The Allergic Queen (Snow White, Disney animated) Updated Jan 24

[Chanel_no5]

It's just beautiful!

Thank you!

My apologies for not updating, I kind of lost interest in the story and had about two paragraphs of this next part down by Christmas, so I decided to take a break. However, now I have the next part done. Quite plot-centric, this part too.

Here goes nothing!

***

“Look!” Snow White said and pointed ahead. They had been back on the road leading home for several hours - how many, the Queen could not tell, as the sun had kept hidden behind dull grey clouds. She turned to look where the younger woman pointed, and her eyes narrowed. A rider, with two horses by lead as well. He seemed to be alone, but one could never be too careful. She stepped up in front of Snow to shield her, and pulled out her sword. Her nerve endings were so tense it seemed they hummed within her.

“Isn’t that our horses?” Snow White said. Queen Marleyn nodded without wasting her breath on words. Her hand gripped harder around the weapon.

But when the rider approached, she relaxed. He could not be more than twelve years old, and while she had seen children trained to become soldiers, a lonely twelve-year-old boy would not pose much of a threat to her.

The boy halted, dismounted and bowed deeply in front of them.

“Hail, Queen Marleyn!” he said, every word clear as crystal.

“Rise, and tell me your name,” she said, hoping that her voice wouldn’t betray how touched she was. But she was. Snow White’s hand brushed against her arm, and she knew that Snow knew. But that was alright. She would not want her emotions to be undetectable by the only one who truly mattered.

“My name is Hans, Your Highness.”

“Hans. We thank you, for taking care of our horses and for bringing them to us,” she said, although her nose already disagreed on the latter. A light, feathery tickle had begun to form high up her right nostril. It could, of course, be nothing but imagination sprung from the fact that she knew what was coming.

Snow White had already stepped up to Aldaric and caressed his neck, mumbling sweet nothings into his ear. Hans untied the reins from his own saddle and handed them over to Snow, who thanked him absently and kept speaking to the horse. The Queen took a step closer to Adalhaid and held out her palm. The mare gave her a arrogant glare and snorted before turning away. Queen Marleyn smiled.

“You truly aren’t impressed with your mistress and Queen, are you?” She took the reins and adjusted the stirrups. “You should be,” she added under her breath. “After this trip, you should be.”

The horse shook her head as if to say “I’ll be the judge of that myself, thank you very much,” and took a step aside when Marleyn tried to mount. Snow White burst out into giggles and Hans looked terrified, as if it was he who had embarrassed himself in front of the Queen and not the other way around.

“While I do believe temper is a good thing, you still need to acknowledge your leader,” the Queen said out loud and grabbed hold of the reins a little firmer. The mare sighed loudly but agreed to stand still until the woman was seated in the saddle. “Good girl”.

Snow White mounted in seemingly a single, fleeting movement that made the Queen feel impossibly old, and Hans climbed his horse with some effort - he was small and the horse was big and burly; a horse built for hard farmer’s work. Once they were all mounted, the Queen turned to Hans.

“Where did you find them?”

“In the Dark Forest, Your Majesty. The morning after the thunderstorm. I was on my way home from my cousin. We - my mother and I, that is - went to look for the owners, and we happened upon your camp, but it was abandoned. I have taken the horses out like this for exercise and to look for you each day. I feared the worst.”

“And what would that be?”

“Bandits,” he said, for the first time meeting her eye. “Looters. There are whole bands of them on the move nowadays, and they respect no thing and no one.”

“Looters. In my Kingdom. Why haven’t I been informed?” she said, more to herself than to her company. She provided herself with the answer; “Because they’re planning a revolution.”

Hans stared at her with wide, frightened eyes. He knew he was not meant to speak to the Queen unless spoken to, but sometimes knowing a thing is to be avoided doesn’t make it easier to avoid.

“Will there be war?”

Her jaws clenched.

“No,” she said. “But I must get to the castle as fast as possible. Are the horses rested and well-fed?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Good. You have done well, Hans.”

