Ask Your Heart What It Doth Know

Chapter One

…Once upon a time, in deep winter, a queen was admiring the falling snow when she saw two roses, blooming in defiance of the cold. One was white and one was red, despite growing from the same plant, and the stems circled around the other, together bracing against the cold. Reaching for them, the queen pricked her finger, and three drops of blood fell. And because the red seemed so alive against the white, she let herself wish for what she had given up wishing for.

She thought, if only I had two daughters. One as white and pure as the untouched snow, with hair as black as a raven's wings. To inspire and bring hope to the people in the darkest of times, and lead them into an age of prosperity. And one with hair as red and vivid as the queen's blood against that ashen land, a child of nature, both brutal and beautiful. With a generous and fierce heart, running with the blood of a thousand wild warriors, and with the touch of a floating feather.

But both with the strength of those roses blooming in the cold of dead winter.

Soon after, two daughters were born to the queen, and were named Snow White and Rose Red…

…

Rose couldn't breathe. Her skin felt hot, stretched too tightly over her body. Her hands shook slightly. She had to get out. It was all she could think. She had to get out of the cell before the walls closed around her completely. Panic surged in her aching chest, constricting her lungs. The horrible, raking sound of her sucking down air was harsh in her ears, and yet she still couldn't get any air.

Maybe this time I'll die, she thought softly to herself, her inner voice a complete contrast to the black feelings warring through her body. If she died, then at least she wouldn't have to suffer through this almost-death anymore.

But Rose didn't want to die.

And she felt the desperation to live like she always did, right before she passed out, making her reach for the bars on the small window, high up on the wall. She had to jump, her feet scrabbling at the rough, hard wall. Her fingers, stiff with the cold that permeated the stone walls of her cell, wrapped around those bars as she tried to lift herself up higher, to press her face against the bars. But more importantly, to get to the air.

She needed air to breathe, or she would die. And she didn't want to die.

Her arms ached as she attempted to haul herself up, the panic and desperation intensifying, making her lightheaded. It had been too long. She needed air.

Not the stale, suffocating air of her cell. She needed the fresh air. The air outside her cell.

With an almighty heave, her arms screaming in protect, she brought herself up, her feet pushing at the wall, finally finding a foot hold in the large, slightly protruding stones. She pressed her face against the burning cold metal bars, not caring for the sting, as she closed her eyes and breathed in that air. It was so sweet, she wanted to cry. She wanted to press herself through the wall, and out into the world she'd been locked away from for eight years. She wanted to see the sun and the moon and the stars. She wanted to see the sky.

Her racing heart calmed, her rapid, short gasps became deeper and slower, taking long drags of the amazing, fresh air. And finally, she could hear again over the beating of her own heart and the thumping of her rushing blood.

"Rose! Rose! Somebody, help! Rose! Talk to me, Rose!" The screams made her jump in surprise, and she lost her footing, slipping and falling back onto the hard, cold floor. The air she had tried so hard to get, left her in a rush, and she winced, blinking back dark spots.

"Oh, God, Rose! Please! Help!"

Rose sat up slowly, holding her now sore head. The attack had passed now, leaving behind the uncomfortable, agitated feeling she always had. Her cell was too small, too separated from nature, and sometimes she felt those walls getting closer and closer, creeping up on her. And in those moments, all she knew was that she had to get out of there before it was too late. It was wrong, for a child of nature to be separated from it for too long.

But she couldn't. She was imprisoned, and had been for the last eight years. At first, she had screamed, pulling on the door, trying to break the lock to get out. It hadn't done anything but irritate the guards, and she'd passed out often. But then, she'd gotten older, a bit taller, and she'd discovered, if she was willing to risk a fall, she could get close to the window.

She was more than willing to risk it, and more often than not, she did fall. It was not an easy thing to do, and the palms of her hands were constantly covered in scrapes and jagged, rough cuts.

"Snow…" He voice came out hoarse and croaky, like she hadn't used it in a hundred years.

"Rose? Oh, thank God, Rose! Are you okay?" The worry was clear in her voice.

Rose dragged herself over to the heavy wooden door and pulled herself up. Her legs and arms were weak still, and her hands had to hold onto the metal bars in a small square of the door, the peep hole. In the last few years, since she had grown into a woman, she had lost count of the number of guards who had peeped into her cell. And every time, a sharp spike of fear shot through her gut like a sword. And not just for herself, but for her sister too.

