Fallen Snow Upon Darkened Lips

"Lay your sleeping head, my love,
Human on my faithless arm,
Time and fevers burn away..."
Lullaby, WH Auden


The snow had fallen in clumps of white, and among them stood the most beautiful girl in all the land. Her hair tumbled down her slender shoulders in curls of black, as dark as night, and her skin, as pale and cold as  frosted ice, peeked from underneath. Hands, held upward to greet the newly arrived winter, tilted, and she smiled, her breath warming the air around her in puffs of grey and silver.

Her eyes lit upon William, her best friend since childhood, and then to the Huntsman, the man who was sworn to kill her, and she laughed. Their eyes lit in return, both in their own separate ways, as they walked forward to meet her, side by side.

"It's finally arrived," she announced happily. "Summer is over, and winter has begun."
"Aye," the Huntsman offered. "And a harsh one at that." They all looked up toward the skies, trying to read the unforetold.

"This will be my first winter outside in over ten years," she murmured. "The last winter I ever saw daylight, my mother was buried. It's nice," she added, forcing cheerfulness, her eyes closing in the brisk, cold weather. "I feel she's closer now, like I'm near her, walking in her footsteps, and father is right beside us. Were together, somehow."

William looked critically at the girl who'd grown so much in all the time they spent apart from each other, and yet marveled at how sweet and... innocent she was. She was beautiful, yet even though she'd grown, she retained that blissful childhood promise of all things small and perfect. Even in death, and enshrouded by hate and pain, she still looked like a child to him, one that had to be protected, for all the years he hadn't been close to her. A penance. A sworn duty. Not more, no less.

Eric stepped forward first, and spoke, "You are close to them. Always. Right here." He gestured to his chest, where she knew his beating heart would be, strong and true. "And you have us now. We aren't allowed to let you suffer anymore." His added breath and whisper to those last words made her smile softly again, her eyes trying not to add tears to what she once thought was a happy occasion. Eric clapped her on the shoulder.

"Stay strong, my Queen," he said, a smile on his lips. "And smile. A frown does not suit, nor become, a lady."

"We must be getting inside. It grows darker," she whispered, a grin blooming on her snow white face. William nodded, a hand to his bow, ready to use it if need be. She caught his expression, and smiled for him too, even if her heart was silently breaking.

He knew, just as well. He knew the truth that spoke on unspoken lips, the lie she tried so desperately to refrain, again and again.

But, it still grieved her, beyond all time and breathless whispers. She shook her head in denial, and smiled again.

What use would a broken heart be to a country that needed her?