Naya was in the town market with her mother, today they were shopping for the week's food. It was just the two of them since her father had died because of the cursed frost.
Her mother was looking at different stalls while she was resting near the village well. The frost was part of the Curse, it was kept back with the sacrifice of the Snow White but if you wandered too far out of the village you would die from the cold.
Naya leaned back and watched the clouds, under the protection of the Queen’s spell it was easy to forget that there even was a curse, but on occasion an unnaturally cold breeze would dance by chilling the air and everyone would remember.
Looking around Naya could see the fear in the tense backs of the villagers and the extra layers they wore. Everyone knew the current Snow White wouldn't last much longer, soon someone from the palace would come and gather all the girls under 16.
One of them would become the next Snow White and for the rest of her life would sleep under the curse, weakening it enough for the queen to use her magic and cast protective spells around the kingdom.
Naya sighed and lazily watched the villagers bustle about. Sometimes she dreamed about leaving, convincing her mother to pack up and move to a kingdom without a curse, but everyone knew what happened to those who left.
The curse was a vicious thing, if you were born within the kingdom of Frostvale you would die there as well. Leaving the protection of the queen’s barrier meant the curse was able to see you and it would only take minutes for death to come.
Of course, merchants and travelers still came but since they weren't born here they had no problems leaving, it was as if the curse didn't care about them. Powerful mages from all around the world, spellcasters, witches, sorcerers, and more, all had flocked to the kingdom when the curse was new.
So far no one has been able to destroy the curse, only the queen with the help of the Snow Whites has been able to hold it off.
“Naya! Come help me carry this,” Jolting slightly Naya looked around for her mother, she was standing next to Granny’s Fabric stall.
“Coming!” Naya stood with a sigh and made her way over. Since her father died they had to rely on her mother's sewing skills to survive, at first, she had tried to help but the shirt she made came out with three arm holes.
“Here hold the food for me,” Her mother was a beautiful woman, with dark midnight hair, red lips, and rosy cheeks. Father used to say she looked like her mother but Naya couldn't see it, her skin was too pale, her lips too dry and her hair was always an untamable mess, but she liked to pretend it was true.
Naya took the heavy basket from her mother and peeked inside, there were fresh fruits from Mr.Adams, and a few loaves of bread from Mrs.Sarah. “Did you get any apples?”
“Of course, I did, try to make them last a bit longer this time alright?” Naya gave her mother a sheepish smile, she loved apples. They were hard to get though. The little village she had grown up in was on the outskirts of the kingdom, most merchants went to the city by the castle and bypassed the villages as they were often the first to feel the chill of the curse.
Very little grew on the outskirts.
Her mother gave a handful of copper coins to Granny, she wasn't her grandmother but she was the oldest woman in the village and everybody called her Granny. “Here you go Granny, I’ll take 4 yards.”
Naya perked up and tried to see her mother's purchase “Oh no you don’t” Her mother laughed and gently pushed her daughter's head away, “No peeking.”
“Always so curious little snowflake,” Granny smiled as she handed over the fabric now hidden by an old scratchy gray blanket.
“I’ll get this back to you soon,” Her mother smiled gesturing to the blanket. With a final wave goodbye the mother-daughter pair began the walk out of the village, as the paved stone turned to muddy ground Naya began to whistle.
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When she was younger her father taught her how to mimic the sounds of birds. He was a hunter and regularly braved the edge of the queen's barrier to hunt for food, it was a dangerous but important job. She had hoped to follow in his path and become a hunter as well, but he had died before she could learn and her mother refused to let her try by herself.
Naya whistled cheerfully and grinned when a bluebird replied and flew over her head. “Playing with the birds again?” Her mother asked as they rounded the bend and their cottage came into view.
“Just saying hello,” Naya smiled and adjusted her hold on the heavy basket. When compared to all the other homes in the village hers was a palace, at least that’s always what she had thought while growing up.
As they got closer Naya sped up to reach the gate first. Putting the basket down she moved the large stone that kept the wooden gate from swinging open to the side.
“Put the basket on the table for me before you do your chores, alright,” Her mother called out before Naya could disappear. With a groan, Naya pushed the door open with her foot and entered their cottage.
Her grandfather had built the cottage for his wife when he proposed to her, her father and grown up in it and her children would as well. There was a large kitchen to the right as her grandmother had loved to bake, and a small entryway that led to a small sitting room that her mother used as her workroom.
On the left was her mother's bedroom, and above the kitchen was a small loft area that Naya had made into her room. She had piled several blankets on top of each other and created a soft little nest, her father had called her his little bird.
Naya struggled to kick her boots off and not drop the basket, they were covered in mud and if you brought mud in you would have to clean it, her mother's rule.
Finally getting both boots off Naya made her way into the kitchen and dropped the basket off on the small dining table. A peak out the window showed her mother was just passing through the gate so she dug into the basket searching for an apple.
“I’ve got to get started on Lacy’s dress so make sure you put the basket in the cabinet with the preservation enchantment for me alright?” Her mother calls as she enters the house.
“I know!” Naya shouts back and bites into her newly uncovered apple. The preservation enchantment was what made the cottage really special, her grandfather had paid an entire silver coin for a mage to cast it on a cabinet.
The spell kept all food within it preserved for three weeks past its usual expiration date. Naya opened the brown cabinet her eyes straying to the inscribed spell on the back before she lifted the basket with a grunt and pushed it in.
Closing the cabinet made a soft whoosh sound as the spell activated. Her mother was particular about how her ingredients were sorted, so Naya didn’t have to worry about unpacking the basket.
Taking another bite out of her apple she made her way up the ladder that led to her room. Crawling into her loft Naya grabbed a thin brown sheet that she would cover her basket with, wouldn't want the freshly cleaned clothes to get dirty.
Earlier in the morning she had woken up and washed her clothes with water collected the previous night, now they were likely to be dry and she would need to take them off the clothesline.
Climbing back down Naya took several large bites of her apple to finish it off, and then tossed it out the window quickly. “I’m going to take the clothes down now,” She told her mother as she passed by on her way to the door.
“Alright, but no more apples understood!” Her mother shouted after her as she grabbed the large woven basket that had been left by the door that morning and stepped outside. With a wince, she let the door close behind her and quickly made her way to the side of the house where the clothesline was hung up.
One end was connected to a hook on the side of the house, while the other was tied to the branch of a tree. Dropping the basket Naya took her brown sheet and laid it out, then she tucked it into the edges and curled it around the rim.
With that done she began to take the clothes down, first, she would unclip them, then shake them out, fold them, and finish by placing them into the basket. It was a repetitive and boring task only made easier by the family of bluebirds that made their nest in the tree above her.
She would whistle a tune to them, and they would echo it back. Her father used to say she had a special gift with birds, especially bluebirds. About 3 years ago she had been playing in the garden when a baby bluebird fell out of its nest.
Her father had helped her nurse it back to health and it ended up building its nest in their yard, her father would sneak the bird bits of bread and wink at her telling her it was their little secret. He died about 6 months later.
Naya shook her head and focused, she had a lot of chores to do before sunset, and it wouldn’t do to get lost in her mind. Clearing her throat she began to whistle a simple tune.