The Evil Queen's daughter.

Chapter 4

For Nila, you could say it was a normal day. She rolled out of bed at sunrise and pulled a clean outfit over her head before heading off to the stables. After a moment of deliberation, she selected her saddle and swiftly mounted her horse. It's name was Rose, after her favourite flower. Life had not been particularly kind to her, and she was currently suffering its consequences.

She had been alone since the first curse hit, finding shelter in a nearby safe haven from the ogres. When Nila saw the purple smoke and felt the ground shake for a second time, she was sure she would not survive. Not another curse. Either that or the ogres were back. And after some careful consideration, she realised neither would be ideal.

As she trotted on, she adjusted her hair, pushing the long tassels from in front of her face. Her hair had always been uncontrollable as a child, and she longed for a mother who would brush through all of the knots and plait it for her each morning. She remembered envying the girls whose mothers would braid their hair into all sorts of styles. Unfortunately, that was not in the cards for the girl, and so she learned to take care of herself.

Nila had been in a foster home for as long as she could remember,
and after the evil queen had cast the first curse, there was not much chance of her finding a family. She fidgeted on her horse as she thought of the friends she had lost, they had been ripped apart and Nila knew there wasn't much hope in seeing her again. Not after the curse, wherever they had ended up.

Horse riding had never failed to be a constant in her life, and she found herself extremely lucky when the curse left all of the beautiful animals behind. She stroked Rose's neck before reaching for an apple in her satchel. As Nila held out her hand, awaiting the gentle bite, she noticed something coming from the sky.

It looked like an animal but it was far too big to be any type of bird. As the creature roamed closer, the sky began to darken and she felt a cold breeze against her neck. It sent chills down her spine, even though she had survived much colder. She jumped off Rose, who galloped away the moment she could. Nila didn't have enough time to stop her. She dropped the apple. Though she was skilled with a bow and arrow, she didn't think that would be enough to save her now.

The beast was only metres away. It was heading straight for her.
Nila closed her eyes and curled up into a ball on the floor, maybe this way it wouldn't see her. As it flew closer towards her, she held out her hands, hoping something - anything might happen. Minutes passed. Where had it gone?  Had her plan worked? Had the beast not seen her? The girl heard footsteps behind her, someone was coming. She first dared to look up when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay, dear?" The voice said. It sounded strangely familiar - like she had heard it somewhere before, only slightly different. Warmer. She realised why moments later: it was the evil queen. Well, it could be.
'Wasn't she off in some cursed land a few years ago?' The girl thought.

She gasped. She didn't expect it to one out so audibly as not to shock the woman. "You're, you're the -" she didn't feel it was sensible to finish her sentence; the woman seemed to understand. The queen helped her up from the floor and brushed the dirt from Nila's jacket.
"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked again ignoring her previous comment. "That beast must have frightened you." The small girl nodded.
"I'm fine. And thank you." The queen raised her eyebrows in question.
"What are you thanking me for?"
"Um, for saving my life? You know? The flying monster?" Nila said, confused. Wasn't it obvious? The queen took a deep breath in before replying. "Monkey. It's a flying monkey. And no - I didn't save your life." The girl looked even more confused than ever. "You did."

Nila almost choked with laughter. "No, I didn't."
"I saw the monster from my gardens and realised someone was in trouble, I thought I was too late. But when I arrived, I saw that it was gone. I saw you save yourself."
The girl thought the queen was making fun of her, that this was all a huge mockery. She was the evil queen - wasn't she?
"I saw you use magic."

Nila turned her head sharply. Magic? She had magic? Although, she couldn't be sure because she hadn't seen what had happened. All she knew was that one moment, she was marked for death, and safe in the next. Of course, what the queen was saying made sense. It would explain why the monster had flown away. But magic? Really?

She suddenly felt dizzy. It must have been the magic taking a toll on her energy supply. She hadn't eaten all day, a factor that probably had contributed to the lack of energy. She felt the queen's arms around her waist as she stopped her from falling to the ground and hitting her head. The last thing Nila remembered was fainting in the queen's arms. Her head against the woman's chest. Falling asleep to the sound of her heartbeat.

* Author's note - Yess so they finally meet! I hope you enjoyed! ❤️