East Kingdom, Present Day.
The Following Day...
The sound of light, peaceful breathing was the only thing inhabiting the Queen's room at that moment, Camilly and Freya slept embraced on the large bed located in the middle of the room, the room wasn't completely dark, the curtains were thin and let the sunlight in a little more softly, leaving the environment with a comfortable brightness that didn't disturb anyone's sleep who was there.
The night before, Camilly and the Queen had let themselves enjoy the moment, until the very last second, right after dinner they both went to Freya's room, which was where the night stretched on even longer, and only after their bodies were satisfied and tired, they both fell into a deep sleep.
Camilly was the first to wake up, her brown eyes opened slowly showing how sleepy she still was, the young girl yawned shaking off the rest of the sleep that consumed her, she then looked at the woman who was still sleeping deeply by her side and smiled, the memories of the previous night were still fresh in her memory, she could hardly believe she had actually received a romantic dinner and a beautiful necklace from Freya.
Camilly brought one of her hands to Freya and traced her jawline with her fingertips while staring at every detail of that woman's beautiful and serene face, the girl could feel her heart beat unevenly as she looked at her, the love she felt for the Queen was becoming almost impossible to control, remembering that she had almost said I love you to Freya the night before, Camilly pressed her lips together in an expression of disapproval, she knew that if she had let those three words escape her mouth, everything would have ended, the young woman knew that the Queen was fully aware of her love for her, but she also knew that the moment Freya heard those three words coming out of her mouth, she would go into a state of alert and completely shut down, it wasn't time, not yet.
The brunette was so absorbed in her own thoughts that she didn't even notice Freya had woken up from her caress, the Queen stared at her for a few seconds and smiled slightly when she noticed how distracted Camilly was.
– A kiss for your thoughts. – Freya said making Camilly come back to herself and look at her.
– Are my thoughts worth that much? – the young woman asked with a discreet smile.
– To me, yes. – replied the Queen admiring the shine that the brown eyes in front of her carried that morning.
Camilly smiled widely at Freya's response, the girl rested her head on her hand and stared at the Queen, she looked different that morning, her blue eyes were clearer and brighter than ever, the young girl wondered internally if this was the look of happiness she had never seen on the older woman's face, but had imagined so many times in her mind.
– I was just thinking about how happy I am right now, and how that's because of you. – Camilly spoke in a calm, relaxed tone – Can I get my payment now? – the girl asked, raising one of her eyebrows.
Freya smiled from the corner of her mouth and leaned towards Camilly, she pulled the younger one by the nape of her neck and took her mouth, just a touch of lips, which was enough to cause a chill in the stomach of the brown-haired girl.
– I think we're even now. – the Queen smiled slightly – Good morning, little Lioness. – Freya said staring into the younger woman's brown eyes.
– Good morning, Queen. – Camilly said returning the other woman's gaze.
– Sleep well? – Freya asked while tracing the lioness mark on Camilly's collarbone with her fingertips, it was a habit she wouldn't give up anytime soon.
– Very well. – the girl replied before tucking a loose strand of the Queen's hair behind her ear.
– No nightmares? – Freya asked staring at Camilly with a bit of curiosity and anxiety, she knew the girl suffered a lot from nightmares, and not being able to do anything to help her left her frustrated.
– No... – the girl sighed remembering her frequent nightmares – But they were shorter last night, and less bad. – Camilly said.
– I can't understand, how is it possible for you to have the same nightmares every night? Not even I have that many. – Freya said confused, it made her question if what Camilly had were really just nightmares.
– They're just bad dreams. – Camilly tried to reassure her with a warm smile – Don't worry about it. – the girl said before leaning in and placing a quick kiss on Freya's lips.
Freya sighed reluctantly, but decided to let it go for now, they might really just be nightmares, the Queen knew she could sometimes overthink certain things, maybe that's what she was doing now.
Camilly moved and sat on the edge of the bed while grabbing her shirt and putting it on, she turned her face back and looked at Freya out of the corner of her eye.
