(AN) Hey everyone! I hoped you liked the preface; this is a story that will explore a lot of fairy tales (and turn most of them a little darker). Our version of Snow White has a rebellious streak, doesn't she?

Chapter 1: Mirror, Mirror

She didn't move, she barely breathed. To anyone watching, she would look as if a corpse, lying on the royal bed. Her eyes stared blankly up at the canopy of red silk above her. Red like blood, red like her grandmother's lips, red like her own. She could see faces in the red silk, her mother's face, her father's, even Snow White's face outlined in the silk. She thought she was going rather mad.

"Your highness?" A face peeked through the door. The girl on the bed turned her head to look at her, raising an eyebrow, not trusting her voice to speak.

"Your cousins…Lord and Lady Frent, they'd like to see you." The maid almost whispered. The girl nodded, sitting up in the large bed, she wasn't the only one grieving right now. Her cousins had lost family as well, for Snow had been as much family for them as she was for Dovella.

"Oh Dove…" A gentle, soothing voice came from the door. Wendie Frent entered the room first, tossing her arms around Dovella's shoulders. Will came next, following his twin sister closely. He shut the door behind him, allowing the large wolf dog that belonged to Dovella to follow him in. Wendie and William were the niece and nephew of Dovella's long dead mother, the only friends she truly had in the world. They were alike, physically at least, with auburn hair that fell in curls and waves and emerald green eyes, but Wendie was the gentler, the softer of the two. She was the oldest twin by a few minutes, but her mother had died delivering them. She had felt the loss of her own mother acutely while growing up, but she'd also experienced the loss of her aunt and uncle, Dovella's parents, when they'd gone to the swamps and never returned. Now she had lost the only grandmother she'd ever known, and her young cousin, almost like her little sister, was about to be crowned queen.

She was too young, Wendie thought. They were all too young. Wendie slowly smoothed Dove's dark hair, looking helplessly at William. The boy shrugged his shoulders, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"It'll be okay, Dove." Wendie soothed. "Lady Karine is taking care of everything right now for you, to give you some time to mourn."

"I can't do this Wennie. I'm not ready to be a queen, I don't know what to do and I can't do it as well as grandma did…" Dove frantically managed to get out.

"Shush. You'll do just as well as she did, you're just a little young yet, and Karine will help you. We'll be behind you no matter what as well." Will replied, wrapping an arm around her slim shoulders.

"You should get some sleep, Dove. Coronations are a big deal. Your dress is beautiful." Wendie said gently. Dove nodded half heartedly.

"We'll let you rest, Dove. We'll be here at first light." Will explained calmly, throwing a glance at Wendie that said much more than his words. Wendie nodded reluctantly.

"If you need anything at all, send a messenger." Wendie assured, kissing her cousin's head. Dove tried to smile but it turned out to be more of a grimace. The wolf dog jumped on the foot of the bed as they left and Dove wearily reached out to touch his nose.

"At least I've got you, Zo." She muttered to the dog that wagged his tail happily. She dropped back onto the pillows once more and was again haunted by the faces in the red silk that turned real as flesh in her dreams.

The clock chimed the witching hour when Dove awoke from her fitful sleep. The quilts felt as if they were very slowly strangling her and she was quite alone. "Zo?" She called, searching for the large dog in the room. In the light of the dying fire, she could see the whole room cloaked in shadows, but her dog was gone. She slowly untangled herself from the bed clothes, dressing in a simple skirt and blouse over her chemise. She pulled a

cloak over her, the night was chilly, and set off through the door.

"Your highness?" A guard asked, stepping forward uncertainly across the hall. "Is there something you require?"

"Have you seen Zo?" The girl asked, looking up and down the hallway. The guard shook his head.

"No, Princess. I suppose he might have slipped out while the maid was checking your fire. I'll rouse someone to seek him out if you desire." The guard offered. Dovella shook her head.

"No, that's not necessary, the servants need their sleep. I shall find him on my own." Dovella offered.

"I shall come with you, your majesty." The guard offered uncertainly. Dovella laughed, it sounded wrong, rougher than it should.

"No, that's alright. I'm unlikely to come to any harm in my own castle, especially now when everyone sleeps. I shall not go outside, I promise." Dovella finished with a reassuring smile, whipping her dark hair away from her face. She glided down the hallway, whistling under her breath, checking all the dark corners she was so familiar with.

