The Stepsister Scheme

or not?”
    They were both watching Danielle, waiting for her answer. “There’s always a cost,” she said softly. “What happens to you if you summon these dwarves?”
    “You’re as stubborn as Queen Bea.” Snow tossed her hair over her shoulder. “How old do you think I am?”
    “I don’t know.” The question caught Danielle off guard. “Twenty-three? Twenty-four?”
    Snow gave a quick bow. “I reached my eighteenth birthday earlier this year.”
    Danielle shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
    “They’re not dwarves, exactly,” Snow admitted. “They’re representations of the elemental powers of our world. But can you imagine a bard trying to tell the tale of Snow White and the Seven Anthropomorphic Incarnations of Elemental Magic? ‘Dwarves’ just sounds better, don’t you think?”
    “It was the seven dwarves who killed Rose,” said Talia. “Each one will serve Snow White without question, but each demands a year of her life in return.”
    “Seven years?” Danielle stared at Snow, who smiled.
    “That’s why my mother never summoned them,” she said. “Old age and ugliness frightened her even more than death.”
    “Talia is right,” Danielle said. “There has to be another way.”
    “Then name it.” Snow wiped her nose. “Choose quickly, Danielle. Unless you want to return to slavery.”
    Danielle racked her brain, desperately grasping at one idea after another. “Stacia’s knife,” she whispered. “I poisoned it. If we can force her to use her magic and draw her own blood, she might destroy herself.” Quickly, she explained what she had done with the rats and the poison.
    “I’m impressed,” said Talia. “I didn’t think you had it in you. But it probably won’t kill her. The dosage isn’t high enough. You might make her a little ill, but that’s all.”
    “Are you sure?” Danielle asked.
    “Trust me on this.” Talia’s smile was anything but pleasant.
    “Fine.” Danielle held out her arm. “Then give the dwarves seven years of my life. It’s my husband we came to rescue. My child we’re protecting. I’ll pay the cost.”
    Snow’s expression softened, and her eyes watered. She covered her mouth with both hands. “You’d do that for me?” Without waiting for a response, she threw her arms around Danielle and squeezed so hard Danielle could barely breathe. Then, trembling, she pulled away. “I couldn’t. You’re already so old.”
    “I beg your pardon?” Danielle snapped. She pushed up her sleeve, but hesitated before offering the arm to Snow. “Just promise I’ll be the only one to pay, not my son.”
    Snow nodded, still staring. “But—”
    “I would die to save Armand and my son,” Danielle said. “Seven years is a small price.”
    “Three and a half,” Talia said, her voice strangely soft. She returned Snow’s knife and extended her own arm. “We’ll share the cost.”
    Snow bit her lip, then embraced them both, nearly stabbing Danielle’s shoulder in the process.
    “Do you think perhaps we should get on with it?” Talia asked. “Or is all of this hugging and merriment a part of the spell?”
    Snow backed away, still smiling. “Don’t be afraid,” she said, her eyes sparkling.
    Snow’s fingers felt like ice water as she took Danielle’s hand. Her knife dented the skin of her inner wrist. Danielle barely felt the cut. So keen was Snow’s blade that only when Danielle flexed her arm did the skin separate and blood begin to flow toward her fingers.
    Snow did the same to Talia, and then to her own forearm. She twined her fingers with Danielle’s. Talia did the same, sandwiching Snow’s hand between Danielle’s and her own. Blood trickled over their hands and dripped to the floor.
    Snow closed her eyes and whispered,
“Blood of life, blood of binding,
hear me light and darkness blinding.
Magic from the world’s first turning,
Water flowing, fire burning.
Awaken earth with life so old.
Hear me, winds of winter cold.
Share my—”
    Snow flushed. “I mean, share our blood, which I—, which we give freely, darn it.” She wiped her face and shared a sheepish smile before finishing. “By this bond, we summon thee.”
    Snow relaxed her grip and stepped back, motioning the others to do the same. Danielle moved cautiously, glancing all about as she waited for something to happen. Her hand was stiff, and the cut had begun to sting. “When will we know if it worked?”
    The oil lamps over the door brightened. The