Of Giants and Ice (Ever Afters, The) (27 page)

“
There
was a woman who understood the
dignity
of our people,” said the old general. “She knew that the world belonged to
us
, not the pitiful little humans.” Searcaster’s devotion rang out in every word, and hearing it scared me more than anything. The general would never stop until the Snow Queen was out of prison. “She didn’t expect us to crowd in the forgotten corners of the world. Overpopulation did pose a problem, but there’s an easy solution to that when you’re on the top of the food chain—even if a few of us have
allergies
.”

The whole deboning knife scene returned to haunt me, but it was in Searcaster’s hand instead of Matilda’s. I shuddered.

“No matter. Our day will come again. We won’t have much longer to wait.” Genevieve Searcaster let out a cackle like thunder shattering old windows.

I didn’t want to know what she meant. I couldn’t imagine a world where green-skinned giants like Searcaster walked city streets and plucked humans out of a house to munch on the same way we ate potato chips. The Canon would never allow it. Searcaster would need an army—

An army
. That last thought grabbed me and wouldn’t let me go. “She’s not talking about what I think she’s talking about, is she?”

Dumbstruck, Lena pressed against the bread box sides like she couldn’t stand without them.

“Sure it does.” Chase’s eyes were squeezed shut, but when he gulped hard and opened them, he just looked resigned. “It means war.”

“What do you mean?” Matilda asked. “Has Her Majesty—”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss the details,” Searcaster said, as if her son and daughter-in-law were too stupid to grasp those details. “But the Canon has long ceased their careful watch, and my queen grows restless. Tell me, Jimmy, have you made a decision about what Her Majesty asked?”

I didn’t like the way she said that—like she already knew she would get her way.

“Well, Mother, you
know
what will happen if the Canon finds out I helped her,” Jimmy said uncomfortably. “I mean, it’s bad enough that we’ll be near her old hideout—”

If Jimmy’s ability to stand up to his mom was all that stood between EAS and war, then we were doomed.

“Nonsense, son. You have no
faith
in Her Majesty,” said his mother. “You have no faith in
me
. Last time, I admit, we underestimated those children of Mildred Grubb’s—”

How many Characters would we lose in this round? How many of them would I know? My imagination carved not just Lena’s name on the Wall, but George’s name too, and all three triplets’, Gretel’s, and Evan Garrison’s. Goose bumps sprouted on my arms.

“How do we stop it?” I whispered. “How do we stop the war?”

Chase and Lena didn’t answer me.

“That won’t happen a second time,” Searcaster continued. “My queen has a plan for that Ever After School.”

“They
did
have some fierce warriors,” Matilda agreed reluctantly.

Standing at the crack, Lena flinched and took a nervous step back. “Matilda just looked this way.”

“Do you think she recognizes us?” Chase said in a low voice.

“Where else would kids on a quest come from?” Lena asked.

Suddenly, the bread box felt much more like a trap than a hiding place. Where could we run? Where could we hide? If we buried ourselves in skeletons, they could still see us.

“You
have
heard what they’ve been saying, haven’t you?” Searcaster said slowly. “About the new Character everyone can’t stop talking about?”

I wasn’t EAS’s only new Character, but somehow, as Jimmy and Matilda murmured that yes, they had heard, I knew that they were talking about me. My face even flushed hotly, like it knew I was the center of attention.

This was it. I knew it. This was when I would finally find out why everyone kept talking about—

“They haven’t seen anyone like her since Solange’s first arrival,” continued the general. “Years before she became the Snow Queen, of course.”

No, it couldn’t be me.

I’d been wrong. I wasn’t special, not at all.

“The arrival of this new Character has forced Her Majesty’s hand,” said Searcaster. “War is returning, Jimmy. You must decide what side you will fight for.”

I certainly wasn’t this special—not special enough to make anyone start a war. I couldn’t be.

The room was silent for a long moment. Standing at the crack, Lena began to tremble, and I wondered what she saw. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Chase put his hand on his sword.

Matilda laughed. It was high-pitched and obviously fake, but some of the tension in the room disappeared. Lena’s trembling stopped, and I could breathe again.

“Of course we
know
what side we’ll be on,” Matilda said. “It’s just that Jimmy has gotten a little attached to it.”

“Is that true?” the old general asked. Jimmy didn’t reply, and it seemed like answer enough for his mother. “When I gave you the object before my trial, it was only for safekeeping. I’m sure that she will compensate you handsomely. I don’t care about any of the others, but you must return that—”

“Oh, I know what we can do!” cried Matilda. “We can get out that old harp. Its music always cheers us up. You
are
supposed to be on vacation, Mrs. Searcaster.”

“Ugh.” Lena wrinkled her nose like she smelled something a lot more foul than bone dust. “Matilda just looked this way again. She’s definitely on to us. She interrupted her mother-in-law so that we wouldn’t find out what the Snow Queen was after.”

Privately, I thought this was a good sign. Matilda wouldn’t have risked interrupting someone as scary as General Searcaster if she just planned on killing us afterward.

“Watch her. See where they keep the harp,” Chase told Lena.

“Get all three of them out of the desk, Matilda,” Jimmy said. “I want to show Mother.”

“Second door on the right,” Lena said. “She’s coming back.”

“Here we are!” Matilda cried. Something rattled the table as she set it down.

“That’s a nice safe,” said Searcaster. It was impossible to tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

“Elf-made,” Jimmy said proudly.

