The Stepsister Scheme

why Beatrice likes you,” Trittibar said. “But the walls of Fairytown are harder to break.” He stood and walked toward the stairs. “How much do you ladies know of Malindar’s Treaty?”
    Talia cocked her head at Snow. “She could probably recite it.”
    “Fairytown hosts the only surviving fairy hill for hundreds of miles in any direction,” Trittibar said. He grabbed a large, leather-bound book. The cover was inlaid with silver, engraved to resemble a swiftly moving river spilling down the book’s spine. “Through that hill lies another world, and the source of our magic. As you can imagine, we guard our city well.”
    He tapped the spine of the book, and the silver river began to flow. Glittering water rushed from the book to splash upon the floor. The metal continued to fall, but the small puddle on the floor never grew, nor did the metal in the cover diminish. He opened the book and stepped back, leaving it balanced upon the rippling falls. “You know this image, I assume?”
    The painting was similar to the tapestry in Danielle’s quarters. An army of human knights and wizards faced the strongest of the fairy creatures: giants, trolls, and even a dragon or two. Dead from either side littered the trampled grass. There were more human corpses than fairy, but the humans still outnumbered their foes.
    “Few of your kind realize how close we were to winning,” said Trittibar. “Another day, and all of Lorindar would have belonged to us.”
    “How?” Talia asked. She pointed to the painting. “You were outflanked. Prince Reginald’s Silverlance cavalry cut you off to the north. Your only retreat would drive you east, where Queen Celeste had a small force of witches waiting.”
    Trittibar pursed his lips. “Look closer.”
    Danielle didn’t understand, but she did as she was told. Her head nearly touched Talia’s and Snow’s as they peered at the painting, which was far more detailed than any human work. Detailed and gruesome.
    Danielle lacked the training to distinguish different units or interpret the military maneuvers like Talia did. To her eye, the fairies were both surrounded and outnumbered.
    “I see them,” Snow whispered. She pointed to an area of trampled earth behind the prince’s cavalry, where armored corpses lay.
    “Very good,” said Trittibar.
    Talia snorted. “There’s nothing there.”
    “But there is.” Snow touched a fallen archer. “A fairy hides behind his body. Three others crouch here, concealed by the horse. They’re everywhere.”
    Danielle squinted at the page. “I don’t see—”
    “You don’t see, because they were hidden,” Trittibar said. “These are my ancestors. My line long ago learned the secret of shifting our size. By the time the Battle of Fairytown began, most of your forces unknowingly carried fairy warriors in their packs, their tents, sometimes even in their armor. Every one of them was ready to die before allowing you to take that hill.”
    “I don’t understand,” Danielle said. She pointed to the horse. “It’s a painting. How do you paint something that’s unseen?”
    “ She sees them,” Trittibar said, nodding at Snow. He pursed his lips. “Unfortunately for us, so did Malindar. He was a clever one. Young and foolhardy, but clever. Exposing us would have forced us to attack before we were ready, but the result would have been the same. Instead, the bastard pretended to flee. He and a handful of your wizards and witches then snuck back around, to the river. With our forces rallied to meet your army, Malindar managed to slip past us and enter Fairytown. He used the magic of our own hill to sunder the island.”
    Trittibar shook his head. “He would have sent all of Lorindar to the bottom of the ocean. Every last human would have died, along with most of my people.” He turned the page, and Danielle saw a young man accepting a curved, golden sword from a honey-skinned woman who wore armor of living wood. “We had underestimated the depth of your madness, the length to which you humans will go to stave off defeat. So the king and queen accepted your terms. Their only condition was that none of your kind ever again be permitted within the walls of Fairytown. We couldn’t risk the loss of our hill, and this was the only way to make sure nobody tried to finish what Malindar started all those centuries ago.
    “The one exception is for those of royal blood. Your rulers insisted. They wanted free reign of the entire island.