The Stepsister Scheme

of her cheeks. Charlotte was taller than Danielle, her limbs graceful and slender. She wore a heavy blue cloak with gold trim, which accented her brown curls. Ribbons of silver and gold were braided through her hair.
    Charlotte’s neck muscles tightened as she studied Danielle in turn, taking in the emerald gown, the silver comb in her hair, the simple ruby bracelet one of her ladies-in-waiting had insisted she wear, saying it highlighted her eyes. Danielle fought to keep from fidgeting. She was still uncomfortable with the luxury of palace life, but she wasn’t about to let Charlotte see that discomfort.
    This wasn’t the first time Charlotte had visited the palace, using her relationship with the princess to try to ingratiate herself to various nobles. She had never before come to Danielle’s chambers, though.
    The months had been unkind to Danielle’s stepsister. Charlotte’s mother had groomed her for a life of luxury, leaving her woefully unprepared to run the household that had once belonged to Danielle’s father. Charlotte’s face seemed paler than Danielle remembered, and her eyes were shadowed and bloodshot.
    Talia stepped around the bed, putting herself between Danielle and Charlotte. “Would the lady like something to eat or drink?” she asked.
    “I’m not here to dine,” Charlotte snapped. “I’m here to—” Her voice rose to a squeak as she spotted the dove perched on the tapestry. She backed away until she bumped the door, her wide eyes never leaving the bird. “Get that foul beast from my sight at once!”
    The dove puffed out his feathers and flapped his wings, dropping the remainder of the crust to the floor. Charlotte screamed. She raised her hands to protect her face, just as she had done at Danielle’s wedding.
    Danielle flinched at the memory. She remembered the hateful glares of her stepsisters, and the cool, calculating look in her stepmother’s eyes as she watched Danielle and her new husband pass through the crowd of well-wishers. She had tightened her fingers on Armand’s arm, telling herself she would not let them ruin this day. This was her day. Hers and Armand’s. Finally, she was free .
    Despite everything, her eyes had begun to water. It should have been her mother standing there, not her stepmother. Her father, not Charlotte and Stacia.
    “It will never last,” her stepmother had said, loud enough for Danielle to hear. “As if a prince could be happy with such a common girl.”
    Charlotte and Stacia had laughed, as did a few others in the crowd. The prince’s arm tensed. But before he could speak, a group of doves swooped down, wings fluttering as they clawed and pecked at Danielle’s stepmother. Charlotte and Stacia screamed. Stacia tried to club the birds with her hands, but her efforts only drew the birds’ wrath to herself and her sister. Only when Danielle begged the birds to stop did they finally fly away, leaving her stepmother blind and bloodied.
    Given the events of that day, Danielle could understand Charlotte’s reaction. She turned to address the dove. “Go,” she said. “I’ll save some food for you and your friends.”
    Obediently, the dove hopped from the tapestry and swooped out the window. Charlotte shoved past Danielle, pulling the window shut so hard one of the panes cracked. Her hands shook as she fastened the latch.
    “He wouldn’t have hurt you,” Danielle said.
    Charlotte whirled. Pointing to the scabs on her face, she said, “Your filthy birds disfigured me for life. They murdered my mother. They would have killed me as well, if we hadn’t fought them off.”
    “They didn’t murder—”
    “Shut up.” Charlotte pulled her cloak tighter, like a child trying to protect herself from the cold. “They blinded her. For seven days she lay in bed as the wounds spread through her blood.” She laughed, a high-pitched sound that bordered on madness. “Releasing doves at a wedding is supposed to be a sign of prosperity. Tell me, Princess, what does it portend when the doves try to eat the guests? ”
    “They were confused and scared,” Danielle said.
    “They swarmed over us.” Charlotte swiped the wine cup Talia had brought and drained it in one motion. “Nobody else received so much as a scratch.”
    Danielle shook her head. She was certain she hadn’t ordered the birds to attack her stepmother and stepsisters. Not once in all the years since her father’s death had she struck back at her tormenters. Whatever fluke had