“Turns you to stone if you don’t get the combination right,” added Matilda.

I gulped, imagining Lena-, Chase-, and me-shaped statues, but Lena just watched the giants through the crack calmly.

“I bet she said that for our benefit,” said Chase. “She might be lying.”

Lena shook her head. “It’s true. Jimmy is being really careful.”

The safe’s door squeaked open, and the next thing we heard was a chicken clucking.

“The hen that lays golden eggs?” said Searcaster. “I had no idea it was still alive.”

“Isn’t it immortal?” said Matilda, surprised.

“It’s getting on in years. Only lays an egg every other day now,” said Jimmy with real regret.

“It might be depressed,” Matilda pointed out. “It might lay more if we let it run around a little.”

“We can’t let it out!” said Jimmy. “It’s too valuable. There are thieves everywhere!”

Like us,
I thought, feeling slightly guilty.

“Matilda just looked this way again,” Lena said.

“Never mind the hen. Let me see that harp,” said the old general greedily.

When he took it out, both of the giantesses gasped in surprised delight.

Matilda sniffed, like she was tearing up. “She gets more beautiful every time I look at her.”

“Oh, crackers,” Lena said, irritated. “Matilda just moved and blocked my view. I can’t see it.”

“Sing, my lovely,” Jimmy cooed.

Music came. It was the kind of song you feel in your chest. In the notes, I heard harps and flutes, and the kind of high clear singing they use for angels’ voices in Christmas movies. I felt my nose prickle, right under the bridge, and blinked rapidly before Chase could notice.

“I don’t think it’s a golden iPod,” I whispered.

Chase shook his head, and all the tension left his shoulders. My heartbeat slowed down too, but as soon as the music faded, it started hammering again.

“They’ve fallen asleep,” Lena said.

“All of them?” I asked, surprised.

Lena shook her head. “Jimmy and Searcaster. Maybe Matilda put slumberwort in the wine herself.”

“It was the harp’s lullaby,” Chase said. “My mom used to sing it to me.”

I wondered if maybe the music sounded different to each person. I hadn’t even heard any words in the song.

Matilda’s deep sigh sounded like wind whistling past the bread box. “And before I’ve even served dessert. How rude.”

We heard two thumps. “Matilda’s carrying
both
of them,” Lena said, amazed. “She’s helping them to bed.”

“Great. Now we can get out of here,” Chase said, jumping to his feet, and I agreed wholeheartedly.

“Matilda said she would let us out,” Lena reminded him.

“Who
knows
when that’ll be?” I said. “And I, for one, am not spending the night with a bunch of skeletons.”

Chase gave us both a scathing look. “Do you really think she’s going to let us go? After everything we’ve heard?”

“I see your point.” Lena laid both hands on the door of the bread box. “Do you think it’s true? Do you really think that the Snow Queen is starting to move?”

“Probably. Even the Canon’s worried about it, remember?” I asked Chase.

“They sent Dad to the Glass Mountain,” Chase said softly. “If I could get a message to him . . .” He was concerned, and I couldn’t blame him. I worried about my dad whenever he had a shoot. I would freak out if he went off to visit a master villain.

Lena pushed so hard that her voice sounded strained. “He’s probably halfway across Atlantis by now. There’s no way anyone could reach him.”

“I know
that
,” Chase snapped.

“Well, don’t bite my head off. Right now, we need to worry about our own problems,” Lena said. “Like this door. It’s stuck.” She pushed harder. “No, it’s
locked
,” she said, looking at us with horror.

“That’s okay.” Chase pulled something out of his pocket and picked the lock. The door unlocked with a click. He started to slide the door open, but I heard a thump.

“Wait!” I said.

Lena and Chase both looked at me like I’d lost my mind, but then they heard it too—the unmistakable thuds of a giant’s approaching footsteps.

“What do we do?” Lena whispered to Chase.

“Hope they’re just coming back for warm milk before bedtime,” Chase whispered back, but he put his hand on his sword.

I wrapped a hand around my hilt too. I didn’t know how I could possibly fight someone over ten times my size, but Chase and I could probably distract Matilda long enough for Lena to get away. That was what Companions were for, right?

The footsteps stopped at the counter, directly in front of the bread box. The door slid open.

We looked up at Matilda’s humongous, frowning face.

orry about that,” said Matilda. “I meant to get you three outside well before they got here, and it took
forever
to get them to fall asleep.”

None of us moved. We all expected a trick. The giantess glanced behind us.

“I know this wasn’t the most cheerful place to put you, but don’t worry,” she said. “Most of those bones aren’t even human. Jimmy has a special liking for Fey-bone bread.”

Chase retched and slapped a hand over his mouth.

“Come on out,” said Matilda. I looked at Lena. I would do whatever she did. Back in fearless leader mode, she climbed stiffly over the ledge and hopped onto the counter. Chase and I followed apprehensively.

Once we were close enough, Matilda grabbed all of us at once, pinning us together, and walked briskly down the hall. I grabbed frantically at whatever was nearest.

“Ow.” Chase looked pointedly at my hands gripping his arm. I scowled back, but I wasn’t embarrassed enough to let go.

“Don’t fight,” Lena hissed, too low for the giantess to hear. “We’re not out of this yet. We might have to run.”

But Matilda went straight to the front door and opened it. Even
the moon looked bigger than normal. Its reflection filled the whole swimming pool. When my feet hit the front step, I stumbled and fell, hard enough to bruise my knees.