In the glass part 8

“Mirror? Mirror, are you there?”

“Snow?”

“What happened to your eye? It’s cracked!”

“Your stepmother and I had an altercation. I think I won.”

“But she hurt you!”

“She’s never tried to physically harm me before. I count that as a victory.”

Snow White gently touched the glass. “Does it hurt?”

“I’ll be fine,” he said, stretching the truth. He didn’t want her to know how excruciating it still was. He tried to distract her “Where are we?”

“In the cottage of the seven dwarves.”

“Dwarves?” Obviously he had missed some important events.

“Yes, they let me stay here. You were right, and I never got a chance to thank you”

It finally occurred to him to look past Snow White and take in their surroundings. Sure enough they were in the same little house, but for the first time he noticed how apt the term “little” was. The room looked like a perfectly ordinary kitchen, but everything was scaled down.

Snow White was sitting in the only chair her size, which had probably been built specifically for her. Seeing how much trouble someone had gone to for her sake prompted him to ask how much time he had lost.

“A little over a month. They gave me this little mirror in case you came back, but you never did.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault, obviously. I just missed you.”

The prince tried to smile at her. He hadn’t lost time like that in years, but he hadn’t meant to make her worry. Now just listening to the sound of her voice gave him the strength to face the witch again.

Narissa wasn’t entirely pleased to see him. Clearly she had hoped to be rid of Snow White before he returned. Yet the prince suspected it was only his connection to the princess that had kept him intact.

“So you’re back, then?” asked the sorceress, feigning disinterest. “I hope you learned something.”

He had learned that he could get under her skin, but since that probably wasn’t the answer she was looking for he decided to keep silent.