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The Snow Princess

It took a second glance to see that the queen's tastes in art were debauched. In the scenes naked nymphs were straddled by eager Pans, and powerful centaurs made love to helpless maidens, horseflesh against the bodies of the women. The queen was known for her sexual appetite, and everything about her attested to it, including her attire, which clung to her body and accentuated her full breasts and hips.

She moved to him with the swift grace of a cat, her black silk skirts smoothing silently over her legs. She lifted his dagger to his throat and raised her black brows as she spoke. "If you do not do as I say, then I will take your brothers and sisters from your home. I will kill them, roast them, and serve them for my court's pleasure for dinner. I will weave your sisters' beautiful hair into a shawl and set your brothers' teeth in gold in my crown. They will glow like pearls in my hair." She smiled evenly, displaying long, even white teeth like those of a panther.

*

He stopped and dismounted abruptly, then went to her and pulled her from the horse. Jennie gave a startled cry at the angry look on his face. "That was foolish of you," he chided. "You could have been hurt. Were you trying to escape me?"

She stared at him, wide-eyed, then began to laugh. "Escape you? Yes! I want to escape you and my damnable stepmother and everything about this land. I want to disappear into the woods and never return. I want to live with the sprites and dryads and sing and dance merrily all the days of my life."

He released her abruptly. "You are mad," he growled.

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