Clad in a black gown with purple, gold, and red thread embroidered within, Snow White sat in a gilded, ornate throne with mirthless smugness. She never sat in anything less than a throne.

In her long, loose ebony hair was an array of magically created flowers blossoming and returning to their youngest state in a way that was mildly distracting for anyone to watch.

On her left ring finger, she wore James' engagement ring, which she kissed often when she was alone, and her wedding band. Her fingernails were dressed in a French-tipped manicure. The loveliest white bracelet cuffed her left wrist with pearls and diamonds. Her other wrist bore a black bracelet that was identical to the white one in shape and size and had deep purple jewels instead of diamonds and pearls.

Her eyelids were painted the sweetest shade of purple. Her lips were painted the most darling shade of red. Mascara flanked her jade green eyes, making them appear larger.

In her private chamber, also known as her vault, she clutched the ends of the armrests of the throne. Her fingers danced without her being aware of it, for she was thoroughly fixated upon the mirror before her.

The mirror was so beautiful it took her breath away. A silver frame with snow-colored jewels dotting it and a cool glass oval that altered from dark rose gold to sapphire blue when she awakened the man who lived in the mirror to receive answers to her questions.

She'd created the mirror with her magic. While she slept and dreamed so hard of James touching her face with a cool hand she could feel it.

The man inside had been a wise genie David had set free from his lamp. A genie who'd fallen in love with Snow. Due to his extreme knowledge, he had known she'd never return his ardor and zapped himself into the mirror so he could forever gaze upon her fair face and be of some use to her.

There was only a tiny window in the Evil Queen's vault. The window through which bluebirds brought her letters from her underlings tied to their legs. When sunlight from the window grazed the mirror, as it did now, the light of the mirror was purely phenomenal. It surrounded Snow in a basking halo of beauty.

Along one wall was her chamber of hearts; the mirror was at the center of the wall directly opposite of the wall bearing the door and window. She could feel the hearts beating along her right side, threading into the back of her head and peripheral vision.

Around the room were a bunch of candles strewn randomly in candleholders. These candles were never lit.

Silkily, the Evil Queen, also known as Queen Snow White, murmured, "Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?"

His answer usually gave her an empty sense of pleasure. After losing her James to the Blue Fairy's betrayal and Regina's big mouth, she'd take whatever antidepressants were prescribed.

There was a part of her that was irrationally frightened this man who doted on her so much he'd trapped himself into a mirror to be with her forever would name the blonde bimbo she'd recently been acquainted with.

No. That was silly. Snow White's beauty was such that it could not be rivaled. She need never fret over such insignificant irritants.

"Your skin is fair, your smile is sweet," the mirror man intoned. "Never before you have I seen such captivating beauty…but—" the "but" made Snow's chest tremble. She inhaled hard. Sometimes, the only grim joy she could derive from life—now that she'd lost her soul mate—was the knowledge of how superiorly gorgeous she was. "She has finally grown into her hips. Her dark brown eyes are sharp as whips. You would not approve of how she sits."

Snow clutched her chest and hacked up a retch. "What…the devil—" Something didn't fit right. Something made her pause. "Dark brown? I thought her eyes were green?"

Without taking a moment to consider his next words, the mirror man offered, "May I introduce you to a new pair of glasses? You seem awfully tense."

Scornfully, the Evil Queen snarked, "You stomped on my heart…who are you speaking of?"

"Regina."

"Regina," repeated Snow in a disgusted whisper that was half whimper. "I see you have scraped off some of your keenest tastebuds."

She was so insulted, so livid, she had half a mind to wrench a bottle of potion off the wall shelf to her left and fling it at the mirror. What stopped her was the uncertainty if the mirror would crack. A part of her wanted it to; another part liked the magic mirror in mint condition. But even though both options appealed to her, the unknown frustrated her instead.

Smiling around clenched teeth, the Evil Queen demanded, "You think Regina's fairer than Lily?" She chuckled half like a sycophant and half full of sarcasm. Apologetically, she opined, "When she isn't in her dragon form—"

"You talk to me about nonsense/ As if Lily is fairer than thee/ Both of us know you are haunted/ By fear Emma Swan is fair enough to start usurping."

The back of Snow White's ears tingled. She squinted. "You know her name?"

Simply, the mirror man inquired, "Are you surprised?"

Narrowing her eyes to slits, Snow White retorted, "You must be. You didn't rhyme."

"I don't have to," he answered chidingly. "I do it to be fancy." He winked. Then he smooched. "Mommy!"

Crestfallen, the Queen murmured, "You saw that?"

"I see nothing," he corrected. "I know everything."

Queen Snow bit her sweetly painted bottom lip so hard she tasted blood. Digesting, she considered.

