Snow White
Prelude
Lord Falke leaned his head against the back of the carriage and sighed. He would soon be home to his wife, and soon he would have a son. He was overjoyed at just the thought. He disliked long trips away from home, but it was necessary to provide for his family, and the Duke had requested Lord Falke's presence at an important transaction; he couldn't have refused, even if he had wanted to.
"Whoa," Falke heard the coachman call out, and the Lord poked his head out the window, to see the carriage stopped at his front door. At last.
He leapt out without waiting for one of the servants to open the door for him and rushed inside. Usually his wife greeted him, but she was nowhere around. He stopped a maid hurrying past with a basin of water. "Where is my wife?" He asked.
"Oh, milord!" She exclaimed. "Thank the stars your here! The baby is on his way! I was just rushing to her room now. Come, and you may wait outside."
"My son?" He exclaimed excitedly – but also nervously. Birthing was dangerous. Again, he did not wait for a reply, or to follow the maid. He simply dashed off to his wife's chambers as fast as his feet could carry him, his cape fluttering behind him.
Finally reaching his wife's chambers, he hesitated. Men were not allowed inside for a birth. Serving maids rushed back and forth, and he heard his wife moaning on the other side. Lord Falke caught the arm of one of the maids about to enter. "Tell her that I await outside; that I am here for her, should she need anything," he ordered. The maid nodded and hurried inside.
"Milady, your husband is just outside," he heard the serving maid tell her. "There is nothing but good luck all around. Do not fret." He heard the reassuring words, but they did not comfort him. His wife had always been a little bit superstitious, but often things seemed to happen the way she believed they would. Once, he recalled, she had seen a crow land on an apple tree, and declared that something bad was to happen to the tree, or near the tree. A small boy had been playing under there last winter and a large drift of snow had fallen on him, suffocating and crushing him. His mother had been devastated, and Lord Falke had done what he could for the boy's family; they were faithful servants in his household. But since then he had been more attuned to his wife's superstitious inclinations.
"No, no, no!" He heard her scream. "It's not a boy! It's a girl, I know it is!" The women always would say at a birth that it was a boy, but from the beginning Lady Falke had declared that her child was a beautiful raven-haired daughter. She had described the babe once to her husband, in detail. He worried she was right; he did not know what would happen to either of them if the people thought his wife was a witch.
Screaming emanated from the room, and Lord Falke sat rigidly, waiting in horrific anticipation for the child to come, silently praying that he would have a healthy wife and a healthy babe – no matter the sex of the child.
A new sound was added to his wife's screams – a baby's cry. Lord Falke felt his heart life into the air, as free as a bird. He stood, waiting for one of the maids to tell him he had permission to enter and see his wife and child – or better yet, for the midwife to tell him.
An old crone opened the door, and beckoned him in. The midwife, thank the stars, was approving. It was a good sign.
Hurriedly, he rushed to his wife's side, and grabbed her hand. She was sitting up in bed, covered in a thick sheen of sweat, and panting heavily. She wore nothing but a shift, and it stuck to her limbs like flypaper. Her long black hair hung loose about her shoulders. Lord Falke kissed his wife's hand. "My Julianna," he murmured lovingly, and stroked her hand. She smiled wearily at him. He turned to the midwife. "Well?"
"The babe is a beautiful and healthy girl," she said. "And your wife is fine; she will recover, and may even bear another child. It was not as difficult as we had feared."
Lord Falke's relief was plain on his face. "Thank the stars," he murmured, and kissed his wife's hand. He turned to look at her. "What shall we call her, my dear?" He asked.
She thought for a moment. "What do you want to call her?" She countered, giving him the choice.
"Julianna," he said, smiling.
"But that's my name, silly husband," she stroked his cheek and smiled playfully, like her old self. "How about, just 'Anna'?"
"Perfect," he replied, and kissed her mouth.
b6 YEARS LATER.../b
The child shrieked with delight, her cream gown flying past her as she ran from her pursuer, giggling the whole time.
"I'm going to get you, my dear!" Lady Falke teased, running after her daughter.
"No, Mama!" She screamed, and ran some more.
"Oh, yes!" And she grabbed the girl, tickling her until she was breathless with laughter.
When Julianna finally put her daughter down on the ground, she was laughing so hard that she had to sit down and catch her breath. Anna sat next to her mother and kissed her cheek. "I love you, Mama," she said, and snuggled against her mother.
But her mother didn't answer; she had this faraway look in her eyes that Anna had never seen before. "Mama?" She asked. "Mama!" She shook her mother, but it was if Lady Julianna Falke had turned to stone.
Suddenly and without warning, Julianna grabbed her daughter's hand and half-dragged her inside their house. "Mama, what's wrong!" Anna cried, terrified. "Mama!" She struggled against her mother's grip, but it was like iron.
Once inside the house, Julianna barked orders for the servants to fetch her husband, and bolt the doors. Anna stumbled after her mother, her wrist still caught in Lady Falke's vice-like grip.
Falke came rushing when he heard of his wife's panicked state. "What's wrong, beloved?" He asked, gently disentangling Anna from Julianna's hold. He picked the young girl up and held her in his arms. Anna leaned her head against his shoulder and watched her mother with frightened eyes.
"Give her to Nellie," Julianna ordered. "I must tell you something, Roger, and she mustn't hear it." Lord Falke set his daughter down on the ground, and her nursemaid, Nellie, took her hand, leading her from the room. The girl was confused and frightened, but she trusted these people; Papa would find out what was wrong and fix it.
As soon as Anna was out of the room, Julianna burst into great heaving sobs. She had been so controlled a moment before that it shocked Lord Falke, and he didn't know what to do at first. But then he wrapped her in his arms and comforted her. "There, there," he murmured reassuringly. "I'm sure whatever it is can be remedied. Now, tell me, what is the matter?"
"Roger," she whispered in a voice like a ghost, "Something terrible is going to happen."