Free Red Hood's Revenge by Jim C. Hines Page A

through the labyrinth before sunrise, I would reach the hedge that borders Fairytown and be able to escape.”
    “You survived the fairy queen’s labyrinth?” Snow asked.
    Charlotte shook her head. “I ran until my legs lost their strength. Turns doubled back on themselves. Pathways ended without warning. I collapsed, unable to move another step, or so I thought. Then I heard the howling of the queen’s wolves. I dragged myself onward, eventually finding a passage that opened onto the chasm. Not the escape I had hoped for, but a quick leap to my death was better than facing the wolves. I tried to make myself jump, but in the end my fear was too great. I couldn’t do it. That was when Roudette found me.
    “At first I thought she was the fairy queen herself, come to watch my death. Instead, Roudette dragged me from the edge, then turned to await the wolves. She . . . quieted them somehow, almost as if she were talking to them. Like my stepsister used to do with her vermin.”
    Charlotte touched the scars on her face. “The wolves allowed us to pass. Roudette led us from the maze, the wolves following her. We soon reached the goblin encampment at the hedge. It was the goblins who recognized her, calling her by name. Until that moment I had no idea who she was. The goblins tried to flee. Some escaped. The rest fell to Roudette and the wolves. She left only one alive, forcing him to guide us through the hedge.”
    Danielle closed her eyes, remembering her own journey through that hedge and the goblin who had helped them, though she had never been able to recall his name. She prayed he had been among those who escaped.
    “Roudette’s cape is magical,” Snow said. “She used it to transform herself into a wolf. That must be how she controlled the queen’s animals.”
    “I’ve already sent word to the guards to watch for wolves,” Talia added.
    “Good.” Beatrice studied Charlotte for a long time before asking, “You and Roudette traveled together from Fairytown to Stone Grove. What can you tell us of her? How did she behave? What did she say to you?”
    Charlotte’s chains clanked as she massaged her shoulder. “She wanted to know about Danielle. How she and her friends rescued Armand from the Duchess. Whether Danielle would truly want to save me, and if I thought she would bring her friends. After that, she barely spoke to me.”
    Snow cleared her throat. “With Your Majesties’ permission?” She waited for the king’s nod, then said, “Roudette expected you to perform some task to help her. What was it?”
    “I was supposed to identify Talia.”
    “You’re lying.” Danielle studied her stepsister. Charlotte had never been one for subtlety or hiding her emotions, but two years in Fairytown had changed her. Growing up, Danielle had learned quickly to read her stepsisters’ moods, knowing when to carry out her chores in silence and when to avoid them at all costs.
    This was different. Charlotte was scared but also resigned. The woman Danielle remembered would have been weeping or begging, or ranting against the injustice of it all. “Roudette fought Talia once before,” Danielle said. “She wouldn’t need your help in recognizing her.”
    She stepped down from the dais, crossing the throne room to stand before her stepsister. Charlotte’s eyes were red and shadowed. She appeared ready to pass out from exhaustion, but her expression was pleading .
    “What did they do to you?” Danielle whispered. Charlotte said nothing, not even watching as Danielle circled her. “Let us help you.”
    “You can’t.” Charlotte wiped her nose on her sleeve, then hastily tugged the shoulder of her gown back into place.
    If Danielle hadn’t been watching her stepsister so closely, she would have missed it. She reached out, and Charlotte tensed. Danielle grabbed Charlotte’s torn collar and pulled, exposing a faded strawberry mark on the skin. “Two years ago Stacia and the Duchess gave you this mark to prevent