Snow White and the Huntsman (17 page)

She tried so hard. She summoned all the power her mother had given her and channeled it through Finn, trying to give him the strength to fight. When that didn’t work, she tried to close his wounds. But with the tree roots in his flesh, it was no use. Slowly, with each passing second, she grew weaker. Her body aged. Her hair went white. The skin on her face turned wrinkled and loose.

“Forgive me, brother,” she’d finally whispered when it seemed the wounds would take both their lives. She had to cut their connection. She couldn’t fight anymore.

She’d drummed her fingers on her breastbone, knowing what had to be done. She was alone. No one besides her own brother would hunt the girl, following her into the Dark Forest and beyond, fighting the Huntsman and those
nasty dwarves in the process. Now, if she still wanted the girl’s heart, she would have to retrieve it herself.…

She stood, a quiet incantation forming on her lips. She spoke so low the words were barely audible, instead coming out as a low, uneven hum. Outside the castle, the birds cried in the trees. The first raven swooped down and landed, with a bloody thud, against the window’s thin pane. A tiny crack spread out around where the bird had hit it, weakening the glass.

Within seconds, another bird appeared from the trees. It slammed into the same window, its beak breaking on impact. One bird, then another, darted down, until the glass shattered, the shards scattering across the stone floor. The first birds of the flock came inside the throne room. They flew around the great curve of the walls, circling Ravenna in a giant swarm. More came out of the trees and through the broken window, until she disappeared beneath them. Her arms were raised, and her head was back. Had anyone been able to see her in the horrible black mass of feathers, they would have known she was smiling.

A
day passed, and no one spoke Gus’s name. They’d covered miles of barren hills, crossed shallow streams, and trudged through dead flowerbeds, the dwarves leading in front, the Huntsman and William trailing behind. The sun was setting as they reached the base of the rugged mountains. The duke’s stronghold was in the valley beyond them. It couldn’t be more than two days’ walk.

Snow White followed behind Coll and Duir. She kept her eyes on the ground, unable to believe what had happened. She remembered Gus’s face as he’d lain there in the withered leaves. His breaths had gotten raspy and short until they slowly stopped. He had sacrificed himself so she could live. Now, in the aftermath, she wished he hadn’t. She wished she had been the one to take that arrow. The guilt was too much. These last hours, she’d wondered what the other men thought. Did they blame her? Did they secretly wish they’d never stumbled upon her that day in the woods?

She wiped her eyes, trying to get the image of Gus out of her head. It took her a minute to realize that William had fallen in line beside her. He stared at her, his face full of concern.

“What?” Snow White asked, sensing something was wrong.

William glanced back at the Huntsman, gauging how far away he was. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice nearly a whisper. “I’m so sorry I left you.” He rubbed his forehead, his eyes misting over.

“You didn’t,” Snow White tried. She reached for his hand.

William shook his head. “If I’d have known you were alive, I would have come sooner.”

The dwarves started into the woods. Coll and Duir dropped their satchels down behind some rocks. The others followed, setting up camp. Snow White paused at the edge of the forest and looked into William’s hazel eyes. Never once, in all the years in that tower, had she ever blamed him for what happened. When the loneliness had nearly driven her mad, when she couldn’t take the bugs that climbed the walls or the sound of explosions in the distance, she had thought of him. He had been there with her. Those memories were the only thing that had kept her alive.

“We were children, William,” she said. “You’re here now.” She squeezed his hand.

She looked into the camp. The dwarves were dragging fallen branches and old twigs into a pile. They worked quietly, not meeting one another’s eyes, the sadness of the day still upon them. She walked toward them, gesturing for William to follow. It was no good to look back, to apologize for
what had happened, or to wonder what could have been different. Who could say what either of them
should
have done? She’d been torturing herself thinking of the attack yesterday. What use was that? All she felt was a hard, painful knot in the pit of her stomach.

She knelt down beside William, pulling up dried moss to use as kindling. He did the same, working quietly with his hands, his face softer than before. Snow White looked back at the darkening sky. Ravens circled overhead. They still had another day or two until they reached Carmathan, and Ravenna would come for them soon. They had to look forward and ahead.

Snow White sat on the edge of the camp, listening to the chorus of snores behind her. The dwarves had fallen asleep quickly, as had William and the Huntsman. But hours later, Snow White was still awake, an uneasy feeling spreading through her. She scanned the forest around them. The sun was just coming up on the horizon, filling the sky with a strange orange glow. Did Ravenna already know Finn was dead? Could she sense it? Snow White thought again of Rose in her cell. Her face had been wrinkled and spotted with age, her shoulders bent forward. Ravenna had powers no one else did. How long would it be until the Queen found her?

Leaves rustled behind her. She straightened up, feeling for the knife at her belt. She wrapped her fingers around the end of it and spun around, pointing the blade in front of her. William stood before her. His brown hair was messy from sleep.

