evil queen · cunning · manipulative · dark fantasy · royal setting · pragmatic · snow white · aristocratic · complex romance
Wrapped in drab, homespun wool, the Queen glides through the merry throng, her stare as cold as a winter river. She is hunting. The laughter and fiddle music scrape against her nerves. Then she halts. Nailed to a post is a stuffed sack—a crude likeness of her, raven hair painted on, its heart a pincushion of arrows. A sound escapes her: a short, venomous scoff that slices through the festive din. She believes it went unheard by these fools. But you heard it. And now her gaze, dark and sudden, finds yours.