“You switched the poisons?” Lynet asked. She turned to face her, now that the earlier moment had safely passed.
“I tried to persuade him to let me give you the poison myself, but he said it was too risky, and that you were too curious. But still, I had to do something,” she said. “I know it’s not much—”
“No,” Lynet said, holding up a hand. “No, let me think.” What did she have now? A cloak. A half-empty purse. A letter. A poison that wouldn’t kill her. She could go to Mina, take the letter to her, and then even if the letter didn’t work, even if there was no way to make Mina know the truth of her own heart, even if—say it—even if Mina or Gregory poisoned her, Lynet wouldn’t die. There were so many risks, so many dangers she couldn’t predict, so many questions—but the only question that mattered was whether she believed Mina was a hopeless cause, the love they had shared nothing but a lie.
That was one question she could answer, at least.
Nadia was watching her, eyes narrowed in confusion. “Lynet, what are you thinking about? What are you planning to do?”
“I’m going to walk into their trap.”
Nadia studied her for a moment and then said incredulously, “You’re serious.”
“I need to see Mina again,” Lynet said, and as soon as she said the words, she knew nothing could change her mind. “If you hand me over to her, then I can talk to her.” I can cure her.
“Gregory said she tried to kill you!”
Lynet shook her head. “I’m not sure.” She thought back to that night, trying to remember if the huntsman had ever said that Mina had been the one to want her dead. “She sent someone after me, but I still don’t know if she ordered him to kill me. And even if she does try to kill me by giving me that poison, I won’t die.”
“You won’t die, but you’ll still be in Whitespring, surrounded by enemies. And what do you plan to do then?”
Lynet’s heart thumped, but she knew what her answer had to be. “I’ll take Mina by surprise. I’ll … I’ll kill her if I have to.”
Nadia was shaking her head in disbelief. “It’s too dangerous.”
“That’s what you told me when I wanted to run away on my birthday,” Lynet said, her voice cold. She faced Nadia, staring her down until Nadia flinched and looked away. “You said I wouldn’t even be able to make it out of the woods, that I wouldn’t survive. But I did survive. I’ve already walked into Gregory’s trap once and lived. At least this time I’ll have a plan. You wanted me to trust you again, but first you have to trust me.”
“I do,” Nadia said, “but I don’t understand why this is necessary. Maybe I can speak to the queen for you.”
Lynet thought of the last time she had seen Mina, of the fear and rage in her eyes, the desperation in her voice as she had lashed out. That boy from the apothecary shop came to Lynet’s mind—the way she had rounded on him with the dagger, only to find that she had been afraid of a child. But she hadn’t been able to lower her defenses until she had known he wasn’t a threat to her, until she felt safe. She wasn’t sure if Mina had ever felt safe. “No, I need to speak to her myself,” Lynet said. “I need her to think I’m defenseless. That’s why you have to hand me over to her, the way Gregory planned it.”
“Can’t you just hide away for a little longer—”
“No,” Lynet snapped. “I’ve already done that, too. I have to go back. Did Gregory tell you how I faked my death?”
Nadia shook her head. “What does that have to do with anything?”
Lynet knew she had to save her strength for the journey, so she selected a single coin from her purse. She held it out to Nadia, watching her face as the coin transformed into snow. Nadia stared at the melting snow in Lynet’s palm with silent awe. “I have power over snow,” Lynet said. “I can transform it and tell it what to do. I think … I think I could make the snow stop falling, if I wanted.”
Nadia lifted her gaze to Lynet’s face, eyes wide and shining with excitement. “You could break the curse,” she said softly. “You could save the North.”
Lynet stepped closer to her. “You’ll go with me, then?” When Nadia didn’t respond, her forehead creased with indecision, Lynet added, “I’m going back for my home, my family—don’t you think any price is worth that? Wouldn’t you do the same?” Her hand twitched, a sudden impulse to touch Nadia’s arm, a promise to restore the connection between them—but Lynet stopped herself, not wanting to make a promise she didn’t know she could keep.
