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Prologue

Everyoneknowsthestoryof my mother, the beautiful Queen, who on a day much like today sat by her window looking out, admiring the beautiful falling snow while she sewed. Startled by a blackbird, she pricked her finger with her needle, causing blood to pool. Laughing graciously at her mishap, she stroked the bird's head, wishing she could finally bore the King a child.

What the Queen didn’t know is the blackbird was in fact an evil witch and when she made her wish and rubbed the bird, the witch cast a spell on the Queen, binding it to her life.

Some months later, I was born and my mother was dead. My father loved me dearly and tried to raise me as best he could, but knew I needed a mother, so he went looking for one. After searching for over a year, he found a beautiful woman who would make a suitable wife. Fair and youthful skin with dark hair- she reminded him of his Queen.

I don’t remember the day she came to live with us, or much about my mother, or what my dad was like before she came.

I only remember the after.

She was a darkness, rooting herself in the castle, casting her evil shadow over everything.

My father was too heartbroken and weak minded to stop her and I never understood why….

Chapter one

Snow - Midnight Run

“Shoot!Taketheshot,Snow!” the huntsman urged.

I chuckled and released the arrow out of the bow, striking the rabbit square in its eye. It fell to the ground immediately. “I told you I knew what I was doing. You’ve taught me well.” I smiled at the huntsman, shifting my weight into him.

He shot me a weary side glance but didn’t speak as he made his way over to the rabbit. I stood up and wiped the dirt from my dress, following behind him. “How did I do?” I grabbed his arm to peek over.

He gently pulled his arm out of my grasp and looked at me again. He wasn’t a man of many words and liked to keep things strictly professional between us. I had a natural curiosity about the man and found him quite attractive and sometimes I would have dreams about him… inappropriate dreams.

He was a full head taller than me, clean-shaven face, brown eyes, wide shoulders, and very muscular. Aside from my father, the King, he was the only man I knew and one of the few people I ever talked to. I used the term ‘know’ loosely since he wouldn’t even tell me his name. I would call him Hunter if I needed to get his attention because Huntsman seemed too long and too formal.

I watched him as he pulled the arrow out of the rabbit's eye. The muscles in his arms flexed, and it made my stomach feel things… like butterflies dancing.

“It was a clean kill.”

“I had an excellent teacher.” I smiled.

“Snow.” He lightly reprimanded.

“What?”

“You’re flirting with me. We’ve talked about this.”

I laughed, spinning in a circle. “I’m turning eighteen tomorrow and will be a woman.”

“Snow.” He said, pulling out a knife and laying the rabbit on the ground.

“What? All I’m saying is that I will be a woman and I have no prospects. I’m not allowed to attend parties and aside from the cook who leaves me food, you’re the only other person I know. I’m going to die alone in that castle.”

“You won’t.” He took the skinned rabbit and ran a stick through it from head to tail.

“You don’t know that. For my birthday,” I paused, waiting for him to stand back up, “Can you give me a kiss? That way, if I die alone, at least I would have kissed a man before... you know.”

“No,” he said matter-of-factly.

I shook my head. “Ass.”

“Language.”

“Give me a fucking break. I hear you cuss all the time.”