The ride had been long and hard, and Snow's back and thighs ached from too long in the saddle.
Her rush to reach Maleficent's territory had driven her on. But now, with the castle looming on the horizon, she pulled to the side of the trail and dismounted. Her horse lowered its head, nibbling at whatever sparse patches of grass managed to grow out of the blackened earth.
Because the nearer they'd come to the witch's palace, the more the land around them changed. Dense forests gave way to stretched out woodlands - the distance between thick overhead canopies growing farther and farther apart. Undergrowth that started a dark rich green faded to brown, then grey, before succumbing to nothing but ash. Even the few trees growing in this bald patch of forest were more like sticks of charred tinder rather than the lush pines that covered her own kingdom.
And the starkness of the landscape was matched by the invisible presence of magic swirling around her. Though the sensation was foreign, Snow knew it must be sorcery from the way her skin tingled and her heart seized with sudden apprehension.
Before setting out, she had read of Maleficent's power, heard of the horrors that she played a part in, and knew that there were those who said no weapon was of use against her. But feeling firsthand the effects of her witchcraft, Snow wished she had brought a weapon anyway - even if it was only something to hold and still her shaking hands.
Swallowing, she reminded herself why she was here. The image of Regina, prone in bed, flashed through her mind.
Maleficent had cursed her. Snow needed to know why, and more importantly what magic would undo it. She did not care what price she might be called to pay, she would see Regina awake if was the last thing she did.
So climbing back onto her horse, she nudged her heel into his side and set off towards Maleficent's castle.
From a certain distance she had suspected it, but as she rode nearer all remaining doubts vanished.
The palace was haloed by a ring of bright red fire.
All around, encircling the castle, towering flames lashed against the sky, high and white above. Yet though the air was hot and dry, there was no smoke and no fuel at the fire's base to keep it burning.
Snow gripped the reigns, letting the leather make soft indents in the palms of her hands. But even as she sat tense in the saddle, every instinct screaming at her to turn back, her eyes were fixed beyond the blaze on the door of the castle. The entryway was open wide, gaping onto a dark and cavernous chamber. It was as though she were looking down the throat of some great beast - a dragon spitting fire.
There was no other way to enter. No way to save Regina without burning herself.
Her horse reared its head and whinnied, and Snow placed the flat of a hand against his neck whispering platitudes she wasn't sure she herself believed.
But again, she remembered Regina - brave and kind and riding without hesitation to save Snow's life. Years had passed since that day, but its impact never faded, the memory only growing brighter with time.
Straightening her shoulders, she rounded her horse to face the castle head on. With a flick of the reigns and a sharp press to his side, she spurred the horse to a gallop.
Then, Snow White rode through fire.
As they burst forth from the ring of flames, Snow's heart beat so fast and hard she worried that Maleficent had enchanted the fire to do more than burn. But slowing to an uneasy trot, and checking herself and her steed for injury, she was surprised to find them both unharmed. The air even flattened and cooled once they reached the stone floors of the palace.
Slipping from her place in the saddle, she continued on foot.
Wandering through the spacious entryway looking for some sign of life, each step the princess took echoed against the castle's apparent vacancy. Nearing the end of the room, she was met with a set of heavy wooden doors.
Lifting her gaze, she followed the grain up to where it met the grey stone of the ceiling. Backing up, Snow widened her stance, and drove her all her weight forward.
The door moved, if only slightly.
But heartened by the low whine of hinges being forced into a new position, she continued to push until her face was red with exertion. When her strength elapsed and the door settled, there was a gap just wide enough for her to slide through and pass into the space beyond.
This room was as large and as empty as the one before it. But rather than ending with another wooden doorway, this chamber ended with a set of marble steps leading to single throne. And further behind that were huge and brightly colored stained glass windows.
Light danced around her in pale shades of red, blue, and green. Snow might have found it beautiful if not for her growing sense of dread.
"Maleficent!" she cried.
No reply.
She called out again.
"Maleficent! I am Snow White. I know you cur-"
Before she could finish, the sound of her voice ringing around the vaulted room was cut off and absorbed by a puff of green smoke. Out of it, stepped a tall and beautiful woman - a set of black angular horns atop her head.
"I can hear you dear. There's no need to shout."
The witch was looking down, her focus fixed on the back of an extended hand. She seemed uninterested and unbothered by Snow's intrusion. But there was still a presence to her, a power she exuded - one Snow recognized as the source of the fire and the origin of her unease.
"I am Snow White and I-"
"So you've said."
She cut Snow off a second time, gaze shifting slightly to examine the sleeve of her dark elegant gown.
Steeling herself, Snow spoke again, but rehearsed words caught in her throat making them softer than she intended - barely echoing against the high stone walls.
"I know you cursed my stepmother, Regina the queen."
Maleficent's boredom vanished and their eyes met. The weight of her full attention was like falling down a well, dark and deep and unending. But the sound of her voice broke the sensation - anchoring Snow and keeping her thoughts on the reason she had come.
