Afull day passed without Julian issuing another invitation. My entire plan hinged on being noticed by him, and it seemed that I’d become invisible.
“He’s forgotten about me,” I fretted to Zafir as I organized his bottles, memorizing the location of each in case I needed to steal one at a moment’s notice. “I tried to make a good impression but I don’t think it was enough.”
“I’m not surprised. He never remembers any one woman for very long,” Zafir said, dipping his quill into an inkpot and continuing to scribble away without looking up. “He’s little more than a cad.”
“Did you want me to seduce Julian so we could drain his coffers because you dislike him particularly?”
Zafir’s eye twitched. “Yes.”
I flopped into the seat next to Zafir. “This was your plan, you know. You aren’t doing much to help right now.”
“You aren’t helping either,” he said, picking up the parchment to read it through. “Why don’t you do something useful rather than just sit around and mope?”
I shot him an irritated expression that slowlymorphed into a mischievous smile. “You know what? I think I will. In fact, I’ll go right now.” I stood and headed purposefully toward the door. Eventually, the chain tugged on Zafir.
"Hey!" he protested, pulling back.
I grabbed the chain’s other end and leaned my weight away, trying to drag him out of his chair. It sort of worked. He stood to dig his heels into the rug and pull me back hand over hand until the chain coiled up on the floor and he had reeled me most of the way in.
I wasn’t strong enough to present much of a challenge, but as Zafir gave another mighty tug, I released the chain so Zafir went sprawling back into his chair. I waited for him to leap up, enraged, but was dismayed as he slowly got to his feet, calm as ever, brushed off his robes, and said mildly, “That was rather uncalled for. Why are you trying to goad me?”
“I thought it would be amusing. I may die of boredom while my ex-husband might be trying to find and kill another girl—maybe even my sister. I’m sitting here organizing bottles and I’m no nearer my goal. I’d rather walk there than sit here and do nothing.”
He sat back down and picked up his quill again. “We’re separated by another continent and two oceans. You should’ve said you’d rather swim there than walk.”
“It’s a figure of speech,” I said, throwing myself onto the sofa and sighing. “I just want to be doing something, and this wholewaiting for Julian to notice me while I’m holed up here with youis going to kill me, and I still can’t talk to my sister.”
“Why not? You have your two-way mirror. Use it.”
I swallowed hard, then pulled it out and gently ran my finger around the rim. “I think it’s broken,” I confessed sadly. “It was stepped on right after I appeared here and it hasn’t worked since.”
“Let me see.” Zafir reached out his hand.
I hesitated.
“I’ll be careful,” he said, much more gently than normal. “I don’t intend to break the only connection you have to your family.”
I carefully placed it in his hand and watched as he moved it closer to the candle flickering on his desk.
“A small crack like this wouldn’t break the enchantment,” he said, holding it up close to examine. “More likely it was a feeble enchantment. The spell is complex, and when it isn’t done well, it can become weaker with a greater distance between the mirrors.”
I caught my breath. “Do you know how to fix it?”
“I could try.”
“Will you? Please—I’ll do anything you want.”
He shot me an odd expression. “You ought not to promise such things so readily. Another man might take advantage of such an offer.”
“It would mean a great deal to me. Zafir, please.”
Without another word, he crossed to one of his many bookshelves, and I stepped closer as he ran his fingers down a row of spines, searching until he found what he was looking for. He lifted a heavy book down and thumbed through the pages.
“You don’t need to be so close,” he griped at me. “I can feel your breath on my neck.”
I retreated two paces. I hadn’t realized I was following him so closely, but I couldn’t stop myself from watching him as he trailed a finger down a long list of spells then murmured a few words in a foreign tongue to my mirror. It took several tense minutes of Zafir working before themirror glowed silver and shone brightly, illuminating the entirety of his dark study before dimming again.
“There.” He held the mirror out to me. “Try it now.”
