Beatrice's POV.
There are no princesses in the stories witches tell their daughters.
Instead, we are told the stories of women the world dismissed. Cassandra, fated to prophesy true, but never to be believed. Pandora, blamed for inviting evil into the world, but not credited for letting hope in too. Eve, archived in religious books for yielding to temptation and cursing us all with no mention Adam was standing there too.
My favorite story is that of Hecate.
In the beginning, I liked the story because my mother shares her name. That was before so much of what has happened. Over time, however, I began to understand why witches told Hecate's story to their daughters.
Hecate witnessed Hades, king of the underworld, kidnap Persephone and drag her down to hell. Persephone's mother was the powerful goddess of the harvest, Demeter. Mother searched the world for her daughter for nine days.
Crops failed. Drought lingered. Famine spread.