She looked across at her twin, Snow White. She was in the cell diagonally across from Rose, her eyes anxious, her hands reaching towards her through the bars on her own door. When she saw Rose, relief swamped her face, and her forehead came down slightly to press against the door. Rose could see her straight, raven black hair swing in front of her face.

A stick as thick as three of Rose's fingers came down onto Snow's outstretched arms, and a guard was suddenly there. The resounding whack sent a rampaging fire through her body, and Rose got angry. "Don't!"

Snow yelped, withdrawing her arms, and the guard grinned, "What's going on here? Why were you yelling?"

"My sister needed help," Snow gritted out. The guard glanced over at her, his small, nasty eyes taking her in.

"She looks fine to me."

"Because you were too late!" She yelled in reply. Rose's fingers twitched nervously at her sister's words. All the way over here, she could not protect her sister. She could do nothing but watch and wait, and hope he wasn't one of the cruel guards, who enjoyed hurting and frightening them. "She could have died!"

He brandished the stick warningly, "Shut up. I'm warning you, girl."

Rose could see the anger in her twin's eyes, sure she could feel it mixing with her own anger, and she tried to catch her eye, to plead with her to stop. There was nothing worse than not being able to help someone you loved, and Rose couldn't stand it if the guard hit her again.

"Maybe you should stop hitting girls, and start doing your job!" She retorted.

Oh no.

The guard's shoulders tensed angrily. Snow seemed to sense she'd gone too far with this guard, stumbling back a step into her cell so Rose could no longer see her. The guard walked forward, throwing his stick away, and reaching for the ring of keys jangling at his side. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no.

"I don't take orders from little girls."

Rose's eyes darted around the cell. She had to get out, she had to get to her sister. She had to protect her. But the door was heavy and thick. She had learned that the hard way. How many times had she tried to get out? Too many to remember. And now this guard was going into her sister's cell, and she couldn't do a damn thing about it. She didn't know what he intended to do to her; beat her? Or worse?

The panic coursing through her was different to that from just minutes ago.

Then she spotted it. The bucket in the corner of her dank, awful cell, that held her urine from the past two days and had yet to be emptied. She lifted it, hurrying back to the door as fast as she could without spilling it. She hoped this worked. She hoped she could aim right.

She pulled the bucket back, then threw the contents through the square hole in the door, and out into the small corridor that ran between the cells. The majority of the liquid hit the guard's back, soaking his uniform in her pee.

It would have been funny, if she didn't just realize what she'd done. Rose was the brazen sister; outspoken, headstrong, and quick to a cheerful disposition. She was wilder; a child of nature and the woods, than of man. But she was impulsive and reckless, quick to anger and quick to love, and her decisions often got her in trouble.

Like now. The guard raged at her, his face reddening and darkening until it became a dangerous shade. She stepped back from the hole and watched. Rose would much rather incur his wrath than watch it play out on her sister. She could see the absolute anger and hate in his eyes, and how he could put all of that behind the force of his fist. The hard lines around his eyes and the straight set of his thin mouth made him look cruel and uncaring.

There was the sound of footsteps down the end of the corridor, and when the guard spoke next, his voice was calmer. More dangerous. It was scarier, but Rose lifted her chin, determined.

"You will regret that. Tomorrow night, when I am finished with you, you'll be begging me to end your miserable life." His voice held the barely contained anger, and the undercurrent of his threat sent a chill of fear snaking along her spine.

He turned, and stormed off, and vaguely Rose could hear muffled laughter coming from the end of the corridor. But she didn't pay attention to it, or feel any sort of smug satisfaction at her handiwork. What had she done? She closed her eyes in hopelessness. If she believed his threat, and she did, tomorrow night she would be begging for death.

"Rose?"

She looked up in response to her name, masking her expression for her sister. She didn't want Snow to see how scared she was. She stepped closer to the door carefully. A lot had splashed onto the door, and the smell of pee surrounded her. As if she wasn't filthy enough. Dirt was caked under her fingers, and she could feel the layer of grime covering her skin that had been there for years.

"Why did you do that?" She asked, her expression mirroring Rose's from a second ago.

"I wasn't going to let him hurt you," Rose said.

"But now he's going to hurt you!" Her eyes were sad, guilty and troubled.

Rose shrugged, trying at indifference and haughty self-awareness. "Better me than you."

"No!" Snow said fiercely. "No! We're getting out of here. We have to, before tomorrow night."

Rose shook her head, "It's not possible."

"I'll find a way. I promise."

Rose almost believed her.

So… what did you think? Thanks for reading!