When the two maidens exited the tents the next morning, an odd silence fell about the camp. The men all turned. Whispers flew.

"... she came back from the dead..."

"... how?"

"Heard the princess had something to do with it..."

"How could the princess save the dead?"

"She has powers now, doesn't she?"

"... heard the other one does too..."

Millie ignored the gossip, pulling her robe tighter about her. She'd pinned it using the brooch she'd woken up with last night in her hand. The brooch had always stayed on the hood, so she did not know how it had ended up in her grip when she woke.

"Granny used to love daisies."

"I'm so sorry about your granny, Millie." Ruby-Rose stood behind her, worried.

"I'm not sad, Ruby-Rose. She's with me. I wish I could give her some daisies one last time, is all."

Poor Millie, thought Ruby. So distraught all she could focus on was the daisies. "Perhaps, we can send a soldier out of the dead lands to get some?"

"Don't be silly, Ruby-Rose. That shall take them days." Millie turned then with a flighty chuckled. "I have a better idea."

Ruby gawked at her friend then. "You do?"

Millie gave the princess a wink and crouched down in the dry, red dirt. "Watch."

She placed her palm on the soil and closed her eyes. Between her lips, the word 'grow' lingered silently.

About her palm, a miracle began. Green grass blades pushed up from the ground rapidly. Life spread out from her hand, and soon beneath their feet, what had once been a lush meadow bloomed back to life. Life replaced death. Green replaced red. Trees that were merely husks returned, sprouting leaves and fruits. Bushes grew back bearing flowers and berries. Somewhere beyond the treeline, a gurgling stream sounded, and soon chirps of young birds filled the air.

Gasps echoed about the camp as menfolk and Ruby stood still. Awed as what had once been a dead forest turned to green, and as alive as it had ever been.

Daisies pushed up around Millie's hand, and she smiled. "There. That should do it. The Red Forest shall be as good as new."

Millie plucked a handful of daisies and stood, handing one to Ruby.

"How? How did you do this?" Ruby breathed as she grabbed the proffered flower.

A smile played on Millie's lips. "My essence is bound to these lands now, as they are bound to me."

"What is going on out here? Has everybody died?" Sir Bashful stepped out of his council tent, curious why the camp was silent, and his eyes grew wide in astonishment.

"It was her, Sir. The maid. She did this all. Grew trees..." A soldier pointed to Millie in shock.

Sir Bashful marched towards the two maidens full of purpose.

Ruby stepped back nervously. Lately, Sir Bashful's scowl was permanent and his temper short.

As he came upon them, he suddenly took a knee. He bowed his head at the Princess and then to Millie. He looked up at her, awe writ all over his face. "Lady Efil. It is an honour to have you with us again."

The men about the camp all followed the knight's example. They took a knee. Not for Ruby, but for Millie as Lady Efil.

Millie scooped down and placed a kiss on the knight's cheek. "All thanks to you, dearest Sir." She returned a small nod to the camp at large. "Please, do not fuss, gentlemen. Rise."

"Lady Efil?" Ruby, ever the astute one, gawked at the two. "Wasn't that your granny?"

Millie turned to her companion. Her face bore an expression of wisdom and age beyond her years. In fact, her wisdom now looked like a singular streak of grey on her dark hairline. Over the years, and many moons, those dark tendrils of brown would slowly grow wiser, till young Millie's hair was as silver as the moon.

Millie gently touched Ruby's face. "It is good to see you whole, Ruby-Rose, Princess of Enchanted Forest, the Charming Lands to the South. You have much to learn and I have much to teach you. Do not think of me as that young girl in your chambermaid. She was always destined to return to you for the merge. And I was always destined to return here, for mine."

Millie stood taller, prouder. Gentler. "I am Millie Evergreen, the keeper of life. The guardian of the Well. You are in my home, Ruby-Rose, and you are welcome to anything you need here. Including the knowledge of what you now carry inside and the burden upon your shoulders."

"Why are you talking so funny, Millie?" Ruby couldn't quite help herself. The girl before her was indeed talking 'funny' if by funny she meant, differently.

Millie laughed again. A light laugh that echoed in the chirps of the birds within the trees. "You have much to learn, and you're not wrong. I do talk a bit funny now. I blame my grandmother. After all, I am merged with her, as well as all the guardians that have ever been. Now, if you don't mind, I must lay these daisies on her shrine before I meet you for your first lesson. I suggest you go eat a hefty breakfast, milady. You're going to need it today."

At breakfast, Ruby had polished two bowls of the delicious soup the head cook was famous for around the camp. A soup so good Ruby was still attempting to charm the man into giving her the recipe—with no success yet. But she had already burned half of that energy pacing the front of Millie's tent. Her muscles tensing more and more with each passing moment, she paced.

When Millie finally finished with her grandmother's grave, she'd stepped out into the sunlit morning and told Ruby to take a walk with her. As the camp became lively, Millie led Ruby down a dirt path towards an apple grove. Here she stopped.

"This will do. Now sit, please, and do as I say."

Ruby's heart hammered in her chest, for the new Millie was not the Millie she knew, and she was uncomfortable, to say the least. It felt a bit like the first night she'd woken up to some strange girl, saying, "But, miss, I beg you. You must wake and let me dress you... it's the you-know-what-today." But this Millie before her wasn't the same. Regardless, Ruby had listened and dropped herself on a tuft of soft grass below an apple tree in full bloom.

Millie sat opposite Ruby, taking her hands gently into her own. "This may hurt a little."

"But what is this, Millie?" Ruby asked cautiously. She wasn't even sure how to address her friend anymore.

"The Passage ritual." Millie began.

