Disclaimer: I do not own Snow White, or any of the associated characters

Summary: Did none of those fairytale characters comprehend the concept of 'Stranger Danger'? In this version, Snow White did.

A/N: For those who haven't read the prequel (Cinderella Grows a Spine) here is a basic run-down of the necessary information: Cinderella runs away before the ball, fairy godmother is replaced by entirely non-magical Sophia, Cinderella attends the ball, but flees the city when the King wants her and the prince to marry right away. Redemption arc for Anastasia.

Chapter One

Grand Duchess Anastasia had been many things in her life.

She had been a silly girl whose intelligence was nearly as lacking as her physical beauty. She had been the brave lady who guided her Prince and her step-sister back into each other's arms. Unfortunately, the downside of self-realisation and taking action to redeem yourself is that you can never go back to your former state of ignorance and the way things were.

She had briefly served as a "fairy godmother" under Sophia, Cinderella's strong-willed but somewhat eccentric friend, who still sent weekly letters to the palace for both step-sisters. That had been interesting, but Anastasia lacked the head for planning how to deal with a bad situation, and was no good at the subtle working-around that was so often necessary in Godmother cases.

After that, she had returned to the Capitol, where she had been the head Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Cinderella and eventually named heiress of the previous Grand Duke, who had advised both Henry and the previous king, and passed away only last year.

Anastasia still wasn't sure what had been going through her step-sister's head when Cinderella made the decision to make her a lady-in-waiting, but she wasn't about to complain.

Now, she was a very concerned Aunt.

After several years of trying, Cinderella had given birth to an heir, and less than a year after that, was pregnant again.

The doctor had advised against it, saying that it would be dangerous to Cinderella's health to bear a second child so soon, and even expressing doubts that Cinderella's body would be able to carry a child to term.

Anastasia had largely taken over the care of little Augustus, named for Cinderella's father, when the doctors had unanimously agreed that Cinderella must be put under as little strain as possible, and Henry had been busy alternating between fussing over his wife and running the kingdom by himself, rather than with his wife's help.

Anastasia couldn't blame either of them for that, but she wished King Henry had at least looked into hiring a Royal Nurse at some point. At least the little Crown Prince had attendents to take care of him when Anastasia couldn't be there.

Maybe her mother, long-since moved to another country with Drusilla and married to a third husband the last Anastasia had heard, hadn't been entirely wrong when she complained that men were useless with fine details. Sophia had espoused the same opinion, though she admitted that the abundance of clueless or weak-willed husbands and fathers in the cases they encountered as 'Fairy Godmothers' might just as easily have been coincidence.

But thinking on that did her no good now. Despite the best efforts of the finest doctors money could buy, Cinderella continued to weaken as the child grew, and the unusually cold winter did not help. The pregnancy had not been an easy one, and the midwives said that a hard pregnancy usually made for a hard labour. It was a hard truth that women risked their lives every time they went to childbed, but surely Cinderella could not have overcome so much, only to die like this.

But the fairness of life and divine reward was a concern for priests and philosophers. For now, Anastasia's main concern was keeping King Henry calm and, most importantly, out of the way as Cinderella struggled to bring a tiny life into the world.

It took nearly a full day, with Cinderella lapsing in and out of consciousness near the end, and several instances of Anastasia physically dragging the king away to spend time with his son so Anastasia could check on her primary charge, before an exhausted midwife appeared to tell them that the Queen had given birth to a baby girl… and that the King should see his wife first.

Anastasia wasn't the brightest star in the sky, but she wasn't stupid. People in the medical profession were never that hesitant when they had good news.

One look at Cinderella was enough to confirm that. Henry had to lift her out of the bed, so that the maids could quickly change the bloodied sheets, and even then, Cinderella could barely remain conscious long enough to smile at him. When Henry laid her back down, her golden hair was the only thing that stopped her from blending into the white sheets, rustling softly with each laboured breath.

Anastasia pulled the head doctor to one side, glaring at him in a silent demand for information. One good thing about unfortunate looks was that it made for very effective glares. The doctor broke quickly. "Her Majesty lost a lot of blood, and her strength has been waning for months now. We knew since near the beginning that it would probably come to a choice between the life of the mother and the life of the child, if the Queen even managed to carry to viability."

Anastasia checked that King Henry was pre-occupied and not listening, and lowered her voice just in case, "You couldn't have slipped something into her tonic to make it look like a miscarriage? You condemned the Queen - my sister - to death for the sake of a potential child who might not even draw breath?"

The doctor looked shocked. "Even the unborn have a right to life, Your Grace! The Queen would surely have regretted it later. There was a chance that Queen Cinderella would survive, however small. You have never experienced the miracle of childbirth, and would not understand."

Anastasia nearly slapped the buffoon, who had also clearly never experienced childbirth, and had even less understanding than Anastasia did. Cinderella may have regretted the loss of her child, but at least she would have been alive to do so! Why were the rights of the unborn, who may have died naturally anyway, more important than the rights of a living woman?

With difficulty, she reigned in her anger, taking the bundle of crying blankets from a midwife. She could deal with ruining this buffoon's life and career later. Better yet, she would tell Sophia about this conversation, and let her take care of it. Sophia might have been good-hearted, but she was also a loyal friend, and could plot bloody vengeance like nobody's business.

Dismissing the doctors and midwives, Anastasia looked at the baby, small and sickly and as pale as the snow that fell outside. It would be a mercy if they didn't lose the child as well. She tried to paste on a bright smile. "What will you name her, Your Majesty?"

The King looked up from his wife's still body, his face a mask of agony, which quickly changed to concern at his daughter's too-fair visage. "She's snow-white! I-"

He crumpled again once he felt that the infant was warm and breathing steadily, and Anastasia's arms were too full of baby to slap the scribe who was filling out the birth certificate with the name Snow White. And of course, Henry was oblivious to all but his grief.

Anastasia sighed and carried her new niece off to the Nursery. One of her maids had recently given birth to a stillborn boy, and could serve as a temporary wet-nurse until arrangements could be made. "Come along then, Snow White. Let's go introduce you to your brother."

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A/N: As mentioned, this is a sequel to Cinderella Grows a Spine, now available on Amazon. Updates will be slower for this one, but feedback would be great.

Thanks,

Nat.