Liliane didn’t answer, but he heard the quiet—but quick—clicks her shoes made on the stone floor as she marchedaway.
Evariste cursed and tried to pace, but found he was unable to move more than a single pace. He rubbed the back of his neck and surveyed the mirror, unease settling into hisbones.
The inside of his previous mirror had smelled slightly stale. This artifact was colder, which froze Evariste’s nose, but he could still smell the faint tang of blood and the suffocating scent ofsmoke.
He reached for his magic and grimaced when he feltnothing.
It was then that he felt something stir, and the mirrorwhispered.
Enchanter…
Evariste whirled around, but he couldn’t see anything through the haze. “Whatever you are, get lost. I want nothing to do withyou.”
The whispery voice exhaleddeeply.
Evariste felt something latch on to him. It wasn’t a physical feeling. No matter how he turned around, he saw nothing but haze. Still, something gripped his heart like a snake burying its fangs in hisflesh.
You are nowMINE!
Evariste clenched his jaw. “Never!”
Your magicis.
Evariste shouted when pain ripped through him, sending him to his knees. It was worse than a draining from Liliane. This was a stabbing sensation as the mirror actively carved out and devoured his magic, which felt almost as if it was snacking on hisinnards.
He saw stars for a moment, then struggled against the pain and mutinously glared into the mirror’s smoky depths. “Maybe,” he snarled. “But I’ll fight you every moment of everyday!”
The mirrorlaughed.
Good.
Chapter 24
When they returned to Verglas,Angelique spent a week fully recovering from the brutal trial she had put herself through. (This, thankfully, meant it was Lord Enchanter Clovicus who was stuck telling King Toril and Queen Linnea all they hadlearned.)
By the time she had recovered, coded messages of their findings were sent out to the various countries, Odette and her crew had returned to Kozlovka, and Clovicus slipped back to the VenenoConclave.
As much as she wanted to ride off to Farset and storm the Alabaster Forest to find the elves, Angelique knew the best course of action would be to find Severin. He likely had additional questions to ask and hopefully had news of Suzu. (Or Liliane and Acri, but she wasn’t putting much hope or stock in her obviously deliriousdreams.)
Pegasus carried her off to Chanceux Chateau in Loire, where she learned that Prince Severin hadn’t yet returned and was staying with Queen Cinderella and Colonel Friedrich in the part of Erlauf that formerly was the small country of Trieux. (And that Princess Elle had taken advantage of Severin’s absence and was currently missing—likely off on a self-assigned intelligence-gatheringmission.)
Angelique rode on to Erlauf and expected to find the royals fighting off goblins or holding joint drills and training sessions with theirwarriors.
Instead, she tracked them down when they wereshopping.
She was directed by a pair of royal footmen to seek the trio out at Luxe Mercantile, a large store that boasted some of the best luxury goods the continent had to offer—harpsichords from Torrens, priceless gems from Mullberg, beautiful grandfather clocks from Verglas, the best Kozlovkan vodka, andmore.
Angelique tucked her arms close as she edged her way through the store, paranoid that she would knock something precious from ashelf.
When she passed through the tiny section of flower perfumes made in Erlauf, Angelique heard voices. She followed her ears to the part of the store dedicated to glasswork—in particular,mirrors.
Prince Severin, Queen Cinderella, Colonel Friedrich, and two others werethere.
Severin and Friedrich stood together, their voices lowered in barely audibletones.
Cinderella, however, chatted animatedly to a tall man dressed in the height of Loire fashion with a brocade waistcoat and a maroon jacket. (He was likely the owner of the store.) With them was Glaze—the craftmage Angelique had met at theSummit.
Glaze narrowed her eyes, inspecting a finely crafted hand-mirror that had roses carved into its woodenback.
