A Crystal Coffin and Silver Dagger.

We all know of the tragedy that befell Snow White and how the dwarves placed her in a crystal coffin, only for a prince to come and upon seeing the lovely corpse insisted on having her.

The prince tried pleading but they denied his request to take their beloved Snow White. He tried reasoning that such a lovely thing should be admired in a royal court and most of all by him. When the dwarves sneered and once again refused, the prince attempted bribing them.

“I would give you all the gold and gems to make a dozen of these crystal coffins and more!”

To this, the oldest dwarf bellowed “You think that gold and pretty jewels would convince us to give you all that is left of the closest thing any of us had to a sister or daughter? To you she is but a pretty ‘thing’ to admire, but to us she was… is our family! And even if she wasn’t, just what depravity courses through you to buy a dead girl’s body? How cruel would that make us to just hand over the poor child for you to defile? Be! Gone!”

The other dwarves roared their agreements! Their diminutive bodies let out such load and viscous sounds that the prince and his men were startled at the ferocity.

In his anger at being denied once again and fear of the now savage looking men the prince drew his sword.

“How dare you utter such filth in my presence! Give me the girl or it will be your heads and the coffin I carry back to the palace!”

“Vile brat,” the eldest dwarf spat before four of the older dwarves stepped forward wielding various weapons of daggers, axes and staffs while the three younger stood guard beside the coffin.

The dwarves attacked so fiercely that three of the prince’s men fell and his royal highness nearly lost his sword hand, however, the knights proved to be just as fierce and on the prince’s orders killed the eldest dwarf as four attendants picked up the coffin and escaped, leaving the battered and grieving six to their anguish.

The prince and his men carried the coffin all through the night, not wanting to give the dwarves a chance to catch up with them. It was inevitable that even one of those holding the heavy coffin would tire and drop his end, but they were all so annoyed and disturbed as the prince would ride beside the coffin every few hours to look at their cargo, not caring for their exhaustion or discomfort of nearly being shoved or trampled by his horse while they traveled on foot. When one of the attendants fell to earth to relieve his aching body the rest had no qualms in dropping their burden.

The crystal coffin tipped sideways and landed with harsh thud that forced the lid to fall away and jostled the girl inside. The force and degree in which she bounced shifted the poisoned piece of apple that stuck in her throat and allowed just enough air to pass into her lungs.

There was soft wheezing sound until the once prone Snow White caughed up the poisoned apple. She rolled onto her side and gasped for breath. After nearly a year of being comatose she had to force herself to breath slowly or risk choking on nothing but air.

And the prince, who rode back to scold the men for dropping his prize, was at first astonished and even a little put out, then thought that taking the now very much alive girl as his bride to be far more appealing than a lovely ornament.

“My snow white beauty, you are awake,” he said in his most charming baritone.

The princess finally noticed the strange men surrounding her, most staring as though upon one who has risen from the dead and the one man dressed in fine clothes gazed like she had at that juicy looking apple. Considering her last memory was biting into said apple and then a numbing sensation and then waking up to nearly choking on a single bite, she realized that she must have been unconscious for some time and to never eat apples again, especially from ugly old peddlers.

“Who are you, where are the dwarves and how do you know my name?”

Her voice was so gruff the men didn’t know if it was from lack of use or natural.

The prince was slightly annoyed at the distrustful glare from the pretty face but continued to speak calmly.

“Is Snow White your name, then? I am Prince Ferdinand of Florian. I rescued you from those wild little men who dared to lock you up in a coffin. You need not fear as they are,”

“The dwarves would never lock me up! Whatever you thought is wrong and I would like to return to my family. You can either lend me a horse and point me in the direction you came from or I can walk back.”

The prince was now very angry at being given an order but fought to keep his temper from the girl he considered his property.

“Now, my dear Snow White. Why return to those brutish commoners? Come with me and I will shower you in luxury and gifts. You will eat the finest foods and drink the best wine. You will be waited on hand and foot should you become my bride and future queen of my kingdom.”

Snow White was frightened but refused to show it. After being tricked by that old woman, who she now suspected was her stepmother, wanted nothing to do with this prince. She knew that he would not let her go willingly and judging by the number of men on horse she wouldn’t get far if she tried to run. After not speaking for a while, the prince reached from atop his horse and grabbed her by the waist to haul her onto his lap. Snow White tensed and as she tried to think of a way out of this, when she saw the piece of apple, laying innocently, on the ground.

“Wait!”

The prince pulled on the reins but did not release her waist.

“I will agree to go with you to your kingdom willingly. But first, I must ask that you take the coffin as well as the piece of apple, down there. Finally, I must tell you of a woman so beautiful you would surely prefer her to me.”

The prince smiled indulgently and listened to her describe a young queen of a nearby country, whose skin was pink as a peach, hair as soft as a newborn fawn, eyes made of cut emeralds and a regal bearing befitting her rank. Unbeknownst to the prince, as they were riding, Snow White had a dagger the dwarves had gifted her to hide inside a pocket in her dress. When one of the men had picked up the apple piece and gave it to her in a handkerchief, she had carefully sheethed her dagger and squeezed any juice remaining inside it that might carry the poison over the silver blade. And as she attempted to beguile him with the image of her own stepmother she stretched and bent her her legs and ankles in the hopes of getting proper blood flow into them.

At last, they came to a clearing in the forest. For e moment, Snow White was blinded by the warm light of the the open sky until her vision adjusted enough to see a white castle in the distance and a city surrounding it.

“Welcome to Florian, my Princess.”

Snow White gave the prince an innocent smile and he thought that whatever woman she was talking about surely couldn’t be as fair and cute as the one in his arms.

Then she cut his arm.

Surprised by the sudden pain the prince’s hold on Snow White loosened enough for her to shove him off of his horse and take hold of the reins. As he lay dazed on the ground, she threw the knife at the feet of the servants carrying the coffin behind the group, causing them to stumble and once again drop the heavy crystal However, to avoid falling on the dull handle the servants leaned away the casket fell upon several men.

Before any of the other men could attempt to stop her she cried out “There was poison on that knife and none but the green eyed witch who gave it to me can cure him. Best get him to bed and find her!”

And with those words she galloped away leaving the remaining soldiers to tend frantically to their prince. The last she heard of any of them was Prince Ferdinand hoarsely shouting orders to chase after her. She didn’t think the poison would work instantly or at all but so long as they were distracted then she could escape them. She did not dare to slow down or stop but to bend low to follow the tracks the prince and his men had made. For the remainder of the day and through the night she burdened the horse to gallop without rest, barely dodging the leaves and branches in her way. By dawn she recognized the trees and shrubs and finally slowed the horse to a trot towards the dwarve’s cottage.