Red Hood's Revenge

pales at the torments the fairy lords can inflict.”
    “You’ve no idea, my lady.” Rumpelstilzchen gestured with one hand, and Heather stood. “Very well. Take her. Assuming she wants to be returned.” He shouted a word in a language Danielle didn’t recognize.
    Snow yelled a warning as Heather screamed and threw herself at Danielle. Heather’s face was feral. She kicked and bit, her nails clawing at Danielle’s skin.
    Danielle shoved her away, holding her sword high to keep Heather from impaling herself. Rumpelstilzchen ran past, but she trusted Snow to deal with him. As Heather attacked again, Danielle said, “Hevanna V’alynn Presnovich!”
    The girl collapsed to the floor. Danielle’s throat tightened. She had practiced for hours to make sure she could pronounce Heather’s true name, but neither Snow nor Trittibar had known exactly what would happen when Rumpelstilzchen’s spell was broken. Was Hevanna’s the death Beatrice had seen? The girl had come so close to killing herself on Danielle’s blade.
    Snow blocked the doorway, but as Danielle watched, Rumpelstilzchen clapped his hands and Snow vanished, reappearing behind him. Snow’s wards kept him from escaping, but he could still use his powers within the confines of those wards.
    Now , Danielle said silently.
    Rats burst from the straw, swarming over Rumpelstilzchen. He screamed and fell, rolling about as their teeth pierced clothes and skin.
    Danielle winced at his cries. She hadn’t asked the rats to be quite so bloody, but this wouldn’t be the first time animals had responded to the rage in her heart. She turned to check on Hevanna. The girl’s eyes were closed, and her breathing came in quick gasps.
    “She’s all right,” Snow said. “She needs rest and real food.”
    Danielle sagged in relief. She turned to see Talia standing in the doorway. “What about Lang?”
    Talia glanced to one side. “He’ll live.”
    She could hear the guards approaching. “Tell them to be careful with Lang. We don’t know what tricks he might have learned from a lifetime with Rumpelstilzchen.”
    Talia nodded and disappeared out the door. Danielle stepped toward Rumpelstilzchen and ordered the rats back.
    “Lyskar will kill me!” he gasped.
    “They might show mercy once their daughter is returned.” Danielle nudged one recalcitrant rat with her toe, pushing him away. “Five years they’ve hunted for her.”
    “It’s a sickness,” Rumpelstilzchen said. “I’ve tried to stop, but every time I looked upon those sweet, succulent faces, those helpless lads and lasses—”
    “You should probably stop talking now,” Snow suggested, fiddling with her choker.
    “Return every last child,” Danielle said, fighting to keep her voice even. “Give us their names. I will ask Lyskar to spare your life.”
    “You won’t leave me even one to—” Something in Danielle’s expression made him swallow. “All of them. My word as a fairy.”
    Snow removed one of the mirrors from her choker and reached toward him.
    “No need for magic,” He protested, squirming away. “Fairy vows are unbreakable.”
    “We know,” said Talia. Danielle hadn’t even noticed her return. “Just as we know how easily that word can be twisted. You’ll free them, but when? Where? In what condition?”
    Snow pressed the mirror to Rumpelstilzchen’s forehead and whispered an enchantment. When she pulled back, a silver oval marked his skin. “It’s not a true fairy mark, but it should bind him just the same.”
    Danielle sheathed her sword and scooped Hevanna into her arms. “Take care of him while I find a bed for our young princess. I’ll contact Lyskar and let them know we have their daughter.” She started toward the door, then hesitated. “Thank you both.”
    “It was fun,” Snow said brightly. “I’ve wanted to try that binding spell ever since Trittibar showed it to me.”
    Talia was staring at Rumpelstilzchen. “You should have let the rats finish him.”
    Danielle didn’t trust herself to answer. She stepped into the night air and breathed deeply. Two guards were carrying a moaning Lang Miller away. The rest drew to attention.
    “Is everything all right, Your Highness?” asked one, obviously uncertain how to react to the sight of his princess and her servants having beaten two strangers into submission.
    “It is now.” Danielle smiled. Charles was new to service, and, like many, he probably assumed Danielle’s glass sword to be a ceremonial