First Frost (29 page)

“Wait.” Bianca closed her eyes. She wanted to know if she could do anything about her mother’s wounds.

Snow White, I hope you’re close by. I can use some help here.

She could feel the ghost of a hand above her own. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her mother. She thought of all the times her mother had healed her cuts, scrapes, and bruises. It was time to repay in kind. Bianca thought of the love she had for Rose. Her mother and friend. The one person she trusted above all others. She opened her eyes a little and noticed that her hands were glowing with a soft white light. She held her mother’s hands and healed her as best as she could.

“What are you doing?” Rose whispered.

“Shh.”

“Feels warm. First time I’ve felt warmth in almost two weeks.”

When Bianca opened her eyes, almost all of Rose’s wounds were healed. There were some bruises that were still visible, but the important thing was that Rose wasn’t in pain anymore.

“Where did you learn that?” Rose gently prodded at her left eye.

“Long story, let’s get out of here.”

“Gladly,” Rose replied.

They stepped out of Rose’s cell. Bianca couldn’t wait to go outside and leave this place behind. She held her mother’s hand and carefully walked down the hallway. Every once in a while, they looked behind them to make sure they weren’t being followed.

They finally reached the steps.

“Stay here. I’ll go take a peek and make sure it’s safe to go up,” Bianca whispered.

Rose nodded.

Very carefully Bianca went up to the steps. She looked up and down the hallway. Nothing. Empty. She let out a sigh of relief and waved at her mother to join her.

I hope Luna found my backpack. I hope nothing bad happened to her.

Bianca then heard a soft clicking sound. There was a rhythm to it. She concentrated on the sound, and little by little the clicking got closer until it suddenly stopped. Bianca held her breath and waited.

“Human Girl.” A voice that sounded like silk over steel spoke.

“Luna?” Bianca whispered.

“Yes.” Luna finally emerged from the shadows with Bianca’s black backpack hanging from her jaws.

Bianca was glad to have Luna on her side. She didn’t want to know what it would feel like to be caught between Luna’s sharp white teeth. She tried hard not to shiver in fear as Luna walked toward her and gave her the backpack.

“Where was it?” Bianca asked, unable to hide her curiosity.

“I’m not familiar with the names you humans give to each room, but there was a lot of food in this place and great big steel thing that was very hot to the touch,” Luna replied.

“I think you were in the kitchen.”

“What now?” Rose asked.

Bianca squatted and opened her backpack. If what she had in mind was going to work, she needed to make sure everything inside was more or less intact. Bianca smiled. Everything was still in her backpack. How could Lenore miss seeing the magic mirror, the brick, and the red cape?

“What are you looking for?” Rose asked.

“Nothing, just making sure I didn’t leave anything behind. Kind of my Plan B in case we bump into her,” Bianca explained.

They all walked pressed against wall, doing their best to make as little noise as possible. They made it as far as the dining hall when Bianca heard a slow clap. Every clap caused her heart to jump and her blood race through her veins. Luna took on a defensive stance, bared her fangs, and let out a fierce snarl.

Lenore sat at the head of the table, her eyes zeroed in on Bianca. It was as though no one else in the room existed.

“Impressive,” Lenore said.

“Get out of our way,” Bianca demanded.

“More demands? I’ve never met anyone, save your mother, that tasks me as much as you.” Lenore shook her head and clicked her tongue against her cheek. “I’m afraid your attempt at a rescue ends here, little one.” She stood up from her heavy wooden chair.

Luna snapped her jaws and did something that Bianca could only describe as a mixture between a bark and growl.

“Silence!” Lenore shouted. She waved her hand and from cracks in the stone black vines snaked through and bound Luna’s paws and muzzled her snout shut.

Luna whined and struggled to free herself.

“Bianca, you’re not ready,” Rose whispered into Bianca’s ear.

“If I were you, I’d listen to your mother.” Lenore chuckled.

Not an ounce of confidence from her own mother. There wasn’t enough time to explain to Rose that she was more than capable to save them all. She could bring them all home. Snow White believed in her, as did Old Woman. If they had faith in her, then there was no doubt in Bianca’s mind that she could defeat Lenore.

“Mom, I can do this,” Bianca replied. Never once did her eyes leave Lenore.

Rose opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water. Then she nodded and said, “All right.”

“Excellent, I get to kill you both at once,” Lenore said.

“We’ll just see about that,” Bianca replied.

Lenore attacked first. She took the dagger she had in the sheath and made it multiply itself over and over until there were several dozen silver daggers hovering in front of Lenore. She waved her hands and they all launched themselves toward the Frost women.

Bianca’s eyes widened in surprise as a wave of daggers headed straight toward them. Thanks to quick thinking on her part, she created a wall of fire and melted the daggers. She used the molten silver and made a shield. Mother and daughter hid behind the silver shield.

Lenore screamed in frustration and continued to throw daggers at them.

Bianca used the daggers that struck the shield and made it even stronger.

“You weren’t kidding when you said you learned some tricks,” Rose said.

Bianca smiled and nodded. She could tell her mother was impressed with her new skills with magic.

“What next?” Rose asked.

“I’m thinking…mirrors,” she said.

“Mirrors?” Rose echoed. “What for?”

“Just…keep her busy. I’ll let you know when I’m ready,” Bianca replied.

“Okay,” Rose said with a nod.

Rose threw an ice spell at the ceiling, creating stalactites that covered the entire top part of the room. She clapped her hands and watched as huge chunks of ice fell on Lenore. The witch spent the majority of her time dodging them, which gave Bianca the time she needed to prepare.

