***
"There she is again, the little witch." The queen gripped the window sill as she watched Snow White waltz across the castle gardens, carrying her basket of apples and singing to the little birds circling the black tresses piled on top of her head.
"Who does she think she is, anyway -- the fairest of them all?" The queen scratched her razor-sharp fingernails against the glass, sending a high squeal reverberating through her bedchamber. "Oh mirror!"
She spun around to face her magic mirror, the gleaming surface reflected back her own pinched expression. "Who, dear mirror, is the fairest of them all?" Her face continued to sneer back at her in the center of the glass. "That's right. That's right." She patted her cheek and chuckled.
"Lalalalala! My prince will come." A sickly-sweet voice like candy over a poison apple wafted through the castle walls. Snow White's voice. "My prince will come."
The queen ran to her window and threw it open. It crashed against the stone wall and shattered. "Would you shut up already?"
"My queen!" One of the dwarf sentries entered at the massive double doors. "The mirror! The mirror! It's been stolen, my lady!"
"What are you talking about Dufus?"
"The queen's magic mirror," Dufus said. "The cooks stole it."
"What do you call that?" She pointed at her smiling image on the wall. She had spinach in her teeth. Leaning into her reflection she picked at the green sprig.
"I beg your pardon, my lady, but look!" Dufus gestured out the window. The queen peered into the mirror's reflection of her open window. Two dwarves, wearing chef's hats, ran along the castle wall, carrying a large, flat parcel between them.
"I don't know what they are stealing, but it's not this mirror!"
"This is a fake my lady. They must have swapped it for the real one." Dufus shuffled the curled toe of his slipper. "I heard them bragging about it in the kitchens. That's when I came up to tell you. To warn you. They have your magic mirror."
"This is a fake my lady. They must have swapped it for the real one." Dufus shuffled the curled toe of his slipper. "I heard them bragging about it in the kitchens. That's when I came up to tell you. To warn you. They have your magic mirror."
"We'll see about that!" Swinging her arms wide as if to embrace her image, she faced her mirror. "Mirror, mirror on the wall! Who's the ugliest of them all?"
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