The two days had Snow White had given Eric to decide dragged on longer than any day in the North Tower ever had, she paced in the throne room, she paced in the dining room and she paced in her bed chamber. Anna, Greta and Rose were getting worried that she was going to wear holes in to the lush carpets in all the rooms she decided to traipse backwards and forwards in. They had asked her if she had found The Huntsman and the warm smile on her lips had been enough of a confirmation, so they had asked why she had returned alone; she had looked at them her wide brown eyes slightly haunted.

"He doesn't want to be tethered to these walls and I don't want him to be either." She had said quietly and the trio knew not to question their Queen anymore on the subject. As the sun set on the second day she sat in her chamber listlessly moving pieces around her marble chess board pondering what to do with herself.

She had been to three of the smaller villages that had survived the war somehow and brokered peace treaties with them showing them that she was nothing like the last Queen. She had set up the trading routes in and out of the Kingdom, but she knew it was going to be a long and hard uphill climb before she got anything tangible back for all the effort. She was making the foundations for tomorrow she knew that, but sometimes being 'the light bringer' was difficult. It almost seemed as if no matter how hard she tried she was only taking small pebbles off the side of a mountain that Ravenna had created; not blasting it apart the way she wanted to. It felt as if she was tiptoeing over eggshells instead of standing her ground. She looked in to the fire feeling morose again and there was a tentative knock on her door.

"Come in," she commanded and the door opened to reveal the guard she had sent to see Eric. He looked sheepishly at her and she beckoned him inside. "Did he give you a message to tell me?" she asked.

"No your Highness," Snow hoped the guard didn't notice that her shoulders fell in resignation, "but he did ask me to give you this." He brought a hand from behind his back and in it was a thick velum envelope. She grinned at the guard and stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. She felt his skin flush and when she stepped back he raised his hand to his cheek in surprise.

"Thank you David." She said still smiling and David smiled dazedly back at her. He bowed to her and left his hand still on the cheek she had kissed trying to mask the red flush that started at the top of his breast plate and ended at the tips of his ears.

Snow White sat down at her little table and opened the envelope; inside there was a slip of parchment and what she thought must be the first chess piece. She placed the great oak tree that made up her family crest on the table top. She was about to read the letter that Eric had sent her in return when she noticed that it wasn't the normal oak tree from the family crest. It was true that its roots sunk in to the earth and that the top of the trunk was pointed in a cross to look like the crown, but there was something that her crest did not have, wrapped around the trunk was an intricate web of vines and flowers and she realised that Eric had wound a climbing rose around the tree trunk and every so often there was a delicate but beautiful rose on the vine. The beauty of it took her breath away. She picked it up and placed it on the table next to her bed. As she sat on the sheets she opened up the letter he had sent with the first piece.

Dear Snow White,

I have thought over your request and I would be more than happy to comply with what you have asked of me. I only have one question, would this piece be the King or the Queen?

Your input on this matter would be most appreciated for I cannot finish the commission without this question being answered.

Forever your humble servant,

Eric

She looked at the piece on the table and then reached out for it turning it in her hand, it was obvious that it was supposed to be the Queen why else would he have wound a rose around its base. Was he teasing her? If he was teasing her it wasn't something new; he had teased her since the moment they had met. She fell back on her bed curling herself around the chess piece and fell asleep.

By the time Snow had replied Eric had almost finished all the pieces for the chess set, he just needed inspiration for the board itself. The Queen was the oak tree like the crest of her family that was now hers to bare, the King was a tall Ironwood tree with its branches reaching up like that of the oak, but unlike with a normal chess set where the Queen was either the same height as the King or smaller, the Queen in this set was taller her branches furling out higher than that of the king. The Bishops were shields with magpies emblazoned on them, the knights were stags with antlers that wove a web above their heads and the rooks were carved tree stumps with a hatchet in them. He had tried his hand at carving a troll to make them in to the rooks, but he had given up as the figure looked more like some demon golem. That and he thought his axe made a better defence than the beast that had tried to kill them. Lastly the pawns were dwarves with the white being the noble men they now are and he black being the thieves they were to stay alive. It was their story from the Dark Forest onwards, which was why it was so hard to choose the setting for the board. He had found the perfect wood for it, but could not bring himself to carve the final details with the pieces carved Eric thought it would be better to get some rest instead of staring at the board so left his tools and lay down to get some sleep.

The knock on the door was loud enough to wake him from a dead sleep and after unceremoniously falling out of bed; he walked to the door of the farmhouse and found the young man on his doorstep looking worse for wear.

