she take her own? Grimhilde's only reaction was to struggle against her chains and scream in rage until Snow White left the room.
Grimhilde was stripped of her royal status, disowned by her family, put on trial for witchcraft, and sentenced to hang till death.
As the wretched hag was brought onto the scaffold, her thoughts were all ill wishes on Snow White and her prince, cursing them both for taking her daughter and kingdom.
Grimhilde was hung in front of a crowd of peasants, who glared at 'the Evil Queen,' the name that history will record her by.
With Snow White back at her castle, Prince Florian requested her hand in marriage, which she agreed to.
Years later…
Queen Snow White smiled as she watched her little sister 5-year old Evelyn play in the courtyard with her and King Florian's 3-year old daughter, Rose.
She was happy her sister was growing up a happy child. Due to her mother's hanging during her infancy, Snow White was the only maternal figure Evelyn remembered, with Florian serving as a father figure to her. And Evelyn was doing great as a 'big sister' herself as Rose adored her.
Snow White was very protective of her little sister as she worried about her being the Evil Queen's daughter hanging over her life, though no one was foolish enough to mock Evelyn in front of her.
Years later…
King Florian and Queen Snow White were sitting, watching over a delightful party.
In front of them, the partiers were dancing, including Evelyn and Rose, who had both grown up into beautiful, kind young women. Snow White looked on proudly at her sister and daughter.
As for Evelyn, by then, she had long since come to terms with her mother's actions. Though it confused her what could cause someone to attempt harm on someone as kind as her older sister, she had gotten through it with the aid of her loving big sister.