Lips as Red as Blood

by GalaxyofCastaborous

Skin as pale as Snow, Hair as black as night, Lips as red as Blood. A vampire Snow White in a richly imagined fantasy world, where we go deeper than is probably wise into why a good king would marry an evil witch, why on earth was the evil queen so obsessed with her own appearance, and why is no-one who knows the girl willing to help her? This is a tragedy, it is not a nice story.

15. Cottage

Just because the path did not lead to where Snow thought she was going did not mean the cottage was unwelcome. The people who lived here could probably give her some valuable information. Like where she was. And how far it was to a town. And what direction she needed to go.

Thinking positive thoughts, she resumed her walk toward the cottage. The closer she got, the more details she could see. Flowers spilling onto the path, encroaching onto the lawn, and creeping up the walls of the house. Wildflowers and mushrooms growing in grass just taller than her ankles. Trees heavy with fruits clumped together behind the house.

Standing on the doorstep she realized that the "cottage" was much bigger than it had looked at first glance, too big to really be called a cottage. It was also very old, made of the kind of stonework that was once sharp and neat but has been worn by time and weather into a smooth, polished surface.

Pausing on the doorstep, Snow realized that it was surprisingly quiet. After leaving behind the river the sound of its flowing water had been quickly replaced by the sounds of small animals. Now, however, the only sound was of wind rustling the uncut grass.

She knocked on the door. It seemed odd that it did not have a knocker, the house was so large that it seemed silly it could lack something so simple. The sound seemed very wrong and loud in the peaceful setting.

No one answered. Snow knocked again. Several minutes passed, so Snow knocked again. Still nothing. Night was falling rapidly and Snow was unsure what to do. There was no rule that she must be invited in, but to invite herself in would be unwise. A man's home is his castle, and any who could often put at least a charm or two up against potential thieves.

So far out in the woods, it seemed unlikely that the home did not have several warding's and defenses on it. Not to mention the fact that it would be unspeakably rude to waltz in uninvited. After a moment of dithering, Snow decided she had been out in the woods for nearly a week now, and few extra hours wouldn't hurt her. She left the doorstep and walked around the back to admire the gardens.