The Stepsister Scheme

holds a grudge like fairy royals.”
    “They haven’t exiled her?” Snow asked.
    “Exile her, and she’d be free of all ties to Fairytown,” said Arlorran. “Including her oath to the king.”
    Danielle rubbed her arms, fighting a chill. “So why would the Duchess kidnap Armand?”
    “Oh, she wouldn’t,” Arlorran said quickly. “She’s still a fairy, bound by the treaty like everyone else. But there’s nothing in the treaty to prohibit her from harboring your stepsisters, so long as she’s not actively harming any humans.”
    “What does she get out of it?” Danielle tried to imagine what her stepsisters might offer someone like the Duchess. Her stepmother had lost most of the family’s money over the years, spending the last on preparations for the ball. Charlotte and Stacia had nothing left. And their magic wouldn’t impress someone with power enough to defy the fairy king and queen.
    The buzzing of wings announced Nexxle’s return. She carried a burlap sack three times her size. Those shimmering wings were stronger than Danielle would have guessed.
    Nexxle tossed the sack to Arlorran. He did his best to catch it, but the impact knocked him onto his backside. “Thanks.” He yanked the drawstring and rummaged about, pulling out several reddish-yellow apples. “Here you go,” he said, tossing one to Danielle. He threw another to Snow, but Talia snatched it out of the air.
    “Got anything else?” Talia asked. “Snow’s... allergic.”
    Danielle glanced at Snow, who was even paler than normal. Snow forced a smile. “The taste makes me gag.”
    Thinking of the stories, Danielle couldn’t blame her. If her mother had tried to murder her with a poisoned apple, Danielle would probably avoid them, too.
    “They’re not for you,” Nexxle said. She flew low, smacking Arlorran on the head and knocking his cap to the road. “Come on.”
    She led them beneath a cluster of pine trees with needles that gleamed like silver. Nexxle’s yellow light sparkled in the branches as she passed.
    Danielle touched one of the branches, half-expecting the needles to pierce her skin, but they were even softer than the pines she knew from back home. She followed Nexxle onto a narrow trail.
    “Never used to be a path,” Nexxle muttered. “Stupid dwarves and their big, heavy boots. Might as well plant signs to mark the way.”
    Danielle finished her apple as they walked, following Nexxle’s light through the darkness. She hurried to catch up with Arlorran. “You never explained why she doesn’t like you.”
    “She wanted her daughter to marry a nice pixie boy,” Arlorran said. “She wanted little grandkids darting around like drunken fireflies. Instead, her little girl left the family to run off with a wrinkled old gnome.” He chuckled, but not fast enough to hide the longing that passed over his face. “Even if we could have had children together, can you imagine me trying to father a flock of flying kids?”
    “You could have always summoned them back,” Danielle pointed out.
    “Ha! True enough. I haven’t the temperament for the job, though. You on the other hand, you’ll make a good mother. Assuming you don’t get yourself killed or enslaved to the Duchess first.”
    Danielle shook her head. “Everything I know about being a loving mother, I learned from a tree.”
    Arlorran grinned. “That sounds like a tale strange enough to come from a fairy.”
    “Hurry up,” Nexxle snapped. “The dwarves want me to finish oiling the spears on the eighteenth level, and I mean to be done before sunrise.”
    The trees thinned as they climbed a broad hill. What Danielle saw when she reached the top was almost enough to drive all thoughts of her stepsisters, the Duchess, and even Armand from her mind.
    Tree-covered hills spread out in a wide circle, creating a grassy bowl. Grazing on the far side, painted by the light of a handful of pixies, was a small herd of what appeared to be horses. But they were like no horses Danielle had ever seen.
    Huge, feathered wings lay flat along their sides. Even folded back, those wings extended far beyond the horses’ backsides, looking like huge, feathered tails.
    Nexxle gave a quick double-whistle, and one of the other pixies streaked toward them. This was a blue pixie, a male, with rumpled clothes and sweat-slick hair. He dropped to the ground in front of Arlorran, then gave the three princesses a long, appraising look. He punched Arlorran’s leg. “You’re doing