“I don’t think so.” Gerta squinted through the trees.
Danielle fought to control her breathing. Jakob was there, beyond those drifted walls. Close enough he might hear her voice if she shouted. “It doesn’t matter.”
Gerta’s magic wasn’t strong enough to overpower Snow. The darkling wouldn’t be able to conceal them either, not here. Snow had made this place her new home. The moment they stepped onto the ice, she would know.
“How do we get inside?” asked Talia. “There are no doors.”
“She doesn’t need them,” said Gerta. “The ice responds to her will. We’ll have to scale the outer wall or break through.”
Danielle stepped down to the shore. The lake’s edge had frozen into a lacy ribbon of frost that crunched beneath her feet.
The drifts at the base of the palace wall shivered. Large shapes stepped free. Most were humanoid, clothed in fur and frost and ice. Others walked on all fours, though they were unlike any beasts Danielle had ever seen. At this distance, it was difficult to make out the details. She spotted a white winged serpent twice as high as a man. An animal that appeared a cross between dog and bull shook snow from its spine-covered hide. Every one of the creatures was white, as though all color had been bleached from their bodies.
“I estimate close to a hundred,” said Talia, her tone calm and calculating.
“That’s just from the front section of the palace,” Gerta pointed out. “She could have five times their number waiting in the rest of the drifts.”
“Welcome, Danielle.” Snow’s voice boomed over the lake. “Have you no words of greeting for your loyal crew, the men who fought so briefly but valiantly to protect the Phillipa?”
Danielle swallowed. “Gerta?”
“She’s telling the truth.” Gerta was paler than usual. “They’re human. Or they used to be.”
These were men Danielle had sailed with. Men she had joked with and even fought beside, more than a year ago. “Are you strong enough to undo-”
“I’m sorry.” Gerta stared out at the bestial army before them. “I might be able to change one or two, given enough time, but not like this.”
Ever since leaving Lorindar, Danielle had imagined what she would say when she found Snow White. She had searched for the words that would break through the demon’s power and help her friend to throw off its hold long enough for them to destroy it. Long enough for them to save her.
“Your son told me you’d arrive today,” said Snow. “A marvelous child, who sees far more than most. I daresay he’ll soon forget you and Armand. He’ll forget everything, save me.”
“Forgive me.” Danielle closed her eyes. Many times throughout the years she had prayed to her mother’s spirit. It was her mother who had helped her escape her stepmother’s home, leading her to the ball and Armand. Her mother had given her the glass sword, which had saved Danielle’s life on more than one occasion. Her hand went to her hip, imagining the comforting weight of the glass blade, now lost.
“Watch over your grandson,” she whispered. “Keep him safe.” No matter what happened to her.
Talia cleared her throat. “You realize if we fail, we’re handing the Princess of Lorindar over to this demon?”
“So don’t fail,” said Danielle.
Snow’s voice came again. “Have you come to bargain? To trade the girl for your son? Surrender to me, and I might be willing to listen to your offer.”
Danielle glanced at Gerta. She was formed from Snow White. It was no surprise Snow would guess at the very plan Gerta had suggested back in Speas Elan.
Talia’s face was stone. “Even possessed, she’s a lousy liar.”
“I didn’t come to bargain,” Danielle called out. “I came to ask you to return my son. And my friend.”
“Oh, Danielle. You should have let them go.” Snow’s creatures moved in unison, marching toward the shore.
Danielle had always believed her ability to summon animals to be another of her mother’s gifts, but perhaps the Duchess was right. Perhaps it was merely the result of her own fairy blood. Whatever its origins, Danielle drew upon that gift now as never before.
Rats, doves, horses, and more had always answered her pleas for help. They had aided her in her chores. They had fought and died to protect her. Even the horses of the Wild Hunt had listened to her commands.
The darkling moved forward, putting itself between her and Snow’s forces. Danielle had seen the damage darklings could do, but Snow had faced them before and won. The darkling wouldn’t be enough.
She called again, forgoing words, projecting her summons as far as she could reach. Ignoring the monsters crossing the ice, the demon within those walls. Ignoring everything save her need.
“Are they coming?” asked Gerta.
Danielle made a face. “It’s not like the animals talk back to me.” She searched the woods for movement.
A pair of white egrets responded first, streaking overhead like angels and swooping down to stab dagger beaks into one of Snow’s monsters. Crows followed, their harsh cries filling the air. Hawks and owls burst from the trees, and then the ground itself began to vibrate underfoot.
A herd of reindeer exploded from the woods, charging past so closely Danielle could have reached out and brushed their sides. One of the largest stopped and bowed his head to Danielle. He was slightly smaller than a horse, with antlers that curved like gnarled oak. She climbed onto the reindeer. “My friends, too, please.”
Two more reindeer stopped. Gerta shook her head as she mounted the nearest. “Strangest army I’ve ever heard of.”
“Things are about to get stranger.” Talia turned to the darkling. “What are the limits of your shapechanging powers?”
The darkling spread his hands.
Talia sheathed her dagger. “I could use a better weapon.”
The darkling grew taller and thinner. Talia leaned forward, tugging the reindeer’s head to guide him, then snatching the darkling up in one mittened hand. Moments later, she held a lance of pure blackness.
“Reins would be helpful,” Gerta commented, clinging to her reindeer’s mane.
“Just keep your head down and hold on,” said Danielle. “Don’t try to fight. Stay close to Talia.”
She had gained some measure of skill on horseback, but the reindeer was a smaller animal, and the back was built differently, with a bit of a hump near the neck. Not to mention the lack of a saddle. The darkling must have used magic to smooth its gait while in this form, because now that she rode a true reindeer, it was all she could do to keep from falling off.
More animals soon joined their battle. A pack of wolves charged across the lake to her right. A lone fox darted underfoot, weaving past the reindeer. A family of bears lumbered onto the ice on her left.
“Punch through their line and make for the palace,” Talia shouted. “Danielle, try to get those wolves to guard our flanks. Once we pierce the line, have them follow us through and spread out to keep the demon’s monsters from following.”
Danielle did her best to relay the commands. Everything was happening so quickly. Snow’s creatures roared as they fought back against the birds. Animals and monsters alike struggled for footing as they clashed. The winged snake snapped an owl from the air, crushing it in its jaws. Moments later, a wolf sank its teeth into one of the snake’s wings.
“Stay low,” Talia yelled. Wasps swarmed over the palace wall, glittering orange in the sunlight. Some struck the animals, but most flew directly at Danielle and her friends.
She pressed her face close to her reindeer’s neck as the stingers ripped through her clothes to jab her skin, but they failed to pierce Veleris’ magic. She grabbed one that had become tangled in her hair. Unlike the other wasps Danielle had seen, this one had a stinger made entirely of ice, which continued to stab futilely even as it melted from the warmth of her hand.
Wolves closed in around them, forming a spearpoint. Talia thrust her black spear to either side, every hit earning howls of pain. The darkling weapon soon dripped blood that was all too human.
Gerta shrieked as a white-spined ape swiped her leg. Talia turned, but Gerta was already gesturing at her attacker. The ape’s feet slipped out from beneath it. When it fell, its head struck the ice hard enough to make
