Reversed Roles

Poison

Warning: This chapter contains possible injury or death of a character. If you are attached to a character and can't handle death I advise you not to read.

Raven followed Hunter deep into the woods. He claimed to be taking her to pick flowers and berries but she knew better. They finally reached a clearing where Raven proceeded to pick some nearby lilies while Hunter sat on a tree stump close by. He slowly took his razor sharp dagger out of its sheath and approached the princess from behind. Raven quickly turned around to find the end of the dagger staring her in the eye. She gave a loud squeal and covered her face with her hands, dropping her basket of flowers.
"No! Please don't hurt me!" she pleaded. Hunter had an almost pitying look on his face before he shook it off.
"I have to. Queen's orders." he said.
"No, I don't want to die!" Raven cried as she scrunched her eyes up, ready for the sharp blade but instead she saw the dagger fall on the floor at her feet.
"I... I can't do it." Hunter sighed as his guilt overtook him. "Run into the woods and never return again!" And with that Hunter turned around and ran away, leaving Raven all by herself.
"Wait, you can't leave me all by myself. I'll freeze!" Raven yelled after him but it was no use. She was stranded in the woods alone.

After what seemed like eternity, two bluebirds landed on the ground in front of Raven. They started chirping at her.
"Do you know where I can stay?" she asked them. They started flying towards the forest, as if beckoning Raven to follow them. She decided that she really had nothing to lose so she went into the forest after them. They came across a sweet little cottage. Before Raven could thank the birds they had flown off leaving her once again alone. She was left to explore the cottage for herself. Everything in the little cottage looked as if it had shrunk or were for seven little children. Seven untidy children at that. There were dishes unwashed and floors unscrubbed.
"Do they ever clean up?" Raven thought out loud. She decided to clean up after these little people.
"Who knows. Maybe they'll let me stay." After Raven had finished cleaning downstairs we went upstairs to find seven little beds. It was then that Raven realised how tired she was. She put all seven beds next time each other and lay down on them. It wasn't long before she fell fast asleep.

Apple turned to her magic mirror, a triumphant grin on her face. Hunter had returned a few hours ago baring the news that Raven was dead. She held what she thought Raven's heart was in her hand.
"Mirror mirror on the wall. Who now is the fairest one of all?" she demanded to her mirror.
"Alas the fairest of them all is Raven White," the mirror responded. Apple's expression changed instantly.
"Where is she!?" she hissed venomously.
"In the middle of the dark woods. In a cottage with seven dwarves." In a fit of rage Apple yelled and threw the heart at the wall. She stormed out of her room screaming to the guards "Get me that traitor huntsman!"

Raven waved out the window, bidding the seven little men farewell. It had been several weeks since they had discovered her sleeping in their house. Cranky had been willing to throw her onto the streets as soon as she was found but Jack had been able to talk a little sense into him. Raven spent most of her days cleaning and baking for the men. They left very early in the morning and came back late at night. She couldn't understand why they had stay all day in the mines and had managed to persuade them to take a day off every week. She had settled in quite nicely and soon forgot all about Apple and the Kingdom. It got to the point where she let her guard down. This was a big mistake.

Apple picked out the reddest, shiniest apple that she could find. She would finally do it. She was going to outsmart her brag of a step-daughter. Nothing was going to get in her way this time. No disloyal huntsmen we're going to get in the way. Hunter had been executed only hours after returning with the goats heart. He had been convicted of treason against the Queen and knew that his demise was imminent. It hasn't taken long for Apple to come up with her next plan and here she was now putting it into action. She had been able to create a poison that could trap Raven in a death-like sleep. It was better than she could have hopped for.