AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What are you even going to do when you get there?” Cerridwen asked, rising from the sofa and coming to join us.
Lucifer groaned, rising as well, as if it taxed him a great deal to move. Carnon shot him an exasperated look. I had a feeling that Lucifer, based on his broad shoulders and muscled frame, was perfectly capable of defending the palace with violence should it prove necessary, and Carnon didn’t believe his groan for one second.
“We are going to find my mother,” I said, reviewing the plan Carnon and I had discussed in my head, “and then run for the nearest mirror if we haven’t been seen.”
“And if you are seen?” asked Herne darkly.
“Youwillbe seen,” Lucifer said, giving his king an irritated look. “The Crone knows to expect you. She’ll be watching the mirrors, just like last time.”
I shuddered. Last time, when I had tried to open a mirror and was left with my grandmother’s severed hand and a splitting headache.
“Then we will negotiate,” Carnon said calmly. “With violence, if necessary.” He glanced at me and I nodded, prepared to use the withering power if I had to. Carnon had a whole arsenal of magic, and the training to use it in combat, but he had told me in no uncertain terms that I was to wither first and ask questions later, regardless of my imperfect aim.
“Lucifer, I need you to manage the palace and deal with city affairs while I’m gone,” Carnon said, turning to his brooding head of staff. “It should only be a few hours, but if it’s longer, I’ll need you and Herne to stall the Lords.”
Lucifer nodded, giving Carnon a derisive look. “Try not to die, if possible,” he said. I couldn’t decide if he was serious or joking when he added, “It’s so much work to break in a new king.”
“One of us will be here the whole time, just in case,” said Herne, clasping Carnon’s arm in farewell and good luck.
“If anything happens and Elara comes through the mirror without me,” Carnon said, giving Herne a piercing look. “I want you to smash it.”
Herne swallowed, clearly unhappy about this order. He looked at me, and I tried to let him know without words that it wouldn’t happen. There was no way I would leave Carnon behind, under any circumstance. Finally, he nodded, and Carnon released his hand, moving around the table. He lifted the mirror with a grunt and hefted it against the wall.
He held out a hand, and I took it, standing before the mirror and gazing at our reflection. I looked older, somehow. Still young, as witches aged slowly. But the sheltered girl was gone, replaced by someone a bit more rough, a bit more worldly, and a bit more open to possibility. Next to Carnon, I looked pathetically small, but he smiled as I stared at us, leaning to whisper in my ear, “My Queen.”
Letting that endearment strengthen me, I spoke the incantation that would open the mirror. The glass shifted, turning to liquid before us, and I braced myself for the screaming alarm that sounded the last time. There was nothing but the faint rippling of the glass before us. Akela whined, moving to stand next to me as if to defend me from anything that might jump out of the mirror.
“Looks like you did it, Red,” Carnon said, squeezing my hand.
“Please be careful,” Cerridwen said behind us. I turned to see her biting her lip, her face anxious as she clutched Herne’s hand.
“We will,” I said, feeling that it was probably the most I could really promise.
Cerridwen nodded, and I gave her my most confident smile as I turned back to the mirror.
“Stay close to me the whole time, Red,” Carnon said, giving me a piercing look. “I can’t lose you.”
I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and squared my shoulders as, hand in hand, my other firmly on Akela’s head, we stepped through the mirror.
There was always a moment of icy panic whenever I traveled by mirror, as if some deep subconscious part of me feared I wouldn’t step out the other side. The feeling was augmented by the anxiety I felt as soon as we emerged in my grandmother’s formally decorated hallway, the carpet plush and the walls paneled just as I remembered from my only visit when I was ten years old.
“Gods,” Carnon whispered, wrinkling his nose. “It reeks like death.” Akela whined in agreement, sniffing furiously around the hallway.
It did smell musty and unpleasant, and I had a vivid memory of that too. I wondered if it was just the age of the Crone, or if there was something more sinister beneath the smell.
“I have no idea where my mother might be,” I whispered, looking down the hallway in both directions to see if there was some hint of movement or life. “Did Artemis tell you anything about where she is?”
“The rodent spies couldn’t find her in the main house,” Carnon replied, squeezing my hand. “So I’m guessing a dungeon or a basement that they couldn’t enter. Akela will scent something.” Sure enough, he headed to the right hallway, looking back at us expectantly as if commanding us to follow.
“It’s so quiet,” I said, still speaking in a whisper. “Do you think she knows we’re here?”
“Almost certainly,” Carnon said, heading down the right side of the hall after Akela. “I’m guessing she’ll find us when she’s ready.”
We passed paneled walls and locked doors, our feet almost silent on the plush carpet. The hall ended in a sitting room, ornately furnished with windows that looked onto the street. A set of wooden double doors was across the room, and we skirted blue velvet couches and spindly tables, trying not to knock over anything that might give away our presence. Akela’s huge tail caused my heart to stumble more than once as he came precariously close to unstable objects.
The doors opened into a grand foyer, the front door inlaid with panes of colorful glass, and a solid looking staircase leading to a second floor. Another staircase behind led down, and I glanced at Carnon, tugging him toward it.
“Down?” I mouthed. He nodded, face grave and grip on my hand so tight it almost hurt as he waited for Akela to precede me.
