“Sister,” I said, hoping one of them would be near a mirror and hear my call.
Nothing.
I spoke a little louder. “Sister!”
The reflection moved as someone picked up a mirror and bright green eyes met mine.
“Rosalie!” Meri exclaimed excitedly, her voice ringing out, my name on her lips as lyrical as a song. “It’s you!”
Oh, how I missed Meri’s musical lilt, her childlike enthusiasm, and her mischievous banter.
“Mother came home but hasn’t told us anything about your husband,” she pouted. “No matter how much we begged. Just last night we were debating whether to summon you through the mirror but were afraid it would make your husband’s heart stop in fright.” A nervous giggle followed. “Is he cute? Has he kissed you yet?”
Of course, she would be more worried with looks than anything else. She was as passionate and fiery as her hair, which was as red as the setting sun. But Meri’s excitement meant she could barely hold her mirror straight, and I kept getting an up-close view of her pert nose and red lips.
“Meri, Mother has need of you in her workshop,” another sister called out.
“But it’s Rosalie,” Meri told her, then turned the mirror toward her and passed it off.
“Aura,” I said, trying to get her attention as her chin came into view.
The shaking stopped as my sister Aura brought the mirror up and looked at me. “Rosalie, how are you doing?” Her smile fell from her lips and her brows furrowed as she read my melancholy expression through the mirror. Aura was adept at reading emotions when she wanted to, and sometimes minds if the person wasn’t good at closing off their thoughts. “Oh.” Her voice dropped. “That bad, huh?”
I swallowed. “It’s nothing more than as it should be. No more or no less. I’m married.”
“But—”
“There’s nothing more to be said on the matter. I’m here. Married to a—”
“Prince!” Aura interrupted and grinned playfully, as if this were a game she easily won.
Darn it! She easily went through my wall. I retreated further into a mental thorn bush to keep her from picking at my thoughts. I wished anyone else other than Aura had picked up the mirror.
“If you’re going to keep reading my thoughts and expressions, then why should I even bother calling you?”
“Sorry, Rosalie. I couldn’t help it. My enthusiasm was just too powerful for me to hold back.”
“You must learn restraint,” I admonished, sounding more like my adopted mother. “One day you’ll read the wrong person and learn more than you ever want to know.”
She smiled wickedly at me, and I knew she had been privy to many dark secrets already. Except for our mother. Aura had been unable to crack our mother’s thoughts or feelings. Anytime she tried, Aura was stricken with a horrible headache. Whenever she became extremely tiresome on us, Maeve would dare her to try and read Mother Eville. Aura was never one to back down from a challenge, and would then spend the next few hours in bed with a pillow over her head, whining about the pain.
“Okay, then stop with the ice queen act and spill,” Aura demanded. A shadow passed over her shoulder and the mirror tilted, Eden’s golden blonde head popping into view.
“Who is it?” she asked.
“Nobody.” Aura tucked the mirror under her chin, and my view was blocked by the print linen pattern of her green dress.
“It’s me,” I called out loudly, hoping my second-oldest sister would hear me.
“Rosalie?” Eden pulled the mirror from Aura’s hand, and I heard a screech of disappointment.
“Give it back,” Aura pouted.
“Hush!” Eden demanded, then held the mirror so both of them could speak with me. “Tell us, where are you?”
I blinked, trying to hold back my tears. Aura’s face melted as she read my emotions. “I’m in the kingdom of Baist.”
“What?” Eden said. “That backward, magic-banned kingdom? Do you even have running water? Water taxis, moving picture boxes? What are you doing there? Where’s your new husband?”
“I’m married… to the crown prince.”
The mirror fell out of Eden’s hands and landed facedown on Aura’s quilt coverlet. It was dizzying to watch through the mirror as the room spun.
Aura was the one to come away with the mirror. “It’s okay if he doesn’t love you, Rosalie, because we do.”
“What do you mean, he doesn’t love her?” Eden asked.
“Oh, well, she married their prince, but he doesn’t love her. He loves someone else, and Rosalie is really depressed about it. And then there’s this monster that’s murdering people, and someone tried to kill her.”
“Rosalie!” Eden gasped. “Is it true?”
My anger smoldered and I wished I could smite my mindreading sister through the mirror. I didn’t mean to relay so much, but the magic came from my blood, so when Aura held the mirror, she had a closer connection to my mind, which allowed her to pry deeper than if we were in the same room.
My mouth pressed tightly together, I glared at Aura, who quit talking when she saw my expression. She handed the mirror back to Eden and quickly escaped, her shadow moving out the door and down the steps to, I would assume, spread the news to the others.
It was Eden I needed. She was the one who understood me the most. When my nightmares were too much, she was the one who crawled into my bed and held me until they subsided. She would take an acorn or a thorn and transform it into a wolf, then place it by my bedside, telling me it was my protector and would chase away the dreams. Though it was never the wolf who kept me safe but my family. Now my fears and uncertainties about myself and my bloodline came flooding back to haunt me.
“Who tried to kill you?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
Eden’s face turned red with anger. “How dare they touch a hair on your head? Do they not know how powerful we are? That we are the daughters of Eville? To harm one of us is to ensure the wrath of us all.”
“I’m not sure if it was me they were aiming at,” I said, then explained the adder that appeared in the maze to harm Ameline, how Prince Xander’s mother had mysteriously been poisoned, and how I was accosted by two kidnappers and woke up with no memories of how I got back in my room, covered in blood.
“Do you think…?” I hesitated. “Maybe my dreams, my blackouts… I’m…?”
“No, never, Rosalie,” Eden replied. “You would never harm someone unless they were trying to harm you or your family.” Her blue eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “You are not a killer. But I do have one thing to say, dear sister. Your magic is strong, and you’ve got a good head on your shoulders. Use both to your advantage.”
Hearing it from Eden calmed my fears. It was good to speak to her and hear how my other sisters were doing in my absence. Mother hadn’t told them anything about my departure, and it made me unhappy that she could drop me off with little fanfare and then not speak of me. Raised and then discarded to fit her means.
We talked until my body grew weary. I fell asleep on the bed holding the mirror, letting Eden’s voice speak reassuringly to me as I dreamed.