The Stepsister Scheme

had long since adjusted to the darkness.
    “What do we do until then?” Danielle asked.
    “We eat, and then we sleep,” said Talia. “Rather, you sleep.” She walked away and began leading the aviars down the corridor.
    “What is this place?” Danielle reached out to touch the velvety leaves.
    “The queen’s labyrinth,” said Snow. “It surrounds her palace. She likes to blind intruders and turn them loose in the maze. She waits a short time, then sends the wolves in after them. Anyone who survives is set free.”
    Danielle swallowed and backed away from the edge. She could easily imagine a helpless prisoner fleeing the howls of hungry wolves, only to stumble through that thin curtain and plummet into the chasm.
    Snow wrinkled her nose. “Come on,” she said, tugging Danielle toward their bags. “I don’t know about you, but I could use a change of clothes.”
    Up ahead, Talia snorted as she brushed down the aviars. “Snow always overpacks. She could probably dress every member of the fairy queen’s court and still have a week’s worth of outfits.”
    “I like to be prepared, that’s all,” Snow said.
    Talia dropped her brush and walked back to snatch something blue and satiny from one of the bags. “Prepared for what? You think they’re holding Armand prisoner at a fancy dress ball?”
    Snow snatched the blue garment away and stuck out her tongue. She dug through the bags and tossed Danielle a fresh shirt and trousers, along with clean undergarments. The drawers were lacier than she would have liked, and the chemise had frilly ribbons at the neck, but at least they were clean and dry. On Danielle, the clothes were tight at the waist and loose in the chest, but they would do.
    Snow glanced at Talia, who had gone back to brushing the aviars. Dragging Danielle away, she lowered her voice and said, “I’ve got another undershirt that’s nothing but lace, if you want to borrow it for when we save Armand. Men love that sort of thing.”
    Danielle’s cheeks grew warm.
    “So what was it like when the two of you first met? [you
    “Strange,” Danielle admitted. She sat down and stretched out her legs, biting her lip to keep from crying out. The first night when she snuck away to attend the ball, Danielle never dreamed of catching the prince’s eye. Simply escaping her stepmother’s home, losing herself in music and dancing and the sheer, spoiled luxury of the ball had been all she ever wanted. “I didn’t even recognize him at first. He seemed so young. I thought he was somebody’s son, a minor noble, maybe.” Only when she saw everyone else falling back to give them space had she figured out who her dancing partner must have been.
    “I stepped on his feet,” she admitted. “Glass slippers are not meant for dancing.”
    Snow giggled and passed the comb to Danielle, who sighed. Once again, Snow looked absolutely perfect. The sweaty strands of hair hanging in front of her face only made her more attractive. Danielle ran a hand through her own hair. She would be lucky if she didn’t rip half of it out trying to fix the snarls.
    “I thought my Roland was so old when I first saw him,” Snow said. “So old, and so hairy. His hair was thick as a sheepdog’s, all black, except for a few strands of gray. The gray ones used to bother him so. He’d pluck them out when he noticed them, but we were always finding more scattered across his back and... other places.”
    “Who was Roland?” Danielle asked.
    “The man my mother hired to cut out my heart,” Snow said, still smiling wistfully.
    “But he didn’t?” Danielle knew the question was a particularly stupid one the instant it left her mouth.
    Snow giggled again. “I was young, but already woman enough for him to notice. He took me away to the woods to protect me. I learned to hunt and cook for myself, and I practiced my magic when he was away. We practiced a different kind of magic when he returned.”
    Her smile faltered slightly. “It was almost a year later when my mother found us. She arrived disguised as an old woman. One bite of that poisoned apple and I knew, but it was too late. She was already casting her spell, trapping me in a crystal coffin. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even breathe.”
    “I’m sorry.” Not knowing what else to do, Danielle reached out and squeezed Snow’s hand.
    “I heard everything, though. She gave Roland a choice. Finish the job he’d been paid to do, or suffer the same fate. He tried to