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Silent fury swallows him whole. His love is dead. After having words with his father and meeting adamant refusal to ride out against the queen, Prince William turns to another outlet. At the practice range, he shoots arrow after arrow into targets around him with increasing speed, as if they offend him. Bulls eye after bulls eye he strikes but try as he might, no amount of shooting these inanimate objects can help abate the sorrow welling in him. Each target in his mind becomes an image of the queen, yet his despair deepens as he knows he cannot kill her himself. He draws the last arrow in his quiver, ready to put another arrow through the vile face of the woman of his nightmares... but... his shoulders sag as lowers his bow. If he or any other than Snow White had the power to kill the queen, it would have been done long ago.
His thoughts turn once again to Snow White, and he turns to the castle. The desire to see her just once more fills him, and he goes to her. His shoes seem filled with lead, almost as if his body knows that seeing her beauty in the cold pallor of death would be the undoing of his heart.
Finally he reaches the entryway, and as he sees her body surrounded by the warm glow of candlelight, it seems for a moment that she is merely sleeping. His feet carry him to her side with a faint glimmer of hope in his heart, yet as he draws near the candlelight's trick is made apparent. As he takes her hand in his the cold of her skin seems to bite at him, almost as if it is jealous of the warmth and life in him.
"When I heard you were alive, I promised myself that I would never leave you alone again, and that I would keep you from harm. See how I have failed. I let you out of my sight, and you were taken from me." He took a deep shuddering breath as more tears rolled down his cheeks, and continued, "For years I believed you dead, and still I did not marry another. For years I held you in my heart above all others, though we were but children when we were ripped from each other's lives. You always knew the real me. We bickered and I teased you, yet you were always there for me, good times and bad. Still, despite all this, I failed you. The one person that mattered most not only to the kingdom, but to me, is the one person I could not protect. For that, I am sorry."
With his free hand he tucks a lock of that forever unruly hair behind her ear, and a tear falls from his eye to hers, and as he leans closer he says softly, "What I am most sorry for is that I never told you that even though our marriage was arranged, I loved you. I still love you." As his draws closer, he whispers his love one last time before touching his lips to hers for the first time.
Locked inside her own paralyzed body, Snow White weeps silently and wishes she could see his face, touch his cheek, and give him words of comfort to ease his pain. To tell him not one day went by in that cell that she did not think of him and hope that he was alive and well. To return the words of love that she had yearned to hear for so long. His lips touch hers and her heart fills with so much joy, and tears fall from her eyes at the pain of being trapped in this cold statue of an unmoving body, of never being able to return that soft touch of the lips, of... Tears? She has tears. She realizes her body seems to draw in strength from his kiss, and that the shackles of the spell binding her had been broken. His lips then leave hers and she fights for control of her own body. First, blood beginning to move, then breath, and as each of her senses return she uses them, relishing in life once more.
William moves away from her, and as he opens his eyes he sees her skin regaining its natural color once more. In denial, he thinks it another trick of the candlelight and his own wishful thinking. As he looks away, he does not see her lips separate as she draws in a shallow breath. Like an old man whose body is broken by time and age, he slowly stands to walk away, but a slight twitch in her hand held him back. Stunned, he turns back to her and blinks away the tears still in his eyes to see her head tilted toward him and her eyes slowly open.
He stands dumbstruck until the corners of her lips pull up into the sweetest of smiles. He words escape him for long moments until he manages, "Snow? …You're alive…" The joy emanating from his heart overcomes the shock and he breaks out into a giant smile as he moves to embrace her. He feels her hand play with his hair and a soft, almost dreamlike voice in his ear say, "I love you too, William."