“We’ll watch him,” the dwarfs said as they entered the room. Mr. Seven was in the lead. “The Editor filled us in. Hopefully you can stop the magic mirror from unleashing that madman. Follow the path to the castle. That’s where you’ll find Mirror.”
“What madman?” Veronica asked.
“It’s not important,” Mr. Three said. “Just go!”
Sabrina nodded, glancing once more at the boy fairy. She had never seen him look so vulnerable. She had gotten used to his bravado, and she realized his confidence gave her a sense of assurance that everything would be OK in the end. Now she had to admit she preferred his sneering and jokes to his silence and helplessness.
“C’mon, lieblings,” Granny Relda said as she pushed the cottage door open.
“There it is,” Daphne said, pointing up the road to a castle sitting high on a hill. It was enormous and built from black stones. Its two towers bore black flags that fluttered in the wind.
“Great,” Sabrina grumbled. “Nothing like a spooky castle for an ultimate showdown.”
They ran up the hill to the imposing castle. With their legs aching and their lungs tight, they raced across the castle’s drawbridge. Below them the waters were filled with horrible leathery crocodiles and spiked beasts. Sabrina shook off a chill and ran through the open doors of the castle. The main room was filled with paintings of an elegant woman with dark hair dressed in royal robes. In one depiction, her hand rested on the head of a cheetah. Sabrina recognized her at once; she was Bunny Lancaster—also known as the Wicked Queen—also known as Snow White’s mother. But there was no sign of Mirror or any other characters in the room.
Sabrina took a deep breath and helped her grandmother scale the stairs at the back of the entrance hall. When they reached the top, they huffed and puffed their way down a long, empty hallway, only to face another completely different flight of stairs.
“Can’t anyone do their evil on the first floor?” Henry complained.
“Or at least put in an elevator,” Daphne said.
They climbed the second flight and were stopped in their tracks by a heavy wooden door. Through it the girls heard a terrified scream followed by a jarring crash of broken glass.
“Stay close,” Henry whispered to the family, and he pushed the door. When it swung open, the family witnessed a horrible scene. Mirror had his hands wrapped around the slender throat of the Wicked Queen. Despite his tiny frame, the man had hoisted her off the floor. Her face was turning blue and her feet were kicking wildly in vain for the solid ground.
“Hello, everyone,” Mirror said without tearing his attention away from the Queen. “If you would just give me a moment here with my mother, I will soon give you my undivided attention.”
Mirror tossed the woman into a corner. She stared at him apprehensively as she struggled to breathe. “You look bewildered, Mommy. Are you surprised your son is angry? Of all the people in the world, you should know why! You locked me inside that prison! Then you gave me away!”
His shouts, full of a terrifying rage, echoed off the walls and rang in Sabrina’s ears. She was well aware of Mirror’s magical abilities, but at that moment it was his tone that scared her the most. It seemed to have an effect on the others, too. In the far corner of the room a small child let out a whimpering cry. It was her baby brother!
Henry spotted him too, and raced to him, but a blast of lightning from Mirror’s hands stopped him in his tracks.
“Not so fast, Hank,” Mirror said.
“You have to stop this,” the Wicked Queen choked. “You’re messing with very fragile history.”
“I’ve been abused and mistreated for centuries,” Mirror continued, ignoring her pleas. “Then you turned your back on me as if I were property. What kind of mother are you?”
“I am not your mother,” the Wicked Queen said. “If you’ve come for revenge, you should have stayed in the real world.”
Mirror’s eyes glowed and the air crackled. He stuck out an angry finger at the woman. “As always, you deny me.”
The reflection in a full-length mirror leaning against the wall swirled and bubbled. The frame was familiar to Sabrina. It was identical to the one they had in Granny Relda’s home. Soon, a bulbous and intimidating face appeared. It was the storybook version of Mirror himself, and his expression was panicked.
“You must stop this,” the man in the mirror said. “The story will collapse.”
Mirror approached the enchanted glass. “So, this is what I look like on the other side? I’m really quite impressive.”
“There is no need for this violence,” the fake magic mirror said.
Mirror thrust his hand into the reflection. He wrapped his fingers around his doppelg?nger’s throat and squeezed.