The cottage was silent save for the soft snipping of scissors, the rustle of leaves being brushed across the wooden table, and a kettle boiling over the cooking fire.

"Bad dream again?" Fourth Brother asked from the other side of the pile of herbs on the table when Snow stifled a yawn.

It was just the two of them that morning. The rest of the dwarves had woken up before dawn, chastised Sixth Brother for being unnecessarily superstitious over an owl, eaten their breakfast and left early to forage in the mountains.

Snow blew a stray strand of hair out of her face and took a sip of her tea. "It wasn't the usual." She picked up her scissors to work at the seams of an old jacket in her lap.

As much as she appreciated Seventh Brother's optimism in hunting a tiger, she did not want to impose too much on them. She figured she could make a winter cloak for herself out of the old jackets and clothes she found in a cupboard at the back of the cottage. As luck would have it, the dwarves had found scissors, needle and thread in a wooden box while foraging in the forest. They could not sew very well, or even thread the needle with their failing eyesight, so Snow would patch up or darn the holes in their clothes for them.

"How did you find these random things in the woods?" She held up the scissors shaped like a heron with a long bill. The mirror that the dwarves found the night before rested against the wall near the door.

"Must have fallen off carts or something. People fleeing to the border come through the valley near here."

"They do? Why are people fleeing the Kingdom?"

"Famine? Drought? Persecution? I don't know," he shrugged. "It wasn't like this before. All these years of living here, and we've hardly seen a soul. We've seen more people in the past couple of years than all the previous years combined."

Snow held up one side of the threadbare garment. It looked like a child's coat to her. She was going to have to cut up many jackets to make her cloak.

"What did Eldest Brother mean about the herbs not fetching much these days?" she asked.

"He meant exactly what he said. Things are just so expensive in the villages. We used to be able to buy three bags of rice. Three! Now we can only afford one. Don't even mention meat, we can only dream of eating a scrawny chicken these days. I don't know how the villagers survive like this."

"Why? What do you mean?" She glanced over at Fourth Brother who gave her a cautious look.

"I don't want to say it too loudly. You know, they say she can see everything and hear everything that's been said-"

"Who? The Emp-"

"Shhh! Don't mention her!"

"Oh, come now!"

He held a short finger up near his mouth. "Let's just say that the farmers have to grow more and reap more. Or else, after she" - he made a sweeping gesture that curved towards him - "there'll be nothing left."

Snow stared at him. The Empress decked out in all her finery appeared in her mind. She wondered how did the Empress fund the numerous lavish banquets she held for court officials and military officials. Rumor was that the Empress had entertained them with huge jars of wine and a never-ending stream of food coming from the royal kitchens.

The late Emperor hated corruption and did all he could to stamp it out. Bribery was a grave offense - his ministers could not accept even a single gift. Those who lined their own pockets with money taken from the Kingdom's subjects faced the executioner's sword. Her father had practiced frugality - rationing even the coal his harem could use during winter. The Empress obviously practiced the opposite, judging by the gold and jade rings on her office-bearers' fingers and their rounded bellies.

Then there were the opulent palaces the Empress ordered constructed in the hills, and the armies she amassed throughout the Kingdom - mercenaries, it was whispered, paid with coin.

Where did she get the funds for all that?

There was something Snow had to ask. "Was my father a good emperor? Did the people suffer under his rule?"

Fourth Brother's gaze met hers. "Your father, was a very, very good ruler. Look, I'm just a simple old man, what do I know? But I know he cared for his people. When there was a drought and the crops couldn't grow, he sent food to every house in the villages. Even all the way up here!

"We had food, we had law and order. We did not have to fear bandits then. Now we fear soldiers knocking on our door in the middle of the night if we said the wrong thing. So many young men in the villages - gone, taken away to the mines." He shook his balding head. "Speaking of villages, there is something serious I have to talk to you about."

"To me? About what?" Did they want me to leave?

"You know, the rest of the brothers and I have been discussing your future. We're all very old, we don't know how long more we have. You're young; you still have your whole life ahead of you. We've been thinking, what will happen to you after we're... not here anymore."

Snow gripped the scissors and jacket so tightly her knuckles showed white. Fourth Brother cleared his throat. "Sixth Brother says he has relatives on the other side of the mountain. He suggested we find you a husband from a good family there.

"Of course, Third Brother shot down the idea, saying no family in their right mind would accept... a girl living in the middle of the forest with seven old men, as a bride for their precious son. I see his point, but we've got to try, right? If that doesn't work, maybe we could see whether a rich man would take you in as a servant?"

