The Snow Queen's Shadow

them. “Hoofbeats, but they’ve stopped.”
    Danielle turned to look. “You’re sure?”
    “Sure enough.” Without her cape, her senses were merely human.
    “Snow’s people?” Danielle asked.
    “I don’t think so,” said Gerta. “We’re still alive, aren’t we?”
    Branches rustled in the woods to the left, and a startled pheasant burst from the bushes. It might have been nothing. Or it might have been one of their pursuers running ahead to warn his friends to prepare an ambush.
    “If I were planning to rob a group of unarmed travelers, I’d choose a place where I could surprise them,” said Talia. “Beyond that hilltop, or hidden among the trees where the forest is thicker.”
    Danielle was whispering to the air. A short time later, the pheasant returned to land on the road beside her. She bent down, still speaking in that same soft voice. The pheasant shook its feathers, spread its wings, and flew off. It landed in the trees at the crest of the hill and cried out with a rusty, “kor, korr.”
    “A shame he can’t tell me how many are waiting,” Danielle said. “Do you think they’ll have archers?”
    Talia shook her head. “Not likely in this cold, unless they want their bows to crack. Slings, possibly. Or simple stones.”
    “We could go back,” suggested Danielle. “Try to find another way.”
    “I’m tired of running. And like you said, we need supplies.” Talia jumped down from the reindeer, jogging ahead toward where the pheasant continued to shout an alarm. She tugged the knife from her belt, as all of the anger and helplessness of the past days surged to the surface. She raised her voice. “Hail the bandits!”
    Behind her, she heard Gerta sigh. “Did she just—”
    “Yes.” Danielle raised her voice. “Talia, please try to remember that not all of us share your gifts.”
    “So stay out of my way.” Talia stopped in the middle of the road to wait. She had already spotted one bandit perched in the trees. The pheasant had landed almost within arm’s reach, and he was trying unsuccessfully to shoo it away.
    Others stepped out from hiding. Talia counted seven, including the one in the tree. Add a few more coming up behind, and there could be as many as a dozen. They looked more cold and miserable than dangerous. Most were bundled in jackets and furs, making it all but impossible to tell male from female. The apparent leader brandished a gleaming hunting knife twice the size of Talia’s blade.
    “Put that toy away, girl.” A woman, middle-aged from the sound of it.
    Talia gave a quick peek over her shoulder, making sure Danielle and Gerta were staying back. They had dismounted, and were standing behind the reindeer. Good thinking.
    “Nobody’s going to hurt you,” the bandit woman went on. “Not unless we have to.”
    “I want that one, Mother,” said a girl wearing a goatskin wrap. “The red-haired one with the pretty boots and the fancy jacket.”
    Talia smiled and pulled out a small purse. The two closest bandits raised weapons. One carried a small spear, the other a leather sling. From the way it hung, he had already loaded a stone or metal shot. Talia simply twirled the purse, then tossed it to the ground with a clink. “You’re welcome to all the gold we have. All you have to do is take it.”
    She glanced at Gerta, who nodded and turned to face the other way. Gerta’s magic should make sure nobody came up from behind. Talia turned her attention back to the man with the sling.
    She didn’t have long to wait. He looked to his leader, and the sling drooped slightly.
    Talia whipped the knife through the air. It lodged in his forearm, and he fell back with a cry. Talia was already twisting to the side by the time the spearman threw. She slapped the spear away and grimaced. She would have a bruise on her forearm from that one.
    For days she had faced demons and wizards. She had lost her best friend and stood helpless to protect the prince. She had watched the capital of Allesandria fall, and throughout it all she had wanted nothing more than an opponent with whom she could stand and fight. Now the bandits had given her that opportunity.
    The battle was disappointingly short. Most of the bandits had fallen or fled by the time Talia squared off against their leader. Of the five that remained, three were unconscious or choosing to pretend. The other two were crawling away. Talia grinned and twirled a single-edged short sword she had taken from one man.