"don't hurt me; i bruise easily"

that's what her battered, emaciated limbs proclaimed. the blacks and blues that gradually changed to yellows and greens stood prominently on the otherwise smooth palate of her skin.

& essentially, she was snow white. post-dwarves snow white, that is. she was at the point in the story where everyone could see she was beautiful, both inside and out, & was hunted despite- or rather, for- it.

needless to say, he was no prince charming. & like the infamous queen, he constantly stared into a mirror, but didn't see the monster lurking back at him. to be put frankly, he was an ass.

without a doubt, she was scared.

not so much by the drunken rage that was omnipresent, or even by the fact that she was locked away in an all too real tower of terror

she was scared because she really did believe in a one true love and in a "happily ever after".

& she knew she wouldn't find either.