Red Hood's Revenge

the burned, bitter smell of cold coffee. She gulped it down, rinsing her mouth the best she could. If nothing else, the coffee helped shove the last of the fatigue from her mind.
    She tossed the bottle back to Talia. Gripping one of the smaller mirrors on her choker, she whispered a command. Gold wire unwound from the glass, releasing the mirror into her hand. The edge was rimmed in gold leaf, protecting her fingers from the sharp edges.
    “What are you doing?” Talia asked.
    “Roudette’s expecting Danielle. If we can sneak up on her, great. If not, I thought disguises might help us get close enough to take care of her.” She stared into the mirror, summoning an image of Danielle from the day before. Holding that image in her mind, she returned the mirror to her choker.
    She watched her hands change, losing the pale perfection of her own skin and taking on the light tan of Danielle’s. She raised her left hand, admiring the gold band on the fourth finger. “If Danielle polished this thing any more often, it could blind you.”
    Talia pursed her lips. “Not bad. Your voice sounds the same, but you don’t talk like Danielle does. You definitely don’t move like her, but Roudette shouldn’t know the difference. So what makes you think Roudette won’t simply sneak up and kill you?”
    “As if you’d let that happen.” Snow tapped her choker. “Besides, she can’t come within ten paces without my knowing. Remember the wards on the castle walls? I’ve got the same spell in my mirrors.”
    “And if she decides to shoot you from a distance?”
    Snow shrugged. “Roudette prefers to kill up close. She likes to be sure.”
    “Be careful,” said Talia. “Don’t overdo it with the magic before we’ve even found her.”
    “I’m fine,” Snow said lightly. “The mirror does most of the work.”
    “What about my disguise?” asked Talia. “There’s no way Roudette will have forgotten what I look like.”
    Snow grinned and touched another of her mirrors. “You’re going to love it.”
     
    “I can’t decide how I’m going to kill you,” Talia said as she made her way through the woods. The trees were older here, the canopy thick with leaves whose colors were just beginning to change. The ground was soft earth, bare of all save mushrooms, rotting branches, and fallen leaves. “I thought about beating you with this walking stick, but there’s also something to be said for using your bare hands.”
    “It’s a great disguise.” Snow’s insistence would have been more convincing without the smirk. “Can you think of any way to make you look less like Talia Malak-el-Dahshat?”
    She had a point. This was about as different as Talia could get while remaining human. She grabbed the mirror pinned to her cloak, turning it to study her reflection. A thick gray beard covered a pale, wrinkled face. Her scalp was bald, spotted by age. One milky eye stared off at an odd angle. The other was pale blue. Talia reached up to touch an oversized nose. “Where did you come up with this?”
    “The library,” said Snow. “That’s Gregor Vindamar, a very important wizard. He discovered the four laws of binding. If not for him, I’d never have been able to make this choker.”
    “What about the staff?” Talia asked. Her voice was different as well. Deep and raspy.
    “You couldn’t be clumsy if you tried. Your grace gives you away.” Snow reached over to rap the staff, which she had shaped from a sapling near the edge of the woods. “Hard to be graceful with a limp.”
    “I suppose.” Talia gave the staff a quick spin. The wood was solid enough to make a serviceable weapon. This could work.
    “If anyone asks,” Snow added, “you’re my personal chef and eunuch Gregory.”
    Talia jabbed the staff into the dirt. “Bare hands it is.”
    Snow ignored her. She raised a hand for silence, peering into the darkness. “We’re getting close,” she whispered.
    Talia moved ahead, making as little noise as possible, nothing anyone should be able to hear over the sounds of the forest.
    A branch cracked overhead. Talia leaped back, staff raised, but the branch fell harmlessly to the ground a short distance to her right. A woodpecker attacked a tree in the distance. The wind brushed through the leaves. She searched the trees, but saw nothing unusual.
    “Relax.” Snow’s features were Danielle’s, but the amused smile was all Snow. “The dryads are long gone. Without them, these trees are nothing but