How many hunters had Laurence deployed after Snow fought her way through his forces at the harbor? She could feel them searching for her, some scrying through crystals or pools, others watching through the eyes of the birds and other animals. But they had an entire nation to search, and mirror magic was particularly good for deflecting attention.
“What do you say, Jakob? Should we let Duino’s hunters catch us? Let them kill us both with their magic? Or do we destroy them before they can strike?”
“I want to go home.”
Snow made a tsk sound. “You think home is any safer? This was my home, Jakob. There are those in Lorindar who have plotted your death since the day you were born. Just as the Nobles’ Circle did with me. Some will act from greed, others from simple fear of what you are. You can allow them to threaten you and drive you into hiding, but you’ll never truly escape. Or you can act to protect yourself.”
Far below, smoke rose from the town built into the mountainside at the edge of the lake. They had ridden for much of the morning, but it was a slow climb. The homes were built close together, reminding her of animals crammed into a pen. Their bright colors were a futile attempt to counter the whiteness of winter.
The ground thrummed like the string of a lute. Small rocks and chunks of ice tumbled down, clattering against the sleigh. One struck Snow’s shoulder. Another hit her arm hard enough to bruise even through her cape. Duino was getting closer.
“Choose, Princeling. Shall we fight those who would kill us? If we do nothing, I promise we will both be dead before nightfall. Are you ready to die, Jakob?”
Jakob shook his head.
“Then you choose to fight. Very good.” The ghosts of the reindeer leaped forward, straining against their invisible bonds.
Duino was old, even for Allesandria. Some said he had lived more than a century, and had spent most of that time studying magic. Though his body was frail as ash, he could project his spirit forth with all the strength and vigor of a young man. In such form, he was immune to the sting of Snow’s wasps, as were those who marched beside him. Snow had counted more than twenty astral warriors running after her as swiftly as any horse.
She could circle back to the town to attack his physical form, but he would have prepared for that. She had no way of knowing which house hid his body, and by the time she found him and broke through his defenses, they would be upon her.
She glanced upward. From the strength of the tremors, Duino had recruited help, perhaps even the king’s own Stormcrows. She toyed with the idea of turning those tremors against them, trying to pull down the mountainside to bury Duino and the rest of the town. But it would take time, and Duino was too close.
The sleigh slowed again. Snow put a hand on Jakob’s shoulder. He was trembling like a frightened kitten. “Do you know what a soul jar is?”
He shook his head.
“I learned of them from a mermaid.” Yet another betrayal, one that had almost cost Snow her life. She searched the sleigh for anything that would work as a jar, but found nothing.
She climbed out of the sleigh and closed her right eye. The sliver of glass embedded within the left enhanced her vision as she watched for Duino’s approach.
The spell at the heart of a soul jar was the mystical equivalent of spider silk, stretching out to entangle rogue spirits and draw them into a cocoon of magical energy. The physical jar merely anchored the web. Lacking such a jar, Snow would have to use an alternate anchor.
She could see them now, their spiritual forms like animals spun from fog. Animal spirits were an eastern innovation, one Duino had apparently mastered. Duino himself was a stallion charging up the trail. An eagle flew above. Snow spied a wolf, a hunting dog, a pair of apes, even one of the great maned cats from farther south.
Snow opened her mouth, and a thread of magic snapped out from her throat to intercept Duino. He reared as the thread lashed round his neck. His companions drew back in alarm. A snake tried to bite the thread, but merely entangled itself in the trap.
Duino’s struggles tickled deep inside Snow’s chest, where she had anchored her spell. It felt as though she had swallowed something alive, something which struggled to crawl free. But Duino was spirit, whereas Snow was flesh. Bracing herself, she pulled the thread back.
Duino changed tactics. Magic rippled along their connection, trying to tear Snow’s own spirit free of her body. It might have worked, had there been only a single spirit within her.
More threads flew from her mouth, trapping the other souls as they tried to free their leader. They sent what spells they could, and Snow used the mirror’s power to reflect them back. Through the magic of the soul jar, she shared their pain as the spells crackled through those who had cast them.
The snake was close enough now for Snow to see the spirit’s true form within, that of a young woman missing her left hand. Snow opened her mouth wider, and the spirit disappeared down her throat.
It was a curious sensation, like swallowing air on the coldest day of winter. She felt… bloated.
Duino was next. He tried one final spell, seeking to split his spirit like a lizard shedding its tail, but Snow’s magic was too strong.
She could hear their screams, taste their thoughts.
“You spoke with Laurence,” she whispered, seeing that exchange through Duino’s eyes, hearing the king’s promises to send reinforcements. But Duino refused to wait. He had to protect his people, to put an end to the chaos Snow’s minions spread through his land.
Duino was believed to be a good man who had devoted his life to serving his people, but Snow was privy to his innermost desires, the secrets he hid even from himself. In his heart, Duino was as rotted and maggot-ridden as the rest, no matter how pure he appeared from without.
“You can’t!” Duino’s voice, strained and desperate as he glimpsed her plans from within. “Allesandria-”
“Has earned its fate,” Snow said firmly. She closed her eyes, allowing him to see more.
“So alone…” Duino’s struggle faded. Was that pity in his words?
Snow reached out, feeling those touched by her mirrors. Hundreds now, and soon they would be thousands. “Not anymore.”
With a thought, she tightened the threads and crushed the two captive spirits to nothingness. Her body belched in response, and then she was drawing the rest into herself.
Ever since an unexpected journey to Arathea months before, Danielle had been spending more time with her tutors, trying to learn the languages of her neighboring kingdoms. She was nowhere near as fluent as Talia or Gerta, but she was making progress. Not enough to follow all of Noita’s conversation, but she recognized the word “flowers” when Noita gestured toward a cluster of tall, flame-colored tiger lilies.
“She’s telling Gerta to pick a flower and inhale its scent,” whispered Talia. Like Danielle, she kept her weapon ready. “They show the future, and might help us to see what we must do.”
“Have her go first,” said Danielle. “To prove it’s not another trap.”
Talia barked another order. Noita sagged and walked over to pick one of the flowers. She brought it to her nose and breathed deeply.
“My garden.” Tears filled Noita’s eyes. “My beautiful garden.”
Danielle couldn’t follow the rest. Noita wept, repeating the same phrase over and over.
“‘She destroyed it all,’” said Gerta. “I think she’s talking about Snow. Noita meant to hide here, but Snow finds her. Because of us.” Gerta used a small knife to cut another flower. She pressed her nose to the petals and inhaled. She frowned, then tried again. “I think I have a bad flower.”
“What do you see?” asked Talia.
“Nothing.” Gerta dropped the flower and cut a new one from the ground. “Maybe Snow’s magic is blocking the vision. There’s nothing but blackness.”
Talia snarled something at Noita, whose face softened.
“You poor girl.” Even though Danielle didn’t understand most of the words, she could hear the sadness in Noita’s voice as Talia continued to translate. “Snow might be able to hide herself, but there’s only one reason the flowers would fail to show anything at all. The flowers show your future. Continue upon this road, and you have
