Snow White

She was delicate. Even more beautiful than all of the tales had ever told about her. With skin white as snow, hair black as ebony and lips, plumped and red as blood, her beauty was enough to make a fool of death herself. She was young and royal but could just as well fit in among the ancient gods and goddesses up in the heavens. Through the stories, she was known as princess Snow White, heir to the throne of the Seventh Kingdom and the most beautiful woman in all of the Thirteen Realms. At least, so said the stories. The woman standing in front of her was magnificent, too. Her hair was the color of feathers from dark birds in sunlight, her eyes as dark and sparkling as a night sky and her cheekbones as sharp as the finest of daggers. The tales told about her were the ones about the sharpest shooter in all of the Thirteen Realms. In those tales, she was known as Raven the Huntress, marchioness of the Wild Woods. This was the two womens first meeting. The last one before one of them married the other one's father.

Raven the Huntress’ night sky eyes glided over the princess in front of her. Not only was the girl at least ten years younger than herself, but she was also much smaller when it came to size. Snow White was tender and petite. Her arms were thin and her lean shoulders looked as if they had never carried anything in a lifetime. Standing close to the marchioness of the Wild Woods, whose curves and muscles even showed beneath her clothes, she could have been mistaken for the other woman's dinner. But no one of the two were going to be eaten that night.

”Princess, it’s an honor to finally meet you in person,” said the huntress with a mild smile, ”I have heard great things about you.”
The princess nodded and returned the smile, which made her even more adorable than before.

”Thank you,” she said, ”I have heard great things about you, too.”

”Such as?” the sparkling eyes glittered even more when the princess replied with one of the stories about the Huntress from the Wild Woods.

”They say that you do not only hunt bears and wolves, but also the monsters and beasts living in the darkest parts of the forest. Monsters stronger than a dozen of men each and faster than the darkness itself. Beasts with the power to seduce and corrupt any creature below themselves and who cannot be killed if their hearts are not stopped.”
The Huntress nodded with a wider smile.

”That is true.” she said, ”I do hunt the monsters and beasts living in the darkest parts of the forest. I kill the monsters who drink human blood and the beasts who feast on human flesh and bone.”
The princess didn’t smile anymore. She looked at the other woman with her soft, brown eyes.

”My father used to hunt those beasts and monsters too.”

”That’s how he and I met.”

”But he stopped after they almost corrupted him.”

”They almost did, I was there.”

”They say you saved him from the corruption.”

”I did. That’s why he proposed to me.”

”How did you do it? How did you save him?”
The Huntress smiled again at the princess.

”They say that you have a singing voice from the heavens. A voice so beautiful and mesmerizing that even the birds stop to listen. A voice that might as well belong to an angel.”

”I do have a good singing voice. So did my mother have, they say.”
The Huntress stopped smiling. 

”So they say.” she said.
The two women let silence lay between them for a while.

”How did you save my father from corruption?” said the princess, breaking the silence.
The Huntress smiled again. At the same time, her fingers touched a beautiful piece of jewelry she wore around her neck. The necklace was a small hourglass with dark purple sand inside of it.

”I will tell you that, the day you need to be saved from the monsters' seduction.”