The Stepsister Scheme (42 page)

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Authors: Jim C. Hines

BOOK: The Stepsister Scheme
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The whip in Talia’s hand uncoiled, lashing around Talia’s throat.
Danielle raised her sword and moved closer. “Let her go!”
“I never should have trusted Charlotte to kill you,” Stacia said.
“Give me your weapon.”
Danielle fought to hold on, but her fingers obeyed Stacia’s will. She slowed to a walk, reversing her grip on the sword. Stacia reached out.
Stacia hadn’t ordered her to surrender. As Stacia’s hand closed over the hilt, Danielle punched her in the throat. She grabbed Stacia’s wrist in both hands, trying to wrench the sword away.
Stacia pulled her knife with her free hand, cutting a shallow line across Danielle’s stomach. Danielle backed away, collapsing as her wounded leg gave out.
“Idiot! I need that child.” The voice was Stacia’s, but the inflection was Rose’s.
“Fight her, Stacia.” Danielle started to crawl toward Talia. Talia’s face was dark. She was using another knife to try to cut the whip. The handle lay on the floor, but the individual strands continued to strangle her.
“They killed Brahkop!” Stacia shouted.
“And they will be punished.”
Danielle shivered. Both voices came from Stacia’s mouth, one full of pain and grief, the other cold and hateful. She could see blood in Stacia’s hand where she held Danielle’s sword. As before, the weapon fought to escape Stacia’s grasp. But this time, Stacia didn’t seem to notice.
“Princess,” Talia wheezed. She dropped to her knees. Her eyes flicked toward Stacia. She placed her knife on the floor and slid it toward Danielle.
“Stacia, you don’t have to listen to her,” said Danielle. She grabbed the knife. Stacia had never defied her own mother, and Rose was a far more terrifying master. But grief and anger had given Stacia strength. Danielle could see her fighting to throw off Rose’s control.
To one side, Talia shook her head.
Use the knife
, she mouthed, and pantomimed stabbing Stacia.
Stacia smiled and walked toward Danielle. She raised Danielle’s sword. Now it was Rose’s turn to fight for control. “You can’t. We need the child.”
Stacia shook her head. “
You
need the child. I need to avenge my husband.”
“Don’t do this, Stacia.” Danielle turned sideways, keeping the knife pointed at her stepsister. “I don’t want to fight you.”
“I loved him.” Stacia swung.
Danielle tried to duck, but she wasn’t fast enough. The blow felt like a heavy branch slamming into her neck. Danielle heard the unmistakable sound of breaking glass. She fell to the floor, grabbing her neck where the sword had struck. She felt bruised, but there was no blood.
Stacia backed away, staring at the broken sword. The glass blade had snapped close to the hilt. The broken blade had landed by Danielle’s leg.
Crystalline splinters protruded from Stacia’s forearm. Blood was already trickling down over her hand.
Stacia screamed and flung the hilt away. She clutched her knife in both hands and rushed at Danielle.
Danielle grabbed the broken blade and thrust the tip into her stepsister’s stomach.
Behind her, Talia gasped for air as the strands of the whip fell away. Stacia stumbled back. She grabbed the broken blade to pull it free, but only managed to cut her hands on the bloody glass.
“I’m sorry,” Danielle said. Despite all of the torments Stacia and Charlotte had inflicted on her over the years, she felt only emptiness as she watched Stacia stumble. The cut on Danielle’s stomach stung as she crawled toward her stepsister. She prayed Talia was right, that the poison on Stacia’s knife wasn’t enough to kill.
“Murderer,” whispered Stacia. “Your mother would be so proud.”
“Go on, then. Finish her.” The words sounded distant and hollow, as if heard through a long corridor.
The ghost of Snow’s mother stood behind her, shaking her head. Like the darklings, Rose seemed untouched by the light. But where the darklings absorbed the light, Rose simply ignored it. She was a woman always in shade, despite the bright flames from the chandelier overhead. Nor did she cast any shadow on the ground.
