Magic Mirror

The mirror showed a reflection that wasn’t my own. It had pale skin with a greenish tint, slitted snake-like eyes, and teeth filed to sharp points. Its long dark hair was the only remnant that showed she used to be human.

I used to be repulsed by the image, but now, barely any bile rose in my throat. “Magic Mirror on the wall, show me my step-daughter.”

The image wavered and Snow White stood in the forest, picking flowers and humming a merry tune, while my huntsman drew his knife and approached from behind. I should have felt disgust, or maybe even sadness. She was my step-daughter, after all. While I averted my eyes and didn’t watch the kill, all I felt was relief. It was finally over.

The mirror crackled back to inky blackness. It had taken me a while to figure out what the mirror did. It had always been in this room, long before I was queen. Tall and gilded gold with ornate scrollwork around the outside, but only darkness within. Finally, when I said “Magic Mirror,” it lit up and showed me anything I asked. Over time, it showed me the true character of Snow White.

Snow had always been a different girl. She had a power over people. They would do anything she said. She could tell someone to jump off a cliff, and that person would obey. They thought she was an angel sent from the gods. I was the only one to see that she was a demon, not an angel.

It was little things at first. Her pretty face contorting if she didn’t get her way. The cold look she gave me. Even the birds that were found dead and mutilated around the grounds of the castle. The mirror showed me all.

I tried normal discipline. Locking her in her room without supper or taking away a favorite toy. Nothing worked. In the end, it was the mysterious death of her father, my husband, that prompted me to act.

I barely looked at her heart when the huntsman brought it to me. I felt cold to my core, but I knew it had to be done. I was queen now. My responsibility was to mete out justice and protect my kingdom from evil. 

I didn’t know they had duped me. Not even when my huntsman committed suicide the next week. I never suspected that a rot was festering on the western edge of the kingdom. It was years of relative peace before I confronted the possibility that Snow White was still alive.

#

I used the mirror often to monitor the kingdom. When I heard the dwarves were acting strangely, skipping work and starting fights, I sent a couple of soldiers to investigate. No one returned. I had a gnawing pit in my stomach, the unfailing certainty that something was wrong.

“Magic Mirror on the wall. Show me the West Wood Dwarves.” It gave me a vulpine smile before shimmering out of existence.

I fell to my knees, hearing the bones crack as I hit the stone floor. There was Snow White. She sat on a high-backed chair while dwarves circled around her, bringing food and drink. One brushed her long black hair, while another sat at her feet, making her a red silk gown. 

Faintly, distorted by the mirror, I heard her speak. “When I am Queen, you shall live in the palace. Whatever part of the kingdom you want, it is yours. This I promise for all you have done.”

They listened to her every word. The ones near the door beat their staffs into the ground as if ready to go to war right then. “When, my Queen? We are ready now. Why must we wait?”

She took a sip of a drink that turned her lips bright red. “I am almost strong enough. Give me a week, and more of this.” 

For the first time, I saw a man, one of my soldiers, tied to a chair in the corner. A dwarf approached and made a long slice on his arm, holding the cup beneath. 

When Snow had the cup, she turned with a smile, and looked through the mirror, right at me.

#

I broke the connection, and crawled towards a trash can, heaving until my lunch came up.

The creature survived. Part of me wanted to run far away, but I knew it wouldn’t do any good. She was too cunning to let me leave, and she was coming in a week. I only had one choice. When I could stand, I stumbled towards the library. 

I pulled every book on curses and creatures. I wasn’t even sure what she was. If the huntsman had killed her, maybe a revenant, an undead creature back for revenge? But I suspected the huntsman lied to me about that. His suicide was too convenient. She had grown up in the last few years, so she couldn’t be undead. That left demon-possessed and witch. 

I searched well into the night, but it wasn’t enough. I needed more information. I turned to the only thing that had never lied to me. It always showed the truth, no matter how dark.

“Magic Mirror on the wall, show me how to defeat Snow White, once and for all.” 

The mirror pulsed for a moment, shooting out wisps of black smoke that turned the room a few degrees colder. Then it showed me, disguised as a beggar, offering Snow an apple laced with poison.

I turned away, my stomach roiling and threatening to empty again. I took a few deep breaths. It was the only way. I was strong enough for this.

