The Snow Queen's Shadow

came to Fairytown to rescue Armand, the Duchess warned that I would need her help again.” Danielle heard her own voice rising to match Talia’s, and fought to regain her calm. “If you have another idea for escaping this cell, this would be a good time to share it.”
    “What price did she ask?” Talia knew better than anyone that all fairy bargains came at a cost.
    “I had hoped we would be able to save Jakob and Snow both, without her help.” Had she accepted the Duchess’ bargain before, could they have saved Snow sooner? How many people would still be alive? Danielle took a deep breath, then told them what the Duchess had demanded.
    Talia stared. “You’re mad.”
    “The Duchess is powerful,” said Danielle. “She could help—”
    “Some help isn’t worth the price.” Talia spun. “Why do we need her aid? We have you. Jakob resisted Snow’s power. Couldn’t you do the same?”
    “Danielle might have fairy blood, but the human is stronger,” said Gerta. “Her mother must have been of mixed-blood. The child of a fairy and a human will be more human than not, and only pureblooded fairies maintain their connections to the fairy hills. After several generations, you’d be indistinguishable from humans, save for the occasional magical quirk.”
    Talia frowned. “By that logic, Jakob should be even more human, and more vulnerable, than his mother.”
    Gerta was playing with the candle flames again, cupping her hands around them and studying the red glow of her skin. “The Duchess’ darklings awakened Jakob’s magic when he was in the womb. Their spells blended the fairy and human magic in him.”
    “What will Armand say if you give Jakob to the fairy who kidnapped him?” Talia asked softly.
    Danielle met her anger without flinching. Anger was preferable to the anguish and loss knotting her chest. “You don’t know what I would give to be able to talk to him, to not have to make this choice alone. But Armand is gone, and I don’t know how else to get him back.”
    “The Duchess—” Talia began.
    “Had I accepted her offer before, Captain Hephyra might yet be alive.” Danielle’s voice broke. She had no doubt Snow had been telling the truth about Hephyra’s death. “We tried to stop her, and we failed.”
    “You know what she’s done,” Talia said. “To you. To Armand. To your stepsister Charlotte. Each time, she evaded the justice of fairy and man alike. You would forgive all that? You would hand your son into her keeping?”
    “She also honored her bargain with my stepsisters. Gave them the power they needed to—”
    “To try to kill you?” Talia folded her arms. “Your stepsisters are both dead as a result of their dealings with the Duchess!”
    “I saw him, Talia.” Danielle closed her eyes, remembering her vision from Noita’s garden. “I saw Jakob shivering in the cold, so thin he was little more than a creature of sticks and skin.”
    “We’ll find another way,” Talia insisted. “One that doesn’t hand the Prince of Lorindar to a fairy. You saw how far the fairies have come in taking control of Arathea. Would you give them the key to your homeland as well?”
    “Jakob is my son. Nothing the Duchess does will ever change that. He would only be with them for six months at a time.” Fairy bargains were unbreakable. So long as she was careful about the terms of the bargain, she would get Jakob back.
    “Do you believe your people will accept a king known to have lived among the fairy folk?”
    “Do you have a better suggestion?” Danielle asked.
    Talia’s lips parted, but she said nothing. Eventually, her shoulders sagged. “No.”

CHAPTER 16

    D ANIELLE KNELT IN PRAYER. “I NEED YOU, mother. If you’ve some magic to share, some guidance . . .”
    There was no response. She closed her eyes. All of Danielle’s life, she had believed her mother’s spirit watched over her. The animals that helped with her chores and provided companionship. The gown and glass slippers that led her to the ball and Armand. The glass sword that had saved her life more than once.
    Her mother had given her so much, but how much had truly been a gift of her mother’s spirit, and how much was simply an artifact of her fairy blood? For so long Danielle had taken comfort from the knowledge that her mother was still with her, but now . . . “If you can hear me, please help us to save your grandson.”
    “Will the Duchess even be able to respond to you here in this room?”