Maplepunzel, Part 9

The mirror rippled on those overwhelming shadows, until Jeffrey and the hovel reappeared. The handsome prince’s dark eyes were wide and horrified as they gazed at his transformed love. His gaze moved towards Hilary, who gently ran one gnarled finger over his tanned cheek.

“When the smoke subsided, we were in this hovel.” Her voice cracked as she ran her gnarled fingers over the arms of the chair. “This was once my throne. It was made of mahogany with gold inlay and had the softest maroon velvet upholstery. I used to sink into it every time I attended to affairs of state. And this table,” she drew a cracked nail over the scarred tabletop, “was where I met all of my chancellors and heads of state for board meetings.”

Maple ignored Hilary cataloging the furniture. She dropped to her knees and flung her arms around Betty, hugging the poor little deer tight. Betty had been a young woman just like her, and she’d lost even more than she had. Betty leaned into her, silent tears running down her furry snout. Neither made a sound other than the soft swish of Maple’s fingers stroking Betty’s back.

She looked up as another set of arms wrapped around them. “Hi, girls.” Scott’s brawny arms enfolded them in a tight bear hug. “Betty, I’m sorry I left. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to stop Pavla. I didn’t even find you wandering in the woods. No one knew what happened to you or Hilary…” He raised an eyebrow and looked up at the hand mirror. “Hey Jeff…it occurs to me that you must have figured out what happened, too. How did you end up in that mirror?”

Jeff nodded as the glass rippled around him again. Maple and Scott returned to the table, with Betty tip-taping between them. Her eyes widened as the ripples in the glass revealed Prague Castle, an impenetrable fortress of ebony stone and wood glowering from the top of a craggy cliff. Jeff sat on the back of a chestnut stallion, looking every inch the same as he did in the mirror…but the look of sadness was filled with unbridled fury. 

“Pavla!” He screamed as he tethered his horse to the nearest post. “Where are you?” The mirror followed him over the drawbridge as he raced into the dreary main hall, with its heavy, ponderous wood furniture and dusty tapestries depicting bloody battles of Berlania’s past. “What have you done with Hilary and Betty? The trail leads to you, Pavla. Victor told me that Pruitt works for you. They say he was chummy with Hilary and only escaped less than an hour before Hope Springs disappeared.”

Pavla emerged, an ebony gown trimmed with black crow feathers clinging to every part of her body. “Well, hello there, Prince Jeffery,” she purred. “You know, you can’t believe everything you hear. Yes, my financial advisor Baron Rollie Pruitt did work for Hilary before Hope Springs disappeared, but he wasn’t there when it vanished. He had nothing to do with it.”

“Don’t lie to me!” Jeff held his shining gold and steel sword level with her considerable bosoms. “Where is Hilary and Betty? What did you do to Hope Springs?”

Even as Jeff followed her with his sword, she ran her finger over the most elaborate of the eleven mirrors lining the hall. Maple knew them well. She’d only gazed into them every day when she lived at the castle. It was one of the few fun things to do at Prague Castle. 

“You know,” she purred, “your brother Victor is still fighting my generals in Berlania. I have heard you’re close to your big brother. He’s your protector, your friend, your inspiration. I wouldn’t mind visiting him at the front.” She leaned over and touched his cheek. “He’s not handsome like you, but he would do. I could do so many things to him…take that strong voice, keep him from making those speeches to boost Wennaria’s morale, dull those keen eyes, or maybe turn him into a far more attractive frog…”

“No!” Jeff’s sword wavered. “Please, just…tell me where Hilary is, and stay the hell away from my big brother! Before I shove this where your heart should be.”

She ignored the sword, stroking his cheek. “Yes, you’re very pleasing. Why don’t I make a bargain with you, fair prince? I will tell you what became of your precious Queen Hilary and leave your brother alone, if you marry me.”

Jeff was so shocked, he lowered his sword. “What?”

“Marry me. Here. Now.” Her long fingers circled his throat. “Or I can do very unpleasant things to your brother…and even nastier things to your beloved queen.”

“Yes!” Jeff yanked away from her. “Yes, I will marry you…but on two conditions. You don’t go near my brother, and you tell me where Hilary is. I know you must have her and Betty.” 

“Oh, you’ll find her, all right.” She nodded as two of her bird creatures emerged from the dining hall, crumbs from their dinner ringing their mouths and wings. “Hold onto him while we go to the chapel in the back of the castle. I must dress for my wedding.”