"Dovella…" Dove whipped her head around, staring for the source of the voice that called her name. The hallway she was in left nowhere to hide, but Dove knew she had heard a voice calling her name. She walked a little farther down the hallway, listening to the wind blowing through the windows. There was nothing, no more, but a door was ajar. Dove went to it, feeling the old wood beneath her fingers. This was the door she'd never been allowed in when she was a child, the door that would take her up to the tallest tower of the castle, the Queen's tower. She shivered, creaking open the door just a little bit more. She could barely make out an old, rickety staircase in the darkness.

What was up there? Why had she always been forbidden from entering? She pushed the door the whole way open, entering the dark staircase. There was no light, but Dovella was no ordinary girl. In her veins ran the blood of the Great Sarailynn, her great-grandmother, Snow White, her grandmother, and the Amazing Eliza Frent, her mother. They had all had power to manipulate elements, to write and cast high magic, and Dovella was able to as well. She concentrated and the fire sparked to life in her hand immediately, lighting up the world like a torch. She climbed the creaking stairs carefully, keeping her hand on the stone wall.

There had to be something in this place, some great secret that could make her a queen, some power that would allow her to always make the right decision. Her shoes clicked on the stairs and the creaked under her weight in protest.

The door at the top was not bolted shut and it burst open with no protest at all, as if it had been waiting too long for the arrival of someone young and desperate. Dovella tiptoed across the dusty floor, her eyes flicking around the forbidden interior. She instantly felt as if though she were not supposed to be here, but she didn't move.

"I am queen now." She mumbled to the night in defense, as if anticipating a scolding from her dead grandmother's phantom. In truth, it was just her, the night, and the mirror.

She walked around the perimeter of the room, past ancient looking tables laden with bizarre glass holding brightly colored liquid poisons and oddly shaped metal instruments of torture, stained with old blood.

And then there was the mirror, on a raised dais in the center of the circular room. It was partially covered with a white shroud, covered in gray fur from being too long left alone, but she could see the gleaming of the glass. She let the light in her hand go out, thankful for the large window which let the moonlight in. She stepped onto the dais and pulled the cloth completely off, dropping it to the floor. A cloud of dust rose up, so intense she had to close her eyes and turn her head. When she felt the dust had settled, she turned her eyes back to the mirror.

Only to see two large, green eyes staring right back at her.

"AIEEE!" Dove shrieked, jumping back and nearly toppling off the dais. The mirror laughed, a gentle sound, a kind sound, like a parent amused by their child.

"Oh my, you do look like Snow White. She would never have squealed so… tough as nails that old bird." The mirror declared, the eyes crinkling with amusement.

"You're…the magic mirror? The one that can see anything? I've…I've heard about you." Dove said, stepping closer, examining the old gold work around the mirror and the eyes that looked so familiar…

"I've heard of you too, Dovella. I've been watching you. Your grandmother was very fond of you…" The mirror said, trailing off.

"Could…could I talk to her, through you?" Dove asked, her eyes wide.

"No, my Dove. This is not something for you to mess with. Let it go." The mirror ordered, the eyes closing. "Let us go back to sleep."

"But why?" Dove asked, fury rising in her voice. "I am a grown woman! I am going to be queen!"

"Some things even queens should not bother with." The mirror said softly.

"Well, we'll see about that." Dove said as she straightened. "Mirror, mirror…"

"Don't do this, Dovella. Don't mess with things you don't understand!" The mirror cried out, but it was too late, as the words tumbled from the young woman's mouth.

"Show me Snow White, queen of them all."

The eyes disappeared as the mirror began to glow sickly green, swirling around like a tornado. The door behind Dove burst open and Karine rushed into the room, her dark eyes wild.

"Oh Dove, what have you done?!" Karine cried out, rising her wrinkled hand to her mouth. Dove tried to open her mouth, to defend herself, but there was a voice coming from the mirror now, a much different one.

"I shall bring down the last in the house of White. This silly little girl will be no match for me." The voice hissed. Terror ran down Dove's spine as Karine grabbed her arm and dragged her back down the stairs.

"You have to get out of her, Dovella!" Karine yelled as she pulled her down the dark, abandoned hallways. "I told Snow that you needed to know! There was no use protecting you any longer!"

"Karine, what is going on?" The young girl asked, brushing away her long ebony hair.

"I can't explain, there is no time." There was a loud crash from above, like stone cracking. Karine's head turned to it fearfully.

"Take your horse, get out of the city. Go to Cruxten, the old witching town, and talk to the Elder there. He will be able to help you." Karine ordered. "Don't come back until you can fight this."

Karine quickly kissed Dovella's forehead, tossing a black cloak over her and turning, taking off back to the tower. Dove stood motionless in the hallway as she heard another loud explosion. She then quickly turned and ran to the stables, her black hair flying out behind her.