The Snow Queen's Shadow

turn. “Gerta, get moving.”
    Gerta hurried up the wall, and then Talia was yelling for Danielle.
    Danielle flung the spear straight into the air. Talia snatched it and set it down beside her. Danielle hesitated only long enough to thank the animals for their help. Then, tears blurring her eyes, she grabbed the rope and climbed. She was halfway up when she spotted a white shape streaking along the top of the wall toward Talia. “To your left!”
    “I see it.” Talia flung her darkling spear, catching the monster in the side. It howled and toppled away, out of sight. Talia reached down with her free hand.
    Danielle climbed faster, ignoring the burning of her muscles and the cramps in her fingers until she was able to reach up and grasp Talia’s hand.
    There was a short clearing on the opposite side, about ten paces between the wall and the palace itself. Gerta stood at the base of the wall below, dagger in one hand as she searched the snowy courtyard, but Danielle didn’t spot any of Snow’s monsters here save the one Talia had struck with her spear. It lay dead in the snow, the darkling standing beside it.
    The palace was relatively small, perhaps half the size of Whiteshore Palace. It was a thing of spires, like three narrow mountaintops pressed together in a tight triangle. Icicles as long as spears lined every visible edge.
    “How do I get down?” Danielle asked.
    Talia gave her a wicked grin and pushed. Danielle bit back a shriek as the air rushed past. She had just enough time to hope the drifted snow was enough to cushion her fall, and then cold arms caught her body. The darkling set her gently upon her feet.
    “She did that to me, too,” said Gerta. She had tied her scarf around the wound on her leg. “I say we feed her to the wolves.”
    Danielle backed away from the darkling. “Sounds good to me.”
    Talia landed on all fours in the snow. The impact looked solid enough to make Danielle wince, but Talia shook it off.
    “I know this place,” Gerta whispered. “She built it from our daydreams, back when we were children. It’s been so long I’d forgotten. The palace of the Snow Queen, the true ruler of all Allesandria, who would use her magic to fix all that was wrong in the world. She’ll be in the throne room at the center.”
    As would Jakob. Danielle stopped herself from calling out to her son. “Can you get us to Snow?”
    Gerta limped toward the palace. Snowflakes swirled around her, and more of the ice wasps circled overhead. They merely watched, no longer trying to sting. Gerta stopped before a door of frosted ice. She held out one hand, and Talia slapped the hunting knife into it without a word. Gerta jammed the thick blade as deep as it would go.
    Danielle shivered. The sun was setting, and the wind had picked up. “Whatever happens, I want you both to know how much—”
    “Shut up,” said Talia. “We know.” She jabbed a finger at the darkling. “You. I need my spear back.”
    “Gerta . . .”
    Gerta managed a one-shouldered shrug, but her fear was easy to see. “This is what I was made for.”
    “Thank you.” The words were inadequate, but they were all she had. And then a blur of white leaped from atop the palace, and there was no time for words.

CHAPTER 22

    T ALIA JUMPED BACK AS THE MONSTER dropped into the snow. The darkling hadn’t finished changing back into its spear form, so she grabbed it by one spindly arm and flung it directly into the monster’s face. The darkling clung like an insect, and the monster roared from shock and pain. Talia slammed into it from the side, trying to force it away from Gerta.
    She needn’t have bothered. The darkling’s touch had done its job, and the monster soon stopped moving. Talia grimaced and looked away, trying to shut out the image of mummified flesh and dry bone.
    Snow’s next attack was magical in nature. Three of the icicles overhead cracked and dropped like spears. Talia yanked Gerta back as the ice shattered on the ground, close enough that smaller shards jabbed her legs. “What other sort of protections did Snow daydream about?”
    “Mostly traps that would protect us from our mother.” Gerta ran the knife around the edge of the hole she had created, widening it with every touch. “Bottomless pits. Passages that seal behind you. Things like that.”
    “Is that all?” Talia grimaced.
    “No.” Gerta forced a smile. “But we don’t have time to list all the ways we dreamed about stopping her.”
    Talia