Jim Hines - The Snow Queen's shadow

“I’ve got you.” She crouched to pick him up with one arm. He wrapped his arms and legs around her body, clinging with all his strength.

Talia and Snow lay on the ice at the base of the throne. Toward the door, Gerta had managed to stand. She was unsteady, and held one hand to her side, but there was no blood.

“Gerta?” Danielle kept her sword ready. Talia had never released the chain. The demon shouldn’t have had anywhere to go. Yet how could Gerta live, with Snow- Danielle forced back tears. It was like swallowing a stone.

“It’s gone.” Gerta’s head was tilted, allowing her red hair to fall over the ruin of her eye.

“How?” Danielle glanced at Snow. “You said the two of you were bound. I thought-”

“I should be dead. Back in Noita’s garden…”Tears fell from Gerta’s good eye. She sounded dazed, though whether the shock came from the loss of her eye or the fact that she was still alive, Danielle couldn’t have said. “This is the death I saw. I was part of her, our fates bound.”

“Was?”

“She saved me,” said Gerta. “She and the demon were both dying, but Snow was able to cast one final spell. She severed that bond between us.”

With Danielle’s help, Gerta made her way toward the dais. Talia’s body was taut. The chain had fallen away. Pinched, bloody skin showed where it had dug into Snow’s neck.

The sight brought new tears, and Danielle hugged her son tighter.

“Is he all right?” Gerta asked.

“He’s cold.” Danielle remembered the fear in his face when she asked him to hold out his hand. But he had obeyed, knowing what was needed. He had cried when she cut him-they both had-but he never flinched away. She unbuttoned her jacket, wrapping it around him. “What of you? Your eye, your side-”

“Hurt like hell, both of them,” Gerta admitted. “But I’m not bleeding.” She pointed to the weapon in Danielle’s hand. “You shouldn’t need that. With the demon gone, the mirror shards have no hold over them anymore. They’re free, all of them.”

Even Armand. Danielle sheathed her sword and sat, her muscles gone weak as though her limbs were melting. The creatures stumbled about, confused and frightened, but no longer hostile. Jakob climbed into her lap, and she held him with one arm. With her other, she gently reached over to touch Talia’s back. Talia’s muscles were like stone.

Years ago, Talia had awakened from a fairy curse to find her entire family dead. She had fled to Lorindar, where Beatrice and Snow found her and took her in. Now Bea and Snow were both gone.

“Snow chose this,” Gerta said. “The moment our mother’s mirror cracked and she sensed what hid within. She trusted her friends to help her destroy that evil.”

“I know.” Talia didn’t move. Her hair hid her face. “This is Allesandria, home of magic. There must have been something more we could have-”

“There wasn’t.” The certainty in Gerta’s voice was absolute. “You saw how many nobles fell to the demon, not to mention the king of Allesandria. Snow spent her life studying magic. She was gifted enough to rule, stronger even than our mother, though she never believed it. She knew there was but one way to undo what Rose Curtana had set in motion. She wouldn’t want you to grieve. She’d want you to celebrate her victory.”

A cracking sound echoed through the throne room. A thin curtain of snow drifted from the ceiling. Danielle rose. “What happens to this place now that the demon is gone?”

“Nothing good.”

An animal like a dog with vestigial wings of edged ice charged toward them. Its snarls sounded more panicked then angry. Danielle tried to stand and draw her sword, but Gerta was faster, slapping a palm to the surface of the frozen lake. The dog yelped and limped away, favoring its front left leg. Blood dripped from its paw.

“We can’t stay here,” said Danielle.

Talia took a deep, shuddering breath. She rolled Snow’s body to face her, then leaned down to kiss her lightly on the lips.

Danielle held her breath. Once before, deep within Fairytown, Talia had awakened Snow from a curse with just such a kiss… but Snow was gone. Talia seemed to shrink into herself.

“Talia, we have to go.” Danielle wasn’t letting go of her son, and Gerta was too badly hurt to physically drag Talia from the palace, assuming Talia didn’t knock her unconscious for trying.

“You promised her,” Gerta said.

Talia didn’t move. “You heard that?”

Gerta tugged Talia’s shoulder. “Do you have the faintest idea what her spirit will do to yours if you stay here and let yourself die? It won’t be pretty.”

Slowly, Talia nodded. She lifted Snow’s body, cradling her to her chest, and stepped away from the throne. “What about the traps?”

“I should be able to take care of them now,” Gerta said.

Danielle did her best to call out to Snow’s creatures, warning them to flee. She didn’t know whether they could understand her, or if they simply sensed the danger as the magic holding the palace together began to unravel. By the time they reached the doorway, the throne room was empty.

Outside, a light snow was falling, but it couldn’t hide the carnage of battle. Tears spilled down Danielle’s cheeks at the sight of animals and monsters scattered over the ice, their blood staining the snow crimson. Trails of blood showed where the wounded had dragged themselves away into the woods. “I’m so sorry,” Danielle whispered. “Thank you.”

With the darkling dead, they had no way of traveling, yet Danielle couldn’t bring herself to call upon the animals again. Not when they had given so much. “We’ll need shelter.”

“No, we won’t.” Once they reached the edge of the lake, Gerta dropped to her knees and cleared a patch on the ice. Unlike the floor within the palace, the ice here was rippled and flawed, but Danielle could see Gerta’s reflection in the surface. “Frozen lake beneath my hand, show the ruler of this land.”

Nothing happened at first. Danielle looked to the woods. “Should we-”

“He heard me,” Gerta said firmly. “I imagine things are rather chaotic right now. Give him time.”

It wasn’t long before Laurence appeared in the ice. His features were blurred, making it difficult to discern his expression. Or perhaps he obscured himself deliberately. “Gerta? You found Ermillina?”

“The demon is gone, Cousin.” Her words were edged, particularly the last.

Danielle stepped to Gerta’s side. “Snow gave her life to destroy it.”

“Princess Danielle. I’m glad to see you well.” Something in Laurence’s manner broke, making him sound not like a king but a man, exhausted and lost. “What of your son?”

“Jakob is safe,” Danielle assured him.

“I will send my people to escort you to the docks. Allesandria is in chaos, and I would not have you hurt as we work to bring things under control.”

“No,” said Danielle. “Tell your people to bring us to Kanustius.”

Laurence stared. “Your Highness, Kanustius is in ruins. Half the palace is destroyed.”

“Snow was Princess of Allesandria. She deserves to be remembered alongside her father.”

Talia pursed her lips. “I think she’d like that.”

“Princess Whiteshore, Snow White attacked this nation. The lords of eleven provinces are dead or missing. She slaughtered-”

“She accepted this fate in order to destroy the demon her mother summoned.” All of Danielle’s grief, her fury at Snow’s death, threatened to pour forth. She tightened her grip on her son. “Rose Curtana was a monster. Snow destroyed that monster, an act which gave you your throne, and you banished her for it. Today, she protected you from Rose Curtana’s power a second time. She gave her life to protect you. You will not turn your back on her again.”