Red as Blood || A Snow White Retelling

Chapter Seven - Empty, Bloody Hands

"Ladies and gentlemen, please," I started. "I did not ask you here today to argue. I certainly didn't ask you here to insult each other. Whether any of you offer to support Krithane and her alliance with Ranait is not of my concern. It will not change my decision to send my fleet and army to free a people wrongfully imprisoned."

"My mistress asks why you have suddenly taken interest in Ranait's freedom." A timid translater speaks up after listening to the Slegian delegate.

My heart beats harder, making my head throb even more. The heavy crown atop my head almost seems to giggle with pleasure. It knows why I'm helping Beck's people, and it's not out of the goodness of my heart. But they would think me mad if I said my fears, so I'll give them a half lie. A truth, but not a real reason. The jeweled crown is pleased.

"Ranait and Krithane are nearly neighbors," I began, after a cleansing breath. "Only the Great Peaks and the Fertile Valley between them separate my people from the threat that has easily subdued a strong nation. Not only is this unknown force strong, they're cunning. We have never faced an enemy like this, and I would prefer not to be taken by surprise. I want to be ready for them when they come, or keep them from coming in the first place."

"What makes you so sure they'll invade?" The chieftain asks, his leather like skin wrinkling further with a crown.

"They're conquerers." I stated, simply. "They'll never be satisfied with staying put. They'll spread, until they are stopped. Until that time, we are all at risk. Our cultures, our way of living. Everything we hold dear."

"We could try to reason with them." The Duke offered. "Offer riches to leave us alone."

"And what would your price be?" I asked.

"Well . . . I-I don't–"

"Know?" I prompted. There was a dangerous edge to my voice. I needed to be careful but I was far to angry to be patient with him. "I'll tell you what I know. It doesn't matter how much gold or jewels you give them. They'll take the first payment. They'll go away. Then they'll come back and their price will be higher. And each time they return the price for your freedom goes up while another country's way of life and people are dying in the mud."

"I think that's a tad dramatic–"

"Pay them if you want." I cut him off, gripping the edge of the oak table. "Use whatever gold you can dig up. Take the jewels from your wives' necks, if you can manage that. But you will not see a single piece of Krithanian silver."

A hush fell over the table. I took a moment to breath, to calm the storm raging inside my skin. It would be so much easier if Ranait was just a distant country to help back on it's feet. But it was so close, with its dangerous fjords and waterfalls. With its new, threatening guest that no one but Beck had seen. It was a lot to ask the other countries and kingdoms to back me in this; they all knew that whatever powerful nation had conquered the Huntsmen were a formidable enemy. It was better to not poke a snake in the middle of the road, if you could simply walk around it.