Shadows on Snow: A Flipped Fairy Tale (Flipped Fairy Tales) (12 page)

Grimacing, I couldn’t argue any of her points. “And you think a life shut away in a palace would suit someone like that?”

“There is more than one kind of adventure, Rae.”

I waved my hands about, dispersing the conversation. “It’s a moot point. I neither want nor need that. What I do want…” My stomach rumbled, interrupting my words, and I grinned sheepishly. “Is dinner.”

By the end of the meal, I still refused to meet anyone’s eyes. My outburst earlier, despite the fact that I felt justified in my reaction, coupled with being caught completely naked, all but ensured I wouldn’t be speaking to anyone the rest of the evening. From time to time, I felt the prince’s eyes on me, an unspoken question hanging in the air. For all the weight that question carried, it wasn’t one I was prepared to answer. My sisters kept to their own conversations, only addressing me to ask for a dish or the salt. After we ate, I began washing dishes, but Adelaide quickly shooed me away, and Erata took my place. With nothing better to do, I wandered out of the house to see the sun dip below the tops of the trees.

Sitting in Adelaide’s garden, I watched the night-blooming flowers she’d enchanted from where they curled around the stone well. The purple trumpets twisted open, releasing a calming, crisp fragrance that soothed my jumbled thoughts.

“Flowers in winter?” he said from the edge of the garden. I managed not to jump, but the man’s ability to creep up on me without making a sound was unnerving.

“Adelaide’s gift is with plants,” I said, touching one of the hearty blossoms. “There’s little in life that brings her greater joy than seeing green where once there was nothing.”

Cautiously, he approached the stone bench. “And your others sisters, what of them? Farah is wards and traps, correct?”

I nodded, still studying the flowers. They were much greater in number than last year. “Anything to do with protection, really. She can defend the indefensible.”

Prince Leopold shifted his weight, and I glanced up. Seeing him there, so unsure of himself, I decided to give a little. Moving to one side, I invited him to sit beside me, leaving room between us. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and turned his face to me. “And the others?”

“Belinda has a natural connection with animals. She understands their sounds and behaviors intuitively. Clarice communes with spirits, both human and otherwise. If there is magic about, she’ll know it before any others. Delphine speaks from afar. Through her, I kept in touch with my sisters regularly while I was away. Smoke, steam, reflections in still water… once she spoke to me in dreams, although that’s the most difficult for her. Both she and Clarice practice scrying in various ways: tea leaves, mirrors, rune stones, or, Delphine’s favorite, reading ashes on the hearth.” I grimaced a little at that. “She especially will put her nose in things better left alone.”

“And Erata? What of her?” he asked, listening intently.

I had little desire to discuss her, but he should know these things. “Erata speaks with the winds,” I said. “I like her best when the South Wind warms her heart, but her preference is the West Wind. That one is a fickle thing, never settling on any one mood for long. I suspect today was a North Wind day, however. Those days have always been my least favorite. The North Wind cares for no one.” I picked at a bit of dirt still trapped beneath a fingernail. “Even so, I shouldn’t have struck her. Repaying cruelty with violence is a poor way to live one’s life.”

“Agreed,” he said. “Though I think no real harm was done.”

“You might not be so forgiving were you in my position,” I said, scowling at my fingers.

“I was referring Erata’s comeuppance,” he said. Soft as a summer breeze, his hand slipped over mine, and I held my breath. “I know she triggered a deep hurt, Rae. Whatever it is, I wish…” He lowered his voice. “I’m sorry I caused any pain on your part. You’ve been nothing but a true friend.”

I stared at our hands, oddly not uncomfortable at the contact, but not sure of what else to say.

“And what about you?” he asked quietly.

“What about me?”

“You break the pattern.”

“What pattern?” I said, giving him a curious look.

“Adelaide, Belinda, Clarice, Delphine, Erata, Farah…” He ticked them off with his free hand. “Alphabetical. But you’re Raelynn?”

Nodding, I stared up into the darkening sky, watching the first stars blink into view. “Raelynn Grace. R is eleven letters after G, and I arrived eleven days after the never-wrong midwife predicted I would. My mother told me that, since I decided to defy nature, there was no reason to stop there. Raelynn was the name of the first Bernish queen in recorded history. She united five kingdoms into one, stopping the longest, bloodiest war we’ve known since.” Dropping my gaze, I shook my head. “I’m a poor choice to follow in such footsteps. I was even late for my own birth.”