That night, the dreams began. Horrible nightmares, all featuring Snow White as a villain. She would kill people, sometimes with her possessed dwarves as her tools and other times ripping them to pieces with her own teeth.

I woke in a cold sweat, my heart beating so loud that I could hear it in my ears. I could feel unseen eyes, watching me. I glanced at the mirror, and for a second, saw the twisted face in the reflection. When I blinked, it was gone.

“Now, I am seeing things…” I muttered. My dreams were affecting me. Somehow, she could reach me, even when far away.

As soon as the sun broached the horizon, I went to my study and prepared myself. Make-up and haggard clothes and I barely recognized myself through my disguise. I called upon the local apothecary for the strongest poison, on the pretense of killing rats in the castle. Then, I set out with an apple to find Snow and deliver justice. 

The West Wood was unseasonably cold, and I regretted my rags had holes, but I gritted my teeth and stumbled along. I tripped over tree roots and scraped my knees on rocks. I slept under a tree that night, and dreamed of Snow White haunting me even after I killed her. I woke up screaming. My voice turned haggard in the cold. I doubted even my mother would recognize me at that point. Finally, I saw the cottage ahead.

I knocked, and Snow answered. “Water. Please, I—” I broke off into a raspy cough. 

“You poor dear.” She brought me a stool to sit on while she ran to the well. 

Something didn’t feel right. She was too nice. Maybe it was the facade that she showed others, but I was second-guessing everything. Then, for the briefest moment, her face shifted into a cruel smile, before shifting back into nice naivety. It was only a fraction of a second, but it steeled my nerves. 

“Please, take this.” I held out the bright red apple. ‘It’s the only thanks I have to offer.”

She hesitated.

“Please, let me thank you.” I pushed the apple at her, ready for this to be over.

She smiled sweetly and took the apple from my hands, dropping it in the pocket on her apron.

I ground my teeth in frustration. “It’s a special apple. One bite will grant you a wish.”

With an excited squeal, she took it out and whispered, “To find my true love.” She bit into the bright red exterior. Then, she fell to the ground. Her eyes closed and her chest stopped moving.

My hands were shaking, but I didn’t have time to do anything but flee. I could hear the dwarves approaching, coming home from their shift at the mines.

I ran blindly, tears streaming down my face. It was as if my dreams were no longer dreams. Every gnarled tree looked like Snow White’s face. Every shrub looked like a dwarf come to catch me. She seemed to chase me all the way to the castle.

When I finally collapsed into bed, a different sort of dream plagued me. I saw Snow White, resting in a glass coffin and tended by dwarves even in her death. A Prince approached captivated by her beauty. He jostled the corpse and the bite of apple fell out. Snow opened her eyes.

I gasped awake. All that work. It wasn’t possible. Sobbing, I tumbled out of bed and crawled to the mirror. It was already awake, despite not saying the words. I cleared my throat, “Magic Mirror, show me Snow White.”

The creature shimmered out of the frame and showed Snow White with her prince planning a wedding. So it wasn’t a dream. I clenched my fists. How many times do I have to kill her before she stays dead?

I made a mental note to check the apothecary to see what they actually gave me, but other than that, I had no plan. If another kingdom protected her, I couldn’t come at her openly, but maybe I could give a warning.

“Magic Mirror, how can I stop her?”

The mirror showed me attending the royal wedding and warning the king and queen. I shuddered. The mirror always showed a way, though each time, it was harder. I swallowed hard. Even if I had to grovel before them, I would make them believe the truth. Snow White was treacherous and dangerous.

#

I arrived at the royal wedding with the usual fanfare that accompanied a royal visit. Gold and silver gilded carriages filled the courtyard, as hundreds of dignitaries thronged in for the wedding.

I saw Snow across the crowded room, but before I could do anything, she saw me. She whispered to her prince. Within minutes, guards flanked me on either side. I knew it was over. Who would believe me now? I walked into the gates of the enemy and surrendered without a fight.

In a side chamber, the prince sat in a high-backed chair, ready to receive me. I opened my mouth to plead, but he wouldn’t let me speak.

“How dare you show up here, after trying to kill Snow White…” His face softened for a moment as he looked at his soon-to-be-bride.

