Read The Stepsister Scheme Online
Authors: Jim C. Hines
The Stepsister Scheme (23 page)
“You destroyed mine.”
Talia stepped closer. “The fact that your mother was a crazy, self-centered, power-grubbing madwoman is what destroyed her.”
Slowly, Charlotte looked up at Talia. “That, too.” She turned back to Danielle. “Would you like to know how Armand and I spent our first night together? He’s quite the passionate lover. I never would have guessed. He’s so polite and proper when he’s out in public.” She smiled. “Skilled, too. Clearly, he’s sampled his share of women before
you
.”
you
.”
Danielle didn’t realize she had grabbed her sword until the hilt warmed in her fingers. She caught herself before she spoke. This was another game, a taunt to make her react. She opened her hand and backed away. “Snow, what about my son? Can you use him to find Armand, now that we’re inside Fairytown?”
Snow shook her head. “I already tried. Wherever he is, it’s well shielded.”
“What about Stacia?” Danielle turned to the gnome. “Can you try to summon her? With Charlotte helpless, Stacia might be more willing to take us to Armand.”
“Be careful,” Charlotte said. “Your precious prince swore to kill you if he ever saw you again. He knows you’ll try to take him from me, and he loves me too much to let that happen.”
“He pities you,” Danielle said. “It’s only your enchantment that makes him pretend to love you.”
“Love, pity, what does it matter? He’ll still slit your throat if you try to rescue him.”
Danielle shook her head. “Armand wouldn’t hurt me.”
“He might,” said Snow. “A love spell like that is as much about possession and jealousy as true affection. The thought of losing Charlotte might be enough to drive him to murder.”
“Ha!” said Charlotte.
“She’s lying about sleeping with him, though,” Snow added.
“How dare you—”
Arlorran chuckled. “You’re right. Should have noticed that myself.”
Danielle turned to the gnome. She had suspected Charlotte was lying, but how had they known? “I don’t understand.”
“Your stepsister is a virgin,” Snow said, sounding genuinely sympathetic. “Virginity can affect various spells, so you learn to spot the signs early on. Poor girl.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Charlotte was a poor liar. Danielle could hear the pain beneath her venom. “You’ll never see him again.”
“We’ll see.” Danielle stood. “Arlorran, try to summon Stacia.”
Arlorran stepped back. “Be ready. Charlotte arrived spitting mad. If Stacia shows up the same way, you’ll want to grab her before she can do any harm.” He shook his head, adding, “Any furniture gets smashed up in the process, I’m holding you responsible.”
Danielle drew her sword. Talia stayed where she was, her own weapon pointed at Charlotte’s throat. Snow moved to the opposite side of the room, close to Arlorran.
“Stacia Moors,” Arlorran whispered. He scratched his head through his cap. “Well, blast. I almost had her, but she tightened up her shielding spell there at the end.”
“We still have Charlotte,” said Talia. “Tell us where to find Armand and your sister, or I’ll turn you over to the fairy queen.” She poked her sword at the fairy mark on Charlotte’s shoulder. “I don’t know how you convinced the troll to help you, but the queen is bound by the treaty. Once we tell her you’ve kidnapped a human prince and brought him to Fairytown, nothing in this world will protect you. Believe me, you don’t want to be on the receiving end of a fairy curse.”
Charlotte glared at Danielle. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“I don’t want you punished,” Danielle said, surprised to realize it was the truth. “I just want you gone from my life.”
“The fairies, on the other hand, tend to be much more interested in punishment,” said Talia. “Snow, can you contact the fairy queen from here?”
Snow unclasped her choker and held the front mirror to her face. “Mirror, mirror, how you gleam. Show me now the fairy—”
“Wait,” said Charlotte.
Snow closed her hand over the mirror and rolled her eyes. “I know, I know. Gleam and queen don’t really rhyme. But it’s a pretty basic spell, so it doesn’t matter. It’s the flow of the words that counts.”
Charlotte rolled her eyes. “Idiot,” she muttered. She reached for Danielle, who took her hand without thinking. Talia moved closer. She didn’t speak, but the unwavering tip of her sword made her warning clear.
