Wynter (A Snow White Retelling)

The Queen's Plot

"Your Majesty, may I have a word?" said Doc.

"Not now. I have a funeral to plan," said Lucinda, annoyed by all the planning that a funeral required.

"It involves the king."

Lucinda stopped in the middle of the grand hall and faced the king's physician. "What about him? He's dead."

"I believe he was poisoned."

Lucinda's eyes grew wide, and she looked at Andrew, whose expression mirrored her own. "Are you certain?"

Doc frowned. "I have been the king's physician for twenty years, and I have been practicing medicine for over thirty. I know when someone has been poisoned."

Lucinda grabbed Andrew by the arm and pulled him close. "Get me the huntsman immediately," she whispered in his ear.

Andrew hesitated as if he was waiting for an explanation, but Lucinda didn't have time to explain. He finally nodded his head and left.

"Your Majesty?" said Doc. "Did you hear what I said?"

"I'm not deaf," said Lucinda.

Her mind was spinning. It was a slow acting poison that resembled a natural illness. She was certain the physician would never find it, and she hadn't made a plan in case he did.

"Where is the prince going?"

"He's going to look into who could have done such a thing, and I want to know how someone could have made it past all the guards unseen." Lucinda raised an eyebrow at the physician to make him believe she suspected him. "Someone will pay dearly for this."

Doc seemed undeterred by her threat. "I haven't told Wynter yet. I don't think she would handle the news well. Not right now."

"Leave it to me," said Lucinda. "Come directly to me if you learn more. Don't go to anyone else with this until we know who did it."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Doc bowed low and then walked back the way he came.

Lucinda waited until he rounded the corner before turning and hurrying off to her chamber. She felt an unfamiliar sensation fill her heart with dread: fear. If the physician traced the poison back to her, she would be hanged. She had to do something quickly to ensure the physician stayed quiet and believed there was no way she could have done it.

Lucinda threw open her chamber doors and marched inside. Her son followed after her and dodged the doors as they swung back towards him.

"Where's Cyrus?" Lucinda yelled.

"I've sent for him," Andrew replied. "He should be here soon."

Lucinda paced back and forth mumbling to herself. "How did he find the poison? It's supposed to be undetectable."

"Mother?"

"What?" she snapped.

"You're doing it again."

Lucinda stopped mid pace. She hadn't even realized she was pacing. "I'm fine." She took a deep breath. "Do you remember what I told you when I said I was marrying the king?"

Andrew smirked. "You said you were marrying him so you could make me a king."

"And I still plan to do that."

"How?" Andrew walked across the room and looked out the window that offered a view of the kingdom. "Even with the king dead, Wynter still refuses me." He turned back to face his mother, the light blinding her eyes and obscuring Andrew's face. "Not that I am disappointed. I can't have a stubborn queen who may humiliate me in front of the kingdom."

"You won't. I've spent two years trying to get that girl to marry you, but that's not the way to make you king. After the news of her father, I thought she would have caved, but I can see she's as stubborn as ever."

Lucinda crossed the large expanse that separated her from her son and stepped into the light that came from the window.

"I don't understand. How else could I be king? I have no lawful claim to the throne."

"Unless she's dead." Lucinda smiled at her son. "If she tragically dies," she feigned disappointment, "the crown goes to the closest kin."

"But the king...doesn't have any more family..." A smile formed on Andrew's lips.

"Exactly." The queen's ideas were beginning to come together. "With Wynter dead, you are the only one left to be king."

There was a knock at the door.

"Enter," the queen ordered.

The door opened slowly and revealed Cyrus, the king's personal huntsman. He stepped inside the door and bowed low. When he straightened, he looked from the queen to the prince suspiciously.

"Here is the answer to our problem," Lucinda whispered to Andrew. "Come." She motioned for the huntsman to join her. When he was within reach, she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him closer. "We have learned a terrible secret," she whispered to Cyrus. She glanced at Andrew to cue him.

"You mustn't breathe a word of it to anyone," Andrew said, going along with his mother.

Cyrus slowly nodded.

Lucinda leaned in even closer. "Wynter killed the king."

"What?" said Andrew and Cyrus at the same time.

Lucinda glared at her son. "Yes. Remember you found the poison in her bed chamber?" She narrowed her eyes at Andrew, trying to make him understand.

"Oh, yes..." said Andrew. "We found poison in Wynter's chamber. The same poison that killed the king."

"But I thought he died from a disease," said Cyrus. "The princess said-"

"That's what she wanted you to believe," said Lucinda. "She bribed the physician. We had to go to drastic lengths to get the truth out of him."

"I don't understand," said Cyrus. "The princess loved her father. Why would she do that?" The queen saw fear flicker in Cyrus's eyes. "Why would you tell me?"

"Because," the queen leaned in closer, "I need you to kill Wynter," she whispered in his ear.

"No," Cyrus shook his head. "No, I can't."

Andrew grabbed Cyrus's other arm. "You can, and you will."

"No." Cyrus tried to pull away from them, but they held him tightly. "Send another physician to investigate. Maybe Doc is mistaken."

"You no longer need to be loyal to the princess. She doesn't deserve it," said Lucinda. "You will kill Wynter during your next hunting party with her, or you will both die."

"And make it look like a hunting accident," Andrew added.

Cyrus's face was ghostly white. They both released him, and Andrew sent him to the door, following closely behind to make sure he left.

"And Cyrus?" Lucinda called. "If you ever breathe a word of this to anyone during your lifetime, I will make sure you and everyone you love will suffer. And trust me, I have ways of finding things out."

Andrew opened the door, and for a moment, Cyrus didn't move. His eyes stared past Andrew, but he looked as if he wasn't seeing anything at all. Andrew finally grew tired of waiting, rolled his eyes, and shoved Cyrus through the doorway. Cyrus walked off, looking like he was in a daze.

"Do you think he will tell anyone?" Andrew asked after he closed the door.

"No. He values his life too much to risk that." Lucinda grinned at her son. "He will get the job done. And once he does, we will produce evidence that links Wynter to her father's murder, thereby solving both of our problems. Then you will be king."