Page 12 of The Mirror and the Curse

One bodyguard waited until she walked through the gates before he climbed into the limo. Eddi didn’t mind. Her father would demand bodycam proof of her safe arrival. Once within the resort’s magical protections, she turned back to wave one last time.

Only after the vehicles disappeared down the road did she heave a pensive sigh. This was her first trip to Faraway Castle without Beatrice in many years. Her parents had brought her when she was little, before her mother’s illness and death, but she couldn’t remember those holidays. Later, in the lonely years when King Koldo shipped his daughter off to the resort each summer with a bunch of servants, Eddi would have been miserably lonely if not for Kai, her closest childhood friend. But her life really began when her father hired Beatrice de Callen, a shy, serious teenager, to serve as nanny to an ornery little princess.

With these thoughts, Eddi felt sorely tempted to step back outside the gates and see if she could pick up a phone signal. Instead, she turned to White. “C’mon. Your new stable awaits.” He fell in step with his head bobbing just behind her shoulder, his big hooves clopping on the pavement. “It’s just you and me this year, buddy. Hope you don’t get tired of having me around all the time.”

She wasn’t sure he even heard her. Ears swiveling, nostrils flaring, he seemed to drink in every sight, sound, and smell. Feathers rustled as he stretched and shifted his huge wings.

“You’re going to love it here,” she assured him. “It’s my favorite place. Every time I pass through those gates, I want to dance and ‘squee’ like I did when I was a child.”

Beatrice had chuckled at her antics back in the day. Once she reached her teens, Eddi felt obliged to tone it down . . . but as the paved drive curved and the castle itself came in sight—beautiful, huge, and golden beside a deep blue lake amid snow-topped mountain peaks—she felt the familiar tightness in her chest. This place felt more like home than her father’s castle did.

And yet . . . something slowed her steps. Ahead to their right lay the beach and marina, and she heard the roar of a ski boat underlying shouts, splashes, and laughter. It was nearly dinnertime. Younger guests would soon hurry to the castle for a casual meal while the adults showered and changed for the formal dinner served later.

Eddi had never in her life suffered from shyness, yet the idea of entering the dining hall alone somehow felt daunting. She sniffed at herself and gave her head a shake. Nonsense. She didn’t need Beatrice; she had more friends than she knew what to do with.

White suddenly filled his lungs and neighed, the sound incredibly loud in Eddi’s ear. After cringing away, she followed his gaze upward to see a winged horse fly over the castle gardens and down toward the playing fields. But this made no sense. According to Geoff Bryant, who had helped with all her arrangements, White would be the first winged horse ever to board at the resort.

Then she realized what she was seeing: the horse, black with white wings, carried no rider. A reply whinny carried to them on a breeze, light and silvery in tone. With an impatient huff, White shoved his nose into Eddi’s back as if urging her to get going.

“I’m as curious as you are.” Her feet moved faster, and they soon turned down the service road leading to the stables, passing staff cabins and the tennis courts, where a few guests still played. A football match was underway on the main pitch, but most of the other playing fields were open at this hour.

Eddi’s pace increased as they approached the stables. Her eyes searched the grounds and open doors for any sign of Kai, but she didn’t mention him even to her horse. “Do you see the winged horse anywhere?” she asked, not that she expected White to answer.

Even as she spoke, the creature came into view across one of the pastures, emerging on foot from a forest path no longer in use. White whinnied as soon as he saw it, but the horse didn’t answer this time. Instead, it leaped into the air, flew over the main barn, and landed in an open field near the base of the castle gardens.

White made excited huffing noises, and his wings rustled as if he intended to fly over there. “Wait,” Eddi told him, lifting one hand. “We don’t know who that horse is. And you’re not supposed to fly on castle grounds without me.”

He laid back his ears and snorted.

“I’m guessing you’ll meet it soon enough,” Eddi pointed out. “Let’s wait for a proper introduction.”

From the corner of her eye she saw a figure emerge from the barn, and her heart skipped a beat. “Kai!” she called, waving both arms. White trotted behind her as she ran to meet him.

Kai waved back and jogged toward them. Eddi saw the flash of his grin, but by the time they met he wore his usual half-smile, his eyes glinting between those ridiculous lashes. When they both wore riding boots, she was at most an inch taller—Kai was unusually tall for a dwarf. His brown hair was messy, as usual. Freckles dotted his face, and his attempt at a goatee was seriously scruffy—which was good, since that way it couldn’t hide his dimples.

He was seriously the cutest thing ever.

Like a big brother to her, of course. She quelled a wild urge to hug him, instead announcing, “We’re here!”

“Where?” He glanced around in mock confusion.

Eddi pretended to smack his shoulder, wishing her throat didn’t feel so tight. “Always the wise guy. Tell me about that horse,” she ordered, pointing at the beautiful stranger. “We saw it fly past the castle without a rider.”

“Yes.” His tone was dry. “She heeds instruction about as well as you do. I guess she just couldn’t wait.” He beckoned to the black horse, and it trotted forward, almost prancing.

Eddi’s mind flooded with questions, but one fact burst from her mouth, “She’s gorgeous!”

“Shhh. Not so loud. She already has an ego the size of Adelboden.”

Eddi was too lost in admiration to heed his nonsense. The filly stood tall and strong with exquisite lines and a distinctly feminine air about her. Silvery dapples like small moons covered her neck and body while her head and legs remained glossy black. Her mane and tail were impossibly white, and the tips of her flight feathers were black, giving her wings a dark trim.

“I have never seen any horse that color,” Eddi exclaimed. “She looks . . . magical!”

“She is, but White’s coloring is more magical than Flurry’s.”

Eddi gave him a quick look. “Unusual, maybe, but magical? People always tell me he’s a gray because his skin is gray and his eyes are dark.”

“He is white, like his name,” Kai stated. “He was captured from the wild as a foal—wildfterotácome in many unusual colors. You’ll see.”

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