But no promises were needed. Nadia nodded once, and all trace of doubt vanished from her face. “Yes,” she said. “I would. I’ll go north with you.”
“We’ll leave at dawn.”
Nadia started to turn away with new purpose, but then she stopped. “You know that going back means becoming queen,” she said.
“I know,” Lynet answered. “But I’m ready now. I know what kind of queen I want to be.”
“Queen Lynet,” Nadia said, testing the words. She stared at Lynet, and then she tried to hide a laugh.
“What?”
Nadia approached Lynet and lightly touched one of her curls. “Your hair is a mess.”
Lynet thought of how she must look, saying she would be queen with her unevenly shorn curls in a tangle, and before she could stop herself, she started to laugh too.
Still smiling, Nadia drew back her hand, and the backs of her knuckles brushed against Lynet’s cheek, her touch as soft as cobwebs.
27
MINA
The knock at the door made Mina jump. That was silly of her—she knew it could only be Felix. No one was allowed to see her without going through him first.
Since that night in the throne room, Mina had lost the ability to pretend, even to herself. Her guilt was visible in every line on her face, and so she chose carefully who could see her and when, and she haunted her own rooms like a ghost.
“I wanted to be alone tonight,” she told Felix when she opened the door.
He wore an apologetic look, but his arms were tense. “Your father is here,” he said. “He claims to have urgent news that he wishes to share with you immediately.”
Mina gaped at him. Gregory had been away for months, and he had sent no word of returning anytime soon. The news of Nicholas’s and Lynet’s deaths must have reached the South by now, and so he had come to see his daughter, the queen. Would he be pleased with her for keeping the throne? Or would he blame her for the death of his creation? Either way, she knew if she refused to see him now, she would only regret it the next time she did see him. “Bring him here,” she said, resigned.
Felix left, and when he returned, Gregory was with him. Mina stood aside to let them both in, Gregory striding into the center of the room while Felix remained by the door with his arms crossed.
Gregory looked older and frailer than when she had last seen him, and there was a bandage wrapped around his left hand. “Send this one away so we can speak alone,” Gregory said, gesturing to Felix. Before Mina could say anything, he barked, “Leave us,” at Felix.
But Felix didn’t move, not even to wince at Gregory’s rough voice. Mina hid a smile. “He’ll only leave at my request.”
“Then tell him to leave,” Gregory said through gritted teeth.
She gave the appearance of considering this, so he wouldn’t think she was following his order, and then asked Felix to wait outside, as she had always intended. She also didn’t want her father to think she was afraid to be alone with him.
“Much has happened since you left…” Mina began, but Gregory waved his bandaged hand to interrupt her.
“I know all about your little power play,” he said. “The king conveniently died and you saw your chance to take his place with the princess dead. Only you were wrong about something, Mina—the princess was never dead.”
Mina shook her head. She must have misunderstood him. “But Lynet is dead. She broke her neck.”
“No, Mina. That’s what I came here to tell you. Lynet is alive.”
/>
Mina repeated the words to herself, but they didn’t make sense. She felt faintly ill. “No, you’re wrong. I saw her. She was dead.”
“A ruse,” Gregory said. “She has the same power that I have, only with snow. She created the body to stop you from searching for her.”
Mina took a breath. She felt like she was moving underwater, all her movements slow and heavy. Lynet was alive. This revelation simultaneously burdened and unburdened her, relief and fear and shame all mixed together. She had been fooled, an embarrassing admission in front of her father, but did that matter when Lynet was still alive? The girl that Mina had watched grow into a young woman was still living and breathing … and she would return one day to take everything Mina had.
Mina had no doubt of that; despite her protests, Lynet would come back for her birthright, and on that day, one of them would have to lose. It was easier when she was dead, Mina thought. Then I only had to hate myself, not her.
She tried not to show any reaction at all, other than her trembling hands. “Lynet is alive,” she repeated. “How do you know this?”