Ritual—sounded ominous to Ruby, and she couldn't help but think of all the movies she had seen where 'ritual' had been a code for some kind of torture or a sacrifice. She swallowed her fear, fairly sure Millie was not about to kill her.

"What I will do—what granny wants me to do, is to pass on any knowledge regarding the prophecy you are to fulfill. About the power you were born with. A burden that is yours and yours alone. I had to bring you away from the camp for that reason."

Millie looked upon Ruby's face, and for the briefest moment, Ruby had seen her old friend peering back from those eyes.

"Do you trust me, Ruby-Rose?"

"With my life."

"Good. Then close your eyes and let me into your mind, as I shall let you into mine."

Suffice to say, Millie hadn't prepared Ruby for this. The flood of images and sounds and memories that invaded her mind was indescribable. She saw it through the Evergreen's eyes. She understood it all, filtered through the Evergreen's understanding.

The barrage of information kept going. Ruby's innards kept turning. Her mind kept being boggled.

Snow White was a Princess cursed. Cursed to destroy all that she ever loved, all because as a child, she'd stumbled upon a long-forgotten passage within her own kingdom. A passage that her elders had sealed long before she was born or her parents; long enough for the new kings and queens to forget that beneath their home, within their dungeon, a dangerous sorcerer lay imprisoned in an ancient relic—a mirror. A sorcerer whose name had long faded from memories and from pages of history. A powerful being born of the Red Forest, driven mad by their desire to be the Well—the Everlasting; immortal.

A long time ago, that being, the nameless one, had been tricked and trapped inside the relic, locked away in the deepest dungeon spelled shut by the mightiest wielders, in the furthest land from the Well—The Enchanted Forest.

Somehow an innocent toddler capable of great wielding—and easily swayed—had stumbled through the spell, like water finds nooks and crevices. Since then, Snow, under the sorcerer's spell, was doing their bidding, trying to ensure its freedom. Until now, a task she hadn't succeeded in, but with Ruby-Rose back in the Enchanted Realm, it was within reach. All she had to do was take her daughter's essence.

Ruby gasped for air once the Evergreen herself severed the connection. Her lungs burned, her mind raced, her nerves tingled and her stomach turned sickly, forcing her breakfast to come back up.

"So what you're saying is, my essence is something she can use to free this thing that's in that ugly mirror of hers? The one that started the whole 'mirror, mirror on the wall' thing?" Ruby coughed and wiped her mouth clean. The sour taste of sickness was something she absolutely hated and couldn't wait to get back to the camp to rinse her mouth out.

As if reading her thoughts, Millie handed Ruby a cup made of some leaf. Within its hold, water sloshed. "Drink."

Ruby did not need to be told twice. "I feel ridiculous just saying this, but—are you going to tell me why I'm special? Like, why me?"

Millie stood and held out her hand for Ruby to take. "In our world, Ruby-Rose, beings are blessed with a gift, something they will master in life. Some gifts may be simple, like being an excellent baker, one who never burns a piece of bread. Some gifts are, however, more. Tied in with the elements that rule these lands. Earth—which I am. Fire—which I believe is Sir Bashful's gift. Air and water, you can guess who is kissed by."

"Snow?"

Millie nodded.

"And you think I am—blessed, or kissed—by one too?"

The corner of Millie's lips pulled up. "Try all four."

"What?"

Millie laughed. "You, Ruby-Rose, are the last of the magic that was born in these parts. Many fairies gave their life to gift you their essence. Essence that would allow you to control all elements. Snow can only control two. All the essences she had absorbed so far in life have been small, allowing her one-time control of that wielder's magic. But if she gets her hands on you, she can tap into the Well. You're a conduit. Your essence comes directly from the Well of Life; never-ending. Can you not think why she wants you now?"

"She'll be unstoppable." Ruby gasped, imagining the horror Snow could unleash if that were true.

"Indeed. She will pull from the Well. Lay waste to all that is. Her hand may be hers, but someone else is wielding it."

"Whoever's in the mirror."

"Yes."

"Do you know who or what it is in that thing?" Ruby asked as they walked along the bumbling creek.

"I have an idea." Millie sounded distant.

Ruby stopped walking then. "So how do we do this? How do we know for sure I can control the elements?"

Millie smiled knowingly and picked up a rotting apple from the ground. "Hold out your palm."

Ruby held out her palm, and Millie placed the apple on it. "Now remember, Earth controls life and death. Disasters and harvest. What you want from this apple, you just have to think it."

"That's it?"

"That's it. So what do you wish the apple to be, Ruby-Rose? Will it be dust or will it be sweet and wonderful? Something I could eat? I'm famished."

Right, just think it. Ruby stared at the apple on her palm, at the rotting flesh. I want it to be fresh. And before her very eyes, the once rotten red apple morphed and changed, as if someone was reversing time until a perfect little apple lay in Ruby's hand.

"Perfect. You're a natural!" Millie grabbed the apple and bit into it. Its crunch was loud, and its juices splattered onto Ruby's face, sending the two girls giggling.

"Shall we try the other elements now before I hand you over to Sir Bashful so that he may teach all you need to know of war?"

Ruby nodded. Part of her excited to see what else she could do, yet another part of her was terrified of exactly the same thing. As they walked on ahead, she picked a wildflower and watched it wither in her hand upon the word 'death'. 

WC:2201       TWC: 29, 592

[A/N: I meant to publish a chapter yesterday, but for some reason, I struggled to write this chapter yesterday. I think perhaps the looming deadline is giving me anxiety and I couldn't quite get it right yesterday. I hope I did a good job with it and that you're still enjoying Ruby/Millie's adventure into Snow Lands!

Thank you for your continued support. Means a heck of a lot to me. Enjoy!]