"You mean to tell me I'm not the fairest of them all…that the twerp has usurped me?"

The mirror man, who had no hands, whistled his applause. "Got that right, darlin'."

This was the most depraved news the Queen had heard. Snow eyed the mirror with the expression of a viper taking his time to decide when to strike.

"Beauty is the eye of the beholder," the mirror man mused. "Some men prefer blondes who can smile. But this isn't about taste; I speak facts." Twitching his nose, he dodged a sneeze. "If one looks at the facts, you're the second fairest of them all now that Regina's grown into her womanly hips."

"You're a bigot," countered Snow smoothly.

The mirror man regarded her coolly but ignored her slur.

Touching her long fingernail with such dark purple polish it appeared black glass to her top lip, Queen Snow White tapped thoughtfully. The mirror man stared with eyes full of shrouded longing. He yearned to take Snow in his arms and kiss her so hungrily she forgot about James. Chanting her name, untying the back of her dress, coaxing her empty heart to pause with passion…

"I don't need to take Blondie out?" Queen Snow clarified, taking the smog out of the mirror man's head. "I just need to make due with Regina?"

The thought of making love to Snow filled the man inside the glass with such passion, such joy, that the mirror thrummed and sparkles shot off the glass and glinted in the air like diamonds floating on invisible clouds. "I wouldn't say that," he replied evasively. "She's got nothing on your beauty, but a woman who comes from a foreign country and calls you 'Mummy' is hardly likely to be anything but your foe."

Queen Snow used her magic to siphon any earwax out of her ears. "Come again?"

"She can't pass for your daughter/ You can't pass for her aunt/ Sisters you could be, but trouble is brewing/ She did not come here for naught/ Turn your back to her, she will stab it/ Chains you should put her in, on a tiny island."

Dark red smoke poofed, concealing Queen Snow's hands and wrists for a couple of seconds. A couple of stemmed glasses with light pink wine appeared in her outstretched palms. "That's a brilliant idea." She tittered. "And I know just the island." She held the cup up to the mirror's glass, where the man's mouth was. The two of them drank with glee. Though the mirror man needed no fuel, he could drink.

Tipsy, the mirror man declared a lot louder than he normally spoke, "You'll get her. You won't get Regina, but you will capture Emma Swan."

"And why won't I get Regina?" the queen commanded silkily. "What is my fallacy?"

Instead of answering, the mirror man vanished, leaving only Queen Snow's reflection.

She huffed but finished her wine on her throne, noticing the beautiful yet cruel smile that crept upon her darling red lips.

Then she turned to the bookshelf opposite the many hearts she'd taken. The shelf which held an endless supply of magic books as well as some bottled potion and random candles atop candleholders. Her eyes skimmed over the titles on the spines. Disguises and Delusions, Potions Made Potent with Baby Parts, Evil Spellcasting, Wicked Charms, Poison Apples and What to do with Them, Gross and Satisfying Enchantments to Punish Thy Enemy.

The unlit candles flickered shadows around the room as she beckoned a book to her chest. Shadows of dragons with human legs in their mouths, demons eating children, and ghosts with creepy expressions on their faces.

The book arrived on her lap. She smoothed her hand over the engraved title. Traps for Those with the Darkest Intent.

She blew a sheet of dust off the book's cover then cracked its torn spine ajar with care. Sitting it on the vanity table pinning the mirror to the wall, she switched her center of gravity from her hands to her thighs.

She read the contents with great consideration before selecting the recipe that had to do with veal. It would require this blonde Savior chick to go to the restaurant of Snow's choosing—but she could easily magic the idea into the swan's head.

The rest would be a cinch.

Queen Snow licked her teeth as she read the recipe. The Poison Apple Glazed Veal would paralyze its prey when they touched the first bite on their fork to their lips. The rest of the veal would spring up and form a small yet impenetrable cage around the prey.

Snow White guffawed long and maniacally at the thought of caging the odd foreigner who had called her "Mom" and portrayed the audacity to kiss her cheek.

The queen's laugh halted in a flourish when a bluebird flew smoothly in the window, carrying a rolled-up piece of parchment tied to his leg. She reached out her hands, and he landed in them. Using her magic, she evaporated the rope in a glow of bright white light.

She sat the bird on her vanity, unrolled the letter, and read the short message with a hungry smile lapping at her mouth.

I've got her

-Will Scarlet

How quaint of the genie not to mention someone would bring the traitorous lass to her.

She patted the top of the bluebird's head and gave him a kiss. "You did a nice job." He flew away, chirping proudly. Leaving the queen in higher spirits than she'd been in since she'd felt James' arms around her…for the final time.