She made a movement as if to ride off, but the child once more spoke up without being asked - though shyly - and what he said made her stop in her tracks.

“Are you, mylady?”

She tried to recall the last good meal she’d had, and failed. The past few days they had lived off berries, roots and fruits. Some crumbs of bread that they had left. Water. The sleep had been lacking, as well, although that wasn’t entirely due to keeping watch.

Snow White raised her eyebrows in a silent question.

“No,” the Queen admitted. “No, we are neither well-rested nor well-fed. Can you change that?”

“Yes, Your Highness. Follow me,” he said eagerly and lead the way.

“Can we trust him?” Snow White asked quietly as they followed.

“Yes. Though I doubt it if his mother will be very pleased, having to feed two more today.” She raised a hand up to her face and rubbed it against her nose. The movement did not escape Snow White’s attention.

“Is it bad?”

“Not yet.”

“But it will be soon, won’t it?”

“Listen to me, Snow. I’d rather take a lifetime of this, than a single day without you. So if you’re trying to put the blame upon yourself, stop it right this instant. I mean it.”

She only just managed to finish the sentence before the light tickle in her nose grew strong enough to cause her to sneeze.

“Heh-ikTSChew! Heh-ISSCHhew!” She sniffled with her wrist pressed against her nostrils, her breath hitching as the third sneeze couldn’t seem to decide whether to come out or not. “Hehhh… eh… heh-ihhh-IiigTSChhghh!”

“Bless you.”

She ignored the polite comment and sniffed thickly as she lowered her hand again. “I suppose we are all out of handkerchiefs, aren’t we?”

“I’m afraid so,” Snow White said.

“Of course we are,” Queen Marleyn sighed and rolled her eyes. “I should hope he doesn’t live far from here.”

***

It turned out it wasn’t far at all. A very young woman met them in the garden, and at first sight, she looked more like the boy’s big sister than his mother. She bowed, but she was not afraid of making eye contact. Queen Marleyn found that she immediately liked the woman.

“Your Majesty, I am glad Hans found you well. This part of the country is no longer safe for travellers.”

“Yes, so I’ve been told. It shall be dealt with as soon as I return to the castle, you have my word.”

She felt her nose starting to itch again and managed to turn to the side before she was struck with another triple, more forceful this time.

“EhhISSCHH! Heh-ISSCHH! Heh-iESSCHHuh!”

“Bless you, Your Majesty!” the woman looked worried.

“Thank you. I am not sick. It’s a condition that appears when I’m near horses,” she said quickly. The woman nodded.

“I get something similar with trees in spring,” she said. “Come inside. Hans will tend to the horses. He is very good with animals.” She gave him a fond glance as he lead the horses away. “I wouldn’t know what I’d do without him. Since his father died, he’s been working hard to help me keep the farm. And he never complains.”

“You have no help other than him?”

“No, mylady. Oh, but we do well. It’s not much, but it’s our own and we do with it the best we can.”

“I’m sure,” the Queen mumbled as she looked around. It was a small, but well-kept farm, just enough to be self-sufficient. Hard work truly was of an essence to keep it this neat… hard work and love. Love of the land, love of the work, love of the home… and the family. Had she ever lived in a place where calm, basic love was more important than intrigues and power? The answer was no. Her relationship with any other human being had been intertwined with manipulation and power play. Cooperation was something new to her.

“Shall I help you?” Snow White asked as the other woman began to rummage in the tiny kitchen.

“Oh dear Lord, of course not mylady!”

“Snow White. I’m not a lady.”

Queen Marleyn gave her a quick, ambiguous glance before looking down at her hands.

“Aren’t you?” she said softly.

“I’m not comfortable with being called things like that, is all,” Snow White said. “I just like to help.”

“Hm,” the Queen responded but did not push the matter. She noticed that both women waited for her approval - or disapproval. She flicked her hand absently. “You do as you wish, Snow.”

Snow White stood, leaned forward and placed a quick, light kiss on Marleyn’s cheek before following Hans’s mother into the kitchen. If the other woman was surprised by the affection between the Queen and Snow White, she didn’t show it.