I felt sick. I refused to look away. If he only knew the viper that clung to his arm, he would thank me and finish the job, but how could anyone suspect that sweet innocent face? 

“I should have you killed right now, except it would ruin the festivities.”

I knew the treat in his voice to be true. “Please…” I knelt before him in a last attempt. “Can I speak to the king and queen?”

That angered him further. He immediately pronounced judgement. I only half-listened to my punishment. The guards led me away and held me down, changing my soft slippers for a pair of iron red shoes.

“Dance,” the prince said cruelly, “You will dance until you die.”

And then the shoes danced on their own accord, magically possessed to never stop moving, as long as I had a pulse. 

I danced a jig through the revelers in the hall, embarrassing myself before my peers with my lack of control. Then, I waltzed out of the castle. I could not take my carriage, and still I danced.

The shoes tightened as my feet swelled within. They wouldn’t let me stop to rest or sleep or even relieve myself. I only hoped to make it back to the mirror. It was the only thing I knew with magic. The only thing that could help me.

Two days, I danced myself through the forest. My knees were locking and buckling, tears streamed down my face as blood streamed down my feet. It was a nightmare I couldn’t wake from.

Finally, I made it to the mirror. I was so tired, I could barely lift my legs. And still I danced.

“Magic Mirror on the wall. Help me break this curse.” I cried.

“Closer,” the creature wheezed. “I have to touch them.”

I danced up to the glass, careful not to kick it, and touched a shoe to the mirror.

I felt a tug in my stomach, and then I was falling, down, down, down, into complete darkness.

When I stopped moving, I sat there in stunned silence. I wasn’t dancing anymore, though my legs still throbbed with the after-memory. I didn’t know where I was, but I focused and saw the face of the mirror creature.

“Where am I?”

She smiled. “In the mirror, of course.”

The darkness seemed to take shape around me, and I saw what looked like a window to the outside world. Only I was in the inky blackness, and the creature was on the other side in my bedroom.

I didn’t understand, so I weakly said, “Thank you. Now please let me out.”

She raised what could have been an eyebrow, except her face did not have that feature. Really, it just stretched her eye a little. 

“Sixteen years. That’s how long I’ve been in the mirror…” She paced the room on long scaly legs. “I wanted a child more than anything in the world. A child with skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony. I made a magical wish, and it was granted, though I paid the cost the same day as the child was born. Trapped in the mirror and forced to see.” She gestured around the room.

I felt queasy. I had been told that Snow White’s mom died during childbirth. How could this scaly creature have been the same human queen?

“I watched you come in and take over my life, sleep with my husband and raise my child. I was so helpless at first. Helpless and angry. I shifted into this, forced by the magic of the mirror to show truly.”

I shuddered as I took in her monstrous form. What kind of hate could twist a person so?

“Oh, but then you figured out the key. And the more you used me, the more I gained control. I showed you what I wanted, not just what was true. Soon, my power bled into the physical world. You gave me strength. The object of my revenge gave me the strength I needed to enact it.”

I stumbled up to a standing position, but fell back again from the pain. I crawled to the window.

“It was almost enough, but I needed more than your strength. I needed a magical object to break me free.”

She pointed to the iron shoes, now a cold gray and no longer magical.

She barked out a guttural laugh. “And you actually thought Snow White was a demon. The gentlest creature I’ve ever seen, and you were ready to throttle her yourself.”

It sank in then. Every evil thing I saw, it was through the mirror. And then, when the creature was strong enough, through my tainted mind.

I started pounding on the mirror, but it was as strong as stone. I left bloody marks across the glass.

“History will remember you as the vain queen. The queen who spent too long staring in the looking glass. An evil, vain, STUPID queen…”

I screamed, but no sound came out. 

“Wait until summoned,” She cackled. “Magic Mirror on the wall, show me Snow White.”

Magic lanced through me, forcing me to disappear and to show Snow White. She was still feasting from the marriage. I gasped back into reality, trying to fight the torrent of magic that pulled me back into blackness.

“Please,” I pounded once more at the confines of my prison. The darkness was as solid as the window had been. I couldn’t move. I let out the real monster, and her parting gift… she trapped me in a coffin of darkness.

The last thing I saw, the monstrous creature tossed a blanket over the mirror, plunging me into complete and eternal darkness.