His expression darkened. “She wanted my help. I pretended for a while to have her interests at heart, but she ran from me before I could give her to you.”
He was lying. Gregory had driven Lynet away somehow—and Mina wasn’t surprised in the slightest. Mina had always tried to shield Lynet from him, but left alone, Gregory wouldn’t always be able to hide his morbid fascination with the girl he had created.
“I know you remember her as a silly child, Mina,” Gregory continued, “but she’s … changed now.” His eyes flickered down to his bandaged hand. “She is ruthless. I believe she’ll do whatever is necessary to take back her crown.”
Mina looked away from him. Why should Lynet have anything but hate for her? “She said that?” she asked.
“She thinks she can cure your heart, but what do you think she’ll do once she knows that isn’t possible? And more importantly, what will you do, Mina? Are you willing to kill her, when it becomes necessary?”
Kill Lynet again? But no, she hadn’t killed Lynet the first time—Lynet hadn’t even died. Mina eyed her father warily. “Why do you care? Why should you want me to kill her? You always wanted to be closer to her. Did Lynet not embrace you as her new father as much as you’d hoped?” Mina couldn’t help smiling a little at the thought. “Is that why you suddenly want her dead?”
Gregory gave her a stony look, then quickly grabbed the back of her neck. Mina fought the urge to shake him off; she didn’t want him to see her thrashing about like some caged bird.
“It shouldn’t matter to you what my motivations are. As soon as the people of Whitespring know she’s alive, they’ll all be demanding your head. This is your last chance. If you indulge in any pity for that girl, you may as well hang yourself and save everyone the trouble. Now answer my question. Will you do whatever is necessary?”
“Yes,” she hissed at him, her head bowing under the weight of his hand.
Gregory didn’t seem entirely satisfied, but he nodded and released her at last. He took something out of the pocket of his coat and hid it in his fist. “I sent someone after Lynet to accompany her north.”
“Another spy?” Mina spat out. She could still feel her father’s hand on the back of her neck, and she was itching to rub at the skin there.
“The same spy, in fact. The surgeon you dismissed. She came straight back to me and told me Lynet was leaving for the North. When they’re near Whitespring, the surgeon will come to you and let you know where you can find Lynet. And then you’ll give Lynet this.”
He opened his fist now, holding out a small glass vial full of some clear liquid. From the handwriting on the label, Mina knew it had come from his own stores. “Poison?” she said.
“Instant and painless. It’s absorbed through the skin, so you’ll have to find some way to give it to her without making her suspicious. When she’s dead, bring the body back to Whitespring, and I’ll dispose of it.”
Mina stared at the vial with growing nausea. “Take it, Mina,” Gregory urged, and she obeyed, hoping he would leave once she had.
He did leave, satisfied that Mina would do what he wanted. As soon as he was gone, Mina rubbed at the back of her neck so viciously that it burned, but even that wasn’t enough. Gregory was in her blood, in every part of herself that she hated.
Despite what Gregory had told her, Mina still didn’t know if she should believe him. She had seen Lynet’s corpse, and that horrible sight was still too strong and too insistent in her memory to yield to her father’s words. That corpse lay in the crypt, and even if she went and looked at it again, she still wouldn’t be able to tell—
But no, that wasn’t true. If the body was made of snow, it would still be unspoiled, exactly as it had been the last time she had seen it. There would be no sign of decay at all. No sign that it had ever been alive in the first place.
Mina couldn’t wait till morning. She lit a lamp and stormed out of the room and down to the royal crypt. Mina continued through the cavernous walls of the crypt until she reached Emilia’s casket, undisturbed in its alcove. Beside it was Lynet’s, in the place that had been marked out for her since her birth. As Mina slowly lifted the casket’s lid, she didn’t know what she hoped to find. Would she be relieved to know that Lynet was alive? Or would that only mean that she would have to find a way to get rid of her all over again?
