The Stepsister Scheme
they seemed like toys, each one identical to the next, spreading out for at least a mile on either side of the queen’s palace.
“This way,” Talia said, steering Socks toward the trees.
Danielle sucked icy air through her teeth as she watched. There was no gap through which the aviar could fly. The branches hung to the ground, and many stretched even further, clinging like leeches to the rough face of the cliff.
Socks’ wings were perfectly still as he carried Talia closer to the trees. At the last instant he tucked his head, and his wings snapped back with a noise like a giant beating a rug. The aviar ripped through the branches and disappeared, with only a few falling leaves to mark his passage.
Snow followed, ducking her head as her aviar burst through the branches, and then it was Danielle’s turn. She dug her fingers into Wind’s skin, pressing her face against the sweat-slick fur.
Thin, flexible branches whipped her arms and head, and then Wind was galloping along hard-packed dirt, wings half-stretched as she slowed. Danielle gritted her teeth as those final steps drummed new bruises into her backside, not to mention the jarring of her bladder. “That wasn’t so bad,” she said, her voice shaky. She clamped her jaw to keep from crying out as she hoisted one leg over Wind’s back and jumped down. Her legs gave out immediately, leaving her sprawled in the dirt.
Wind chose that moment to pass gas.
Snow’s choker was already alight, showing where the trees had been trimmed back to form a wide, arched hallway. Purple buds tipped the branches, filling the air with the smell of nectar. Slivers of moonlight penetrated through the leaves, transforming dust in the air to floating flecks of diamond. The trees formed a kind of tunnel, the branches to either side woven as tightly as any wall.
Talia had already slid down from Socks, giving no sign of discomfort. She tossed their bags to the ground, then reached up to help Snow from her aviar.
“Get to the edge,” Talia said.
“I’m on it.” Snow hurried past Danielle. She, at least, had the decency to show some stiffness in her legs.
“You tense up when you ride,” Talia said as she helped Danielle to her feet. “You have to relax. Let your body move with the horse. Or the aviar, in this case.”
“Thanks,” said Danielle. She grabbed one of the trees for support. The branches were harder than she expected, and the leaves drew lines of blood along her hand.
She felt like a thousand pixies were driving tiny knives into her legs every time she moved. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to take a step, then two. By the time she found a vaguely private spot to relieve herself, she was shivering from the cold. Peeling the front of her sweat-soaked shirt from her skin sent a new wave of goose bumps down her flesh.
“We’ve got plenty of blankets in the bags,” Talia said when she returned.
Danielle made it halfway to the bag before Talia took pity and tossed the blanket to her.
Wrapping the coarse material around her body, she hobbled back toward Snow, who knelt at the very edge of the chasm. The branches here at the edge were little more than a thin curtain, swaying with the breeze. “What are you doing?”
“Watching for your stepsisters,” Snow said. She had taken off her choker. Her exposed throat appeared strangely vulnerable. She ran her fingers along the mirrors, stroking them like pets. She tapped the last mirror, and the gold wire holding it in place began to untwine.
The mirror dropped to the ground and crept toward the edge, four wires carrying it along like a glowing insect. Snow tapped it again, and the mirror returned to her palm. She blew a puff of air, extinguishing its light like a candle flame.
“Go,” she whispered. The mirror hopped into the branches and disappeared into the chasm.
“Arlorran’s sculpture showed the Duchess watching from beneath the bridge,” Talia said. “Her home has to be around here somewhere.”
Snow nodded as she freed a second mirror. This one scurried up the tree, disappearing through the leaves. “I’m sending three down to search for the Duchess. Three more will climb the trees to watch for the stepsisters. Even if I can’t find the cave myself, we’ll be able to follow Charlotte and Stacia down when they arrive.”
Soon only a single mirror remained. Snow kept this one and reclasped the choker around her neck. The light was proportionally dimmer, but Danielle’s eyes
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