Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

The way this story is written is meant to mimic a fairytale, since that is the basis of it. A Huge thank you to Sunshine1220 for the bunny and pre-reading along with Maplestyle and LaMomo. And Mizzdee for her red pen.

As Cold As Snow

A young woman wanders through the forest. She's felt a pull that has grown stronger with each passing day, telling her to come to this place, though she doesn't know what it is. When the draw had become undeniable, she'd told her family she was going away for the weekend to visit a friend in the next village, to give her the time she felt she'd need.

The woods were gnarled and overgrown. She had never seen something like it in all her seventeen years, but still she pushed onward. The reward for her perseverance was stumbling through the treeline and finding an honest to goodness castle. In the middle of the forest. That no one ever spoke about.

Finding a way in took a little time, but the girl managed, and moved through the open spaces on the ground floor. As she passed a massive staircase, she heard a voice calling out from upstairs. She froze at first, but the draw was strong. She wondered if this was the reason she had felt compelled to come out here.

Being careful of missing or loose boards, she made it to the second floor and then down the hall, the voice growing louder as she moved past several doors until she arrived at one near the end of the hall.

In its day, it was likely a beautiful room. Large and stately, with ornate furniture and windows that would let in whatever sun the forest allowed. The voice was louder, but there was no sign of anyone in the room. Worried that she was losing her mind, the girl turned.

In desperation, the voice called again, "I'm just here. By the desk."

The girl turned, and was shocked to see a face in the tabletop mirror that was not her own. There were similarities, to be sure, but this woman was middle-aged, her eyes tired and sad. "I must be losing my mind."

"You are perfectly sane, my dear, but this is not something that is seen everyday. My name is Queen Susan, and my husband and I once ruled this kingdom."

"What happened to you, Queen Susan?" the girl asked.

"I failed. What is your name, child?" the mirror asked.

"Claire."

"Well, Claire. I was not native to this kingdom, and I had the blood of the protectors. I believe you do as well, since I've been awakened."

"What happened to the castle and the kingdom? The forest has completely overtaken it."

"You are not the first to visit me here, so all I can assume is that the woods have gotten worse over time. It is completely overgrown now?" Susan asked from inside the mirror.

"It is."

"I will tell you what happened when we were doomed by a pair as cold as snow."

Claire sat down at the desk, eager to hear the story.

*ACAS*

Isabella Swan was a beauty, just like her mother. A sickness had taken the queen, leaving the kingdom without a male heir. King Charles remarried a woman from another kingdom and they tried to produce an heir to inherit the throne. But as the years passed and Queen Susan was unable to conceive, King Charles was left no choice but to begin to accept possible suitors for his now sixteen year-old daughter.

Charles and Susan sat on the dais, Isabella to his side as the first prince arrived. He stayed for two days, but in that time, no interest was shown. The same happened for the next prince, as well as several nobles.

Charles wanted his daughter to be happy, but he also wanted someone he could trust to rule after he was gone.

Everything changed one evening when a man showed up unannounced. At the arrival of a young prince seeking Isabella's hand, Charles was quick to call her in.

The prince entered, and genuflected before the king and queen. King Charles tried to get a clear look at him, but the cloak he wore hid a great deal and his head was still bowed. The sound of the door opening and closing to the side of the dais caught the prince's attention and he looked up at Isabella's entrance.

His hair was a golden bronze and his eyes a piercing green, but King Charles also noticed the pallor of his skin and the dark circles under his eyes. He was a contradiction as he appeared both youthful and far too old for Isabella at the same moment.

The prince rose, bowing slightly to the princess, the rest of the room forgotten. He approached slowly and reached down to take her hand and kiss her knuckles, something Isabella had yet to let another suitor do.

"He seems too charming for his own good," Queen Susan whispered.

"It is the first time we've seen her even think to show preference. We cannot bar him because he is charming."

"Father," Isabella called. "May Prince Edward and I take a turn through the gardens?"

Charles smiled. "You may, but do not stray or the guards will alert me of it."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Edward bowed his head and offered Isabella his arm as the walked out of the Throne Room.

Queen Susan wasn't sure what bothered her about this mysterious prince, but she didn't believe he was one to be trusted.

For three days, Edward and Isabella spent every moment together that propriety allowed, and it was clear that the princess was smitten. On the evening of the third day, Isabella went to her father to plead her case.

"Father, Prince Edward is the only man I can see myself happy with. He is caring and compassionate and I would like for you to speak with him about making our betrothal official."

Susan spoke before the king could respond. "I do not trust him, Charles. If he is all he appears to be, why is he not married already?"

"He is only seventeen, and his father was more concerned with betrothals for his brothers. You wouldn't understand, step-mother, as you are not of royal blood. There are ways to do things, and that is why he sought permission to find his own bride."

Charles looked between the two women in his life and sighed. "Bring in Prince Edward."

A moment later, the prince entered the room with a smirk on his face, though it didn't last long.

"Prince Edward, I understand that you are eager to be betrothed to my daughter, but my wife and I have concerns. So I will offer you this. You have my informal agreement to a marriage between you and my daughter, so long as you both feel the same in a year's time. I will not seek any other arrangement for her, but if before her seventeenth birthday you find someone who you do not need to wait for, or her feelings fade, the agreement will end. If, however, you are still true, you two can marry on that day with no further interference."

The prince narrowed his eyes at the king and queen before approaching Isabella. He took her hand in his and kissed it before bending to kiss her lips. "I will return for you on your next birthday. It is less than a year from now, and we will be together again." Prince Edward turned to King Charles and said, "Keep my bride safe until I can return to claim her as my wife."

Isabella was distraught by the turn of events and showed her displeasure in every way imaginable, especially towards her step-mother.

Soon after, the princess began running away to the forest. Susan feared she was going to meet with the prince, which was not without merit.