Bianca pulled Mirabel’s little hand mirror out of her backpack. She took a deep breath and held the mirror in her hands. Then…she grabbed the frame and pulled it apart.

At first Rose was confused. Her green eyes widened in surprise when she noticed that Bianca was making the mirror bigger. By the time Bianca was finished with the mirror, it was half her size. She then created ten replicas of the mirror. Bianca handed the original mirror to Rose. The other nine she tossed in Lenore’s direction until they had scattered all around the evil witch.

“What game are you playing at here, brat?” Lenore spat. “Do you think you know mirror magic just because you had my mistress’ spell book for a week? You know nothing!”

Lenore slammed her fist into the two mirrors in front of her. Tiny fractions of glass rained down on her feet. A thousand miniature reflections looked back at her from the floor. She growled and stomped on the mirrors.

“See ya later.” Bianca jumped into the mirror her mother held in her hands.

“Bianca!” Rose cried out in surprise.

She found herself in a hallway with seven mirrors showing Lenore in different angles. Bianca’s arm shot out and grasped Lenore’s filthy dress. Lenore gasped as she was pulled inside the mirror.

There was a scuffle inside the hallway as Lenore wrestled the young witch, trying to escape. But Bianca would have none of that; she kicked Lenore on the face. She heard the crunch of bones being broken. When she stepped back, she saw a spray of blood all over Lenore’s face.

A flash of horror crossed the evil witch’s features when she realized what Bianca’s intentions were.

“You can’t leave me here,” she said.

“Yes, I can,” Bianca replied.

“No. No!” the witch shouted.

With little remorse, Bianca jumped out and made the other seven mirrors vanish with a loud pop, leaving only the original mirror that Rose continued to hold in her hands.

“Thanks, Mom. I’ll take that now,” Bianca said.

Rose handed the three foot tall mirror back to her daughter. Bianca took the looking glass and pushed it down until it shrunk back to its original size. Bianca realized she did it just in time since she could hear Lenore screams from within the mirror.

“Not so powerful now, huh?” Bianca said.

“She’s trapped in there?” Rose asked.

“Yep. Wanna see?”

Rose nodded and took the little hand mirror from Bianca. She looked into mirror and instead of her reflection she saw Lenore’s angry face. She could hear her screams and feel her fists pounding on the cold, hard glass.

“Good riddance,” Bianca muttered as she placed the little hand mirror in her backpack.

“We’re going to have a serious talk about this when we get home,” Rose said.

“You don’t think she deserved this?” Bianca asked.

“I think there was a better way of taking care of her.”

“Like she was going to do with us, you mean? You think she wasn’t going to do everything in her power to make sure she tortured us to death before finally killing us? Do you honestly think she would’ve shown us any type of mercy? Because if you think she would’ve, then please tell me now and I’ll set her free.” Bianca frowned, unable to understand why her mother was arguing with her.

“All right,” Rose whispered, finally conceding to Bianca and the decision she’d made.

Chapter Twenty-Six

“Stay still,” Bianca said gently to Luna.

They had to use a mixture of knives and magic in order to set Luna free from the impromptu prison that Lenore made.

“Finally,” Rose sighed as they cut the final vine off of Luna.

The female wolf got up and stretched. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Bianca replied.

“Quiet…I hear something.” Luna’s ears twitched and moved as they followed the sound.

Bianca listened and heard a faint familiar voice.

“Who’s that?” Rose asked.

“Terrance?” Bianca called back.

“I’m confused.” Rose frowned.

“Shh, I can’t hear him,” Bianca whispered.

“Bianca!” Terrance cried as he finally came into view at the end of the hallway along with Prince Ferdinand.

Bianca smiled and ran toward Terrance.

Rose and Luna quickly followed suit and trailed behind.

All of a sudden, Bianca felt herself being hoisted up in the air by her neck. Her vision swam as the ground beneath her got farther and farther away from her.

“Bianca!” Rose cried.

“You stupid little brat! You just had to keep interfering,” a cold feminine voice hissed into Bianca’s ear.

Luna growled in response.

“Who’s there? Show yourself!” Prince Ferdinand demanded as he flicked his sword nervously from side to side.

“Show yourself, you coward!” Terrance shouted.

The voice laughed in response to their demands. Bianca helplessly dangled in the air as though she were being held by an invisible noose. She fought frantically to free herself, but nothing worked. She kicked and tried to wriggle herself free all to no avail. Out of the corners of her eyes she could see a series of black ribbons. She knew they were similar to the ones Mirabel had used on Snow White.

“Mom.” Bianca choked the word out as she struggled to breathe.

“Silence!” the voice said.

“Mirabel?” Rose wondered aloud.

“That’s
Queen
Mirabel to you,” she spat.

Then slowly they were all able to see what they were up against. Hovering in the air was Mirabel’s ghost. Her once-beautiful face was contorted with hatred and anger as she looked down at everyone. Her feet were bright red and covered with blisters. Her blond hair was knotted and frayed at the ends.

“Don’t worry, little one. Soon you won’t feel a thing,” Mirabel said with a fake saccharine tone of voice.

For the first time in her life, Bianca was frozen with fear. She was too high up. No one would be able to reach her. At least not in time to save her.

“I’m coming, sweetheart,” Rose said.

Bianca could hear her mother, but she had no idea what she was doing or how she planned on saving her from this horrible situation. Bianca struggled to breathe. Her vision slowly darkened. She could feel her limbs beginning to go numb.

“Enough!” a different feminine voice bellowed.

“At last,” Mirabel whispered.

Bianca then fell to the floor as the black ribbons around her neck vanished like a fog. Terrance caught her moments before she could crash onto the cold, hard floor. Bianca gasped for air.