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“Lies!” screamed Gothel.
“No, dear, you’re the queen of lies, not I! You and your mother both. Look into your soul, Gothel. The truth is there. She is there.” And Gothel knew Lucinda was telling the truth. She’d known it her entire life.
“So what if she did create me with magic? I’m still her daughter!”
“You’ve always been selfish, Gothel, too concerned with yourself to listen to anyone else! Even your poor sisters, who didn’t want the life you had planned. Remember when Manea said you were her? Well, y
ou are! You are your mother in more ways than one! You are her blackhearted daughter, but without any of her majesty, and without any of her powers!”
“And my sisters? What of them?”
Lucinda laughed. “They aren’t even your real sisters, Gothel! I mean, come on, look at them! Your mother had Jacob take them from nearby villages. She enchanted them to be what you needed to survive in the dead woods as queen once you took over—Primrose to entertain you, and Hazel to be your heart! But it all went wrong, horribly wrong, and now you’re alone.”
Lucinda laughed again and continued.
“Look at you! Mother Gothel! You’re no more of a mother than your own mother was. You’re exactly like her. Selfish, cruel, and manipulating, but without any of her ambition, any of her magic! You’re pathetic! You’ve wasted your life. Gods, it’s no wonder your mother could hardly stand the sight of you!”
“I don’t care if they’re not my real sisters! I love them! They’re better sisters than you ever were!”
“Do you love them? Do you really?” asked Lucinda. “If you did, then you would have given them your mother’s blood and not worried that they would be able to read your mind!”
“I didn’t want them to know my heart! I was afraid!”
“If they were your real sisters, they would have already known your heart, as we do.”
“You know my heart with magic!”
“What did Primrose say when we tried to bring her and Hazel back to life? What were the words she mustered from beyond the veil?” asked Lucinda.
“‘Let us die.’”
“Yes, ‘let us die’! Those were her words, and yet you’ve been trying to find a way to bring them back these many years. She’d rather be dead than live with you, a replica of her foul, murdering mother! A woman who killed children, blinded them, and compelled them to do her bidding! And you condoned it! You thought it was perfectly natural!”
“And so do you! I know you do!”
“You know our hearts, as we know yours. You see, Gothel, you have been focusing all your love on the wrong sisters. They didn’t understand you. Not like we do.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s all too late now, Gothel. Go after the flower. Follow your fool’s errand and see where that takes you. You will find them at the Snuggly Duckling. Go there quickly before they leave. It’s not far from where you are. We see them in our many mirrors. We are watching. Behind the mirrors. Where we always are. Where we will always be.” And the mirror went black, leaving Gothel alone. Just as her mother had said she would be.
The odd sisters kept watching from the dreamscape. The mirrors were flashing different images at a startling rate, telling them the story—a story they already knew. A story that had been written long before but was only now appearing on the pages of their tome. And they had a feeling their Circe was reading the book as the story unfolded. They had made sure to admonish Gothel. Circe would see. She would see their good deeds and forgive them. She would let them free. But no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t see Circe. They didn’t know where she was or what she was doing. They couldn’t see Nanny or the goings-on in Morningstar Kingdom, and they knew it was Circe’s doing.
Lucinda looked at the many mirrors and saw Gothel peeking in the window at the Snuggly Ducking.
She’s found them, she thought. This story is almost over.
The odd sisters watched Gothel spying in the window at the Snuggly Duckling, the foul place Flynn Rider took the flower to in a vain attempt to frighten her. He hoped the place, filled with ruffians and murderers, would make her flee back to her mother and the safety of her tower, and that he would get his crown back without having to take her to see the lanterns. But she didn’t run. She rallied the hooligans to her cause; she got the blackguards to help her.
“They’re buffoons!” shouted Martha.
“What is this tomfoolery?” Ruby said, laughing.
“Are these supposed to be the bad guys?”
“What is that little man wearing? A diaper? Wings?”
“Clever girl, she’s brought them to her side!” said Ruby, clapping her hands and stomping her little boots while spinning in a circle. Lucinda and Martha joined Ruby’s dance as they watched the images of Rapunzel and Flynn Rider appear in the mirrors, flashing like lightning. It was terrifying to the witches to watch the events unfold. Palace guards. A maniacal horse. A narrow escape. And then Gothel, talking to the small man with wings outside the tavern door.