“What is your name, ma’am?” Snow White asked. “I can hardly call you Hans’s mother.”

“It’s Else, mylady.”

“And I am Snow White,” Snow said. “Still not ‘mylady’.”

The Queen chuckled to herself. Getting a little cocky, weren’t we? Well, that was not necessarily a bad thing. Not at all.

***

The meal was delicious; freshly baked bread, butter and cheese, grilled fish, all kinds of vegetables. Sweet, creamy milk. Pie for dessert. Once finished, Else cleared the table while the unexpected guests discussed their next move.

“Your Majesty, may I suggest something?” Else said.

“By all means.”

“Sleep until sunset, and ride at night. That way you will make it to the castle by sunrise tomorrow, unseen. Those looters are usually knocked out drunk a few hours after sundown. And you will be rested.”

The Queen nodded. She could clearly see how this farm had survived. This was a cunning woman; in the best sense of the word.

“That is a sound advice. Snow?”

“Yes, please. I’m so full I have no idea how I‘d manage to climb into the saddle.”

The Queen could only agree. Else looked as if she had expected this.

“I have made the beds. There is one in there, and one in the room over there.” She pointed. “The one in there is larger, in case you don’t wish to split up,” she said, not flinching at all. The Queen found herself smiling at the discreet, matter-of-factly understanding and acceptance of the situation.

“I would very much like to take advantage of laying in an actual bed with you, my dear,” the Queen whispered into Snow’s ear, “but even I have some degree of modesty.”

Snow White laughed softly and trailed her fingertips down the Queen’s neck while looking deep into her eyes.

“Do you?”

Smiling at the stunned look upon her lover’s face, Snow White went into the bedroom, leaving the door ajar. The Queen felt a highly inappropriate grin spread across her face, as she threw her cloak back over her shoulder and followed.

It turned out that her degree of modesty was lower than expected.

***

The moon was just rising above the horizon when they lead the horses out of the barn and mounted. The night was calm, but with a light breeze to comb through the grass and rustle the leaves. It also kept the worst onslaught of mosquitoes away. The two women rode in contemplative silence for almost an hour.

“What will happen now?” Snow White asked, after gathering courage to speak up and interrupt the thoughts behind the perfect façade the Queen’s face showed.

“Now? We ride. Once at the castle, we review the situation and come up with a plan. We can’t make plans before we know exactly what we are dealing with,” she said.

“But what do you think will happen?”

“Guessing on such vague premises usually does no good. But I can tell you what my heart tells me.”

“Yes?”

“There will be a fight. So keep your bow and arrows handy. And be brave.”

She ran her hand under her irritated nose and sniffed. “Ugh, I swear my poor nose is never going to forgive me for this endeavour.”

Snow White glanced at her. Even in the moonlight she could tell that her lover’s nose had taken on a reddish shade, and her nostrils twitched ever so slightly as she sniffed.

“Oh, no… here we go again… ahh… ah-ikTSChh! Heh-iSSCHeew! HaaESSCHoo!”

Her horse snorted as if annoyed with her antics, and she patted its neck.

“My apologies, but it is your fault.”

“Yes… and soon we’ll reach that field of Heartbreak flowers again,” Snow White warned. The Queen groaned in response.

“I had completely forgotten all about that.”

“At least it will be quicker to get through it now that we have the horses.”

“It’s like contracting consumption to avoid the black death,” she huffed, but gave her horse another quick pat, defying the persistent tickle in her nose. She had a much more acute feeling to focus on; the feeling that things were about to be too late. Things were in motion that had to be stopped, but there was precious little time to do so.

***

[Evilduckling108]

Yay! I found this story a few weeks ago and I'm SO glad you updated!!! It's so wonderful and I LOVE it!!

[PropertyofCora]

YOU UPDATED!?! I AM SO HAPPY YAY! I love this story so much, it is one of my all time favorites. I was beginning to worry I had misread and that was truly the end, but I am so glad there is more. The Queen will just have so much fun getting to go back through the field with the addition of her horse to further her torment.