“Let him go,” Charlotte said. Her fingers were thin, the skin damp with sweat. Her shoulders trembled, and she refused to look Danielle in the eyes. “You can’t save him. If you try, you’ll only make things worse.”
“Worse for whom?” Talia asked.
Charlotte ignored her. “Danielle, I swear on my mother’s grave I’m telling you the truth. Get out of Fairytown.”
Talia sighed. “Call the queen, Snow.”
“Wait,” said Danielle. She tried to remember if Charlotte had ever called her by her proper name before. Maybe in the very beginning, before her father died, but that was a lifetime ago. “Charlotte, you know I can’t leave my husband.”
“He’ll be happy,” Charlotte snapped. “The potion guarantees that much. And isn’t that what you want? For your true love to be happy? Please believe me. You have to flee.”
“Why?” asked Talia. “You’ve already lied to us, and the fact that you tried to murder the princess doesn’t do much for your credibility.”
“Killing this farce of a princess is one thing,” Charlotte snapped. She turned her attention back to Danielle. “But believe me, if you keep searching for Armand, you’ll wish I’d finished the job.”
Danielle pulled her hand from Charlotte’s grasp. “What are you afraid of? Tell me.”
“If I could, I would.” Charlotte touched the mark on her shoulder. “You can’t imagine—”
Charlotte’s breath caught. She pushed herself to the back of the bed, her wide eyes fixed on the doorway, where two rats darted past Arlorran’s feet.
“Off with you, you blasted pests,” Arlorran shouted. He grabbed a candlestick from the dresser and flung it at the nearest rat, who scurried to one side. “Damned things sneak down the chimneys from time to time. I built a grate, but you’d be amazed at the spaces a rat can squeeze through. Most of the time they fall and break their flea-bitten necks, but every once in a while one makes it down, usually when I’m here with . . . company. Ruins the mood something awful.”
The two rats ran toward the bed. Snow watched them run, a confused expression on her face. Her hand went to her knife. “Talia—the black rat. Kill it!”
Talia didn’t hesitate. She whirled away from the bed and swung her sword. The blade whispered through the air, slamming onto the rat’s back with a dull thump. The second rat scampered away.
Talia raised her sword. The black rat shook his head. The blow had flattened the middle of his body, but he appeared unharmed. His pink tail lashed once, and then he began to grow. His fur seemed to absorb the light, until he was little more than a shadow which gradually stretched into the shape of a young boy.
The other rat was doing the same. This one grew even larger, taking on the form of a human woman.
“Stacia.” Danielle raised her sword. The glass blade shone as she aimed the tip at her stepsister.
“That little fox,” Arlorran whispered. “She didn’t block my summons. She rode it right to my doorstep, then hopped free. I thought you said your stepsisters were new to witchcraft.”
“I thought they were,” Danielle whispered. But the Stacia she remembered had little in common with the calm, confident woman standing before her.
Stacia wore a gown of blood-red velvet, trimmed with black leather. A silver belt circled her overlarge waist. A web of delicate gold chain and rubies decorated her shoulders and chest, with a ruby teardrop suspended between her breasts. Pink spirals had been tattooed onto her left cheek and around her eye, partially concealing the scars left by Danielle’s birds at the wedding.
Danielle’s stepmother would have died to see Stacia dressed so.
Behind Stacia, the boy remained covered in shadow. Danielle could see enough to know he wasn’t human. The limbs were too long, and his movements too fluid, as if his bones were nothing but water.
“Sweet, merciful queen,” whispered Arlorran as he spied the boy. “Sorry, ladies. Best of luck to you!” With that, he turned and scurried out of the bedroom.
Talia lunged at Stacia, but the shadow was faster. He jumped to interpose his body between them. The sword slammed into his torso. He seized the blade with both hands as he fell to the ground, nearly ripping the weapon from Talia’s hand.
“That wasn’t nice,” Stacia said. She pointed to Talia. “Kill her.”
