Page 88 of A Tale of Ice and Ash
“Father.”
The image focused on the crown, and then melted into another image; a young princess arriving at the castle that had been Cole’s childhood home.
Mother?No, not her. Princess Bianca. The real one. The one his mother had taken the place of.
The Mirror showed him the back of a maid, creeping into Bianca’s chambers with a goblet of wine. Cole didn’t need to ask what was in it.
“Don’t… don’t show me what happens next.”
“No?” The Mirror’s face fluttered back to the screen. “How about this?”
Snow, thirteen years old, dancing in the gardens. His mother’s eyes darted to a dagger on the belt of a knight. Had she thought about doing it herself?
“Your mother craved power. I merely showed her how it could be hers... and how to keep it.”
“Snow. Snow had to die.”
The Mirror nodded. “I cannot see the future, but even I could tell that your mother would never reign free while the Princess still lived.”
“Do you… do you work for my mother?”
“I follow her instructions, if that is what you mean.”
“I mean,” said Cole, choosing his next words carefully, “do youhaveto obey her?”
“I can only answer the questions I am given, and show what I am told.”
So there was no need for him to relay anything that transpired here today to his mother. He could ask this mirror anything. Anything. The possibilities were as endless as they were overwhelming.
“Well, Prince Cole? What would you like to know?”
“How do I stop my mother?”
The Mirror frowned. “Oh.Oh.I wasn’t expecting that! What have you been doing, Prince Cole?”
Cole said nothing.
“Did you know all along that she was alive? Or… did you find out only recently?”
“I thought I was supposed to be the one asking the questions?”
The Mirror’s face fell. “Very well,” he said. “But I’m afraid you will not like the answer.”
“Give it to me.”
“If you want to stop your mother, you will have to kill her.”
Cole’s heart plummeted. “What?”
“Your mother will never hand over the crown willingly. She will fight for it until her last breath. Your mother, or the princess. Which will it be?”
Cole’s gaze dropped.
“Interesting. That should have been an easy answer, your mother, or your former stepsister. Unless, of course, that isn’t what she is to you anymore.”
“It doesn’t matter what she is to me!” Cole snapped. “It matters what she can do for this country!”
The Mirror smiled. “One does not need to be an all-seeing mirror to spot a lie, myprince.”
