Making an Evil Queen

Chapter 1

~ 2 Years Later ~
"Lavinia!" the drunken Alan called as he stumbled into the little house, holding a crumpled up piece of paper in one hand. "Lavinia!"
His daughter quickly came running. She had been waiting for him all night to come home.
"Father, where have you been?" Lavinia asked. But one glance at her father told her exactly where he'd been. She sighed. Lavinia knew she should've known better that to trust him to go out by himself. But he had been doing so much better!
"You've been drinking again."
"I have not!" the old man slurred in a defensive manner. He tried to take a step forward, but tripped over his own feet.
Lavinia leapt forward and caught him. Then she raised her eyebrows at her father who rolled his eyes.
"Okay, maybe I had a tiny bit to drink, but I'm fine." Alan said, pushing her off of him.
"Whatever you say." Lavinia said. She had long since learned that it was of no use arguing with him in his current state. That only led to him getting angry and throwing things.
He had been like this ever since her mother died seven years ago. It had hit them both pretty hard, but Alan couldn't cope with the grief; so he turned to alcohol. He'd often spend all day or night (or sometimes both) at the local pub, or passed out somewhere between there and home. A couple months ago, Lavinia had been able to help him stop his drinking, and she thought he'd be okay now. Alas, she was wrong.
She followed him into the tiny sitting room where he plopped down in his favorite chair.
"What's that?" Lavinia asked, pointing to the paper in his hand.
"What's what?" Alan looked down at his hand and looked confused. Then his face lit up as he remembered. "Oh, this!" he exclaimed, waving it in the air over his head. "This is the solution to all of your problems, Lavinia!" He opened up the paper and showed it to her.
"An invitation to a ball?" she asked flatly.
"The king is hosting a ball tonight and has invited every available girl in the kingdom. He's looking for a wife! Finally, Lavinia! You can get married! And about time too. Soon you'll be too old and nobody will want you."
"I'm only twenty-four, Father. And I can't get married right now, especially to the king! No. I have to stay here and take care of you."
"Pish posh!" Alan exclaimed, spitting as he did so. "I can take care of myself just fine. Go! Have fun! Fall in love! Besides, if you marry him, you'll have enough money to pay someone to care for me if you're so worried about it."
"I'm not going."
They spent the next few minutes going back and forth about Lavinia going to the ball. Finally, she agreed to go in order to appease her father.
When the time came, she got out the one nice dress she owned, which was one her mother had left her. It was a deep red color with white floral designs on the bodice. The skirt was full, and a sheer, glittery fabric had been put over the red so that it sparkled with every movement she made.
She combed her long, dark hair until it was smooth and shiny. Admiring herself in the mirror, Lavinia decided that she actually was excited about tonight. After all, how many times would she get to wear a dress like this? Even though she knew she wouldn't be the girl picked tonight, she was determined to have fun.

♛ ♛ ♛ ♛ ♛

Alaric stood with his arms crossed, his eyes scanning the large crowd that had turned up for the ball. It had started several hours ago and he had already met and danced with countless women. However, he hadn't liked any of them. They were too old, too young, too tall, too short, too. . .not like his wife. He still missed her greatly, and he'd much rather not be here right now. But he had promised Vida that he would find a new queen and a mother for Snow, and he was bound and determined to keep that promise.
As Alaric searched through the crowd, a particular young woman caught his eye. She was the most beautiful woman he had seen all night. She had caught his attention because of how very similar to Vida she looked.
Unfolding his arms, he made his way over to introduce himself.

♛ ♛ ♛ ♛ ♛

Lavinia started when she felt someone tap her bare shoulder. She quickly turned to see who it was and gasped when she saw that it was the king.
"Your Majesty." Lavinia said with a curtsy.
The king extended his hand to her. "Would you like to dance?" he asked.
Lavinia knew that even though he had formed his sentence into that of a question, he wasn't really asking. He wanted to dance with her, and she couldn't exactly say 'no' to the king. Still, she stood there awkwardly for some time. Had he really just invited her to dance? She had been so sure that he wouldn't even glance her way! Yet, here he was, holding his hand out for her.
The king cleared his throat. "Excuse me, miss, are you hard of hearing?" he asked.
Lavinia shook her head. "No, sir, I am not. I'm terribly sorry, I just, uh, didn't think. . ." She trailed off, not knowing exactly what to say.
"It's quite alright." he chuckled, smiling sweetly at her.
She looked down and saw that he was still waiting for her to take his hand. She placed her hand in his and allowed herself to be led out to the open floor, and they began to slow-dance. Lavinia was glad that she and her father used to dance around the house when she was little, because now she wouldn't make a fool of herself before the king.
"I'm, um, honored that you wanted to dance with me, Your Majesty." Lavinia said.
"Please, call me Alaric." he replied.
"Oh, okay."
"Tell me," Alaric said. "where did you learn to dance? You are quite a wonderful dancer. All of the common girls I've had the. . .pleasure of dancing with tonight have not been the best dancers. And I've got the bruises on my feet to prove it. Do you come from royal blood?"
"I'm as common as they come." Lavinia answered. "When I was little, my father and I used to play ballroom in our house. He taught me how to dance."
"He sounds like a good man." the king said.
"He was." Lavinia sighed.
"Was?"
"Well, my mother died a few years back. Ever since then, he's been a heavy drinker."
"Oh. Well, I'm sorry to hear that. Though I understand where he's coming from. After my wife died, I wanted to just shut the world out. But I couldn't; not when I have a little daughter that needs me."
As they talked, Lavinia studied the king. She could tell that he was a good man who loved his family very much. She had no idea how old he was, but he looked to be in his forties. He had kind eyes that wrinkled at the outside corners when he smiled. While she admired him, Lavinia didn't feel herself falling in love as her father (and let's face it, she had too) hoped.
The king, however, was a different story. He found her beauty extremely enchanting. Her grey eyes were a stark contrast to her dark brown, almost black hair. Everything about her was lovely.
"What is your name?" he finally asked.
"My name is Lavinia." was her answer.
"Lavinia, would you do me the pleasure of becoming my queen?"

The wedding was held the very next day. It was a beautiful ceremony; perfect in every way. In every way except one. Despite agreeing to marry the king, Lavinia did not truly love him.