Page 11 of Wicked Prince of Mirrors
“Interesting.” The one word sliced through the air like a knife. “You tell the story as if you were there. Continue, do not spare any details.”
I braced my hands on either side of the rocking boat, body tensed for an attack. Would magic protect me if he flew into a rage? “I was born a few years after the war so my words are not spoken from experience but from the knowledge that was passed down to me. Do not be angry with me for speaking the truth.”
“It is not truth you speak but a story which has been given to you, there is a difference, but we shall argue the details later. Continue.”
I bit down on my tongue and forced myself to go on. “As the legend says, when you discovered the treachery of the people, you were furious and called a monster forth from the mirrorverse.”
A dark laugh escaped from his throat.
I tensed, but when he did not leap at me, I continued. “Armies were destroyed, cities ruined, but a sorcerer came forward and cursed you, binding you to the mirrors until you learned your lesson.”
“I wonder what lesson that was supposed to be,” Methrin said bitterly. “Then what happened?”
“The sorcerer summoned the magicians to help himfight the monsters. They pushed them to the north and built a magical barrier between our land and theirs known as the Boundary. That’s why the skies to the north light up with lavender lightning, why armies still march to the north, fighting to keep the monsters at bay. All who have magic are sent to the Boundary to hold the barrier.”
“This was the sorcerer’s doing?”
“As the story goes, yes.”
“What happened to the kingdom?”
“My father rules the kingdom, he secured the city, brought safety to the citizens, and helped those far and wide rebuild their lands. He negotiated deals with the lords of the lands, sent men to guard the borders and to station at the Boundary in exchange for food, security, protection.”
“Interesting that he does all this, and you, what is your purpose?”
My purpose. I hesitated. Shame coiled tight in my belly. A voice whispered in my mind.You? You are useless. Nothing.I said the first words that came to mind. “My purpose is to learn, to rule, to keep someone like you from returning.”
Silence hung between us.
I swallowed hard, my chest tight. Had I insulted him with my boldness?
At last Methrin broke the silence, his tone flat. “If your purpose was to keep me from returning, you’ve failed. Somehow, you heard me from the other side of the mirror, you answered the call and found me. How?”
“It was a mistake.”
“Explain.”
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, thinking of the seer. She was the reason I’d gone looking for the tunnels. “It started at the Night Market, I touched a mirror and it shattered.”
The air between us shivered as he snapped his fingers. “Your magic manifested instantly, without warnings? Were there no signs?”
I froze, aware I had not been able to speak to anyone about Mirror Magic. Should I be honest with him or keep my own counsel? The truth bubbled to the surface along with the awareness that he might be the only one who could help me. Magic had pushed me across the barrier of what I knew into a world of unknowns. Dropping my focus to the inky blackness of the water, I let the story bubble to the surface.
“My hands started glowing, reflections warped, and I began to see shadows in the mirror. I thought . . . I assumed it was a trick, especially when the mirror shattered at the Night Market. The booth disappeared after I left, it felt like a dream until . . .”
“Until?”
I hugged my arms around my stomach, nausea rising as the execution flashed through my memory, followed by the Captain of the Venators confronting me. It was my secret, my burden to carry. I bit down my insecurities, my words cold and hard when I spoke again. “My father planned to announce my betrothal to the Prince of Elquin, but I can’t go south, I can’t marry and have uncontrollable Mirror Magic. It’s only a matterof time until my secret is discovered and the Venators—the magic hunters—will execute me.”
“Your beloved father would not prevent your execution? Surely he’d make an exception for his daughter.”
Would he? What had he done to protect my mother? She was dead, and the more I considered the mystery concerning her death, the more I was convinced she’d been killed. The tempting truth hovered above me, just out of reach. “Mirror Magic is forbidden,” I explained.
“Then he would stand by to preserve his power instead of rescuing you?” Methrin said, low. “A king has ultimate power. A king should be able to protect his children.”
I hugged myself tighter, fighting against tears of doubt and anger.
Methrin spoke again. “What of the Boundary? Surely those with Mirror Magic are needed to preserve its magic.”
