"Leave us."
Zepher's eyebrows rose questioningly, his body language betraying his reluctance. "Leave, Your Grace?"
"Yes, I am quite safe Zepher." I told the captain of the guard. I attempted a smile to reassure him, but he still looked hesitant. But, in the end, he nodded, bowing and leaving quickly with the other gaurd.
"Your captain worries for you." The Huntsman mused.
"Should he?" I stepped off the dais.
"I have no intention of harming you, Your Majesty."
Almost against my will, a smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. He had such a strange effect on me. I knew I should be afraid of him, yet . . . I couldn't bring myself to. I felt more fascination than anything else.
Putting the knife in the same hand as the apple, I held the two out to him. The fruit was marked only where my nails had dug in, and where the knife had sliced once. He raised an eyebrow at me.
"Among my people, that's a symbol of peace."
"I know." I replied. "It's also a promise of allegiance."
"You've done your research." He took the apple and the knife, cutting himself a slice and popping it in his mouth. "Why?"
"Maybe I simply wanted to know you better."
He barked a laugh, his eyes twinkling. "You're far too smart for that, Your Majesty. Why am I here?"
Smart man. Maybe too smart? But what was the point of hiding my intentions now. I needed his help.
"Walk with me?" I offered, and he nodded.
I stepped away from the shadow of the throne, the Huntsman by my side. He didn't question me when I lead him behind the dais, to a small door hidden by the throne. As I unlocked it, I began to realize there wasn't much he would question. A man like him didn't have to. But when I opened the door, I could hear him take a small breath, and I hid the smile that graced my lips. So he could be surprised.
"Did you think we were devoid of beautiful things such as flowers?" I asked as we stepped into the large greenhouse. The humid heat was welcome and enveloped me like a blanket. The glass roof soared above our heads, letting in plenty of sunlight for the numerous plants living there. From tropical flowers to tough plants, they filled the magnificent room. A heady fragrance from the many blooms gave a delicious scent, and an illusion of a season other than winter.
"I come here sometimes to escape." I told him, stepping onto one of the stone paths.
"I can see why." He murmured. He stayed close to my side, taking in everything the greenhouse had to offer. The pond, the trees, it didn't matter. But once he had taken his fill of the surroundings, his gaze returned back to me.
"You never told me your name." I said.
"It didn't seem important."
"It's important now. If we're going to work together, I'd like to know who I'm dealing with."
"Who said we were working together?" He asked, taking another bite of the apple. He didn't like the skin, I realized. He always peeled it off.
"Me. I plan on sending troops to Ranait."
I could've sworn he flinched at the name of his country. His grip on the apple tightened, if only slightly, as he stopped to meet my eyes.
"Why?" He almost hissed. "Our fight is not yours."
"On the contrary, it is. The forces that invaded your country are powerful. And what makes you think they'll stop with you? There is barely a mountain range and the savage men that inhabit them that separate Krithane from your conquerors. I intend to keep my people free, and what better way to do it than ending the threat before it reaches us?"
He paused, licking his chapped lips. "How many?"
"Men? That's still to be determined. Our army operates solely on volunteers. But there's a navy of thirty ships waiting for my order."
"That's not enough."
"Perhaps. But there's a small force of rebels in Ranait, and once they realize they're backed by another army, more will follow. Your conquerers can't fight two sides at once."
The Huntsman looked down at the half eaten apple, a frown etched on his face. This was a man who was as out of place as a daisy was in the snow. He was rough and jagged at the edges, every bit a warrior. But in his eyes, he was a slave. He saw shackles around his wrists, and the wrists of his people. He needed to go home, to a free home. I could give that to him.
"What would I need to do in return?" He asked. "You're not doing this for free."
I swallowed the lump in my throat as I shook my head. "No, unfortunately. I have a task for you."
"Something your captain can't manage?"
"Something I don't want him to."
He raised an eyebrow at me. "Something very serious indeed then."
I took a shuddering breath, my hand wandering back to the Heartstone in my pocket. "I have a beast that needs killing."
"Does this beast have a name?"
"Yes. Snow White."
He froze, as if taking my words and processing them. After a moment, he still looked confused. "The princess?"
"Yes."
"She didn't look like a beast."
I almost laughed. He looked like a confused pup who wasn't sure where I had hidden his treat. Whether it was fitting to compare a Huntsman to a puppy was a question for another time.
"The worst kind of monsters are the beautiful ones." I murmured, turning away from him and to a bush of blooming dahlias. The deep purple of their petals stood out starkly from the green of their stems. My hand hovered above a bloom, my fingers practically itching to touch the plush petals. But touching a flower normally ends up killing it, so why did I always feel the urge to caress them?
"She is a creature that belongs solely to the darkness of Krithane." I told the flower. "A manipulative, beautiful creature. A murderer. She killed the King. And last night she almost killed my friend." I took another breath, steadying myself. "I need her gone before she hurts anyone else."
"By gone, you don't mean just dropped off somewhere far away?" The Huntsman asked softly and I shook my head. He paused for a moment before speaking again. "You don't look like the killing type, Your Majesty."
"I don't have a choice." I let my hand fall at my side. When I turned back to him his face wasn't etched with pity like I imagined it would be. Was that admiration I saw in his eyes?
"How would you like me to do it?" He asked; amost as if he was asking how the weather was.
"I . . . didn't think about that," I admitted. "Take her to the woods tomorrow, she won't think anything of it. Zepher takes her all the time. And I don't care how it's done, once she's dead her true nature should reveal itself but . . . make sure she is. I don't care what it takes. If you have to cut her heart out, do it."
I hadn't realized I meant those words until they fell from my lips. I was almost ashamed of them, put I pushed that feeling down. Whatever it took was what I had promised.
The Huntsman merely nodded. "It will be done." And then, he held the apple out to me. I frowned at him, but he merely shrugged.
"The exchange goes both ways, Your Majesty." He explained.
I nodded, taking the apple from his hand. His fingers brushed against mine, callused and rough and warm. I grasped the fruit tightly enough to bruise it, watching as he studied me a while longer.
"My name is Beck." He told me. "And I will liberate you of your monster, if you promise to liberate my people of their's. On my iron and on my blood, I swear it."
A shiver passed down my spine, almost as if those words were more than just a promise. But I nodded, clasping my hands around the apple and starting to walk again. Beck followed, and now that the Stranger from the West had a name, I found him much easier to be around.
"If you don't mind me asking," he started, glancing back at a group of lilies. "Why are you doing this? Besides the obvious reason that your stepdaughter is murderous rage monster."
I bit back a smile at his words, focusing on the path ahead of me. "I made a promise."
"To your king?"
I nodded and he seemed to chew on that for a second. Was it strange to him that Frewin had asked such a task of me? Maybe I had grown so accustomed to Krithane's treatment of women that I had forgotten that in other parts of the world, women were merely tools. Beck didn't look at me like that, but perhaps he thought me incapable of such a task.
"I see it now." He suddenly stated with a small smile. Or was it a smirk?
"See what?"
"Why your dead king chose you to be his wife."