In a secret room hidden in the castle an incredibly beautiful woman with crow black hair and purple eyes was approaching her most precious object, the magic mirror. She was dressed in regal garments of black and purple with dark gothic jewels that decorated her dress and crown. This woman was Queen Zoe who was once again going to ask her same question but today she was going to get a different answer.

"Slave in the magic mirror." She called. "Come from the farthest space, through wind and darkness I summon thee. Speak! Let me see thy face!"

Thunder cracked and lighting flashed, the image of a dark, ominous, ghost like face appeared in the mirror surrounded by smoke and flames.

"What would thou wish to know my queen?" It spoke.

"Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?" She asked.

"Famed is thy beauty majesty." The mirror answered. "But behold, a lovely maid I see. Rags cannot hide her gentle grace, alas she is more fair than thee."

"Alas for her! Reveal her name!" Zoe snapped.

"Lips rosy as blood, hair blue as the sky, skin pure as snow."

"Frida!" She cried out enraged.

Meanwhile outside dressed in rags and scrubbing the castle stairs with great aggravation and annoyance was an even more beautiful maiden with hair and eyes as blue as a bluebird's wings, cheeks and lips as rosy as blood, and skin as fair and pure as snow. This girl was Frida now a teenager who had found it harder and harder each day to be happy because ever since her father died she had become utterly miserable. Constantly doing harsh chores assigned to her by her stepsister. she knew she wasn't perfect, she knew that sometimes she could do things that could cause trouble but did she really deserve this?

She went over to the castle gardens and picked an apple off of one of the trees there. She then sat by the garden well and began to eat it. As she enjoyed her snack several white doves fluttered down and perched themselves on to the well.

"Hello." She said. "Would you like a treat?"

She pulled a knife from her apron pocket and cut the apple in two. She while she continued eating one half she left the second half on the ground for the birds to enjoy. The doves cooed at her then began eating bits of the apple slice.

"You guys are lucky." She said to the doves. "You have wings, you can fly away from here but I can't. I'm trapped here."

Unknown to Frida, a handsome young man in his teen years was riding up to the castle. He had dark, black-brown hair and kind brown eyes, he was dressed in a white dress shirt, a navy blue vest, and brown pants with black boots. This handsome young man was Frida's childhood friend Manny who had spent four years studying back at his kingdom. His father and mother had decided to let him take a break from his royal lessons since he had been doing so well with them. Since Manny hadn't seen Frida in four years he decided to pay her a visit. He had just arrived on his horse when he saw her in the garden and he was awestruck by what he saw. He was expecting Frida to be the same silly girl he knew from fours years earlier not a beautiful woman. When he realized that she didn't see him he smiled mischievously and as quietly as possible began to climb over the garden wall.

Frida still unaware of his presence, looked down in the well and gazed at her reflection in the water down below. She stuck her hand back in her apron pocket and pulled out a locket that contained a miniature portrait on each side, since her mother had died the day she was born she didn't remember what she looked like so her father gave her the locket with a miniature portrait of her mother so she would know what she looked like. After her father died she had a miniature portrait of her father placed on the other side of the locket. She looked at the portrait of her mother and then back at her reflection. For as long as she could remember people had always said she looked so much like Queen Carmela and that she would be just as beautiful as she was but Frida couldn't see herself as anything but plain.

"Boo!" She was startled by a pair of strong arms grabbing her waist.

"Whoever you are let me go this instant! I'm warning you I have a knife!"

"Oh come on Frida, you wouldn't cut you're best friend would you?"

"Manny?"

He released her and she gasped to see that the little boy from her past had now become tall and handsome.

"Manny is that really you?" She asked.

"Who else would it be?"

"Oh it's so good to see you." The two of them hugged each other which made Manny blush hard. "Where have you been?"

"Doing royal lessons and boring stuff like that. What about you?"

"Oh not much, scrubbing floors, washing stairs, mending clothes, dusting, and all that stuff."

"Really? Doesn't sound the normal things a princess would do."

"Hate to break it to you Manny but I'm not exactly a princess anymore. After Papa died Zoe and my witch of a stepmother made me their slave, though it didn't last long for Carmelita because a horse threw her off and she crack her noggin on a stone."

"Really? So it's true the witch is dead." He joked.

"I told her digging those hot nails into the horses would cause her to have an accident."

"So if she's dead wouldn't they make you the new queen?"

"No, she disinherited me so Zoe was crowned queen when the old witch croaked."

"But she's not even royalty by birth, she married into it, well technically her mother did but you know what I mean."

"Yep but it doesn't matter. Listen I have to go right now but I'll see you later."

"Okay, meet me back here."

"When?"

"Tonight at seven o'clock."

"Okay."

He smiled as he watched her hurry back inside. Frida didn't know it but Manny had been in love with her since they were children. When he was a child he didn't really notice his growing feelings for her but then again most boys at that age didn't, it wasn't until he spent those four years away from her and missed her so much that he realized his feelings for her and now seeing her again as the most beautiful woman he had ever seen he was sure of his feelings with no doubt what so ever.