– I have to go deal with some things with the soldiers now, okay? – the younger one asked getting up from the bed and looking for her pants on the bedroom floor.
– Sure. – Freya replied simply – I have a lot of things to deal with today too, looks like we're going to have a full day. – the Queen spoke while sitting up in bed and pulling the blanket closer to her body.
Camilly turned to her while buttoning the last button on her pants, the girl leaned against one of the walls and put on one of her shoes, she did the same with the other, once she was ready, the young woman smiled and approached Freya, she sat on the edge of the bed and held the Queen's face in her hands, she brought her face close and took the older woman's lips, Camilly invaded Freya's mouth with her tongue, it wasn't long before they both began a slow, sensual dance with their tongues, the young girl kissed the Queen with such passion that she felt her heart beat faster.
– What was that? – Freya asked after the kiss, the Queen was breathless and felt her heart racing, it had been intense.
– I have to leave now, and since we'll have a full day, we probably won't get to see each other today. – Camilly smiled taking Freya's hand and placing a kiss on its back – And you know what they say, always give yourself to the kiss as if it were the last one. – the girl said smiling against the Queen's skin and staring intensely at her.
– Who said that phrase? – Freya asked with a raised eyebrow as she watched Camilly let go of her hand and get up from the bed.
– Me. – Camilly said with a playful smile on her face, she winked at the Queen before turning her back and heading to the bedroom door – See you later, Queen. – the girl said goodbye with a wide smile before leaving the room.
Freya sighed with a smile on her face, she shook her head as she got up from the bed.
That girl would still drive her crazy. Freya thought.
_
Camilly walked towards the royal hall while allowing herself to reflect a little on the latest events in her life, as if in an automatic gesture, the girl's right hand wrapped around the pendant of the necklace she wore around her neck, everything going through her mind at that moment was how much Freya had evolved in this past year, the differences in her behavior and personality were glaring, and knowing she was part of the reason for that evolution made Camilly happy and hopeful, maybe someday she and the Queen could really have a better life, one that didn't involve deaths, wars, dark magic, spells, curses or anything like that, maybe they could really be happy.
– Gentlemen. – Camilly exclaimed as she approached the three soldiers who had accompanied her on the patrol around the Kingdom the day before – I was actually looking for you. – she said stopping in front of the three men.
– What do you wish, Miss Camilly? – one of the soldiers asked stepping forward.
– First... – the younger one started rolling her eyes – You don't need to call me Miss, just call me Camilly, I've told you that many times. – Camilly sighed bored, they wouldn't stop with that annoying habit of calling her that – And second, I need to know if you remembered to bring what I asked you for. – the girl spoke with a serious expression.
– We did exactly as you asked, Miss. – one of the soldiers replied, Camilly restrained herself from rolling her eyes again hearing how he referred to her – We put it in your study. – the man informed.
– Alright. – Camilly smiled without showing her teeth – Thank you. – the girl thanked and soon saw the men bow slightly to her as a sign of respect.
The brunette frowned at the scene, it was almost comical to remember that 4 years ago these men treated her like an animal along with the other children, and now here they were, bowing before her, Camilly shook her head and turned her back on the soldiers walking away, the world really was an unpredictable place, she thought.
Camilly headed towards her study, she had created this place some time ago, in it she had peace and silence to think as much as necessary, there the brunette also studied the Kingdom of Snow White and at the same time made strategies for the war to come.
The girl entered the room and closed the door right after, she didn't want anyone there, she didn't want anything to disturb her concentration, and today particularly, she needed a lot of caution and secrecy, especially considering she was about to prove her theories about who was responsible for the attack on the patrol team she was part of.
Camilly walked calmly to the wooden table in the middle of the room, the place was spacious, the walls were white and the lighting was good, in the middle of the room there was a large wooden table full of papers, books, maps and an empty bottle that used to have coffee, also in the room there were two huge shelves completely full of books of all colors, shapes and sizes, on the floor there were crumpled papers with plans the young girl had considered useless and more books open on pages she had spent the day reading.
