“That’s whatheclaimed.” The baroness’s face twisted in disgust. “All because of a pitiful old agreement his ancestors had made with the nixen—Itoldhim such agreements couldn’t possibly stand in a court of law when they were made with creatures who aren’t human.No onewho mattered would ever privilegetheirwishes over ours!”
“We both married honorable men,” Margaret said tightly. It might be the wrong response, but with every minute that passed without any movement in the windows, her nerves were being stretched to unbearable tautness.
It had been so many years since she’d fully trustedanyoneexcept for her husband. Now, when his life was at stake, it felt like agony to leave so much of the most essential workto others.
But for him, she would make herself do it—andshe would keep this hideous conversation from coming to an end, despite every driving instinct in her body.
“He was afool,” the baroness snarled. “His whole family was a disaster. Where do you think I found that glass coffin? He’d had an aunt who liked to playact at being avampire, of all things, and lie about in it for her own idle entertainment!”
“Oh, no, thatisabsurd.” Margaret cringed at the horrific inaccuracy. “Outside of foolish stories and legends,novampire has ever been documented as choosing to sleep in a coffin! Beds are far more comfortable and practical.”
“That is hardly the point.” The baroness glared at her. “What I amtellingyou is that they were all far too weak and sympathetic to the monsters. I had to wait until he finally had the decency to pass on—longafter my own family had been lost and deprived of all the glory I should have brought them—before I could finally make my own attempt. The lawwason my side, as I’d always told him. The local judge agreed. That land is mine!”
“Only if you disregard the rights of anyone who isn’t human.”
“Pah.” The baroness huffed out a breath. “I am alady. Why should any of them matter tome?”
It was too much, too close to too many lectures from Margaret’s aunt. Her frayed patience snapped, taking the final shreds of herveneer of calm along with it. “Lady or not, apparentlyyouhave nothing better to do than sneak and spy on them in mirrors and?—”
“Oh, you haveno ideahow much I’ve learned.” The baroness’s lips curved, and Margaret knew, with sinking certainty, that she’d lost control of this conversation. “I may have been buried here for decades, far from high society, but ever since I seized that mirror, it’s shown meeverything...and as soon as you arrived at that inn, it showed me exactly what I’d been waiting for all along.”
Reaching into her old-fashioned, stiffly-boned bodice, the baroness drew out what appeared to be a plain, rounded and fist-sized river-stone...until she turned it over in her palm.
Margaret sucked in her breath.
Reflection’s Heart was only the second major supernatural artifact she’d witnessed in close proximity, but the power that rose from its shimmering surface to pulse thickly through the air was unmistakable.
“Look with me now, Lady Riven,” the baroness murmured and Margaret’s feet drew her closer without a second thought.
The face of Reflection’s Heart was flat, and yet it held impossible depth. It reflected both of their faces as if they were surrounded by mist...
And then the baroness began to whisper, her fingers caressing the sides of the stone withavaricious care. “Image be clear, image be bright, show me a tool I can use to douse my enemies’ light.”
Yes!Margaret hadknownthat was the right formula. Even now, she couldn’t quite hold back a surge of professional satisfaction...
And then the mist swept across the mirror to shroud their reflections before clearing once more to show something else entirely:
Margaret herself, busily scribbling notes in front of the mirror in her room.
Margaret laughing and talking to what appeared to be empty air through that mirror’s reflection, her face alight with happiness.
Margaret, held taut by an invisible force before that mirror with her head tipped back in pleasure so intense it looked like pain.
“Me?” Margaret shook her head in instinctive refusal. “I wouldnever?—”
“You,” spat the baroness, “the notorious Lady Riven. Even here, I read the newspapers from the city. I’ve seen your image drawn at least half a dozen times, and Iknowwhat made you famous. You didn’t only marry one of the monsters who are allowed to lead society in your backwards country. You made yourself an acknowledgedexperton them—and this morning, another monster walked beside you in the woods as if she were your friend!
“They’ve acceptedyou, alone among humans, into their most secret havens. Today, I saw you reflected in the Diamantensee itself!The nixen wouldn’t takemypoisoned apple, but they took every one of yours, although they trust no other humans anymore. When I saw that, I knewexactlywhat the mirror had intended by choosing you for me.”
“Ah...” Even in the grip of fear, Margaret couldn’t let such a blatant inaccuracy pass. “When it comes to the mirror and what it shows you, the point you need to understand?—”
“Pfft. I don’t need anything or anyone else! I used to curse those weaklings who fled instead of fighting when those vicious creatures refused to accept my authority—but now, I no longer need any more soldiers for my cause. I have an agent who can walk untouched among them to plant my poison directly in their waters and suppress their insolence for good.”
Margaret yanked her gaze from the shimmering stone to fix on the baroness’s exalted expression. “Are you mad? You can’t poison the Diamantensee. That would kill every creature who relies on it, supernatural or not! Even if the nixen fled the lake, they could never survive without its water. No other stream or river would support them.”
“Then they’ll never threaten me or stand in the way of my family legacy again. Oh, but does that distress you?” The baroness’s voice took on a sickly condescension. “Do remember, you’re still quite a young woman, Lady Riven. It’s no wonder your heart is still so dangerously soft. You may leave it to my wisdom and experience to make the difficult, necessarydecisions.”
Oh, no. HadMargaretsounded even half as arrogant when she’d said such horribly similar words to Leonie earlier that day? She cringed at the awful thought...