She was beautiful, with Snow’s full lips and round cheeks, and dark eyes that shone like the sea at night. Slender and graceful, she circled Danielle and Stacia. A smell like burning meat wafted from her body, and Danielle wrinkled her nose.
Rose wore a simple gray gown, but the ragged hem was burned away. Flecks of orange danced along the bottom edge as she moved. Her feet were charred, looking more like burned firewood than anything human. Danielle remembered what Talia had said, how Snow’s dwarves had tortured Rose before they killed her.
“Get back, Princess.” Talia threw one of the Duchess’ knives. It passed right through Rose’s chest.
“I’m dead, remember?” Rose said, sounding annoyed. “You can’t hurt me. Of course, you can’t stop me either.” She strode toward Danielle, one hand stretching toward her stomach.
Danielle crawled away. Talia moved to stand between her and the ghost, though there was nothing she could do to protect Danielle.
“
I
can stop you.” On the far side of the room, Snow limped up the staircase, followed by the flaming dwarf. A wash of heat preceded the dwarf’s attack as he flew across the room toward Rose.
The ghost clapped her hands. When she drew them apart, a shadowy oval hovered between her palms. An ebony frame inlaid with gold circled a dark mirror. As the dwarf charged, his flaming reflection grew larger. But the reflection was dimmer. The flames flickered like a lantern whose wick had run dry. As the dwarf sprang, Rose reached
through
the mirror. Her fingers clamped around the dwarf’s neck, and with no apparent effort, drew him into the mirror. The mirror dissolved into smoke, taking the dwarf with it.
“That makes six of your seven dwarves.” Rose strode around the edge of the room, leaving ashen prints that dissolved into smoke. “You’ve done quite well, considering your lack of training. A mother could be proud. But I’ve faced your demons before. Did you really believe I wouldn’t have prepared for them?”
Danielle and Talia exchanged glances. Without a word, they moved to stand on either side of Snow.
“The dwarves can’t touch her without crossing into the realm of the dead,” Snow whispered. “Without Stacia, she’s weaker, but—”
“What will you do with the last dwarf?” asked Rose. “Your embodiment of magic. Will you send her forth to fight me, or shall I rip her from you? I’ll be sure to put her power to good use.” She smiled. “As for you, Princess Danielle, it’s a shame your son is still so weak. If you’d given me and my darklings more time, I might have been able to spare you. Instead, I’m left with no choice but to take your body until he’s ready.”
Snow stiffened. “Don’t believe her. She can’t take an unwilling host.”
Rose shook her head, an expression of mock-sadness on her shadowed face. “Not without your help, Daughter. When Stacia died, I thought I’d have to settle for Charlotte. But we’ve already seen that I can turn your dwarves to my use. That last dwarf, magic incarnate, should be more than strong enough to drive your friend from her own body.” She smiled at Danielle. “If you’re fortunate, the tattered remnants of your spirit might still live on in your body once I’m finished with it.”
Danielle and Talia both looked at Snow. “Is that true?” Danielle whispered. “Can she possess me like she did Stacia?”
“Technically . . . yes.” Snow’s hand shook as she pointed at Rose. “Destroy her.”
The room seemed to tilt and wobble. The air around Snow rippled, and a young girl surged from Snow’s body. The final dwarf had the pale, round face of a child. Long black hair draped down her back like a cape. She could have been a younger incarnation of Snow.
The girl’s bare feet slapped against the floor as she ran toward Rose. Plates and goblets shattered on the table as she passed. The flames in the chandelier flashed through every color of the rainbow while bits of crystal tore free and shot through the air to explode against the walls. One of the chairs began to smolder, while another sprouted leaves.
A sudden mania ran through Danielle’s blood, bubbling up in her chest until she had to fight to keep from giggling or screaming. The room seemed to shift, as if the child was a vortex sucking her in.
Snow caught her arm. “I told you magic was the most dangerous of the dwarves.” She raised her chin. “I promise I won’t let my mother hurt you.”
Danielle nodded. “I know.”
The flames detached from the chandelier and rushed toward Rose, tearing through her spectral form. She stumbled back with each assault. The flames returned again, fainter than before, but still enough to drive Rose into the wall.
