Page 115 of Happily Ever Witch
Alright, so she’d need magic to use an enchanted portal thingy. Sadly, Esmeralda’s spells weren’t the most reliable. She didn’t relish the idea of ending up in the middle of the Lyonesse Desert, because she took a wrong turn in the reflection. How was she going to accomplish this?
Well, only one spell even kind of worked for her lately. Maybe she should do what Trevelyan suggested and go with it. She leaned close to the mirror and blew out a long breath against the glass.
Fog.
In the vapory mist clinging to the smooth surface, she drew a club with her index finger. Instantly, the looking glass began to move. It reminded her of someone throwing a pebble into a pond, causing ripples to radiate outward.
Well shit! The dragon had been right. She’d set her magic free and it had given her a pathway out of the Heart Palace. Too bad she couldn’t tell him about it. Too bad she had to go alone. She glanced over her shoulder, towards the bedroom. Towards Trevelyan.
Then, she took a deep breath and walked through the mirror.
The magic felt cold and heavy against her body, as she moved forward. She instinctively switched to warmer clothes, barely even thinking about the power it took to perform a spell inside another spell. Magic always came easiest to her when she didn’t think about it.
Inside the mirror, passages spiraled in different directions, beckoning her to a thousand faraway lands. Only one misty tunnel mattered, at the moment. The path directly in front of her was illuminated with a subtle pulsing energy. Inside the twisting fog surrounding it, she could see tiny clubs floating like confetti in the gale.
Esmeralda headed straight for that tunnel.
Around her, everything was gray and shifting. It would be so easy to get stuck in a place like this. Without the tunnels, there would be no way to escape the infinite nothingness. She was grateful to leave the billowing vapor, even though she was headed someplace just as horrible. The pathway widened, daylight appearing at the end.
Esmeralda emerged from the mist and into a frozen field.
One second she was inside the mirror, the next she was back in reality. Or as much “reality” as Wonderland ever achieved. She was standing alone in a clearing surrounded by periwinkle pine trees and steaming geysers.
Okay, so this wasn’t the Club Castle.
Still, she’d clearly landed in the right kingdom. There were hundreds of club-shaped pinecones and snowdrifts on the ground. For her, that was pretty good aim. Except for the part where she’d landed in the frigging snow. Witches did not do well with water, even when it was in the form of ice crystals.
Esmeralda quickly manifested herself a pair of boots, so none of the horrible stuff would touch her feet. This was Trevelyan’s fault. He’d burned her lucky shoes in that dumb spell of his. Now she’d have to make do with her second-favorite pair.
And if he thought she was going to just forget about him buying her that record store, he was sadly mistaken. He’d promised her one today, as a matter of fact, and she was holding him to it.
Why had she ever wanted to date a guy who ran one? Screw that idea. She’d just get her own. She was incredible at owning businesses! Happily Ever Witch Cosmetics almost turned a profit sometimes. It was time to expand. …Just as soon as she killed the evil queen and saved her goofy brother.
In the distance, Esmeralda could see a frosty white castle. The thin turrets and jagged roofline were beautiful. And ominous. Perched on a cliff side, it watched over the land for infidels and intruders. Threatening. Impregnable. Treacherous. Thathadto be where she was headed. The palacelooked like it was made from magic, and icicles, and the blood of enslaved children.
Wonderful.
Sighing in frustration, Esmeralda started for the fortress of chilly death. It could be worse, she supposed. It could be raining. Or snowing. That would be a real big problem for her. She could handle some evil spells, but not the damn weather…
Beneath her feet, the ground began to quake.
Esmeralda’s eyes widened in horror. Oh God…
As she watched, the rocky geysers surrounding the clearing emitted thicker smoke and frosty bursts of deadly water. The force of the eruption vibrated the land itself. Loud and unstoppable. She took off running, even though it was already too late.
An explosion of water came straight at her and Esmeralda knew she was about to die. She’d melt into a puddle under the torrent. There was no chance to avoid the attack. No opportunity to brace herself, or run, or pray. She had exactly enough time for one word to filter through her head and then she was being doused with the deluge of acid-y liquid.
Trev.
Icy death splashed over her fragile skin. Burning her and…
Wait, why wasn’t it burning her?
There was no burning, at all.
Esmeralda automatically glanced down trying to figure out why she wasn’t dead. Or even wet. Nothing had happened. Her clothes were dry, her hair was dry, even her second-favoriteboots were dry. Instead, there was a liquid pool all around her, in a perfect semicircle. Every single droplet had been stopped a foot from her body and fallen to the ground, like rain hitting against a window. Trying to make sense of it, Esmeralda scanned for some sort of explanation.
Two seconds into her examination, she sensed the spell.
