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There may be handful versions of the Snow White story, changing and changing to appeal to time’s eyes. But it always goes by a certain conflict, a certain climax, and of course, topped with the same old ending every time. The script always follows a young girl named Snow White with skin as white as snow and lips as red as rose, a magic mirror on the wall that describes her as “the fairest of them all”, a vengeful queen who would go the lengths to reclaim that title from Snow White, and a prince who would come save the day with a true love’s kiss.
But there’s one version that people fail to accept. A version wherein Snow White is a young girl named Eva. In this storyline, Eva doesn’t have skin as white as snow, nor does she have lips as red as rose. Instead, this description belongs to Noora, a lonely princess whose only friend is a magic mirror on the wall. One of the only things that probably didn’t change is that this mirror still describes Eva as the fairest of them all.
In this storyline, Eva met her prince early. She will soon be wed to him, soon to be a princess, and much sooner to be queen.
The mirror wasn’t lying; Eva truly is the most beautiful girl to walk the land. So, it comes as a surprise to no one that the King himself chose her to be the wife for the crown prince, Isak, to boost the kingdom’s reputation across the nations.
She hadn’t been able to say no. What would everyone say if she turned down a chance to be royalty for whatever unreasonable excuse she has? So she packed her bags, said goodbye to her small town, and lived her new life among the royal family. She fits right in.
Everyone is pleased with this arrangement; all with the exception of one.
It’s been some three months of wedding preparations. It was predicted to be the biggest and grandest wedding ceremony yet, hence the long, grinding work put into getting ready for the celebration. In that time, Eva had gotten to know each and every soul living in the castle, easily becoming the most loved in the kingdom.
And yet, not once did anyone see Princess Noora warm up to her soon-to-be sister-in-law. The princess is already known for her iciness and her sharp words, but no one expected this kind of reception from her, when Eva had been nothing but the sweetest, trying her best to be accepted into the family.
It’s hot gossip among the kitchen ladies and the servant quarters at night: how Eva’s introduction into the family ruined what’s left of the relationship Princess Noora had with her father and her brother, how her true colors fully showed in the past three months, how Princess Noora and Eva would rather look at the apple tray in the middle of the table during dinners than at each other, how the few times they exchanged words to each other led Eva to flee to her room red in the face from embarrassment.
But most of all, they gossip about why Princess Noora hates Eva so much.
It’s known fact that a magic mirror is plastered to the wall of the princess’s bedroom. The servants would hear her talk to it every single evening, the only time of the day they actually hear her talk so much. But even that changed after Eva. Now, they only hear her ask one single question. They don’t hear her say anything else for the rest of the night when she later gets her answer.
“Magic mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?”
“Eva Kviig Mohn.”
Always the same question, always the same answer. They figured it was envy all along.
Dinner is always an uncomfortable affair. It’s always forced smiles, or offhand comments, or wavering gazes. The servers sometimes wonder what is it that’s so interesting about the apple tray that separate the two princesses sat across from each other. They think they should start getting used to this being the new normal of the castle.
Until it’s not.
No one expected it when news flew around that Eva is missing. Her closet is left untouched, her bed unmade, and the necklace she’s never seen without is left on her bedside table. It’s quite obvious that she didn’t run away.
It’s an unspoken thing but everyone who witnessed the past months in the castle is pointing fingers at Princess Noora. There’s no doubt in their minds that it’s her doing.
They found no trace of Eva on the first day of her disappearance. The servants find out she’s still alive when they press their ears outside Princess Noora’s door that night when she asks the same question to her mirror and gets the same answer: Eva Kviig Mohn.
On the second day, they find Eva’s favorite cloak at the forest beside the castle. It’s covered in blood, too much dried blood that if she was alive then, she would’ve been long gone by now. That night when Princess Noora asks the same question to her mirror once again, she doesn’t get the same answer anymore. She hears her own name instead.
On the third day, the people draw to a conclusion. They can’t let a killer have a crown sitting on her head. They protest outside the palace gates, while the knights are conflicted between keeping the riot down and figuring out where the princess is. Turns out, their protesting is for nothing as Princess Noora is also nowhere to be found while her crown is rolling out of her open door. That night, the servants sneak inside to ask the infamous question.
“Magic mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?”
It’s neither Eva nor Noora. They’re both gone.
Three consecutive knocks followed by two more quick ones. It’s their secret code, the system they made up that only they could understand. She’s finally here!
She quickly runs to open the door to the little cottage that had been her home for the last three days. She’s met with the sight of hunched figure covered in a black cape. The figure has a delicate hand holding out an apple as red as blood, bitten on one corner.
Memories rush back to her at that. The shy glances across the table when no one is looking, the fixed stares at the apple tray in front of them when someone is looking. The paper slipped underneath the tray afterwards when everyone except them has left, the place and time scribbled in it when she later opens the paper in the safety of her room. The quiet meet-ups in the garden at midnight or the sneaking around when it’s lights out so they could share the same covers and leaving before the sun rises. The connection they created in the short time they knew each other that nobody knows about, that nobody would approve of if they knew.
It was a silent agreement that whatever was between them would be a secret until they find a way to run away from it all. Together.
The figure pulls its hood down to reveal skin as white as snow and lips as red as rose, stretched to a wide, happy smile. Noora’s finally here.
Opposite to Noora, Eva returns the smile; just as wide, just as happy. She takes the apple from Noora and bites it right where the princess bit first.
It’s almost like a kiss hello.