The third time, Rose managed to summon a small, round mirror. The flames struck the mirror and disappeared. Then the mirror itself began to bubble, like liquid boiling over a fire.
“Come to me, my child,” Rose said, her voice tight and strained. The girl stepped back. With the candles extinguished, the only illumination came from the burning chair at the table. The darkness made Rose seem more solid.
The dwarf attacked again, leaping directly at the mirror to wrest it from Rose’s hands. Rose staggered back, but didn’t fall. Slowly, the darkness of the mirror began to seep through the dwarf, drawing her into that black pool.
Snow reached down and pulled out the knife at her hip.
“Defiant to the last,” said Rose. “Your father had the same stubborn streak. Your last dwarf has failed, and your mirrors are broken. You’ve lost, Daughter.”
“I didn’t expect her to defeat you, Mother,” said Snow. Her thumb moved across the delicate snowflake engraving at the center of the knife’s crossguard. She flicked her thumb, and the snowflake swiveled aside, revealing a small, perfectly polished mirror. “Only to weaken and hold you.”
Rose’s mouth opened as she spied the tiny mirror. She started to reach for Snow, but the mirror in her hand lurched and buckled like a thing alive, forcing her to grab it with both hands.
Snow held the knife flat against her heart, her hands clasped like she was praying. “Mirror, mirror, at my breast.”
“Wait,” Rose shouted. She wrestled the mirror around, trying to put it between herself and Snow. “Ermillina,
stop!
”
“Bring this ghost eternal rest.” Snow threw her knife.
The mirror in the hilt flashed like sunlight as it left Snow’s hand. The throw was weak, but the knife seemed to gain strength as it flew, moving faster and faster like an eagle diving for its prey. The blade hit Rose’s dark mirror, which shattered, taking the final dwarf with it. The fragments dissipated before they hit the floor.
Rose grunted. Snow’s knife protruded from the center of her chest.
“Good-bye, Mother,” said Snow.
Moments later, Rose was gone. The knife clinked to the floor. Snow hurried to reclaim it, pushing the delicate snowflake back over the mirror. She drew a deep, slow breath, then turned back to Danielle and Talia. “I told you I wouldn’t let her hurt you.”
“What happened, Snow?” Talia asked, reaching out to touch Snow’s hair. Strands of silver ran through Snow’s glossy black locks. Danielle could see faint lines around the corners of Snow’s eyes as well.
Snow pulled a lock of hair over her eyes, nearly cross-eyed as she studied it. “The dwarves took their price.”
“They were supposed to take it from all three of us,” Danielle said.
Snow shrugged. “I’m the one who summoned them.”
“You knew.” Talia’s voice was cold.
“Of course I knew, silly.” She gave Talia a quick hug. “Just like I knew you’d keep arguing with me, trying to find another way, and we didn’t have time. But I love you both for offering.” She stepped back and waved at Armand. “We’re alive. Armand is free. Aren’t you the one who’s always saying we do what we have to do? Now, can someone tell me why the prince is asleep on the floor?”
“He tried to fight me,” Danielle said. “I think I broke the curse, but he hasn’t woken up yet.”
Snow placed her fingers over Armand’s chest. “The love spell is gone. There may be some side effects for the next few days, though.”
Danielle swallowed. “What do you mean?”
“That spell stifled his affection for you,” Snow said. She grinned. “Dam a river, and the pressure builds. With the spell gone . . . let’s just say I’ll need some extra strong thread to stitch your wounds, given what you’ll be doing.”
“Oh.” Despite everything, Danielle found herself smiling in return.
“Oh.”
 
Snow cast several minor enchantments over Armand, none of which roused him from his slumber. “He’s going to have to sleep it off,” Snow decided. She approached Talia. “Let me see that arm.”
While Snow used several pieces of a broken chair to bind a makeshift splint around Talia’s arm, Danielle crossed the room and knelt in front of Stacia’s body. She had fallen beside Brahkop. Troll and human blood pooled together, a gruesome, sticky mess of red and black.

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