"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?"

The mirror answered, but of course it was not the answer the wicked Queen had wanted.

At that very moment, 'The fairest of them all' was sitting on the bottom step of the stone staircase which, with English humour, twisted its way up the main tower of the castle. It was late afternoon and she had an etiquette lesson. The large, sun-flower like autumn sun struggled to stay above the horizon, while night gathered in a purple haze.

The last few rays of light were falling cold and unnoticed in the yard. Autumn was almost over.

Reluctantly she stood up, dusted herself off, and set out, two steps at a time, up the tower. The classroom was of course at the top of the tower and her teacher would be angry if she was late. Her teacher would be angry anyway, as it wasn’t ladylike to leap up stairs two at a time.

***

Moira was twenty-three, and about to get married to the man of her dreams. Like most young girls, she wanted to be married in white. It was her 'big day' after all, and a white wedding was what was expected. She had invited everyone she knew, and everyone had written back saying they would attend. The wedding was to take place on the first day of spring. It was all very romantic.

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