The shadow hopped to his feet, shoved the sword aside, and leaped. Talia brought the ball of her foot up to kick where his jaw should have been. He fell, twisting like a cat and springing again before Talia’s foot touched the ground.
“Back!” Snow shouted. The light from her choker grew almost blinding. The shadow raised his hands and scampered away. Danielle started to follow, hoping to help Talia, when Charlotte kicked her in the side.
Danielle fell against Snow, and the light dimmed. Instantly, the shadow attacked again.
Talia dove away, changing the movement into a somersault and drawing her knife as she rose. With a weapon in each hand, she turned and sliced at the shadow’s face, momentarily driving him back.
Charlotte was mumbling and pointing one hand at Talia. Danielle twisted around and smashed the flat of her blade down on Charlotte’s wrist. Charlotte screamed.
“It’s your own fault for being so clumsy, you stupid cow,” said Stacia.
“They took my necklace,” Charlotte shot back. “I’m doing the best I can.”
“I know. That’s the sad part.” Stacia pointed to the bed, and one of the blankets twisted itself into a rope and coiled around Danielle’s waist. “That’s an interesting toy,” Stacia said. “One last gift from your dearly departed mother?”
She crooked her finger, and the ends of the blanket whipped around Danielle’s arms. Danielle braced herself, twisting her wrists until the edge of the sword touched the blanket. The heavy material parted at the lightest touch, and the blanket dropped to the ground. She raised her sword to strike.
Stacia’s eyes widened with fear, and Danielle hesitated.
The shadow tackled her from the side. Cold hands clamped around her sword arm. Danielle saw Snow touch her choker, but before she could use her magic, Charlotte reached out with her good hand and grabbed Snow by the hair. Then Charlotte disappeared.
“Stop summoning me, you stupid gnome!” Charlotte screamed from another room. Danielle could hear Arlorran giggling.
Snow’s light drove the shadow off of Danielle. Her arm felt weak and heavy, but she wasn’t bleeding. She rolled to her side and stabbed the tip of her sword into the shadow’s leg.
He let out a childlike scream, the first sound Danielle had heard him make, and scurried back to Stacia’s side. Stacia opened her mouth to cast another spell, then twisted away as Talia threw her knife. It ricocheted from the wall behind her.
Stacia tried again, but Talia had already snatched the fallen candlestick and thrown it after the knife. The base caught Stacia in the side of the head. She dropped to her knees, and a line of blood trickled down her face.
“So it’s only your friend who’s invulnerable,” Talia said. “Good to know.” She spun her sword and strode toward Stacia.
The shadow darted around Stacia, putting himself between her and Talia.
“Flank her,” Talia snapped to Danielle. “She can’t fight us both. Snow, get this half-grown wisp of darkness out of our way.”
This time, though the shadow cowered from Snow’s light, he didn’t flee. He whimpered and looked up at Stacia, but refused to leave her side.
Stacia touched her head where the candlestick had struck. Blood dripped freely, a gruesome mirror to the tattoo on the other side of her face. She wobbled as she backed toward the doorway.
Danielle moved to intercept her. Black, oily blood marred the tip of her sword where she had struck the shadow.
“Stacia, help me!” Charlotte shouted from the other room. “This stupid gnome keeps dancing about, summoning me this way and that. I’m going to be sick!”
“Idiot,” Stacia mumbled. She brought her bloody fingers to her mouth and began to whisper.
Another blanket snarled around Danielle’s legs. She swung her sword down, awkwardly trying to cut herself free. She succeeded, but nearly sliced her own foot in the process. Her arm was still weak from the shadow’s attack.
Stacia had already turned to flee. Her body began to twist and shrivel back into its rat form. “Come!” she squeaked as she transformed. The shadow followed.
Talia snatched her knife from the floor and threw. The blade spun straight toward Stacia, but again the shadow saved her.
“Dammit,” Talia said, hurrying after the rats.
Snow and Danielle followed Talia through the doorway, into a larger room with two iron-rimmed holes built into the walls. Danielle could see a pink tail disappearing into the closest hole. “Where’s Charlotte?”
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