12: promises, powerless

Horatio honored her request. While she felt gratitude, she was no unaware of the stipulations he had to use to appease the nobles. She was nothing more than the picture of a princess. None of the responsibilities or power till she was married. Horatio was regent, all the power of a king, without the official title till their marriage. She was princess consort, rather than a princess now. It sickened her. Her mother said we needed to take what power we could, and she'd just given up what she had. However, Horatio had upheld his promise. Perhaps, maybe he wasn't the root of all evil, Gertrude told herself.

To the people of the castle she became little more than a ghost for the next year. However, her and Snow White still maintained their sisterly-like bond. Gertrude took this time to take walks in the near by woods. There she bought some land for she loved the solitude that it provided. She built a cottage. She worked on building relationships with the locals. There were some dwarves that mined for diamonds. She saw a potential for the diamonds to provide her some of her own power. Thus, she leased her cottage to these 7 brothers. They provided diamonds to her on an as-needed basis. The cottage was theirs, and they left her be to her solitude in the woods, away from the expectations of the castle.

Soon rumors spilled like blood. Defaming Gertrude for her excersions into the woods. The said she was nothing but a scheming witch--just like her mother. She must be making potions and casting spells out in those woods. Which wasn't entirely inaccurate. She had practiced some magic as a means to feel some power over her life. However, the magic she practiced was healing magic. It hurt her heart, but she knew that reality was reality, she could no longer escape regularly to her woods for reprive. Instead, she must act as a princess soon to be queen.

Instead she spent her days now doting on Snow White. The girl was growing quickly and Gertrude worried for her. Childhood seemed no-existent to Gertrude now, even though she was but 17, it seemed years ago. She worried the same for Snow White who was now a young girl. Was Gertrude not only ten when her father decided to bethroth her? That was only a few short years for Snow White. Would Horatio follow the same path as her father? She began to attempt at magic to make Snow White appear younger, however her magic only made the child more beautiful. Gertrude worried endlessly. How can I preserve my child's innocence? How can I protect her from the cruel world? For Gertrude now saw the girl as her own. She promised herself, she would do anything in her power to protect this child, but at the time she felt powerless.