Red as Blood || A Snow White Retelling

Chapter Five - The Queen Calls

I was supposed to update Of Shadow and Ice buuuuuut I've been dying to write the chapter that comes after this one since I came up with this story. I hope you enjoy! Maris starts to get some of her spine back in this one, Snow is back and maaaaaaaybe even Beck XD

The chill in the air didn't bother me the next morning. It did penetrate the stone walls and glass windows, seeping into the carpeted floors, there was no doubt. But, for once, I didn't mind it. I walked barefoot across the bedroom without noticing, because the cold was the last thing on my mind.

Perhaps it was my sudden absence of fear that kept the chill at bay? Either that or foolishness. Foolish, reckless hope drove me from my warm bed. Not that I had actually slept the night before. My mind was alive with a constant war between being scared enough to curl into a fetal position, and the cool calamity that came with knowing exactly what steps to take next. And so, a plan unfolded like a blossoming rose. A dangerous plan that excited me and angered me all at once. It excited me because a dark reign of terror would finally be ended.

But it angered me that I wouldn't be the one to do the ending.

"I'll just have to settle with instigating it." I murmured under my breath, twisting the bracelets at my wrist.

"Your Grace?" Alice asked, pausing from her work adorning my hair.

"Nothing, Alice." I said.

The petite lady's maid just nodded, stepping back and putting the assorted pins and brushes back on the vanity's ivory top. "Anything special planned today, Your Grace?" She asked.

"A few things." I admitted, standing up and admiring myself in the mirror. I wasn't going to lie and say I didn't adore clothes and the feel of silk and velvet on my skin. A good dress creates an attitude and makes the wearer feel confident. A great one can transform a simple girl into a queen. Each dress gives a different feel, a different mask to wear. I needed something strong, like a thinly veiled threat. And the black number Alice had chosen fit perfectly. It was elegant, yet rugged in a way that couldn't be explained. A mix of sheer and opaque black fabric would only give glimpses of my pale skin underneath. Nothing covered my arms, but the cold seemed unable to touch me. Paired with the simple gold adornments in my hair, which had been left to fall to my shoulders, I looked like a queen out of a fairy tale story.