The Poisoned Princess: A Snow White Retelling (The Skazka Fairy Tales)

DIMITRI

So many things happen at once, and we hardly slow down. The next few hours fly by as the queen is taken to the dungeons where she’ll stay until the day she no longer walks this realm.

As it turns out, Ivanka’s father, the king of Korolevstvo Tsvetov, was never dead. Apparently, the queen had been using him as a human battery to feed the magic of the mirror with his life essence. He doesn’t quite understand how it worked, only that he had to be kept alive. He stayed suspended in nothingness, and since Ivanka never saw him, we can only assume he was camouflaged like the mirror.

“So, you two ever going to talk?” Kostya asks, coming to lean on the wall next to me. I’ve been keeping to the shadows, watching Ivanka sit with her father in one of the gardens at the castle. We haven’t talked yet. I need to get back to my kingdom, to see where we stand and how my father will react to the news, but I can’t bring myself to simply walk away from her.

“I’m just giving her space.”

“I don’t think she needs space, Dima. And neither do you.”

Almost as if she can hear us, she looks up and her eyes land on mine. She’s changed out of the clothes I bought her and is wearing one of her princess dresses, a full-length yellow ball gown that leaves her shoulders bare. She’s absolutely breathtaking. The contrast of the color against her fair skin and dark hair is something close to magic all on its own.

She stands up, handing Kroshka off to her dad, before she makes her way toward us. Kostya doesn’t hesitate to make himself scarce, and then suddenly, she’s right in front of me.

“Are you done lurking in the shadows?” she asks. That sounds like a very loaded question. I have no idea how to answer it, but she seems to know that. With a little smile, she starts walking, taking one of the paths that seem to lead deeper into the garden. I fall in step with her automatically.

“How is he doing?” I ask, because that seems to be the safest topic.

“Recovering slowly. He has to catch up on ten years of his life, and he won’t be ruling again. He’s decided it would be best if that’s passed on to me.”

That’s not something I expected, but I suppose it makes sense. Ivanka stops suddenly, turning to face me, a serious look on her face.

“I don’t have to be married to rule,” she says, lifting her chin. “So you don’t have to worry about me holding you to the contract. I won’t make you marry me.”

She says the words so matter-of-fact like it doesn’t matter what I say. But I also know she doesn’t mean it like that. I know how to read her now.

“When did you figure it out?” I ask, because I think it was before the cave. She smiles a little, glancing down at her dress.

“I had a feeling in the beginning. You’re not that great at playing a commoner either. But you weren’t the same man I met in those letters and none of it made sense, so I nearly forgot about it, until I woke up in the cave and you said you didn’t believe in love until you met me. I knew I had to ask you, but I worried about the timing. Which wasn’t the right thing to worry about.”

“We do that a lot,” I chuckle, and she joins in.

“We do.”

We fall silent then, as if unsure where to take the conversation. I know what I have to say, I’ve just spent days prior to this figuring out how to do it. But I guess there’s no time like the present.

“When she said I wasn’t planning on going through with the contract, she was only half right. I was going to marry you, and then I was going to wait until I saw if you were a different kind of ruler than her. All the intel we’d been collecting, all the alliances we were making while we traveled around your kingdom, it was to create a back-up plan, in case we needed an uprising to get you off the throne.”

“It was a good plan.”

“And it all became unnecessary the moment I got to know you.” Which was probably another reason I fought so hard against my attraction. It seemed too good to be true. A woman who was beautiful and kind? Who stood up for her convictions, even if that meant letting a very dangerous magical creature sleep in her bed? I don’t think I’m ever going to let her live that one down. Who was smart and determined and, at times, a little too stubborn? I didn’t think they existed. But Ivanka kept proving me wrong, day after day.

“It’s all a moot point now, anyway,” she smiles, standing up a little straighter. “You don’t have to marry me for any reason.”

“What if I want to?”

She freezes in place, her eyes flying up to meet mine, and I think my heart is about to beat out of my chest.

“I don’t want to rush you into anything, Zvyozdachka. But I want you to know that I’m all in, if you’ll have me. I’ll make good on my promise to stand by you and let you rule. But I will also take you on picnics in the forest and dance with you in the rain. Quiet mornings and beauty in the mundane, right?”

“You remember my letters?”

“Those letters gave us a chance to get to know each other in a way we wouldn’t have in person and I’m grateful you allowed to let me see glimpses of a different side of you. I remember everything about you. And what I don’t know, I want to learn. If you let me.”

I hold my breath, and she studies my face, letting her eyes roam over every part of me. And then she’s the one moving forward, and I meet her halfway.

Her lips taste like all the magic she believes in and more. She pulls me closer, running her hands into my hair and tugging on it gently. I groan, lifting her off the floor and holding her tightly against my chest as I devour her. We’re breathless by the time we separate, and I know for a fact I’m grinning like a fool.

“Just so you know, I’m not proposing.”

Her face falls immediately and she steps back, but I don’t let her go far.

“Don’t look at me like that. I just mean, you deserve a proper proposal, when you’re ready.”

“A proper proposal?” she asks a little breathlessly, and I steal another kiss.

“Absolutely. Nothing less than spectacular.”

And then I kiss her again, because I can’t help myself and because it feels like a promise to seal with a kiss.