“I’d beg to disagree with you,” he said, a surety in his voice that I’d never felt in myself. “I studied a bit of Bernish history, so I know a little about your namesake. She was a remarkable woman: strong, brave, intelligent, compassionate, and, if memory serves, quite the marksman herself. I would say without any hesitation that you’re a fine testament to her legacy, Rae.”

My words came in little more than a whisper. “You barely know me. How are you so certain of that?”

“I’m rarely wrong about others. In fact, only one person has ever managed to fool me, though, to be honest, I was never overly fond of my mother’s choice when she remarried.” He set his other hand over the one still holding mine. “I knew your character every time I saw you, glamour or no. I should tell you, I was extremely confused after the masked ball. Everything about you was familiar, but my eyes told me otherwise. And then again, when I saw you in the stables after…” He looked down and lifted my hand, his thumb gently brushing across my skin. “If I ask you a question, will you answer honestly?”

Swallowing hard, I nodded. My heart hammered in my chest for a million different reasons, and for none at all.

“The first time I took your hand, that night in the stables shortly after I came home, did you feel anything…” He paused and considered his words. “Unusual?”

My face heated at the memory. “I…” Words disappeared as quickly as they formed in my head. “Unusual?” My voice cracked on the question, embarrassing me further.

His eyes lit up. “You did feel it, didn’t you?” he said, suddenly excited. “Like this.” He pressed our palms together, his familiar, tingling warmth immediately shooting up my arm.

“This is how I know, Rae,” he said as his dark eyes pulled at my gaze. “This is how I know how lucky I am to have found you. No one else eases my heart with nothing more than their presence. No one else can warm me with a single touch.”

Stunned beyond rational thought, I struggled to speak. “But… Is this not how everyone feels around you? I assumed it was simply in your nature.”

Lowering our hands, he entwined our fingers. “My godmother, Aurelia, she used to tell me stories. Once, she spoke of twin souls, two who were made to match. I asked her how it was possible to know such a thing, as the idea of missing that was far more terrifying to me than her stories about dragons and trolls. Do you know what she said to me?”

I was far past retaining the ability to speak at that point, and I shook my head, mute.

“Warmth on the coldest of nights. Courage in the face of any fear. Drawn to one another as though all of humanity has vanished. All of those things, Rae, this is what you are to me. Will you tell me true? Am I alone in these feelings?”

In my heart, a battle between hope and fear tore at me. Twin souls? The idea seemed ridiculous, and yet, everything he said felt true. I couldn’t lie to him, but the thought of being that close to someone…

“Why are you crying?” he whispered as he brushed a tear from my cheek.

I hadn’t known I was. Closing my eyes against the desperation in his gaze, I tried to think clearly.

“Am I alone in this?”

I exhaled slowly, gently shaking my head. “You… you are not alone.”

His hands lifted, gently encircling my face. I stared up into his eyes, watching as he inched closer to me. My pulse raced. My lungs constricted. A sudden, primal fear blasted through my head as images of another man contorted his features.

“I can’t!” I said, breaking away and standing, turning my back to him as I trembled. “I cannot do this. Please.” Unshed tears gripped my throat in a vice, painfully holding me hostage.

He stood behind me, lightly touching my back. “Rae, why—”

I shrugged off his hand and stepped away, back towards the house. “Please. If you care for me…” Taking a deep breath, it was all I could do not to run. “Please just let me go.”

Hurrying back, I took the stairs to my room two at a time. I did not want to see his eyes full of sadness. Even more, I didn’t want him to know how I came to be so broken a creature, unable to stand a man anywhere close to me. To be looked at with pity…

I could not bear that from him.

Shortly before midnight, I was awoken by unsettling feelings. Something was amiss, but I couldn’t determine what. Looking around in the dark, neither Farah nor Belinda were in their beds, and low voices drifted up from the floorboards.

Cautiously, I crept downstairs to see what was happening.

“Give them some time, Leo,” Adelaide said. “They’re searching every mirror in the palace for the most helpful one.”