Lynet’s body looked the same. No discoloration, no shrinking of the skin around the fingernails. This body wasn’t flesh at all. Lynet was alive. Mina had been fooled. All her sleepless nights and guilty thoughts had been for a trick of magic, a pile of snow in the shape of a girl.
Mina slammed the lid of the casket back down with a frustrated cry. She didn’t understand why she was shaking with rage, why she felt so angry with Lynet for not being dead. She let me believe she was dead rather than trust her life to me.
She heard a sound in the darkness, and then Felix walked into the ring of light from her lamp. “My faithful shadow,” she said. “I thought you would follow me.”
How human he’s become, she thought as he came to stand beside her, head down out of respect for the dead. Since bringing her Lynet’s body, Felix seemed to have grown more distant from her—and yet he was with her more than ever before. Perhaps she only felt that way because he was becoming more himself, so many of his feelings now his own instead of hers.
He took her hand and stroked it softly. “The girl’s death still disturbs you,” he said.
Mina laughed, a shrill, weary sound. “No, Felix. My father brought me news tonight. He told me that Lynet is alive.”
Felix looked up at her in surprise, and she looked into his eyes, wondering what would be reflected there. Relief, mostly, as well as confusion, but none of the creeping dread that Mina could feel in her stomach.
“But the body—”
“Lynet has powers of her own, it seems, and she’s used them to fool me. There’s nothing in that casket but snow. My father traveled all this way to tell me because he wants me to find Lynet and kill her.”
“You won’t,” he said at once.
“The choice is to kill her or to let her kill me—which one is better, do you think?”
He shook his head. “No, you don’t want to hurt her. I thought you did at first, but then I realized it wasn’t true. That’s why I—”
He stopped, and Mina frowned. “Finish what you were saying, Felix.”
He hesitated. “That’s why I let her run away instead of killing her.”
“What are you talking about? You said you couldn’t find her.”
“I lied,” he said, those two words falling heavily from his mouth. “I found her as she was climbing the castle walls. I had her throat in my hands, and I chose to let her go.”
Mina slipped her hand out of his. “You kept this from me all this time.” She lifted his head roughly by the chin, forcing him to look at her.
But his tho
ughts were locked away from her now, his eyes revealing nothing. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I only wanted to protect you. I almost killed her because I thought you would be happier for it, that you even wanted me to do it. But she was so young, and I … I couldn’t, not even when I thought you wanted it. And then I thought of the king, how I had let him be hurt because I thought you wanted that as well. But now I wonder … I wonder if it was only what I wanted. And I wish I hadn’t done it at all.”
Mina listened to his confession with growing fear. She wasn’t afraid because Felix had spared Lynet, but because he had acted on his own impulses, and because he had been able to keep this secret from her. Even the simple fact that he had pitied Lynet frightened her. His knowledge of love was a lie that he’d learned from her, but where had he learned the semblance of pity? Of mercy? Not from Mina.
“I don’t know who you are,” she said softly. “You were mine, but now I’ve lost you.”
He pulled her closer to him, resting his forehead against hers. “No,” he said. “I’m here, as I have always been. I love you.”
She pulled away from him. “You think you love me, because I told you that you do, but you don’t know what love truly is.”
He shook his head. “You’re wrong. Maybe that was true once, but I remember … I remember one night soon after you married the king, after you started calling for me again … you brought peaches, and you told me that when you were a girl, you ate them all the time, but that you hadn’t had one since the first day you’d come to the castle, and I heard such pleasure in your voice. You took the first bite with such relish, not caring what kind of mess you made, and some of the juice spilled down your chin, onto your throat. You were so content in that moment, so perfectly free. And even though I thought I had loved you before, I knew then that I hadn’t understood love until that moment, when I would have given up my life just to keep you as content as you were eating that peach. I remember I reached out to wipe the juice from your throat, and when I touched you, it felt like the first time, the night you made me. I love you, Mina. And I know that you loved that girl.”
Girls Made of Snow and Glass Page 26