Page 51 of Blood of the Fairest

Right now, the face staring back at me from Eris's mirror in the queen's chambers is that of a middle-aged man with unmemorable features, short mid-toned hair, and an average build.

I thought the queen was just being a bitch when she labeled him plain shoemaker, but…that pretty much covers it.

The most memorable thing about this face is the spot over the man's lips. According to the Adonis in my mirror, the queen's beauty spot is always the one telltale no matter what disguise she wears.

"I already miss being hot," I sigh in a man's tenor voice as I don the cloak I pulled from the back of the wardrobe.

Eris fights a smile. He's standing off to the side in the mirror so I can see my handiwork better.

"The point is not to attract attention while you seek the king's former chamberlain."

Reaching up, I twist a bit of this stranger's short hair between his clumsy, strange-feeling fingers. "I bet I can't even attract a mosquito, looking like this."

He laughs as I turn this way and that, still getting used to this.

At first, I wasn't sure if I could whip up the same spell the queen apparently used so often. I wondered if me being in her body would stop the magic from doing its thing.

But nope. Adding a few sprigs of herbs, three drops from the vial, water, and strange powder into the goblet, shaking it like a fucked-up margarita, and reciting the words Eris gave me before I downed it worked perfectly.

Even now, I'm pretending the vial only had Kool-Aid in it.

The wildest part about the spell is that I'm wearing the shoemaker's clothes, too—a brown tunic, trousers, and boots. According to Eris, it's what this guy must have been wearing when Reinhilde somehow got his…Kool-Aid.

"This is so fucking trippy. I feel like the mirror is lying, but then I hear the voice I'm talking with and—holy shit. Does this mean I have a penis right now?" I gasp.

Pulling the waistband of the man's trousers away just enough to check, I look back up at Eris.

"Don't freak out, but there is a penis inside these pants."

"Verena. Focus."

"If I have time after getting Merrick, I'm totally going to strip and helicopter this bad boy."

He gives in to curiosity. "Helicopter?"

"You know, like—" I do the motion with my finger, adding the wee-woo sounds of a siren.

Eris half-coughs, half-laughs as if he's insulted that he's amused by something so stupid. "What would even be the point of that?"

"Does it have to have a point? It's funny. If you have a dick, you should try it sometime."

"Of course I have a—" He cuts off to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Crones, why am I even having this conversation? Stop distracting us both when you have a limited time in that disguise."

"Right. How long does this last again?" I ask, retying the man's pants.

"It varies, but with three drops of blood, it should last just over an hour. Reinhilde often carried more of the disguise potion in a flask with her wherever she went, to be safe. Now, remember. Look for me in the mirrors of Isenhold, and I'll lead you to the former chamberlain."

"Roger that," I salute before I slip out through the queen's secret passage.

After leaving the single, isolated door with the stained-glass apple tree, I follow a long, faint path through thick trees. When I pause and peek over my shoulder, I see castle guards patrolling high up along a castle wall. They don't notice the plain shoemaker scurrying toward the nearby town.

Nearly twenty minutes later, I'm back in the streets of Isenhold.

Now that I'm not racing through the village to beat the tolls of a death knell, I can take in more of my surroundings. A few children laugh as they chase their friends, darting around carts pushed by busy parents. Villagers who pass me are completely unaware of the queen in their midst as they stop to chat with neighbors or primp in mirrors hanging on doors. Some slip into their houses, where smoke curling from the chimneys tells me they're cooking dinner.

In a nearby reflection, I see that Eris is now walking through the mirrors at my side.

"Turn right ahead," he says. "The former chamberlain just went into the Popinjay Tavern."