The Stepsister Scheme

arms. “Let them. It doesn’t matter. Without your precious prince, you’ll never be anything but a filthy little serving wench.”
    Danielle’s skin tingled, the hair on her neck responding to the barely-concealed edge of gloating in Charlotte’s voice. She glanced at Talia, who was watching Charlotte with the same intensity as a cat preparing to pounce.
    “Order her taken alive,” Talia whispered.
    “What?” Danielle stared, confused.
    “The guards won’t take orders from a servant,” Talia said through clenched teeth. “Do not let her escape.”
    “There’s nowhere for her to... ” Danielle trailed off as she remembered Charlotte’s leap from the window, and the way she had practically flown from the chapel roof to the top of the wall. She raised her voice. “Guards, I need that woman taken alive!”
    One of the guards raised his crossbow while the others closed in. Charlotte smiled and fingered her necklace.
    “Be careful,” Danielle yelled. She knew that smile. “That stone around her neck, it’s magical!”
    Talia swore and threw her last tomato. It flew straight and true, catching Charlotte on the ear and knocking her to the far side of the wall. Charlotte shrieked in rage, then pointed toward the approaching guards.
    The guard with the crossbow stumbled. His weapon twisted in his hands, coming around to point at Danielle.
    A sharp blow to the back of the knees knocked Danielle down. A heartbeat later, Talia’s foot slammed into Danielle’s shoulder, flattening her against the earth. The crossbow bolt thumped into the ground where Danielle had stood. She looked up, barely able to see Charlotte as she climbed onto the outer edge of the wall. The guards ran toward her. One nearly grabbed her arm, and then Charlotte leaped away.
    Danielle got to her feet and ran for the nearest stairway, a sickening feeling in her gut. She wanted to throw up, but she forced herself to keep going. Up through the tower, through the guardroom, and out onto the wall.
    Damp, salty wind made her stagger as she stepped onto the wall. The guards crowded around the point where Charlotte had jumped, all save the one who had fired his crossbow at Danielle. He was still staring at his weapon, his bearded face white.
    He jerked to attention when he saw Danielle. “Your Highness, I... ” He blinked, then flung the crossbow away like its touch burned his hands. “I’m sorry, I didn’t—”
    “I know,” said Danielle. She patted him on the arm as she hurried past.
    One of the other guards moved to block her way. “You shouldn’t be up here, Your Highness. A single misstep—”
    Danielle kept walking. He stepped aside at the last moment, so close she could smell the sweat in his uniform and the sharp, metallic scent of polish from his helmet. She moved to the outer edge of the wall, to the gap where Charlotte had jumped. Resting her hands on the thick, white stones, Danielle leaned out to stare at the sea.
    Far below, waves broke against the rocks at the base of the cliff. Clouds of mist transformed to glittering silver fog where they met the sun.
    “Where is she?” Danielle asked.
    “We don’t know,” said the nearest guard, a boy no older than Danielle herself, to judge from his smooth face. “When she fell, the mist... ”
    “I saw it, too,” said another, rubbing his gray-stubbled chin. The single white plume on his helmet marked him as a sergeant. “The fog drew back, all but disappeared, and the water became still as ice. Then, for the life of me, it was like she shrank away to nothing.”
    “There was no splash,” said a third guard.
    “You two get down to those rocks and see if you can find any trace of her,” said the sergeant. “I’m going to go report this to the captain.” He gave Danielle a tight smile. “Don’t worry, Highness. We’ll take care of this.”
    Danielle wiped her face and backed away, to the sergeant’s clear relief. She doubted the guards would find anything. From the look on the sergeant’s face, so did he.
    Charlotte had escaped. She would never take her own life. She loved herself far too much.
    “All right, enough gawking,” snapped the sergeant. “One of you lot escort the princess back to her quarters.”
    “I can do that, sir,” said Talia. Danielle hadn’t even noticed her. “I know you’ll want every man on the wall to help protect us in case that woman returns.”
    He nodded and turned away, staring down at the ocean below. Talia took