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Armand’s movements after he left the ship,” Snow said. “He dined with his men, then retired to his room for the night. He never came out.”
    “What does that mean?” Danielle asked. She stepped away from the others and stared at her reflection in Snow’s mirror, as if her will alone could force it to show where her husband had gone.
    “It means whoever took Armand is powerful enough to block Snow’s spell,” Talia said. “Charlotte knew the prince was missing. She has to be involved.” She handed the broken stool leg and the bloody feather to Snow. “She used her magic on both of these.”
    Snow grimaced as she took the feather. “Do I look like some sort of magical hunting hound?” She stepped past Danielle and brushed the feather across the mirror, painting a faint circle of blood. The circle dried and flaked away an instant later, leaving the surface as clean as before. “Someone else cast these spells. At least, it wasn’t Charlotte alone.”
    “She had a necklace,” Danielle said. “She touched it right before the stool shattered.”
    “So she had an accomplice,” said Talia.
    “Stacia?” Danielle frowned. “That doesn’t make sense.” Charlotte would hardly trust her sister with something as important as protecting Charlotte’s life.
    Snow seemed to agree. “I doubt either of your stepsisters are strong enough to do all of this by themselves. I watched them both at the ball, then later at your wedding. If they had this kind of power, I would have felt it.”
    “If they had that kind of power, Danielle never would have made it to the ball,” Talia added.
    “So who was it?” Danielle asked.
    “Probably witches,” said Snow.
    At the same time, Talia said, “Fairies, I’d bet.”
    Snow shook her head. “If Charlotte brought fairy magic past the wards in the wall, I would have known. Besides, no fairy would dare work magic within the palace. Malindar’s Treaty prohibits it.”
    “And where are you going to find a witch strong enough to hide the prince from that?” Talia pointed to the mirror. “Ten shillings says it’s fairies.”
    “Done.”
    “Why didn’t your wards sense Charlotte’s necklace?” Danielle asked.
    “Because until she activated it, it was just a rock. Witches do magic. Fairies are magic. That makes fairies a lot easier to detect.”
    “Snow, can you use these things to find Charlotte?” asked the queen. “If she does know about my son, it becomes even more urgent that we find her.”
    “I’ll try,” said Snow. She took the broken stool leg and turned back to the mirror.
    Danielle stared at the gold wedding band on her finger. Simple and modest. Armand had wanted to give her a heavy, diamond-encrusted monstrosity as a memento of their love, but Danielle had insisted. This thin ring was a duplicate of the one she remembered seeing on her mother’s finger.
    Beatrice touched her shoulder. Danielle turned, and the fear and pain on the queen’s face were a match for her own. “We will find Armand.”
    Danielle’s throat tightened.
    “South,” said Snow. “Charlotte fled south.”
    “We’re on the northern edge of an island nation,” Talia said. “Do you think you could narrow it down a tad?”
    “I can’t. She’s hidden from the mirror, the same as Armand.”
    Danielle cleared her throat. “My house... I mean, my father’s house is south of here.”
    Talia shook her head. “Charlotte knows we’ll be hunting her. To hide in such an obvious place would be the height of stupidity.”
    Danielle folded her arms. “Charlotte let her mother cut off part of her heel because she believed that would be enough to convince Armand she was me.”
    “Good point.” Talia snorted. “Come on, Snow. Let’s go visit the de Glas house.”
    “I’m going, too,” said Danielle.
    “Charlotte already tried to murder you once today,” said Talia. “If we find her, she—”
    “I lived with Charlotte and Stacia for most of my life,” said Danielle. “I