The distant figure appeared to twist a little in the saddle, and I stepped back, jumpy. Had he been looking this way? I shook myself and added stern instructions not to waste time on foolish fancies. I needed to start my search.
The Beast had three interconnected rooms. A bedchamber, a sitting room and a dressing room. The sitting room seemed the most logical place for such an item, so I began there. As the minutes ticked by, my tension rose.
I moved next to the dressing room, observing the strange way his jackets hung when not on his shoulders, highlighting his misshapen frame. I saw no sign of a mirror, however.
Finally, I returned to his bedchamber, rummaging carefully through the drawers of his desk, attempting not to disrupt anything. I didn’t want to leave any sign of my visit. I could feel the knot of discomfort in my center growing. I resisted the urge to run to the windows to check for any sight of the Beast. I reminded myself again and again that I had seen him leave for the beginning of a ride. I had plenty of time to turn all three rooms upside down if need be.
As I slid shut the final door, I gave a huff of frustration. Should I search the bed? Did he keep it tucked under his pillow? I hesitated, reluctant to climb onto his large four-poster or touch the place where he laid his head.
As I looked around the room, hoping to spot somewhere else to look, my eye fell on a curtain hanging against the wall shared with the sitting room. I frowned at the anomaly. A curtain on an internal, windowless wall?
I strode over and pulled it back, revealing a large oval mirror mounted on the wall. A simple, elegant frame met at the top to form the outline of a crown. The royal mirror.
I berated myself silently. I had allowed my search to be influenced by my dream, but now that I thought about it, I couldn’t remember the Beast ever referring to it as a hand mirror. I had nearly missed it, when it should have been immediately obvious to me. I had already wasted so much time.
I stepped close to the mirror which reflected my own face back at me. Nothing about it gave any indication that it was anything but an ordinary mirror. But ordinary mirrors were not kept behind elaborate curtains. And the smooth silver of the frame was engraved with a single word: Palinar. If I had still possessed any doubt, it would now have disappeared. This must be the royal mirror of Palinar.
I stepped back, wondering how to activate it. Feeling a little foolish, I spoke aloud. “Show me my sister, Lily.” After a second’s pause, I added, “Please.”
I focused on her face, identical to my own yet at the same time so different, and the feel of her voice and emotions in my mind. Please, please, please, I thought at the mirror. Slowly the surface began to fog, silver clouds obscuring my reflection. Yes!
As I waited impatiently for her image to appear, I couldn’t help a small thrill of fear. I had assured myself that I would know if anything truly serious happened to her. But what if that wasn’t true? I had received no news for days now. What if Cole had attacked her seeking revenge?
I tried to calm myself. Surely he had been recaptured. The whole of Marin was looking for him, and his family were all imprisoned so he had nowhere to turn for shelter.
The mirror distracted me from my fears, the fog clearing to reveal an entirely different scene from the bedroom it had previously reflected. I stepped forward, squinting at it in confusion. What was I looking at?
I could see no sign of Lily, or of any female. Instead I saw several horses racing across a landscape I didn’t recognize. Men in long cloaks rode them, leaning low to encourage their mounts to speed. I could even hear the distant sound of hoof beats and the wind in trees.
I moved closer again, as if that could somehow bring clarity to the scene, and heard the one in front direct the others to veer to their left. As he began to change his own direction, he glanced back to check that the others were following, and I got a momentary glimpse of his face. I gasped.
Cole. As if my exhalation had broken the enchantment, the mirror began to fog again. So, Cole was still free. I wished I had been able to recognize his location and that I possessed some means of communicating it to Lily.
I chewed on a strand of hair. I had asked the mirror to show me Lily, but instead it had shown me Cole. What did that mean? I remembered the way my thoughts had veered from my sister to the man I feared might injure her. As the enchantment of the mirror had been at work, my mind had been fixated on Cole rather than Lily.
The fog remained in place, clouding the surface rather than returning it to its original reflective state. I turned my mind back to my sister, focusing on the feel of her and my own longing to see her. This time the fog cleared more quickly and, when it did, I rushed forward to place my fingers against the surface. Lily.
My twin looked pale and tired, her face creased with lines of worry. Given the first vision in the mirror, I didn’t need to overhear a relevant conversation to know they had been unable to recapture Cole. And I knew she would be fretting about being cut off from me and what it might mean. If there was one thing Lily hated, it was being powerless to help the people she loved.
Lily! I projected her name as forcefully as I could, my hand pressed flat against her image, and my mind focused on the feel of our connection. She looked up, a confused expression crossing her face. For a brief moment, I felt a ghost of her presence in my mind. The sensation was too weak to form words, instead it was only a wave of grief and fear, tempered with love and hope.
I leaned forward to rest my head against the cool glass of the mirror, a single tear slipping down my cheek. Even in the midst of my longing for it, I had forgotten the feeling of peace and fullness that came from connecting with my twin.
Movement flashed across the mirror, and I pulled back to see what was happening. Lily had turned at the sound of an opening door, and her face brightened. I didn’t need to see the new arrival to know his identity. Only Prince Jonathan, her betrothed, could bring that particular look of love to her face.
Sure enough, Jon moved forward into view and snaked an arm around her, pulling her against his chest. “I’ve only just managed to get away from the meetings. I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.” He smiled down at her, and I couldn’t help smiling myself. I loved the way he looked at her—as if she gave him strength and purpose. Lily deserved someone who would love her as much as Jon did.
But after meeting her eyes, a shadow passed across his. “Something’s happened, I can see it in your face.”
Lily buried her face in his chest, and I could barely make out her muffled words. “I thought, just for a moment, that I could sense Sophie. But when I called, I got no reply.”
“Oh, love.” He stroked her hair. “Perhaps she found a way to send you a message of sorts. What did you feel?”
Lily straightened and shrugged. “Just her familiar presence in my mind. Love, I suppose, and…loneliness, maybe?”