The young woman sat in the chair in front of the table, her gaze soon fell on the piece of white cloth that wrapped what had so confused her thoughts, Camilly took the object in her hands and unrolled the cloth, carefully the girl picked up the large piece of black glass that had been covered by the cloth.
Automatically her brow furrowed as she stared at the object, her head trying to formulate hypotheses and theories about who it belonged to, but nothing she thought seemed plausible enough, Camilly placed the black glass back on the table, the girl leaned back in her chair and looked at the object that reflected only the image of her eyes, she laughed ironically.
– Mirror, mirror on the wall... – Camilly spoke the phrase Freya had once said sarcastically letting out a nasal laugh.
That's when she stopped, many things invaded her mind at once, Camilly sat up straight and leaned over the table picking up the glass again, she had seen something like this somewhere before, her mind automatically took her to a person, a woman who by irony of fate, or not, had come out of a mirror when she entered her life.
– Where are you... – Camilly muttered as she searched for a specific paper among the others scattered on the table – That's it! – she exclaimed happily when she finally found what she was looking for, her eyes scanned each word written on that piece of paper and slowly everything started to make sense in her head – "Queen Ravenna used her powers to create soldiers made of glass and easy to defeat, she sent them on a suicidal war against the Kingdom ruled by Snow White's father, forged a war while disguising herself as a prisoner, so when the King defeated her fake army and rescued her, she seduced him and took his Kingdom for herself." – the brunette read that excerpt from the account that recorded the story of how Ravenna became Queen of the Kingdom that now belonged to Snow White.
Camilly let out a puff of air reading those words, four in particular stuck in her head "Soldiers made of glass", it made perfect sense, Ravenna had been the one behind the attack, the person who had tried to kill her.
– Damn her! – Camilly cursed as she got up from the chair abruptly, her blood was boiling with rage, her eyes were already taking on the well-known reddish hue that revealed how angry she was at that moment.
Camilly left the room in long strides and started walking down the castle corridor, all that went through her head was that Ravenna had tried to take her life, had tried to take her out of her path, and if she had really tried to do that, it was because she had a goal in mind and that goal involved one specific person, Freya.
The young girl was walking briskly towards Ravenna's room when something made her stop in her tracks, the door of one of the rooms in the long corridor she was passing opened, Camilly halted her steps and looked towards it, her brow furrowed in an expression of doubt, from what she remembered, that room should be empty, there was nothing inside, or that's how it should be.
– But what... – Camilly whispered confused as a yellowish light began to seep through the crack of the bedroom door, the brunette walked towards it somewhat cautiously.
Camilly held the hilt of the sword she had on her back preparing for whatever was to come, the girl grabbed the doorknob and opened it in a quick motion, she was ready to draw her sword when something made her stop, the room was empty, there was no one in it, the only thing occupying the place was a huge glass mirror that completely covered one of the four walls of the room.
The young woman with brown eyes, which were no longer reddish now, sighed frustrated, had it been in her head? She wondered confused, Camilly turned her back to the large mirror and prepared to leave the room, that's when something unexpected happened.
– I love you...
A male voice sounded through the room making the girl spin around abruptly towards the large mirror, Camilly's eyes widened as she saw the images now playing on the mirror like a movie, it was the image of a woman and a man, they seemed to be in a forest, a little further behind them you could see the tower of a castle.
– We can run away from here, leave all this behind. – the man spoke while delicately taking the hand of the woman in front of him – Let's run away my love, me, you and our daughter, let's live our lives happily. – he seemed to plead with a voice full of emotion.
Camilly let her arm that had been outstretched holding the hilt of her sword fall, she walked further into the room and got closer to the mirror that continued playing the images, her heart raced, she was beginning to understand what it was, and it all started to make even more sense when the face of the woman the man was talking to was revealed.
– Freya... – Camilly whispered unable to believe what she saw, Freya was right there, reflected in the mirror's image next to the man who had begged her to run away, she looked different from the Queen the younger one knew, her hair wasn't snow-white but brown, the expression on her face was serene, and a few seconds after hearing the man's words she smiled, smiled widely like Camilly had never seen her smile.