"Can't I stay here by myself? I don't want to marry, and I don't want to be a servant. Let me live here."

"Ha, Little Sister, what kind of life is that? How are you going to fend for yourself? No, no, it's better if you leave this place. At least have a proper roof over your head, and someone to protect you."

"But I can pick berries and herbs, and bring them down to the villages to sell, like you all? I just need to cover my face, no one will know who I am."

"No, that's too dangerous."

"Then you think marrying me off to a stranger who might abuse me or making me a servant is better? Since when could you decide my future for me?"

"It's for your own good."

She almost hurled the scissors across the room upon hearing that oft repeated excuse. "My own good, my own good! You keep telling me I cannot go out for my own good. I didn't know that following you lot meant I would be imprisoned in this small wooden hut, and then sold off to the highest bidder like a cow!"

"Little Sis, it's not like that! Look, we all have eaten more salt than you have eaten rice. Trust us when we say we know what's best for you."

"Oh, yes, you all definitely know what's best for me." She continued snipping at the jacket though in her anger, her hand shook and the lines she cut were crooked.

"Little Sis, don't be upset. I know this is hard for you to take. I don't like this any more than you do. You're a princess, you should be married to a prince. You deserve better than this. But honestly, what choice do you have? After we're gone, who is going to care for you?"

Snow looked at his crestfallen face and her anger dissipated. She wished that she did not snap at him. Amongst all the dwarves, he was the one who doted on her the most, and whom she could speak her mind with. If she wanted to get her way, she had to first get Fourth Brother on her side. Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Brothers were soft hearted - they'd be a piece of cake. It was the older dwarves who were stubborn like buffaloes and difficult to persuade. She figured she'd better change her tone and try another approach.

"Brother, I know you have my best interest at heart, but I really don't want to marry or be a servant. Could you persuade the others to let me stay? Please? Talk to them. Tell them that I'd rather be alone than to live at the mercy of a cruel husband or owner."

"Then how will you feed yourself?"

"Let me follow you to find herbs. I can learn, just show me where. And if I join - Listen! If I join, then there will be eight of us, and hopefully we can gather enough for the winter. We can kill two birds with one stone."

Fourth Brother glanced at her with suspicion in his eyes. "Is this your backdoor way of leaving the cottage? You know our answer: it's out of the question."

"Please! If not now, then when? I just want to learn and help. I don't want to be a burden to you all any longer. Can you please talk to the others for me? I won't get in the way, I promise. I'll listen to every word you say, I'll be the best herb picker you've ever seen." Snow clasped her hands under her chin in earnestness.

He raised his tea cup to his lips and took a measured sip. The straggly white hair on his chin waggled as he grinded his teeth. "I'll... talk to the rest - don't celebrate just yet! I'm not making any promises! But I'll talk to them."

"Yay! What about if we step out to search for herbs right now?"

"That's pushing your luck!" He picked up a plain pastry from a bowl. "Aiya, Sis! It's like a rock!" He tapped the pastry a couple of times against the edge of the table. It did not crumble.

"Oh no! I must have mixed the batter for too long again."

"Good thing I haven't bitten into it yet, I can probably use it to hammer wood together." He continued knocking it against the table.

"Fourth Brother!" They both jumped at the urgent pounding on their door.

Fifth Brother tumbled into the cottage when the door swung open, his back drenched in sweat and his grey beard going in all directions.

"You scared me half to death! What happened? Where are the rest?" Fourth Brother asked.

"Third Brother," Fifth Brother said, between gulps of air. "He fell... near the Dragon's Back... Caught in a tree, but... we can't reach... too far down."

"Third Brother is hurt?" Snow gasped.

"His leg might... broken... Rope! We need... we can't... pull him up-"

"Say no more, I'm coming!" Fourth Brother made for the coils of rope hanging in the corner, but Snow grabbed them first.

"I'm coming too!" She pushed past Fourth Brother, dragging the rope behind her, but Fifth Brother blocked the doorway.

"No, you cannot!" the two old men shouted in unison.

The rope was taken from her hands despite her protests. Before slamming the door shut, Fourth Brother looked sternly into Snow's eyes. "Little Sis, stay hidden and don't leave the house!"

At the window, Snow could only watch the two dwarves descend into the forest, with coils of rope weighing down their shoulders. I could be of help! I won't get in the way!

As the seconds dragged on, she realized -- for the first time since she crossed the threshold of the cottage, she was left truly and utterly alone.

Author's note: Do you think Snow is caught between a rock and a hard place?

Have you made rock hard biscuits or bread before?