Reflect - Snow White Retold

Part 2

TWO

An owl screeched in the night, warning invaders out of its territory.

Guinevere jumped. "What was that?" Her round eyes reflected the firelight, making her look like an owl herself.

Xylander fought not to laugh. "Just a barn owl. I thought you liked birds."

She pulled her cloak more closely around her and lay down again. "I do. I just...never heard one scream like that. It sounds like that poor woman last week, when Father overturned the soup pot in his fury and scalded the cook." She shivered.

Poor Guinevere. With their older brother, Lubos, riding around the kingdom, doing his best to rule in Father's stead, and Xylander out hunting as often as he could, she alone had borne the brunt of their father's rages, along with her duties as castle chatelaine, for their stepmother hadn't the slightest idea how to run a castle.

"You'll be safe inside the walls of your own castle before Father finds out you're gone, and not even he will be mad enough to go to war to get you back," Xylander said.

She rolled onto her side so she faced him. "Where are we going, Lander?"

"To the court of King Artorius, in Castrum. His fortress city is nigh on impregnable, and his knights are the finest anywhere. Father offered him your hand in marriage, so it will not seem strange for you to arrive." Xylander hesitated, but he had to tell her the rest, so he continued, "Artorius has a daughter, but no sons, so he demanded that Father betroth me to his daughter by way of alliance instead. Father wants the girl to come here, to make me his heir and unite the two kingdoms. Artorius wants me to go there, to marry the girl and become king."

"But Lubos is the eldest, and Father's heir!" Guinevere protested.

"Father has gone mad, like I said." Xylander said, throwing a stick at the fire.

"So you're taking me to Artorius, so you can claim your bride? Then what?" she asked.

Xylander shook his head. "Once you are safely crowned, then I can disappear. I have no desire to be king of anywhere, Guin. You know that. I've always left the kingly things to Lubos, because that's his destiny, not mine. I wish I'd been born a knight, or some nobleman, so that I might spend my days hunting. You must call me Lander, or Sir Lander, and if anyone asks, I am your protector, your father's sworn knight. Not a prince."

"And what about the girl? The princess?" Guinevere pressed.

He would stay as far away from her as possible. Xylander forced himself to shrug. "A marriageable girl, whose dowry comes with a whole kingdom, shouldn't be so difficult to deal with, even if she's a gorgon. Find her a more suitable match than me. I'd suggest Lubos, but he had his heart set on some baron's daughter, last time I looked. You'll be her stepmother, so marriage alliances are well within your power to make. Or perhaps she has her own ideas. If she's anything like you, I'm sure she will."

Even if she was still the loveliest woman in the world, nothing would induce Xylander to marry the girl, because her dowry came with a king's crown he had no desire to wear. Better to believe her a gorgon, and never see her again.

"Worry not about the girl, or anything else," he said. "As your brother and your knight protector, I swear on my life I will see that you are safe before I leave you. You will never have to face Father and his axe."

She sighed. "Then you should sleep, too, for you will need to be well rested if we must ride to the next kingdom." She patted the blanket beside her. "Better than sleeping on the floor of my tower room, just like you said." She smiled at her own joke, making light of her discomfort.

Xylander shook his head. "I cannot. Someone must stand watch, and even if I wanted to, I could not sleep, knowing you are in danger." And whenever he closed his eyes, his imagination showed him her headless, handless corpse. Better to stay awake all night than think of such things.

"I thought you'd say that. So I brought you an apple." She held it out. "I've enchanted it so that a single bite will give you a night of dreamless sleep. Even a man of your size."

He took the apple, thanking her for the gift as he tucked it away for later. Much later, when they had reached Castrum, and he could finally sleep soundly.

If they reached Castrum.

Xylander waited for Guinevere to fall asleep before he banked the fire, hiding its light so that no one would see them from the road. She'd taken such good care of him after their mother died – it was time he repaid the favour.