Macster - The Last Dragon

Virginia shook herself. She could not dwell on her mother's death anymore, that was behind her now--and in any case, there were more pressing concerns. Gazing around at the sheeted mirrors arranged in a circle, she frowned. "Rupert...I thought Wendell was going to lock the mirrors in the dungeon to keep them safe, so no one could ever abuse them."

Rupert, now that he was back in his own world, his accustomed surroundings, seemed to have recovered fully from his breakdown, although he still eyed the darkness around them warily. "Yes, that was his Majesty's intent. But we have not yet finished cataloguing the mirrors or ascertaining the extent of their powers. In any case, it is a good thing the mirrors are still here."

"Why is that?"

"Because, if they were in the dungeon, I could not have activated the Traveling mirror to reach you. They would be locked in a secure cell...and his Majesty would currently have the key around his neck."

Virginia shuddered. "All right...we have to find out what's going on, what the Ice Queen's plans are. How can we do that?"

Lord Rupert looked nonplussed. "I don't know, milady. She has her ice demons patrolling all the corridors. The only reason we haven't been discovered is that I took the liberty of locking the outer door to the bedchamber. We cannot possibly approach the throne room physically."

Biting her lip, she turned to Wolf--only to see him hunching his shoulders forward, extreme discomfort on his face. "Wolf, what's wrong?"

"It's...it's nothing. Just an idea I had."

"Well, what is it? We can use anything at this point!" She tried to keep the desperation from her voice.

Wolf glanced furtively around, then gestured at the sheeted mirrors. "The mirrors, Virginia. I never told you, but...when I was serving the Queen, she had ways of contacting me. Ways to spy on her enemies." A mournful whimper escaped his throat, and he flinched as if expecting her to strike him. "Perhaps one of these mirrors will let us spy on the Ice Queen."

Virginia stared at him in shock--not because she harbored any distrust or anger toward him at serving her mother, but because this was a confirmation of the secrets he had once withheld from her. Blinking, she shook her head. "I never thought of that...but that's not possible, is it? I mean, I thought only she could use them."

A diffident cough attracted her attention, and she turned to see Rupert trying to remain composed and sedate. "That's...not entirely true, Lady Virginia. We have had the mirrors examined by Elven sorcerers, and apparently anyone may use them who knows the proper commands." He looked askance, his voice lowering. "But the commands are not needed...for one of the Queen's own blood."

Virginia's heart thudded in her chest. To have such a legacy bestowed on her so suddenly...a legacy of evil and dark magic, a bond with a house that had plotted to destroy the House of White. She was heir to the tradition, and even if she had not her mother's broken mind or the vengeful heart of Snow White's stepmother, still...to be connected to that heritage made her want to scream.

Digging her nails into her palms, she finally nodded in acceptance. Their need was great; she would have to accept and embrace this. "Fine. But...which one is it?"

Rupert crossed to the table in the center of the room, where a large, leather-bound book lay, locked by brass bindings. Unhooking the clasp, he opened it and began leafing through the pages. "We've managed to narrow the possibilities down to two...we have already identified the Lethe mirror..." He paused to examine a passage of elegant calligraphy and a diagram of the room, then pulled the sheet off a mirror with a heavy maple frame carved to resemble intertwined snakes. "This one."

Virginia glanced at it and looked away. That was the mirror whose surface had revealed her mother had been choking her.

"And this is the Mirror of Mnemosyne." Rupert uncovered a tall, narrow mirror of oak, its frame fashioned into leafy vines. At her blank look, he added, "Memory, milady." He glanced behind her. "And of course you already know the Traveling mirror."

She turned and faced the golden frame that had almost become an old friend, etched with Dwarven runes and adorned by the concentric, wheel-like ornaments. The argent light of the mirror's rippling glass suffused the air like mist shining in moonlight, and she could still see the image of Central Park. Absently she reached out and turned the catch, plunging the room back into dim obscurity. Virginia met her reflection's gaze, not liking what she saw there, and then looked at the two remaining mirrors.

Pulling away a velvet sheet, she uncovered a diamond-shaped mirror of finest silver, and recoiled. This was the mirror that had altered reality, kept her from realizing she was being throttled. She touched her throat shakily...

"Mirror, mirror on the wall..."
"What...are you...doing to me...?"

She wrenched her thoughts away. "It has to be this one." The other mirror, when bared to the light, was massive, an oval of wrought-iron set upon a stone pedestal chiseled into the shape of grotesque demonic statues. The entire mirror was dyed a deep forest green--and its frame enclosed no reflections, only a hollow, impenetrable blackness.

