Once the night deepened, a whistling silence ravelled the whole kingdom, along with the burbling howl of the running wintry winds in the air.
The palace was still, and not one was breaking the momentum. Yet, inside the queen's bedroom, a noise echoed that was filled with lust and ecstasy. There they go again with their rendezvous on the bed with Queen Gertrude giving all her best to satisfy his needs, to pleasure him, though his mind was wandering off about a certain someone.
"Without you, I would never become a queen." She whispered to his ear before nibbling on them and enticingly kissed his cheek.
"You did wonders for me…" He hotly responded as she thrust up and down, pleasuring herself on his manhood until climax was reached.
Her moans never ceased, along with the growing warmth that colored her whole body. She was feeling every inch of him and giving all the sweet marks on his skin, despite Lord Waldebert remaining rooted under her, looking into her with little sensation and a faint redness on his face. Even a fool would know that the queen no longer pleased him.
As midnight came and the climax was reached, Queen Gertrude wrapped her body under her lover's arms, a usual occurrence after they made love. She snuggled while Waldebert stared at the fresco that covered the whole ceiling of the room. He stared specifically at one image that depicted the marriage between Queen Esther and King Ahasuerus of ancient Persia. His green eyes lingered on such a painting and slowly curved a sly smile on his lips, thinking something that involved the pale princess.
Without a word, he removed Queen Gertrud from his arms, dressed back in his sleeping robes, and walked out of the room to return to his. His action left the queen confused and anxious, with the abiding thought that maybe she no longer had his favour. Perhaps some woman was wooing her adviser and gained his attention. This angered Queen Gertrude, so she immediately took hold of a silver hand mirror by her bedside and observed her face. She did not see any lines, blemishes, and yet her mind was crippling with the idea that she was becoming hideous that Waldebert just left her.
Still naked and bare, she marched with animosity to her vanity room where she kept her large and magical mirror. This thing was beyond imagination, for it talked, and it was always this mirror that kept the queen company when something bothered her. And this mirror, enchanting it was, also never lies.
Standing in front of her magical object with her reflection looking back at her, Queen Gertrude raised her chin and announced, "Magic mirror on the wall, do tell your queen, who is the fairest of them all?"
Lightning suddenly crossed the wintry sky, and the wind blew louder. Seemingly, by her command, the black magic came to transpire when she pointed her finger at the mirror and a face appeared answering her inquiry with a commanding and otherworldly voice, "You, my queen, is fair, but as the many moons passed, Maria Blanca is now a thousand times fairest of them all."
The answer halted the air in her for a moment. Queen Gertrude was petrified and could not even blink. Her fist curved into a hard ball until her emotions boiled, causing her to throw a vase and lash out curses in the room.
"That damn child! A seducer! She thinks she is above me? Well, she is nothing but a rat! I will make that wretched Maria Blanca pay." The queen snarled, savouring the anger and envy that now fully engulfed her soul. "You will soon be nothing, dear princess, and I will be once more the fairest in the land!"
Together with her cackling laughter, the wind roared and the lightning morphed into a storm, causing havoc all over the Kingdom of Erdestea.