Page 265 of Naughty Nelle

“Keep moving back, but make sure Lady Jane can see still see herself in the mirror.” Calla, holding Lady Jane, slides back on the bed as far back as she can go. “Okay, stop!”

A shocked Calla blinks her eyes several times. “I can’t see Lady Jane’s cracks anymore. They’ve disappeared!”

“See, I told you my mirror was magic. Lady Jane is still beautiful.”

A bright smile replaces Calla’s frown. She kisses the doll on her cracked cheek.

I smile too, proud of my “magic.” Scooting next to her, I fold an arm around her thin shoulders. “Now that you’re seven, I want to tell you a grown-up secret. Do you think you’re ready?”

Calla’s eyes light up as she nods.

“Someone once told me that beauty’s not in the face; it’s in the heart,” I whisper in her ear. Okay. Those weren’t exactly Shrink’s words, but close enough.

Calla cocks her head like a puzzled puppy. “What does that mean?”

Dragonballs. Now, I’ve got to makeup something. I still haven’t figured out what Shrink meant.

“It means that you must love Lady Jane even more. Especially now that she’s a little hurt. Do you think you can do that?”

Remarkably, what I’ve said makes sense to Calla. She nods again and hugs the precious doll.

“Time for you to go to sleep.” Smiling, I tuck her under the covers and plant a kiss on her forehead.

“Sweet dreams,” I say softly.

Clutching Lady Jane in her arms, Calla closes her eyes.

Quietly, I slip out of the room. As I close the door behind me, Calla’s sweet voice calls out to me.

“By the way, Jane, thank you for my birthday party. It was the best one I ever had.”

The memory of another little girl who turned seven flashes into my head. Snow White. How could I forget? It was on that fateful day my “magic” mirror first played with my head, warning me that she would one day would be fairer than me. As I descend the staircase, I tremble, wishing that mirror had never existed.

Gallant is still at his desk. The blaze in the fireplace basks his face in a warm amber glow. Hearing my footsteps, he rises.

“How is she?” he asks, moving toward me.

“She’ll be fine.” I gaze at his face and my body quivers.

The Prince places his strong hands on my shoulders and meets my eyes. “Jane, I am forever beholden to you.”

“It’s no big deal,” I reply, tingling from his touch.

“Jane, you know so much about children. Have you taken care of them before?”

“No,” I stammer and look away, shamed by my past.

How horribly I treated poor Snow White. She was a sweet little girl—an orphan—who cared nothing about beauty and asked for nothing. She was always so kind to me. But I wanted nothing to do with her. I dressed her in rags and made her sleep with the servants. And as she grew older and more beautiful with every passing day, I wanted her out of my life. I even I tried to kill her. How’s that for my child-care experience?

And then there was another child. My beautiful stillborn son. The child I never got a chance to care for and know. Perhaps if he had lived, my life would have turned out so differently. The King would have loved me, and we would been one big happy family.

Tears prick my eyes as guilt and grief rip me apart.

With his thumb, The Prince brushes a tear off my cheek with a tenderness I don’t deserve. “What is wrong, Jane?”

“Nothing.” Everything. “You’re so blessed to have Calla.”

“I know and that is why I overprotect her.” The Prince pauses reflectively. “But you are right, Jane. I have to let go. She needs to have friends. Perhaps, you can help me find a good school for her.”

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