Page 179 of Mountain of Mirrors and Starlight
Tiberius put up his hands. “I’m not going to fight you,” he said. “And I don’t think I’ll stop you, either. What’s going on? My mother’s gone mad, she’s talking about bringing back my father—”
“It can’t be done.”
Tiberius tightened his jaw. “I thought that, too, but Aeron’s brought back someone else.”
“Who?”
“One of the heroes. It doesn’t really matter. I’ve seen her; it’s real.”
Aislinn shook her head. “I don’t know what you saw, but Aeron is a liar. I don’t know how, but he is.”
Tiberius swallowed. “I… I think I believe you,” he said. “I don’t really want to, but I do. Will you believe me? I don’t want to go to war, Aislinn.”
“Don’t fancy ruling over Faerie some day?”
Tiberius shook his head. “There is but one certainty of war—that people will suffer. I’m greatly interested in improving relations between our kingdoms but… not like this. Emphatically no, in fact.”
Aislinn released her grip, just a fraction. After the lies of the day, she was reluctant to trust anyone, but Tiberiushadobjected to his mother’s plans when he’d first heard of them. She wanted to believe him. She did.
She inched back. “Where’s the Mirror?”
“If you’re hoping to smash it, I don’t think that will really solve all our problems. Owen’s had an army transported through it and—”
“I don’t need to smash it. I need to examine it.” She was fairly certain that such an object couldn’t be smashed—or the dwarves and their fae allies would not have had to transform it.
Tiberius frowned. “Examine it? Why?”
She pursed her lips. “Caer’s sick,” she explained. “The Mirror… it’s doing something to him. I need to find out what.”
Tiberius sat up. “Ah, is that right,Princess I-don’t-want-to-talk-about-the-prince?”
“Don’t tease. Please. He’s really—” She took a deep breath. “Just tell me where to find the Mirror.”
“In the vault, behind the throne room,” he said.
“The vault?”
“Aeron realised that there must be other areas in the palace where the barrier was weak. He quickly chiselled an alcove into the back of the vault.”
Aislinn groaned. He’d stored it in a place where it could be magic, and yet no one could use it. Smart.Evil.
She’d definitely do exactly the same thing, but still. “How heavily is it guarded?”
“Two or four.”
“I can take two or four.”
Tiberius grimaced. “Um, what are the chances of you being able to do that without killing them,andwithout alerting more? Because I know most of those guards. They aren’t under Aeron’s thrall, they probably don’t want a war either—they’re just loyal to their queen and want to go home tomorrow with a few coins for their families.”
Aislinn sighed. “Why did you have to be so moral?”
“You’re moral too,” he said, smiling. “You’re just scared and angry and not thinking clearly.”
Aislinn scrambled off the bed, sliding her borrowed daggers back into place. She hated feeling so out of control, hated the feeling of being willing to do anything for someone. Hated knowing shewould.
“Have you got any less murdery ideas?”
Tiberius pulled on a robe. “How about the simple, ‘guards, guards, there’s someone in my room!’?”