Virginia felt Wolf step up beside her and take her hand, his warm, solid body pressing close as he leaned against her. He murmured in her ear how much he loved her and how he would always be there for her, and she blushed softly, nodding in acknowledgement. Then, after a weak smile of encouragement from Rupert, she took a shuddering breath.

She had no idea what to say, and according to Rupert it wouldn't matter because she was the Queen's daughter, but still she felt it had to be done with a certain decorum and respect. "O Magic Mirror, whose sight is clear and vast, show to me the Ice Queen, reveal to me her plans."

A strange crackling sound, like the scraping of sandpaper, made Virginia jump. The sound built to a crunching of glass. Behind the darkness of the mirror, a soft glow appeared, and the glass became razed with countless cracks. Then the surface moved, becoming liquid, and the cracks smoothed away.

Virginia's breath quickened as an image appeared in the mirror...

Turning away from a rapt contemplation of Wendell's frightened face, tinted blue by the cold of the enchanted ice, the Ice Queen brought her malicious grin to bear on the pale servant cowering before the throne. "Yes, slave?"

Holding out a trembling hand, the man whimpered, "H-here is what you r-requested, Y-your Majesty...f-from the R-royal Study." In his fingers he clutched a sheaf of parchment, rolled up and bound by a silken ribbon. Tucked into the ribbon was a feather quill.

"Excellent...you have earned another day of freedom. You are dismissed." With a pointed glance at the frozen courtiers, the ermine-cloaked witch plucked the package from the servant's hand and untied the ribbon, letting her gaze fall to examine the contents. Eyes bulging, the servant fled.

A soft murmur of delight escaped the Ice Queen's frigid lips, and then she smiled. "Yes...perfect. Exactly what I needed..." Reaching into the bundle of parchment, she removed a large, golden signet ring, surmounted by a crimson ruby. In the center of the jewel was carved the seal of the House of White, an embossed apple tree above a stream, its arching limbs supporting a crown.

Without hesitation she slipped it on the index finger of her right hand--being a man's ring, it was far too large for her ring finger. She caressed it a moment, then finished unrolling the parchment to reveal a capped inkwell. Then she turned back to the hapless king.

"Well, well, well...do you have any idea what this is I have in my hand, Your Majesty?" The Ice Queen pursed her lips and raised one bleached eyebrow quizzically, as if she actually expected Wendell to answer. After a brief pause, she smirked. "Of course you don't...I hope you don't mind if I explain it to you." Rising from the throne, she skirted a motionless ice demon until she stood directly before the king. One bony hand traced lazily across the surface of the block where one of Wendell's hands was upraised. "This is some of your parchment, Wendell...that used for your personal missives, stamped with your seal. Your stationery, as it were." She chuckled. "No one else is allowed to use it except for you..."

Somehow, behind the ice, Wendell's eyes widened.

"Due to your...unforeseen incapacity, I rather thought a notice to the other monarchs of the Kingdoms was in order. But I would never wish the Fourth Kingdom to languish in limbo, or for the other Kingdoms to know of this. It quite behooves me to...fill the vacancy for the time being. And of course the other rulers must be apprised of this fact." Ice-blue eyes narrowed, flashing with mockery. "A fact which they will not ascertain, however, until they arrive here...to investigate for themselves."

The Ice Queen chuckled again, like the crunch of a foot through the crust of new-fallen snow. She trailed the feather of the quill up and down the parchment, although her eyes never left the king's countenance. "Yes...you know what I intend, I can see it in your eyes. You always were a smart lad...your stepmother never saw it, but I knew what you were capable of. I will send letters to each of them...Cinderella, Red Riding Hood III, the Naked Emperor's Great-Grandson, Olaf the Elf King, Alberich the Dwarf King...even that idiotic new Troll King--what was his name? Burly. They will all come here. My letters will ensure they will not refuse. And they will be sealed with your signet ring. Unquestionably from you." The witch made a moue. "How unfortunate that when they arrive...they will find me instead." She brandished the quill and turned her narrow back on him.

Wendell's face was a mask of despair. It looked as if his shoulders would have slumped, had they been free to move.

Abruptly the Ice Queen straightened, stiff with outrage, as she whirled back to face the room. "What is this? We are not alone...someone is watching me!" Jaw trembling and quivering, eyes flashing with the dagger-like blades of an ice storm, the enchantress stabbed a finger toward one doorway, then another. Her voice rose to a ringing shout as she commanded the ice demons scattered about as sentinels. "Find them! Bring them to me alive! They are somewhere in this palace...and they have access to a magic mirror..."

Emotionlessly, imperturbably, the monstrous beasts filed out, scattering through both wings of the castle. As she watched them go, the Ice Queen turned back, her cold gaze piercing the walls, reaching out over the distance, seeking the eyes that spied upon her with uncanny accuracy...