The Stepsister Scheme

Princess, I can take care of myself,” Talia said. She tossed the sword back to Danielle, who barely managed to catch hold of the blade. It was a miracle she didn’t slice off her own hand.
    Talia picked up her own weapon and pointed. “I’ll swim after the other aviars, and you can come get me once Snow’s safe.”
    Snow kept looking back and forth between the two of them. By now, most of the vines were cut or frozen. “Could you two argue a little more quickly?” she asked. “This water is freezing, and the Duchess’ guards should be showing up any moment now.”
    “Oh, no, the Duchess prefers not to involve herself in our little family squabble.” The sneer in Stacia’s voice was identical to the one Danielle had heard from her stepmother all those years. The vines had parted to reveal Stacia, Charlotte, and their darkling companion. “You arrived faster than I expected, Cinderwench.”
    Talia had already drawn her knife. She threw, but the darkling was faster, springing into the air to protect Stacia. The knife bounced off of his shoulder and disappeared with a splash. The darkling scrambled on the damp, frosty stone, trying to climb back to his mistress.
    Stacia started to laugh. “Don’t you realize you can’t—”
    Before the darkling could recover, Snow threw one of her silver snowflakes. Stacia screamed as the points embedded themselves in her thigh.
    “Hurts, doesn’t it?” Charlotte said. A bloody bandage covered her forearm from their fight at Arlorran’s home.
    “You always aim low, Snow,” Talia said.
    With a grim smile, Snow touched her choker and began to mutter a spell. A beam of white light shot down from inside the cave, piercing the darkling. His snarls changed to squeals of pain, and smoke rose from his skin. Danielle didn’t understand where it was coming from at first, and then she remembered the lone mirror Snow had sent into the cave. But why hadn’t that mirror shown Stacia and Charlotte coming through the cave?
    Stacia clapped her hands, and the light disappeared. Danielle heard glass shatter an instant later.
    “She broke my mirror!” Snow stared. “She shouldn’t be able to do that.”
    Talia dove into the water, surfacing at the edge of the cave. She pulled herself up, swinging her sword so quickly that both Stacia and Charlotte stumbled back. The darkling shook himself like a dog. White smoke still rose from his body. Talia kicked him in the head, slamming him into the cave wall.
    Danielle leaned forward and patted her aviar’s neck. “Into the cave, girl.”
    Wind soared past the ragged curtain of vines. The darkling spun and leaped to intercept her. Black fingers reached toward Danielle’s throat.
    Danielle swung her sword. The darkling somehow managed to change directions in midair, but the blade still sliced the tips from his toes. He landed hard and rolled into a ball, clutching his foot with both hands.
    Danielle climbed down from her aviar, who retreated toward the light. She spotted Talia, still driving Stacia deeper into the cave. Charlotte lunged at Talia from the side. Talia kicked her in the face, then followed up with an elbow to the throat.
    As Charlotte fell, Talia glanced back at Danielle long enough to shout, “Get out of here, you idiot!”
    “She’s so bossy,” said Snow, coming up behind Danielle. “What does she think she is, some kind of princess?” She smiled and stepped toward the darkling. Thin beams of light stabbed the rock, surrounding him. Snow started to say something more, when her mirrors flickered. She touched her choker, and the light stabilized. “What’s wrong with these things?”
    Whether they were working properly or not, Snow’s mirrors appeared to have caged the darkling. Danielle turned to help Talia. Before she could move, the rock wall behind Talia shivered. Flakes of stone fell away, turning to dust that vanished before hitting the ground.
    “Talia, behind you!” Danielle shouted.
    Talia sidestepped, bringing her sword around to defend against this new threat, but for once she wasn’t fast enough.
    Brahkop the troll jumped down from the rock, ropes of hair twining around Talia’s sword and arm. His hair had tripled in length since Danielle last saw him. Long, silver braids wrenched Talia into the air, pinning her to the ceiling. Her sword clattered to the ground.
    “Thank you, love,” said Stacia. She limped toward Brahkop and slipped one hand through the masses of hair, stroking the troll’s