The girl in the mirror, no matter how similar in appearance, is unquestionably dead.
Chapter 39 Lucius
There are too many voices to focus on just one.
After we buried Thomas, his spirit lingering with us, and Lymara’s outburst, we returned to the tavern. My sister practically clings to my side, begging me to go back. I already know before nightfall we’ll be on our way.
But she took my mirror. She showed themmytreasure, and my friends have no idea what to make of it.
They say she looks dead, but I already knew that. Like a flower wilting before being pressed between the pages of a book, her beauty is trapped in a frozen image. I know, for I’ve studied her form many times with the shadows. She’s more visible to me than most when I walk through the halls of my home, but I know she's still among the dead.
Hands cling tight to my arm, keeping me here. “Please, you have to let me meet her.”
Rapunzel.
When I used the shadows to follow her silhouette, I thought she was similar to my flower. Her voice was startling when I first arrived, but I was willing to believe it was a strange circumstance.
Now I hear the gossip in the tavern laced with the pain of losing Ray. They are calling Rapunzel her twin, and I haven’t even given them a name.
“You wish to come to Thornton?” I ask her, feeling Zarev’s presence close by. I can sense his shadows; I don’t needto outline my friend to know he’s tense. “It is not a pleasant place.”
“Neither was my home,” Rapunzel implores. There are whispers behind her that I latch onto, and it sounds like some of Ray’s younger siblings wish she would leave. “I only learned recently that I have a sister. To see her is more than I ever expected.”
My flower never mentioned a sister, but then, she doesn’t do a lot of talking at all. It makes things a little hard sometimes since she rarely speaks, and I can’t see. Books are the main way we communicate in the manor.
“Things in Thornton are not well right now,” Lymara cuts in, and like I often do, I wish she would go away. There’s a snappy tinge to her voice today that grates on my nerves. “With Camelot encroaching on our borders there’s no rest for any of us.”
“Camelot,” Zarev says curiously, suddenly far more interested. “You don’t say.”
“I would like some updates on Camelot,” Ban butts in, appearing behind Lymara. Their magics get close together, almost touching, until he veers to the side. “We have a few things to talk about, it seems, brother.”
“What about Ray?” Odette hisses, keeping her voice low. “Have you all already forgotten about him?”
“No one’s forgotten,” Neve says, her magic difficult for me to track. Anyone with a magical presence is someone I can picture, at least by the magic they represent. It helps me sense where they are. Neve’s magic is incredibly similar to Ban’s ice magic, and if they stand too close together, they almost blur into one ice element in my mind’s eye.
“We’re going up the beanstalk with you,” Ban continues. “I want to hear about Camelot, so someone better contact me.”
“Will you actually use your stone?” I ask curiously.
“For this shit? Abso-fucking-lutely.”
I grin. That’sexactlywhat I expect Ban to say.
“If you’re going with Odette, that means three people are going up the beanstalk, plus a spirit,” Rapunzel says, dropping her voice. Now she sounds even closer to my flower, whose voice has raspier undertones than Rapunzel’s does. “Three feels like a lot, if Ray is already so mad at us.”
“He’s mad atyou,” Odette replies dryly. “Although I hope he can be reasoned with when I find him.”
“Whenwefind him,” Ban chimes in.
“Well, if they’re all going,” Rapunzel continues, keeping her voice low. “Then perhaps, Lucius, you need some help with the problems in Thornton?”
“Thornton doesn’t need help from outsiders,” Lymara snips.
“We are not outsiders,” Zarev growls in return. “We’refriends.”
I let the group continue to argue, my magic wandering. For the most part, I’ve learned over the years that the shadows go largely unnoticed unless someone is looking for them. hWhen I check the room, all of Ray’s other siblings seem to be in order. Dahlia’s here, and as the day stretches on there seem to be some people coming into the tavern looking for a bed for the night. We’re drawing too much attention as a group of magic users.
Not only that, but I can feel the dead seeking us out. If Ban goes with Neve and Odette into the sky, the spirits might follow. But more likely, they will track me and Zarev toward Thornton, meaning we’ll be reaping souls on our travels to my home.