“It’s only me,” he said. He held up both hands until she
lowered the knife, slipping it back at her side. “Come. Walk with me.” He started away from the camp, making sure the Huntsman was out of earshot. He tried to pat his hair down as they walked.

Soon they were deep in the forest, completely alone. The silver birches rose up around them. A light dusting of snow covered the earth. “Up here, it’s as if nothing has changed. The world looks beautiful again,” she said, shaking her head. Her voice was calmer now that William was by her side. She felt just a little less alone.

“It will be. When you are queen,” he said. Snow White turned to him, unsure why he’d say that. Why was everyone so certain they could defeat Ravenna’s army? Had they not seen her magic? “The people of this kingdom hate Ravenna with their very fiber,” he explained.

She shook her head. She remembered what Ravenna had said the day of her wedding—how they were bound together. “It’s strange.…” Snow White started. “But I feel only sorrow for her.”

William cocked his head to one side, curious. “Once people find out you’re alive, they will rise up in your name. You are the king’s daughter, and the rightful heir.”

“How am I supposed to do this? How do I inspire?” Snow White said, shaking her head. “How do I lead men?” Gus was dead because of her. She had asked the dwarves to take her to Carmathan. How could she be responsible for many more lives when she had failed one man already?

William smiled. “The same way you led me when we were
children. I followed you everywhere, ran when you called. I would’ve done anything for you.” He stared at her intently.

She turned away, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks. “That’s not how I remember it.” Wasn’t she the one who’d followed William up the apple tree that day? He was always teasing her, telling her to run faster, complaining that she wasn’t a boy. He wanted someone to dig up rocks with and chase through the castle courtyard. “I remember we were always arguing. And fighting, and …” She would have gone on, but he was looking at her so intensely, his eyes searching her face for something unseen.

He leaned so close, she could feel his breath on her skin. He smiled, his cheeks flushed. His lips were just inches from hers. Then he pulled something from his pocket and held it between them. Snow White looked down at the apple. Its white-and-red skin didn’t have a mark on it. William inched it toward her, a mischievous grin crossing his lips.

“I know this trick.” Snow White laughed, remembering it from all those years before.

“What trick?” William asked. He held it up, just inches from her face, daring her to take it from him.

Snow White smiled. After all these years, he remembered. She wondered if he’d thought of her as often as she’d thought of him. Maybe, in some ways, those memories had kept him alive, too. She snatched it from his hands. Before he could retrieve it, she bit into the thin skin, letting the sweet juices run down her throat.

William’s eyes narrowed. There was something strange
in his smile. He looked on, watching her chew, laughing as she swallowed. She felt a strong pain in her chest. Something was terribly wrong. As she gasped for breath, William looked on, his face more familiar than it ever had been before. She stumbled and fell, collapsing in the snow.

Her limbs went numb. She stared up at the sky, trying to move her fingers or toes. It was useless. Her body felt like it was made of lead. She couldn’t even blink. William’s face appeared in view, his hair falling down over his eyes, which now glowed a brilliant blue. She realized at once it wasn’t William at all—it was
her
. Ravenna had found her after all.

“You see, child,” Ravenna said. William’s face changed, revealing the full lips Snow White had admired as a child, and Ravenna’s small, delicate nose. “By fairest blood it was done, and only by fairest blood can it be undone. You were the only one who could break the spell and end my life, and the only one pure enough to save me.”

Snow White’s heart pounded in her ears. Ravenna’s clothes changed back. She wore a black cloak covered with raven feathers that rustled around her high cheekbones in a tall collar. She reached into it, retrieving a jeweled dagger. Then she ran it along Snow White’s breast bone, marking the spot where her heart was. Snow White opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out.

Ravenna leaned down. She pressed her lips to Snow White’s ear. “You don’t realize how lucky you are. You’ll never know what it is to grow old.”

Off in the distance, Snow White heard the crunching sound
of footsteps in the snow. Ravenna looked up, alarmed. She raised the dagger above Snow White’s chest, about to drive it through her sternum, but then she instantly transformed into a dense mass of ravens. The sky above Snow White was filled with them. The black birds circled in one great swarm, flying around her body. Bloody feathers fell to the ground. A few cawed loudly. Others took off through the trees. Snow White could see the Huntsman’s bloody axes swiping through the mass.

William appeared, cutting at the birds with his sword. Their dead bodies fell into the snow around her. The dwarves came running as well, hearing the cries from Eric and William. The men kept swinging at the air until all the wretched creatures were gone. Snow White’s vision blurred, and her eyelashes fluttered. She heard them calling to her, but their voices seemed farther away now, the words running together in a strange, low hum.

William knelt down beside her. He cradled her head in his hands. She couldn’t feel his fingers on her skin. His mouth was moving, but there were no words coming out. She fixed her gaze on his face, watching as it changed, overcome with sorrow.

He kissed her. She couldn’t even feel his lips on her own. It was as if he were kissing someone else as she watched from far away. He pulled back, and his lips formed her name, calling again, and he crushed his mouth again to hers. But it had no effect.