She told me how her ski’s skimmed the snow as she traversed through the forest at the speed of the devil. I could only imagine the sight of her as she covered the ground, sound deadened by the silence of winter. I wondered if she really was going that fast, prone as she was to exaggeration.
Her usually pale face was flushed; eyes feverish, lips moving too fast. I noticed that lines were forming around them and if I had spotted it, she would have too.
She’d found a boy, she muttered. A beautiful boy with the palest hair and whitest skin, just her type. He’d followed her to the palace. She turned away but I could hear her curses as she paced the room, footsteps echoing on the flagstones as she moved in and out of my line of vision.
I managed to ascertain that he’d escaped. Helped apparently, by a young girl. Young being the operative word. That explained the bad mood – but this one seemed different. This time it was worse.
Her face appeared in front of me, eyes wider than normal, a manic gleam emanating from their icy depths.
‘Why couldn’t I keep him? The magic’s not working anymore!’ She lifted a clenched fist and a prism of light from the diamond on her finger glinted at me.
I stayed silent, of course. She peered again, so close that her misty breath almost touched me.
‘It’s because of you.’ She paused, lip curled in disdain. ‘You’re making me doubt myself.’
Her spittle landed on my surface and it smeared as she wiped it away. Her reflection distorted and I didn’t see it coming until the diamond connected. Her scream of rage ricocheted throughout the kingdom as I shattered into a thousand pieces.
But she didn’t destroy me. She couldn’t. Her magic wasn’t as strong as her over-inflated ego had led her to believe. As her minions swept me up and thought of ways to dispose of me, I experienced a rare moment of triumph. I would finally have the chance to see more of the world than I’d ever imagined. Trapped as I was in my gilt-framed prison on the wall, with only Her Icy Highness as company.
The cold had infected me and I’d become as brittle as her frozen heart, but she’d unwittingly released me from the spell. Now was the time for my mirrored splinters to be spread far and wide throughout the land. Anyone who saw them would feel my pain and forever see the world through my eyes. A dark reflection of the Snow Queen’s soul, consumed by bitterness and longing.

Submitted by: K Witteveen