“Except she’s not!” Snow White’s voice was hardened, revealing her inner fire. “I know my stepmother. She would never hurt me! She would never leave me!”
Yes, keep going, Snow White!
Angelique wanted to shout encouragement to her friend, but she was afraid to break Snow White’s concentration and to draw attention to herself.
She licked her lips as she tested the mirror’s magic, cringing when it brushed past her.
It was the dangerously numb magic she’d encountered with her tracking spell: ancient, foreign, and powerful.
It was so different from any other kind of magic she’d encountered.
A rudimentary but deadlier form of magic saturated it, and she could feel an intelligence in it—a supposedly non-sentient thing—that frightened her.
It’s similar to the stones I encountered for my enchantress test, but more brutal and invasive. The stones pulled my magic from me…this feels as though it would infect every part of my being. How has Evariste survived this long?
For a moment, Angelique’s heart stopped as she considered the matter. Was it even possible to survive something this evil for such a long time? It seemed impossible.
No—Evariste had to still be alive. She could see his magic!
Holding in a snarl, Angelique checked on the Seven Warriors—who were still valiantly holding back the constructs. Their cuts, bruises, and wounds, however, were starting to add up and make the fight lag.
If this goes on much longer, I may have to intervene. But that might end any hope of freeing Evariste.
Angelique glanced at Snow White just in time to see her embrace the still-possessed Queen Faina.
“What’s happening?” the mirror said through Faina. “You have done something to me!”
When Aldelbert limped past, Angelique patted his back, taking the risk to place a tiny healing spell on the lord, watching the mirror as she did so.
The mirror didn’t respond—it was too focused on Snow White’s attempts to reach Faina, which seemed to be succeeding!
Faina tried to grapple with Snow White, but just as her fingers brushed the princess’s throat, the queen staggered backwards.
“Get away from Snow White!” the queen shouted in a feminine voice that was markedly different than the echoey one she’d uttered before.
You cannot resist, a hushed voice whispered. Though it was quiet, it filled the room with a stifling thickness. You are but a simple human, unable to fight magic.
Angelique jumped. The voice was coming from the mirror—the physical mirror. It wasn’t speaking through Faina, but with its own ability.
Perfect. Just perfect. A talking, evil artifact. Never mind that I’ve never met any talking, magical artifact before—which means the mirror has a level of power I’ve never witnessed—it also has to be twisted. There’s not a chance I can match it power wise, even with my vast magic.
Thick, tarry magic swirled around Queen Faina, who screamed in pain. She and Snow White cried to each other, but Angelique didn’t hear much of their conversation because her magic roared to life.
If it was a snarling lion before, now it was an enraged dragon with a belly full of fire and the desire to destroy everything. It hit Angelique so hard, for a moment she couldn’t see.
All she felt was her power—cold and angry.
She slumped against the wall as she tried to recover.
Settle down! she mentally howled at her powers. You’re trying to pick a fight we can’t win! We need to be able to get Evariste out!
“Faina!” Snow White screamed. Tears poured down her cheeks as she tried to step closer to Faina—who was wrapped so deeply in black magic, she was no longer visible. “I’m not going to give up. I’ll fight this with everything I have. Mullberg will not rest until you are safe, and I will not stand quiet and let you go!”
Unnatural wind pulled at Snow White’s black hair, pushing her back as she struggled to get closer to her stepmother.
Angelique’s powers gathered around her fingertips, and Angelique pushed off the wall—intending to cut a path through the magic for her friend.
A white hand plunged out of the darkness and grabbed Snow White’s, eliciting a startled scream from her.
Deep within the cloud of black magic, Queen Faina moved. “I said…GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!”
The ancient black magic that Angelique wasn’t certain she could beat…fled. It rushed away from Queen Faina and shot back to the mirror, sinking within its surface with such force, the reflection violently rippled.
Queen Faina and Snow White clumped together as the armored constructs continued to attack the warriors.
They did it. Using love, they beat it. Even though that was the worst sort of magic I’ve ever seen… Evariste did tell me that love—whether paternal, platonic, romantic, or otherwise—was one of the strongest forces on earth and is as old as the most ancient kinds of magic.
Angelique’s magic stirred in her, trying to make her move—do anything. Evariste was right there! But she remained still, feeling as if she wanted to grasp something that was just out of her reach.
I can’t overpower the mirror—I can see that with my own eyes. I can disrupt it, like Sybilla mentioned, or maybe I might be able to briefly overwhelm it as Odile did with her wyvern. But…what if…
She couldn’t solidify the glimmers of her thoughts into words or an idea.
Around her, the battle still raged.
Aldelbert was protecting Wendal—who was slumped against a wall, entirely out of the fight. Marzell fought with Oswald and Rupert, but their strength was starting to fail. Gregori and Fritz worked together, but even Fritz was showing signs of weariness.
Snow White scooped up a dagger and scrambled up to the throne. She ran past it, closing in on the mirror—though her steps became slow, and she started to shiver uncontrollably.
Help them! Angelique’s magic raged in her, as her mind screamed, Do something!
But she was so close!
The mirror doesn’t have a spell on it, so it’s not a spell keeping Evariste in, but the mirror’s sheer power. I need to use my magic to fight it off, but what if—to get him out…
Angelique wasn’t stupid.
She didn’t romantically love Evariste.
However, if she’d learned anything over the past few years, it was that missing Evariste—feeling his absence—was an ache that never went away and a wound that cut far deeper than she’d ever expected.
As his student, she’d respected him, but she hadn’t valued their relationship.
Evariste had, however. He’d always made it plain that he cared for her. Even when she thought he was a dream and—
I love him. I don’t know how to define what kind of love, but I do love him. And that is all I need to get him out.
Satisfied, Angelique released her hold on her magic, and it roared free.
Chapter 29
She was here.
Evariste could feel her unique, remarkable magic. Not just where the flicker of her powers still prodded at the wall blocking his magic in his soul, but outside the mirror.
He thought he could see her, but although the surface wasn’t hazy like it usually was, outside it was smudged—almost like a painting.
He was fairly certain, however, that the lively smudge wearing bright blue was Angelique.