Red as Snow
Written by; MJay
Created by; Michaela Massey
Prologue
Long ago, in a kingdom far away, there lived a king and his queen, and their names were Alaric and Blaire. For years, they had yearned for a child of their own, but still waited for a miracle. Late one winter, Blaire gave Alaric a beautiful daughter, and they called her Wren for it meant "ruler" and their little princess would be a great queen once they were both gone. But, alas, the princess was not to know her mother, for soon after her birth, she died.
The king tried to raise his daughter alone, but soon noticed that he couldn't teach her the womanly things that he needed to learn. So he set off on a kingdom-wide search for a new queen. Though in his heart, he still mourned for Wren's mother, she needed a mother to guide her into womanhood. So, with a heavy heart, he married a woman named Nerezza and she became queen.
Wren took to her new stepmother quickly and soon began to spend every day with her and fall asleep in her chambers. But Nerezza wasn't the woman that she pretended to be. As Wren slept in her bed, Nerezza stared at her, dreaming of the different ways she could rid herself of not only the king, but his daughter as well.
One night, she stopped dreaming, and started taking action. She and the king had never shared a room, but on this night, Nerezza intended to change that. She walked slowly to her husband's chamber, with evil in her heart. Seeing his wife in the doorway, the king forced a smile.
"Hello my dear. What has brought you to my chambers tonight?"
"Does a wife need a reason to come to her husband?"
"No I suppose not." She walked to him and he reluctantly pulled her onto his lap. True, she was beautiful, but his heart still yearned for his dear Blaire.
Nerezza stroked his cheek gently. "My dear, sweet, Alaric, you pine for a wife who is gone forever and deny one who is so willing and right here under your nose. Why?"
"My queen, you are beautiful, but my heart still belongs to my late wife. In time, I may came to admire you in a similar way, but I will never truly love you, I'm sorry. I realize that I was wrong to lead you into thinking that I did love you, but my daughter needed a mother."
"Oh, my lord, I understand. Don't feel guilty. Had I a daughter as beautiful as Wren, I would do anything to make sure that she had everything that she desired. I would spoil her to no end. So you see; you're doing what anyone would do. I admire you for doing this. You're a good father, Alaric and a good husband too." She placed her arms around him and hugged him tight. Just then, a guard appeared in the doorway, panicked and gasping for air.
"My King, I'm sorry to have interrupted you, but there's trouble in the forest Sir."
"What is it?" Alaric sprang from his seat, gently lifting Nerezza from his lap.
"I'm not sure, My Lord, I only know that your presence is requested at once."
"Very well." Alaric turned to his wife, "Do tell Wren I love her."
"But of course my dear." The king exited quickly leaving the queen with his guard. Nerezza made her way to the guard with her hand outstretched. He extended his own as she dropped a small pouch into it. "Your payment."
"Thank you My Queen." He left promptly, leaving Nerezza to herself. She left the king's chambers and went to her own. Seeing Wren lying on her bed, she scowled. She made her way over to the bed and stroked her stepdaughter's hair methodically before pulling it into a tight grip and pulling the young girl from her slumber.
She pulled the child's head back so that their eyes met and spoke in a voice that Wren had never heard before. "I want you out of my room. You are to go to your chambers and never leave them again, am I understood?"
"Yes Stepmother," Wren replied innocently. As soon as her hair was released, she darted from her stepmother's chambers and into her own, slamming the door behind her.
Nerezza grinned at her achievement, but her evil was not finished yet. She walked over to her bedside table pulling out her wedding ring and her secret book of spells. She flipped through the pages until she found the one she was looking for, The Wolf Spell.
She placed the ring in the palm of her hand and began to cast her evil spell. "From brightest day, to darkest night; from baby's crawl to eagle's flight. As long as his ring the king still wears, claws he'll swipe and fangs he'll bare. Let not ever be seen his face, the wolf shall be his hiding place." As she spoke the ring in her hand began to glow and she knew that somewhere in the forest, the king was no longer a man, but a monster; a werewolf.
She knew without doubt that the kingdom was her's, but there was just one last thing she had to do. She walked to the farthest wall of her bedroom and tilted the lone picture that hung there. A door opened and she stepped inside.
The passage lead her to a small hidden room, containing only a mirror. She made her way up the stairs until she was directly in front of the mirror and began to speak.
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Who's the fairest of them all?" Quickly the mirror began to glow and a figure appeared inside.
"My queen, tis true, you are a beauty rare, but your face is not the one most fare. There is one who lives within these walls, and by her hand, you shall fall. Her name means 'ruler' and so she'll be, when once again the blossoms return to the trees."
