"Ow, ow, ow... Millie, gentle!"

"But miss, we haven't much time left. You'll just have to—"

"Suck it up, Princess?" Ruby winced as Millie tried to slide the comb-of-doom through her curls, which were tear-inducingly-knotty—not that Ruby was going to cry.

She bit her lip and closed her eyes tight, gripping the edge of the seat as hard as she could until the ordeal was over.

Moments earlier, Millie had tried to 'assist' Ruby with her lukewarm bath. Ruby had refused—not accustomed to standing naked in front of another or having the said person 'help' with the task. What kind of person needed someone's help when bathing?

Ew! It's called privacy and decency, and no thank you.

Not that she'd had the heart to say it to eager-to-aid Millie.

Millie, now rushed beyond words, secured the last of the pins into Ruby's hair, which she'd plaited and coiled into a gorgeous neat crown on Ruby's head. She clamoured to the bed and fetched the dress hanging there, along with something Ruby had never thought she'd wear. A corset.

You're joking! Her eyebrows reached for her hairline. "You want me to wear that?"

Millie clicked her tongue, roughly flipping her around—in exasperation. She'd had enough of this foolish girl who seemed to take far less pride in her look than the real princess.

The real Princess would not have peeped a word of protest. Not one word. Nor would she have denied Millie the right to carry out her job. What sort of woman didn't seek aid getting in and out of a slippery bathtub? What idiot would risk their noble little head?!

Millie had to shake that thought out of her head. The girl in front of her, fussing over this and that, and squirming like a worm, refusing to wear a corset, wasn't a noble. Not really.

"What was that you said earlier, Lady Black?" Millie pushed the girl against the bedpost, her knee digging into the girl's back to anchor her as she pulled tight the silk laces of the Princess's corset.

"Suck it up, Princess, wasn't it? Well, I don't know what sucking has to do with princesses, and you may not be my Princess, but for all the good it will do us, my head hangs tomorrow morning if you and I can't convince the Queen you are who you are meant to be—her only daughter."

Millie yanked hard on the lace once more, acutely aware that Queen Snow White—with her rosy-red lips, her snow white skin, and her black hair and heart—was not one to suffer a wide waist on her daughter. The need for a tiny waist was greater this morning. The combination of a less than ideal candidate, urgency, and an unwilling waist were not really helping. There was still the task of putting the gown on before the guards came to fetch the Princess for her mother.

Millie pulled the strings again, desperately hoping to shrink that waist one more inch—what did the girl eat? Her stomach, though flat, seemed to be as taut as a hard-working man's.

The action nearly sent Ruby toppling.

"Let me guess, she's a stepmom?" Ruby asked, holding steadfast to the bedpost then. Her core engaged like never before, and for once, she was glad her mother never allowed her to quit dancing. She quickly regained her balance because of it.

Ruby held tight to the post while Millie finished the corset job. She was getting an undeniable, step-mum vibe off the "Queen" and she hadn't even met her yet. Step-mum-step-daughter relationship with lots of tension would explain the delirious efforts Millie was going through to get her prepared.

"Step mum? Where did you get such an idea, milady?" Millie quickly pulled the dress over Ruby's head next, slightly concerned that this fake Princess may be a little bigger than her dear friend. "Ruby-Rose is not her step child, milady. She is Queen Snow White's one and only heir—poor thing. King Charming died young, you see."

Snow White?

Ruby, who had leaned back against the bedpost by then, slipped and in her fall, somehow brought down Millie with her. Millie who had been busy buttoning the millions of tiny buttons up the front of the dress. The shock evident on both their faces.

Ruby, upon hearing the name of the character who had inspired her name in the real world, grew weary. She was in Snow White's world? Her nemesis growing up. An ideal she could never be, always smiling at her from the bright pages of the Disney version of the story. Her lips as ruby as a red rose... Ruby-Rose.

"What is it, Princess? I mean, milady?" Millie asked, pushing Ruby's weight off her body. "Are you feeling faint? Is your bodice too tight?"

Ruby tried to sit up, but couldn't as her torso had been arrested into a vice. She reached a hand out to Millie to pull her up, and as she did, she said, "What? No. Not that."

Ruby stared at Millie's face, staring at her own. "Did you just say Queen Snow White?"

Millie nodded.

"As in, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves?"

"Milady has heard of the Queen's fearsome tales?" Millie gawked in utter shock.

"You mean, a fairytale?" Ruby quirked her brows, for she wasn't about to call Snow White's story a 'fearsome tale'. It was tame compared to most other tales.

"What's a fairytale? Do fairies tell tales? I thought fairies couldn't lie, milady?"

Oie, this girl!

Ruby rushed to the book she'd brought along with her somehow. She flipped pages until she found what she was looking for within the giant collection of tales from around the world.

"Here." She thrust the open book at the servant girl.

"You keep forgetting, miss. I cannot read."

Ruby smiled. "Then we shall fix that from tomorrow—" if I'm still here! "But look at this." She pointed at the pictorial on page one of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves'.

Millie shook her head. All she was looking at was a sketch that depicted a tall, but petite girl, surrounded by seven small children.

"This is the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. It's a children's bed-time story where I come from. I'm doing a paper on how the story has changed over time and in different regions. I was reading this last night before I must have fallen asleep."

Millie traced the sketch with her fingers, too afraid to touch the paper. "Queen Snow White and her Seven Knights, you mean? But why are the men so small, milady? Or are they meant to be children?"

Ruby laughed. "No, Millie. They are not children. They are fully grown men, but small—the story refers to them as dwarves."

Millie's confusion remained, and so did her question. "But why are they small, milady? The knights."

But before Ruby could answer the question, the summon came upon the door.

There was no more time.

Millie fussed over Ruby, quickly inspecting her work. She hastily grabbed Ruby by the shoulder and whispered, "Do not speak at all, milady, especially not until you're asked, if you're asked."

"Why?" Ruby, who was fairly fond of irony, asked. Perhaps it was the palace's royal protocol.

"You don't speak the same as her child. So hush now."

"What if she asks me a question?"

"I do not know, milady. Say nothing." Millie whispered desperately as the giant chamber doors opened in.

A tall, intimidating figure of a man in military regalia stepped into the room. He gave Ruby-Rose a subtle look over. No hello, no acknowledgment. Then he turned to Millie.

"The crown, you foolish girl!"

Millie scrambled like a headless chicken. "Yes, Sir Happy. Right away, sir."

Grouchy old fart!

Moments later, Millie was back, carrying a dainty-looking tiara that glittered diamonds and gold, yet felt a lot heavier as it sat upon the crown of Ruby's hair.

"Good luck, milady. I'll be right behind you, now go. And remember. Do not speak."

Do not speak?! It was easier said than done for Ruby-Rose II of course.

WC: 1353        Total: 5280

[A/N: What do you make of Ruby's situation so far? Any ideas on what Snow White might be like in this twisted tale? 😊]