– I love you too. – Freya spoke while gently touching the man's face – And I accept my love, let's run away from here, today even, just give me a few hours to prepare. – the Queen said.
The man stared at her with a wide smile, his hands took Freya's face and brought her closer to his, then they kissed passionately.
Camilly's eyes welled up, she knew those were old images that happened long before she met Freya, but being there seeing the woman she loves being so surrendered to someone else, hearing her openly declare her love to someone who wasn't her, hurt her, heavens it hurt like hell.
Part of her wanted to run out of that place without looking back, but there was another part of her that wanted to stay there and see how it would end, and it was that part that made Camilly stay there, motionless as she stared at the mirror and saw the image of the man she guessed was the prince Freya loved and the Queen herself disappear, giving way to another image, it was still in the same forest, but this time only the man appeared, he had a scared expression and seemed to be staring at something or someone in front of him.
– Well well... – the female voice sounded making the man even more scared – Did you really think your little plan would work? Oh, poor foolish man. – the voice spoke and then let out a laughter full of malice.
As soon as that sound reached Camilly's ears she recognized it, she knew very well who that voice belonged to.
– Ravenna... – Camilly whispered surprised as the image revealed that Ravenna was the person the man was staring at.
– Please... Let us go, I promise I'll take care of your sister, I love Freya. – the dark-haired, blue-eyed man begged the Queen.
Ravenna smiled wickedly and approached the man, her hand held his chin and forced him to look at her, the woman brought her face close to the young man's face and whispered seductively inches from his mouth.
– Too bad I won't let that happen. – Ravenna spoke before kissing him.
Camilly frowned and clenched her jaw in an angry and confused expression, she didn't understand, had that man traded Freya for her own sister? No, it couldn't be that, the brunette, although she hated to admit it, saw sincerity in the young man's eyes when he admitted to loving Freya, he really loved her and wanted to live a life by her side, but then why...
Her doubts were answered as soon as Ravenna ended the kiss and moved away from the prince, when the man opened his eyes they were filled with a yellow glow, his expression was neutral, he said nothing, did nothing, he didn't even move.
– She enchanted him. – Camilly said to herself not believing how cruel Ravenna had been.
As if she could see the younger one's expression, the Ravenna in the mirror laughed once more, she caressed the young man's face and stared at him with an evil smile.
– Now... – Ravenna brought her mouth close to the prince's ear – Kill your daughter. – she ordered before moving away again and smiling as she saw him turn his back and start walking towards the castle.
Once alone, Ravenna whistled and soon a black raven flew towards her and rested on her shoulder, the Queen took a white envelope containing the young prince's family crest and placed it in the animal's mouth.
– Take it to my sister. – the Queen ordered the bird, which soon left her shoulder and started flying again, this time towards the castle tower, Ravenna smiled widely seeing that it had worked, her plan had worked.
The young girl swallowed hard feeling this new discovery churn her stomach, but she barely had time to digest everything when the image in the mirror changed again, this time to a room with walls blending light pink and white with a small hand-carved wooden crib in its center, Camilly snorted imagining what would come next, it wasn't long before the image of the man Freya loved appeared.
The young prince was by the crib, in his hands he held a lit torch, the man leaned over the crib and brought the torch close to its wood, then the firelight illuminated his face, he remained as expressionless as Camilly had noticed when he was in the forest, but this time many tears streamed down his face, and in his eyes there was pain, a lot of pain, Camilly automatically remembered Freya's eyes, and that made a tear roll down her face too.
What happened next made Camilly want to vomit for the cruelty and terror it represented, the man set the crib on fire while the baby cried, the scene lasted only a few minutes, minutes that seemed like an eternity to the brown-eyed girl.
When the crib was already completely engulfed in flames, two soldiers burst into the room and advanced on the prince, one of the soldiers threw water on the crib and with great effort managed to put out the fire, but it was too late, the child was dead.
It was at that moment that Freya's figure appeared at the bedroom door, her mouth was slightly open and her eyes welled up, she looked at the burnt crib and assumed an expression of pain, soon she shifted her gaze from the crib to the man she loved who was now being held by the soldiers with his clothes dirty with ash and smoke.
