Page 72 of Virelai's Hoard
That man was her father.
That tiny wisp of a girl, Riley realized with horror, was herself.
This was the exact moment when everything had gone to shit in her life. Her father was selling her to pay off his gambling debts.
Riley scrambled to her feet and walked to the back of the mirror. Her hands tightened into fists to stop the shaking.
“I don’t want to see this!” she shouted at the empty room. She gave the back of the mirror her own back. Just in case it decided to fuck even more with her head and become double-sided out of the blue.
“That’s a shame, though. It’s the second most interesting part of the whole thing! We fight over who gets to oversee this. Theothers must’ve thought very little of you sinceIfound you first. Huh.”
Riley stilled. She stopped breathing. Only her heart pounded in her ears.
She had not imaginedthat.
The voice was clear, chipper, and it came from behind her. From where she’d just been standing. Slowly, she turned around and peeked from behind the mirror. There was no one there.
She swallowed and walked in front of the mirror again. Maybe someone was trapped in there? Had the mirror itself talked? She averted her gaze when she noticed the scene playing out–her tears as the stranger’s fingers clawed into her shoulders, her father refusing to even look at her as he left her there.
Rule number two, a voice she thought she’d banished rang into her mind.Don’t let them see your feelings, unless you can use them as a weapon.
The disembodied voice tutted. “That’s cold, selling you out like that.”
Riley startled, spinning in its direction. Still no one she could see. She watched the air with increasing focus, as if she could make whoever this was materialize by sheer will.
“By your own father. My, my.” The voice sounded delighted rather than pitying. “You were what?” A shuffling noise followed. “Seven?” A scraping noise. “I’d say that’s already one point towardslikely to seek revenge. So thrilling!”
Riley finally found her own voice. “What the fuck is this? Show yourself!”
“Oh! Sorry! Here!”
The air in front of her shifted, and a body materialized. It was a man–a pirate–holding a scrapbook and a quill and intently watching the events unfolding inside the mirror. He was jotting downnotes. A glance told her they’d made it to the part whereshe gave the house’s servants the slip, the very same day. The beginning of her life on the streets.
She tore her gaze away and glared at the figure in front of her. The man was young, maybe around her own age, but he lacked the intrinsic solidity of living people, the air around him shivering subtly. Riley had a feeling that if she reached out, her hand would go right through him. She didn’t test her theory.
“This is all really interesting,” he said, eyes flitting to her for the briefest moment. “At this stage, it’s usually all boring family life, but you’ve been amenace.” He whistled, grinning. “Lucky those kids found you when they did, huh? I can’t imagine you’d have survived long on the streets all on your own. Look at you, you were sotiny.”
Riley glowered at him. “Sure.Lucky.” Was this the culmination of her punishments? Her whole life on display for a fucking ghost to gawk at, in real fucking motion. “Will you stop that?” she snapped as the pirate scribbled some more in his scrapbook. She flung an arm at the mirror. “Whatisthis? Who areyou?”
Finally, the pirate lowered the scrapbook and the quill and turned to face her. The events unfolding inside the mirror froze. On Nera. Paying off a merchant Riley had tried to steal a sweet tart from, so he’d let her go. After that, Riley had followed her around like a fucking puppy. Listening to her rules. Obeying them. She could still hear Nera’s voice inside her head with startling clarity.
Rule number one: don’t ever, ever, tell the truth.
Rule number two: don’t let them see your feelings, unless you can use them as a weapon.
Rule number three: lie to me and no one will find your corpse.
Riley had choked on her sweet tart at the last one, and Nera had smiled sweetly at her. And damn her, she’d been charmed.
With a grit of her teeth, Riley gave the mirror her back, but it was too late. Nera’ face, young and smug and pretty, burned itself on the back of her eyelids. She’d tried so hard to forget it.
Oblivious, the man took his cap off and bowed to her. “Jamie is the name. Apologies. Centuries of doing this have a habit of making you forget your manners, you’ll find out.”
The certainty of that statement sent a chill through her. Centuries?You’ll find out?“What do you mean, I’ll find out? Am I dead?” She didn’t ask whetherhewas dead. That part was obvious enough.
Jamie’s eyes widened. Then he shook his head, an unsettling laugh bubbling up from his throat. “Oh, no, no, no, no. Not yet, at least.”
Instead of asking questions she didnotwant the answers to, Riley momentarily pushed her panic aside. “Look, have you seen a young pirate around? About this tall, accompanied by a rat, they have a shell hung around their neck? Their name is Eryx.”