"Regina is cursed?"
Fists clenched at her sides, strength returned to her voice.
"Don't pretend not to know!"
Snow wan't sure what she expected then, an admission maybe. What she didn't anticipate was Maleficent titling her head back and laughing - full and loud.
Recoiling at the sound, her jaw tightened.
"Why are you laughing? Tell me why you've done this!"
But the laughter continued to sound around her, mixing with the light filtering through the colored glass window. It made Snow too aware of how small she was, how helpless. Maleficent, though not much taller than herself, filled the room with voice alone, the edges of her power swelling against smooth dark walls. And if she decided not to help, if she decided to turn Snow away, or kill her, the journey would be in vain, Regina would still be cursed, and Snow would prove worthless at helping the woman who once saved her life.
Shoulders rolling forward, she wavered.
"Please tell me how to help her, I beg you."
The laughter dulled to a low chuckle and again their eyes met - amusement plain on Maleficent's face.
"I didn't curse her, dear." Then, more to herself, she added, "It seems poor Regina really couldn't manage it after all."
Snow blinked and leaned forward.
"What are you talking about?"
Maleficent's throat started to bob as more laughter threatened to emerge.
"She came to me for that curse."
Her surprise was so sudden that Snow did not think to conceal it before she spoke.
"Why would she do that?"
Waving a hand dismissively, Maleficent's interest disappeared as her boredom returned.
"Maybe she meant to curse one of those dreadful beasts in the stable, or maybe she'd simply decided her own life was too unbearable to continue living."
Nausea and fury rose in the princess at the implication of the second proffered motive, but before she could process it, raise an objection, Maleficent stopped her by adding;
"Truly, I thought she was going to use it on you."
At that, Snow's rising anger condensed and shattered into broken pieces of anguish.
"Don't say that. Don't you dare say that. Regina loves me, and you're…you're nothing but a witch and a liar!"
But even as she said it, tears brimmed in her eyes. One broke free, streaking her cheek with a pale glistening line. Maleficent stepped closer, running the backs of her fingers where the tear fell, brushing it away.
"Such naivety. Are you so sure Regina loves you."
It wasn't a question. Not really. It was spoken as if the answer was already obvious, but Snow shuddered, more tears edging in the corners of her eyes. Doubt grew within her and she feared that the answer was not so clear, and that perhaps the answer Maleficent offered was not the one she sought.
But as her uncertainty flared so too did her temper, and she pushed the sorceress back.
Even with distance between them, Snow's arms remained tense at her sides, deep lines appearing between her brows. The sound of amused humming hung in the air.
"But there's a fierceness in you too Snow White, so who can say?"
She shouted in response;
"Regina might have, were she not in some cursed and unwakeable sleep!"
Maleficent moved to close some of the space between them.
"Oh? But there is a way to wake her." She paused. "But you knew that."
Snow tried to back away, but glancing behind her with a quick turn of the head, she saw that her heel had met the edge of the lowest marble step. So, lifting her chin she faced Maleficent where she stood.
"Whatever magic is needed, please do it. I'll do anything."
The older woman only smiled - the edge of her red lips curling up even as her eyes seemed as dark and empty as they had when Snow first looked upon them.
"It's not something I can do."
Swallowing, the lines on the princess's forehead were joined by lines along her mouth as her expression fell into a look of pained confusion.
"Please, my father's kingdom has gold and riches. We would happily -"
"You misunderstand. Regina is outside the realm of my aid."
Snow's teeth snapped shut, the muscles at the corners of her jaw pulsing with a sudden ache.
"Then what can be done? Tell me!"
"True love's kiss."
The small space that remained between them was heavy and still as the older woman's hastily spoken words gained shape and meaning. And for a moment they were both silent. Snow watched faint shades of color flicker across the wooden door where she had entered, felt the tension that had been building in her since she had left her own kingdom seize at the realization that the answer she had come for was now found.
"Do you understand, Snow White?"
She reached out and tucked a strand of long dark hair behind Snow's ear, watching her own fingers as they curled. Then, her gaze shifted to connect with Snow's.
"Only true love can do what you desire." Her hand, still on Snow's cheek, stirred and a thumb brushed over the princess's lips. "Only a kiss from her true love will wake Regina."
"That's it?" There was a ring of hope in her voice.
Maleficent pulled away as a smile stretched over her face, eyes lightening to a soft shade of blue.
"Yes dear, that's it."
Snow's mind whirred, counting the number of leagues it would take to get home, how fast she would ride, how long it would take to relay what she'd learned, and how soon Regina would be awake and well again.
And as if Maleficent were reading her thoughts, the smile she wore faltered. But Snow did not see. She was already turning and rushing past the wooden doors, out of the castle, and through a ring of fire to ride home so her father could break the curse.
As she rode, getting smaller and smaller against the horizon, Maleficent appeared at the palace entryway. Her eyes darkening once more as she watched the princess Regina had spoken of so ardently.
"I fear dear Regina will not wake for sometime still."