Chapter 53
Fifty-Three
One morning, a bear ambles out of the woods and into your garden. Before you can usher Cyrus inside, the bear becomes a man—not a man, but a prince, dressed in royal regalia. He offers you a folded piece of parchment bearing an unfamiliar seal of a stag.
“Queen Snow White has pardoned you,” he says.
You take the letter. Open it. Your throat bobs as you read it.
“The Fair Queen has died,” says the bear-turned-prince. “And with her, whatever foul magic compelled your hand. You are free now.”
But wait, you nearly say. Then you think of Gertrude’s husband, and his death from a broken heart. Sometimes the story that must be told and the story of what happened are not the same. You expect Snow White understands that by now. The story you were a part of was always hers.
The moment you take the pardon, it feels again like this story is finally over.
But there’s still a little bit more to do.