“What are you doing?” I said from the stairs, pulling my wrap tighter around me.

Farah looked up at me from her seat on the floor to the left of the fireplace, her golden brown hair dancing at her shoulders, every part of her burnished gold in the light. “Building a strategy,” she said softly, then extended a hand to pull me down beside her. “They’re searching the mirrors of the palace for hints about what he intends to do.”

Looking around, all my sisters were gathered in the common room, focused intently on the rectangular mirror between Clarice and Delphine. Prince Leopold sat cross-legged to one side, and I jumped a little when I caught his gaze. Flushing in the firelight, I looked away.

“Focus, Leo,” Delphine said, not taking her eyes from the mirror. “You must guide us in this. Worry about the rest later.”

He straightened immediately and returned his attention to the looking glass.

“The study in the west wing, second floor, eight doors down on the right,” he said. “He takes meetings there.”

From where I sat, I saw nothing but a faint glow on the mirror’s surface. My sisters pressed their fingertips along the edges of the glass, bent over it, and exhaled in low, warm breaths, clouding the reflection. They remained there, hovering over the scrying mirror, for a very long time. I knew enough to keep quiet for these workings, lest any noise disturb their magic. Whatever the mirror showed, Prince Leopold shared the vision, his eyes taking on a hazy quality as he stared at scenes transpiring on the other side and listened to conversations that took place days or weeks prior.

Suddenly, all three jerked backwards, my sisters shaking with fear. Alarmed, I rushed to Clarice, taking her hand. Rarely had I seen her so afraid, her pale complexion drained of what little color she possessed.

“What’s happened?” I said. “What did you see?”

She shook her head, terrified. “It is not what we saw, dearest one.” Clarice trembled in my arms, and I held her tightly. “It is that now he has seen us.”

I froze. “What? Who?”

“My stepfather,” the prince said as he stared at the mirror from afar. “His eyes looked right through me. He knows I’m alive.”

“And us as well,” Delphine said as she hugged her knees. “He’s seen us and knows we live.”

In that moment, I realized how bad this was for all of us. Once Alder had a quarry in mind, he refused to let it go. So long as my sisters and I lived, we threatened his claim to the throne of Bern.

Prince Leopold rested his forehead against the palms of his hands. “I’m so sorry I’ve brought this on you all. If I’d seen his true nature sooner…”

Delphine laid a hand on his arm. “This isn’t your fault. The evil in that man knows no bounds. You had as much control over this as we had our own situation ten years ago.”

“But you lived in peace until I brought him to your doorstep,” he said as he looked at my sister. “Had Rae not interfered on my behalf, you would still be safe.”

Erata leaned forward in her chair, eyes narrowed. “But you’d be dead, and a second kingdom would fall to his wickedness. We’ve sat idly for long enough. Together, perhaps we can bring an end to him for good.”

“But how?” I asked. “We’ve no allies but each other, and we’ve never attempted anything like that. I’ve caught a glimpse of that man’s magic, and that alone we might be able to fight between the seven of us, but what of those who defend him? He’s surrounded himself with nobles both of Bern and Sericea, not to mention the troops in Bern at his disposal, to further his pursuit of power. We have no army to counter that.”

“Actually,” Prince Leopold said, a spark of hope in his eyes when he looked at me. “We might.”

“What?” I scrunched up my face, confused. “What army is that?”

He stood and paced the floor as he spoke, as though he were thinking out loud. “I spent four years with the Sericean army. I built solid relationships with the commanders and the regular servicemen alike. If I call upon them, I know where their loyalty would fall. They loved their queen dearly, and I fought alongside them. They will remember, and they will help us.”

“But can you be sure?” Belinda asked. “Men can be like magpies, always drawn to the next shiny thing.”

“They remember who treated them well and saved them from needless battles,” he said. “They’re good men, loyal men. The fate of the kingdom rests in their hands. They won’t let it go without a fight.” He stopped pacing and faced us. “If you fight with me, I’ll see you restored as Bern’s rightful rulers. You’ll never have to fear him again.” Looking at each of my sisters in turn, he stopped when he found me last. “I swear on my life you will know peace.”

There was no doubt in my mind he meant every word. If it was within his power to do so, my sisters and I would be princesses of Bern once more.