Page 62 of The Eternal Mirror
“Sounds like a plan.” She hooks her arm in Sheela’s, and they head off together toward the dining tent without giving me a second glance, leaving me and Grimlet to trail along behind them like unwanted afterthoughts.
Sheela obviously knows her way around the camp and manages to rummage up some bread and cheese, a jug of water, and another of wine. I take a seat opposite Amber. I’m not hungry, but I pour a glass of wine, sit back in my chair, and sip it while I watch her. She’s chewing on her bottom lip and frowning, but she cheers up a little when the food arrives. She has the most amazing capacity to eat. It truly impresses me. I guess all that magic takes energy. She briefly catches my eye and then looks away. Shifty.
They eat in silence for a few minutes. Grimlet reaches out a claw and snatches a piece of cheese. Finally, Sheela pours herself and Amber a glass of wine and sits back.
“So,” she says, “what’s been happening?”
“Nasty soldiers locked up the prince,” Grimlet says between mouthfuls of cheese. “But Amber came and let him out.”
She looks at Amber. “I thought you weren’t ready to leave yet.”
“I wasn’t, but I had to get Josh and Zayne out of there. Khronus has been playing nice”—I snort at that, and she casts me a glance before continuing—“but I don’t trust him to stay that way. Andthere was always the chance he would use them to get to me.” She shrugs. “So we left.”
“I bet he’s pleased about that,” Sheela says.
“I doubt it. But I’ll find out when I go back.”
“You’re going back?” Sheela asks. “Is that wise?”
“Probably not, but I have to.” She looks at me again, and there’s a hint of apology in her face. “I know it’s a risk, but there are things going on at the palace. Khronus wants to be a true god, with all the powers of the First Gods, and the scary thing is—I think he might have a way to do it. And if that happens, none of us will ever be safe.”
“What’s he up to?” I ask.
“I don’t know exactly, but it has something to do with the Eternal Mirror. He believes that’s the key to getting his godly upgrade.”
“Is the Mirror even real?” Sheela asks. “And will he succeed?”
I suspect it is real. But no one knows where it is or what it looks like. It’s a myth from the old records—the source of creation. I can understand why my father would be interested.
“I don’t know,” Amber replies. “But—and this might be even scarier than him succeeding—part of the reason Khronus is so dangerous is that he doesn’t know—or care—what he’s meddling in. Look at what he did with my father? He tried to make a pawn and ended up with an almost invincible enemy. Who knows what harm he’ll do this time if he tries and fails.”
“So we’re fucked either way,” I say.
“Probably. So we have to stop him. But there’s something else,” Amber says. “Something I found down in the dungeons. There’sthis place I noticed before that always felt off to me. So, I went down and had a look. It’s warded with dark magic, but I found a way in and...” She hesitates. “It’s where Khronus has been keeping the mirror mages who disappeared. Some of them are still there, imprisoned.” She reaches across the table and takes Sheela’s hand. “Your mother is there, Sheela. She’s alive.”
The color drains from Sheela’s face and her glass drops from her hand, red wine spilling over the table. She shakes her head. “No. I don’t believe it.”
“I saw her. I talked to her.”
“All this time, she was there in the dungeons beneath my feet? And I never knew? I never even suspected. But why?”
“He’s siphoning off their magic. They’re all attached to this really creepy mirror, and their magic is being drained. It’s horrible.”
“You couldn’t get her out?”
“She wouldn’t come. She said Khronus had told her she would die if she was disconnected from the mirror. So I had to leave her and the others. I will find a way, I promise, but I had to get Josh to safety first.” She looks at me then. “So you see why I have to go back. I can’t leave them there.”
Horror fills my mind. I never knew Sheela’s mother. She disappeared long before I was born. And all that time, she's been in the dungeons, suffering unthinkable evil at the hands of my father. Wait a minute…
“Has it occurred to you that you are a mirror mage, and if you go back, you could find yourself in that dungeon, hooked up to that fucking mirror?” I ask.
Anger flares in her eyes. “Of course it’s occurred to me. But so far he hasn’t, and I can’t leave them. I can’t. If I can help them, I have to. Shit, I thought this was over. I’ve done my part, and I tell myself that, but still, I cannot leave them there if there is anything I can do.”
She swallows and takes a gulp of wine while she lets Sheela absorb the news. Then she frowns and turns to me. “When you were in the army, did you go after witches?”
A flicker of shame washes over me. “Only those who ran rather than register with the Council. I was following orders.” Even as the words slip out, I know how wrong they are. But I was young, and he was my father. I run a hand through my hair. I won’t try to defend myself because my actions are beyond defending.
“And you didn’t think to ask what was done to them?” She shakes her head. “I once read somewhere that all it takes for bad men to prevail is for good men to do nothing.”
