Snow - By Deborah M. Brown Page 0,4

the bed, Anais clutched the torn sheet to her breasts and watched Rui as he dressed. She could see that he was well pleased with himself, the smile he turned upon her full of lazy self-satisfaction. She swallowed, her mouth dry. She needed to think clearly, to formulate some excuse not to see him again. It was too dangerous, the risks too great. Adultery for a queen meant death.

As if sensing the tenor of her thoughts, Rui leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. “I must have you again,” he murmured, his soft breath stirring the loose hair on her face. “And soon.” The kiss deepened. Anais let the sheet fall and clutched at Rui’s shoulders.

Recalling something he had said earlier that night, Anais released him and pulled back, gazing into his dark blue eyes. “Did you find fucking a queen to your liking, Master Alvarez?” she asked, her voice a trifle unsteady. “Do you find me fair?”

For an instant, thick black lashes veiled his eyes, hiding his expression. Incongruously, it reminded Anais of her stepdaughter, the Snow Bitch, and she shivered. Then he lifted his head, and she gazed into his eyes and was lost.

His hands cupped her face, the fingers digging into her jaw, forcing her to keep her eyes on his. She could see her face reflected in them. Mirror eyes.

“The fairest of them all.”

And thus Anais committed adultery. She was ever fearful of discovery, but Rui seemed to delight in taking the chance that they might be seen. He took her in the stables, in corridors, in the falconry under the disapproving eyes of his great bird. He swallowed her cries with his mouth so that she wouldn’t frighten the other birds. One night they even made love upon the plump purple cushion that sat upon the king’s throne. Anais stifled her fear by looking into his eyes and seeing her reflection there. As long as she remained the fairest of them all in Rui’s eyes, she didn’t care. Gradually, she came to learn things about him. He was venal and amoral. He liked to hurt her. Not too much. Just enough to let her know who was master. Just enough to make her fearful when sometimes he would ride her as though he wanted to break her beneath him. Just enough to make her crave the fear as well as the pleasure.

Sometimes the fear was the pleasure.

After that first night, when they had been equals in passion, it was Rui who must win every battle and Anais who must concede. Oh, he was ever mindful of her and never forced her to do anything that might degrade her, but there must be no doubt who was master and who servant. When she finally realised his true nature, it was too late. She could no more do without him than she could breathing.

One day he had pushed her up against a wall in a rarely used servant’s corridor, tearing at her clothes in his haste. Anais watched herself in his eyes, a fair, golden queen, and tried to convince herself that this was love. Suddenly, she became aware that they were not alone. Snow White, the Snow Bitch, stood at the end of the corridor, watching them. She had only one of her attendants with her, the youngest one. For a moment Anais could only stare at her in confusion. Had Snow White and the dwarf been holding hands? Then the reality of her situation flooded her, and she gasped and pushed at Rui’s shoulders.

“Stop,” she cried frantically.

He raised his head and followed the direction of her gaze. He stared at Snow White, and Anais saw her stepdaughter’s image in his eyes before he turned back to her and resumed what he had been doing.

“Let her watch,” he grunted as he pushed against her.

“No.” Anais struggled in his grip. “She’ll tell the king. Stop.”

“She won’t say a word,” said Rui. He continued without pause, but all the while Anais could see that he watched Snow White and that his pleasure came from the fact that she watched him. The girl and her companion stood unmoving until Rui had finished, then, without ever uttering a word, they turned and left. Anais straightened her clothing, then looked up into Rui’s eyes but she couldn’t see her reflection there anymore.

That was when she first hated her stepdaughter.

Sick with fear, Anais spent the rest of the day in her rooms. She was left alone until deep in the night