The secret rendezvous were always preceded by a flock of birds flying around the castle. Susan didn't know what it meant, but she believed it was a sign to Isabella to run off. The dread she had felt at the first meeting with the prince had only grown with time, but only Charles seemed to share the concern, though not as strongly.

Isabella told them that she was simply exploring the forest since she had no desire to remain in the castle after they had sent her love away. In reality, those moments in the woods were filled with kisses and touches, the sharing of secrets and the baring of souls, as well as clothes.

It wasn't long before they tried to keep Isabella within the castle, but she evaded them. Susan sent one of the castle huntsman, Jacob, to track her. It took him a while to find where she'd run off to, finding a cabin just inside the forest.

When Jacob arrived he was shocked to see seven men returning from the mines and questioned them about why the princess was in their home. One of the men, Tyler, responded, "Because she's our princess. We didn't ask her any questions."

He took down their names, Quil, Embry, Paul, Jared, Tyler, Mike, and Eric, and then grabbed the princess by the arm and led her back to his horse so they could return to the castle. Partway through the ride, he asked about what Tyler had said and she turned to him.

"Which one is Tyler?" she asked.

"You've been staying in their home and you don't know their names?" Jacob asked, shocked.

"Remembering the names of so many of my countrymen is difficult. I come up with nicknames in my head so I remember them. If you meet seven Mikes they're hard to tell apart, but if you remember the one who allows you to stay in his cabin is Happy, that makes it easier. You're talking about Happy's roommate, Dopey."

"That's mean," Jacob said in a tone meant to reprimand.

"He called himself dopey, I just used his own descriptor for himself."

After that, Isabella refused to speak to the huntsman for the remainder of the ride. When they arrived at the castle, Jacob had no proof the prince had been there, but Susan used the fact that she'd had a place to meet in private as enough justification and had guards installed in the tower of the castle where the princess lived, keeping her locked away.

Charles tried to speak with his daughter, but she refused to see him unless he allowed her to leave. He tried to reason that in time she'd be with her prince if he remained true to their deal, but she wouldn't discuss anything with him through a door she could not open.

Months of isolation came and went, the winter cold and snowy outside the castle walls. No one knows what happened in her chamber, but three days after the princess refused her meals, the door was broken down to find the room empty and the large window open.

Her body was found in the snow below, and it was believed she'd been out there the whole time from how she was as cold as the snow.

The guilt King Charles felt over his daughter's death was profound. His attempt to protect her had proven deadly and his heart grew as cold as the winter when it came to his queen. Princess Isabella was placed in a glass casket and displayed in the center of the town so all could mourn her.

King Charles was haunted by the ghost of his only child, seeing her day and night, as she scolded him for listening to his new wife over his own flesh and blood. The guilt consumed him and King Charles took his own life, blaming Susan for isolating his daughter and denying her a chance at love.

At the second funeral held that winter, Prince Edward rode into the town square with Isabella by his side. The people were shocked, until they heard her speak.

"I was made a prisoner in my own home, unable to communicate with anyone, even my own father, your king. When word of this reached Prince Edward, he helped me devise a plan to fake my death to escape the cruelty that would have surely killed me. And now, my father is the latest victim of her malice. Queen Susan is not of royal blood, she was brought to this kingdom to produce an heir and she failed at that task and has acted to control the monarchs of this kingdom.

"As the only heir to this kingdom, and the bride of Prince Edward, I've come to charge Queen Susan with treason, stripping her of her titles and sentencing her to death. All those who aided her in these crimes will also face the punishment for not going to your king before it was too late."

The reality was far worse.

Queen Susan and those loyal to her were brought to her chambers, chained and scared. Prince Edward's men were guarding the tower as the pair each picked a victim. Susan watched as the monsters fed on those she'd trusted, their bodies falling to the stone floor one by one. Screaming did no good, because everyone assumed it was her execution. When her voice was hoarse and she was alone with the monsters, she tried to move, but she bumped into the desk.

Isabella leaned down and pierced her neck with her teeth, draining her step-mother quickly.

Susan's spirit left her body, becoming trapped in the small mirror on the desktop, as it was the nearest thing that belonged to her people. In death, Susan realized the prince was one of the sworn enemies of her people. It was why she'd felt so strongly about him. But the prince didn't know about the mirror, so she was left behind to collect dust as the bodies were carried away.

Over time, a supposed illness killed those in the kingdom who didn't leave. When it was abandoned, the woods surrounding it grew to encompass the lands. There have been a few of her people who have come here, but none of them return. She fears a time will come when the monsters will return.

*ACAS*

"All of this really happened?" Claire asked when the mirror finished her tale.

"It did."

"I always wondered how those stories came about," a voice from the shadows spoke.

Susan knew that voice, she'd helped to raise the girl before she became a monster. But it wasn't Isabella who emerged from the shadows, it was her prince. He smiled at Claire and she blushed, dazzled by the handsome young man.

Claire heard Susan protest, but this couldn't be the prince she talked about, because he was still a young man, a handsome one at that.

"That mirror is enchanted," Edward said. "It was a way to protect people from her evil spirit."

"But she said-" Claire began, but Edward reached out and took her hand.

"Her spirit is trapped, dear. That doesn't happen to good people." He moved in close, kissed her cheek, and then in a move too quick to anticipate, he struck.

Once the girl was spent, Isabella walked over to the mirror and picked it up, smirking cruelly at Susan.

"You were a fool to think you could do something from your prison, and look, another victim of your inability to stay out of my affairs. This is the last time I will quarrel with you, witch. Let's see how you speak when you're nothing but shards of glass."

Isabella smashed the mirror against the corner of the desk and it shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. Unable to warn anyone else of the dangers that lurked amongst them.