Maple knew that chapel well, too. She knew what it would look like, even before the glass rippled and the scene changed. Pavla had taken her there often enough to worship on quiet Sundays with her twisted priests. The man of the cloth who held Pavla and Jeff’s hands had been the priest at Prague Castle for decades, twisting his religion to Pavla’s strange black magic ceremonies. 

The mirror rippled again, the scenery changing as Hilary’s bony jaw clenched and Maple’s eyes widened. The Hall of Mirrors was Pavla’s sanctuary, laboratory, and workshop. Cauldrons bubbled in a massive black stone hearth. Glass bottles filled with sticky Technicolor liquids lined shaky wooden shelves. Every wall was lined with mirrors in every size and shape imaginable. Some were floor-length with frames of pure etched gold and silver. Others were simple, dusty affairs with cracked glass and cheap wooden frames. Three hand-mirrors lay on the workshop table. 

The two bird monsters dragged the furiously struggling Jeff to the largest and most lavish mirror. Maple remembered gazing into that mirror as a child when she’d dress in Pavla’s gowns and pretend she was queen of Berlania. “All right,” Jeff puffed hard. “I married you, Pavla. Where’s Hilary?” 

“You want to see your beloved?” She rolled the largest mirror in front of him as the reflection rippled and turned inky black. “Why don’t you look into the mirror?”

Jeff gasped as the black and purple lights in the mirror swirled and danced. “Pavla, what are you doing?” He wanted to run, but there was something about the magic that drew him in. The swirls mesmerized him. He couldn’t tear his eyes from them.

“Just watch the mirror.” She stroked his temples slowly, deliberately. The slower she went, the more his breathing slowed. “Don’t fight the mirror’s magic. Let it in. Embrace it.” 

The longer he watched the swirls, the more placid his dark almond eyes became. “Yes, my fair prince.” She whispered into his ear. “Soon to be king of Wennaria. That’s why I wanted you, of course.” Her fingers touched a dark purple velvet collar and thick iron chain leash on the workshop table before rubbing slowly around his throat, much like they had rubbed Maple’s so many times. “Tell me everything you know about your brother and his work.”

“First of all,” Jeff droned, his commanding tenor softened to the barest whisper, “for starters, I’m the younger brother. Victor will be king when Father dies, not me. That’s why he’s the one leading on the battlefield and has been training with Father all his life.” 

Pavla’s eyes widened as her face registered shock. “But, I thought…” She let out a sharp hiss and a series of noisy bird squawks before finally regaining her composure. “Had you been the heir, I would have kept you around for a little while. No need for that now.” 

Maple had heard Pavla talk about binding souls to the mirror world before. She refused to learn it. It sounded too painful. Pavla stormed to her workshop table, snatching a pot of purple and black powder. “I’ll have to do this earlier than I planned, then.” She nodded as her monsters held Jeff firm. “Keep looking at the mirror, slave. It has complete control over your mind and body. You are nothing but a reflection” 

She gasped as Pavla rubbed his throat, pulling out the gold light. “No one needs to speak in the Mirror World. You exist to be seen, husband, not heard.” Jeff threw a hand over his burning throat, even as his eyes turned black as tar and his face became an empty mask. 

Hilary let out a strangled shriek as Pavla painted thick black circular marks on Jeff’s handsome face and neck. “This will allow the mirror to know its new slave. With these markings, you are bound heart and soul to the mirror until someone can break it and turn truth to lies, and lies to truth.”

No sooner did she say those words than she shoved Jeff’s hands against the mirror. The moment he touched the smooth black glass, it rippled and distorted. The same black smoke that devoured Hope Springs drifted out, eventually engulfing him.

When the smoke subsided, Jeff now appeared in the mirror image. He stood in the workshop, Pavla still next to him. She laughed as he grabbed his sword and slammed it into the glass. The strong steel blade failed to make even the tiniest chip in the surface. He slammed into it, but dark liquid only ran down his slashed knuckles.

“Silly boy.” She ran her finger over his face in the glass. “You’re merely a reflection. You can see us, hear us. We can see you, but can’t hear you. I prefer it that way.” As she ran her hands over the reflection, the black smoke engulfed it again. 

“You wanted to see your precious Hilary. I’m going to send you to her. She had an especially lovely hand mirror that I graciously allowed her to keep. You will be bound to that mirror. She will see you, admire you, but not hear you. You will be her silent partner, able to be loved, but not touched.” Pavla’s smirk was the last thing he saw before the glass rippled again, returning to the hovel and its occupants.