– I had no choice... – the man whispered staring at the woman he loved – I had no choice, Freya. – he spoke while begging with his eyes for the woman in front of him to believe his words.
At that moment Camilly saw the darkness awakening inside Freya, the woman consumed by hatred and pain screamed loudly as her skin became even paler and her hair turned white, a trail of ice spread across the floor of the room towards the young man who soon had his body completely frozen, his frozen body lost its balance and fell to the floor, shattering into pieces.
Freya seemed to lose her strength, her body went limp and before she could fall straight to the floor, Ravenna appeared and held her in her arms, the blonde woman looked at the burnt crib, at the frozen pieces of the prince's body and then at her own sister who was unconscious in her arms, then discreetly a corner smile opened on her lips, she had won, as always.
– Oh my God. – Camilly exclaimed terrified as she saw the image in the mirror fade and gradually her own reflection reappear.
When the mirror reflected her own image Camilly saw Megan behind her, her eyes widened in surprise and before she could do anything she felt a hard object hit the back of her neck.
– Ah! – Camilly groaned in pain and soon felt Megan take the sword from her back and kick her body forward throwing her against the mirror.
The mirror cracked with the impact and Camilly fell sitting on the floor facing Megan, the girl brought one of her hands to the back of her neck and felt a warm, viscous liquid wet her hand, blood, it was her blood, the brunette lifted her head and stared at the General, her vision was blurred and she felt dizzy.
– You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment. – Megan said with a wide, psychotic smile on her face.
Camilly tried to get up but the General kicked her again making her hit her back against the mirror once more, this time breaking it, the girl grunted in pain feeling some glass shards penetrate her skin.
– Where do you think you're going, brat? – Megan asked sarcastically as she stopped in front of the girl's body sitting on the floor.
Camilly stared at Megan for a few moments but soon her attention was drawn to the room door, there standing outside in the castle corridor was Ravenna, she looked directly at the brown-eyed young woman, then Camilly saw her smile maliciously, the same way she had done in the mirror images, before starting to walk unconcernedly down the corridor and disappear from her sight.
– Megan... Don't do this. – Camilly spoke returning her gaze to Megan, still feeling her vision blurred and her head throbbing with pain.
Megan laughed loudly throwing her head back, soon she stared back at the girl with an evil smile, the General's eyes carried a psychotic and sadistic look, it was at that moment that Camilly realized, that woman was there to kill her.
– You know, this is almost ironic... – the General began with an animated smile – You arrived here getting all the Queen's attention, then she was impressed with you and gave you this sword... – she raised the weapon as if showing it to Camilly – And now... – Megan smiled and pointed the sword at the young girl – I'll kill you with it. – the woman spoke with a wide smile on her face.
– You know if you do that, Freya will kill you! – Camilly shouted angrily then groaned from the pain in her head and back.
– I don't care! – exclaimed the General in the same tone – I might even go to hell, but I'm taking you with me. – Megan spoke in a sadistic tone while smiling – Haven't you realized it yet? This is your destiny, no matter how much you try to run from it, your destiny is to die for more important people, it always has been. – the gray-eyed woman spoke.
– I'm the one who chooses my own destiny. – Camilly spoke angrily, she hated that, she hated when people wanted to put her in a label or a class, she decided who she wanted to be or do, not them.
– Doesn't look like it now. – the General smiled provocatively – Enough talk, it's time for you to die. – Megan assumed a serious expression and prepared a strike with the sword – Let's see if the red of the sword will mix with the red of your blood. – the woman said opening a wide smile.
The brown-eyed young woman saw Megan hold the sword hilt tighter and pull her arm back, at that moment she knew what was going to happen, the General would kill her and there was nothing she could do to change that, then Camilly closed her eyes preparing for what was to come, she pulled the pendant of her necklace holding it with her right hand and decided she wanted her last thought to be of something good, something that made her happy.
So she thought, she thought of Freya.