"David come in, put your feet up." He said walking back to the table. David followed him inside closing the door behind him.

"You know it would be easier if you just moved closer to the palace." The young guard said his country accent thick on his words.

"That could work," Eric replied with a grin as he passed David a glass which he took gladly. "But where would the fun be in that?" David shook his head and tried to not smile as he placed his new quarry on the table. He had noticed that the Queen had become livelier as of late and he liked this new side to her. If it was because of this Huntsman he was glad; he had never really liked William the Duke's son anyway. He may have been a leader of the rebels, but before the Princess as she was then had joined them they were little more than thieves and little good their freedom fighting did. "Did she ask for a response?" Eric asked leaning back in his chair.

"She is away on business, but if you have a reply I will deliver it to her chamber so it will be there when she gets back." He told Eric in reply and David had noticed Eric flinch when he had mentioned the Queen being away on business.

"What is she doing?" He asked in a tone that was supposed to be light, but even David could hear the edge in it.

"She is down the mines with the Dwarves; they are trying to rebuild the shafts so that the mine can blossom again. Once the mine is up and running she is hoping to export the jewels and start bringing money back in to the Kingdom." David smiled, he was so proud of the Queen she was slowly, but surely rebuilding the Kingdom and turning it back to the thriving place it had once been before The Dark Queen had taken over the land killing all the beauty in it. Eric rocked forward on his chair laying the unopened envelope on the table.

"Do you know when she will be returning?" Eric asked his grey eyes intense and he watched David count the days off on his fingers.

"I think the party will be away for another seven days." He replied before taking a drink of the ice cold water; Eric nodded and ran his hand lovingly over the thick parchment that was only entitled Huntsman.

"Okay, good." He said under his breath as if he were talking to himself, "Will it be okay for me to visit the palace in say... five days?" David looked puzzled, but nodded.

"Of course, you have been given full access to the palace whenever you want, you do not need to be invited." Eric's eyes clouded over for a second and David couldn't read the man, but as soon as the dark cloud had appeared in front of his eyes it was gone and he stood putting his hand out to David,

"Thank you David for all your help, I will see you in five days." David stood up and took the Huntsman's hand in his own and shook it firmly. With that he left the Huntsman to read his letter and whatever else the man did when he wasn't sending the Queen letters in return.

When the door had closed behind David, Eric sat back down at the table and picked up the thick envelope his heart beating like that of a teenager. The erratic beat of it made him think of the day in which he had met Sara at the market; she had ridiculed his outfit and the morose look on his face and when she smiled it had lit up the surrounding area, seeing that smile and hearing that laugh of hers had made his heart beat in the same way as thinking about Snow White did, even if the only thing of hers that he could own were her letters. The Kingdom now had her heart. Not that he would ever admit to wanting to have a claim on it.

Dearest Eric,

Are you seriously asking me if the piece you were so kind to send me was the King or the Queen? Because I think it was apparent that you had answered the question with the roses making their way up the oak tree. It is very beautiful, just so you know. You have exceeded my expectations.

I am travelling with Muir and the other Dwarves to their mine to see if there is anything that myself and the Kingdom can do to make it easier for them to restart their efforts down there and I can only assume by the time you get this letter there will still be a week before I am back at the palace.

You were right by the way, the Dwarves don't only see the beauty in the earth; they saw the beauty in my heart and in yours. Not that I can imagine you care. I am almost certain that you believe your heart is passed saving. On that account I can assure you that you are wrong.

I miss you,

Yours forever,

Snow

He sighed and folded the letter in half before putting it with the other letter in the pantry inside an empty flour jar. She had to know that it was not an ideal situation her falling in love with a commoner, when there was Prince material right next to her; Prince material that lived in the palace with her, who knew the right fork to use at banquets, who could converse with the people in her world. If she was with him, she could converse with the drunks and the gutter snipes; not really the proper company for the Queen. He knew that she would never be his; she could no longer belong to one person and that made him mourn for her, without her having to die first this time.

He picked up the board and knew what he was going to carve on the squares and he knew that he could manage it in five days; if he didn't really sleep. He picked up his knife and chisels and began to do the scroll work across the glistening wood that he had buffed to a high polish while he had been debating what should go on the Queen's board. He worked without a break until his hands were sore and cramped so much that he could no longer hold his tools. It was only then that he slept and that was only until the aches in his bones had soothed and he began the work again. It was tiring, but he knew in the end it would be worth it. He had realised that there was almost nothing he wouldn't do for Snow White and this had to be ingrained in the very wood he was carving.