Page 104 of Where Shadows Bloom

That can change a page to a poem.

Istumbled out of the darkness, into the library, and shut the door behind me—thankfully, no Shadows had followed me. Steps hurried toward me, clacking against the parquet until Eglantine stood in front of me.

“Are you all right?” she asked breathlessly. She frowned. “Where is my mother? And Ofelia?”

“I made a bargain with the Shadow King,” I said. “I’ll not get what I bargained for until I’ve delivered what I owe him.” I rested against the door, my chest heaving, and held out the mirror to her. “As for your mother, you have this to speak with her.”

Eglantine snatched the mirror, looking into it with a furrowed brow.

“Be warned. The people in the Underworld are trapped in time. If they return above, they’ll age the years they spent below. And your mother—she could grow so old to be past her living years.” I noticed the bracelet on my wrist and remembered. I tugged it off my arm and held it out for her. “She wanted you to have this, too. To remember her by.”

Eglantine slipped on the bracelet and cradled the mirror in her hands. “Mother!” she said, her voice cracked and desperate. “Mother, are you there?!”

“Yes, love, yes.”

The voice, the same one I’d heard minutes ago, came from the mirror. Craning my neck, I could see Sagesse’s face in the little oval of perfect glass. It was just like the Hall of Illusions, in miniature.

“I will be reunited with you soon, my love,” said Sagesse, “if you help Lope succeed in her task.”

Eglantine glanced at me, her forehead furrowed. “What did you offer the king of Shadows for Ofelia’s and my mother’s freedom?”

I tightened my fists at my sides. “I will give him King Léo. Alive.”

Eglantine’s mouth hung open. “You—you’re not serious.”

“She is,” said Sagesse.

Eglantine gaped at her mother’s reflection. “How in thename of the bloody Underworld are we supposed to capture the king and send him below?!”

“Where is your door located? The one to the Underworld?”

“It’s in the palace library,” I said.

Sagesse hummed a thoughtful tone. “Léo’s not the literary type. You need to think of something that will bring him into the library.”

I wracked my brain to think of what could bait a king. He had everything he wanted and more. Even so, he wasn’t content. He was always throwing parties. Always surrounded by his courtiers. Telling them stories, telling them lies about his godliness. It was their love he wanted more than anything. Their attention. Their worship.

“Where is the king now?” I asked Eglantine.

“At his fête.” She lifted a finger, remembering. “You were inside the door for about three days. He claims the party is to ‘lift his spirits’ after his beloved daughter vanished.”

“Then we shall have to remind him that I’m right where he left me!”

I glanced down at the mirror. Only half of Sagesse’s face showed now, and on the left portion of the silver mirror, Ofelia had squished herself into view. “You could use me! Use my voice!”

“Use this mirror, you mean?”

“Yes!” Her one visible eye sparkled with mischief. “Hewants everyone to believe he’s perfect, untouchable, absolutely blessed. He tried so hard to silence any rumors about the Hall of Illusions or the Shadows or—”

“What happened to you,” I said. “He told the court you had run away with me.”

Ofelia huffed. “The man is anass.”

My heart sang, hearing her curse.

Her eyes creased in the corners with a smile. “Well, if I’ve run away, I’m about to give my father a pleasant surprise.”

Eglantine was hidden away in the library, lying in wait, holding on to the mirror. I, meanwhile, marched straight toward the ballroom, once more dressed in the guise of a palace guard. All around me, swanlike courtiers swam past, attired all in white for another night of parties.

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