4. Esmira
ESMIRA
I awoke to a stale taste in my mouth, the scent of seasoned wood, the fragrance of spring flowers, and a chill. My skin was cold and I lay on a hard surface which gently rocked back and forth. I sat up, aware of the embrace of darkness and the glimmer of starlight.
It was almost as though I were back at the Night Market, enjoying the festivities. Except glittering eyes hovered above me and a shadow took shape. My breath caught. It was the shadow from the other side of the mirror.
“If you scream, they will find us,” the shadow cautioned, holding up a gloved hand to silence me.
Those accented syllables told me it was him .
I’d been stolen by the Wicked Prince of Mirrors.
Any thought I had of crying for help faded, for it was my intent to flee the palace. But not like this. Not with him .
Without a word I turned and jumped over the side of the boat.
Cold, clammy water surged around my legs and all my inadequacies surfaced.
I’d grown up in the palace, surrounded by everything I needed.
I’d never known a moment of hunger, had always been dressed in fine clothes.
I wasn’t expected to make my own meals and had no firsthand knowledge of cooking, gardening, hunting, or even starting a fire.
I was a princess, a pretty shell used to taking, not giving.
No wonder my father, a warlord, had laughed at me.
I was good for nothing more than a marriage to a future king.
“You’ll catch your death in there,” the Prince said dryly. “I’m aware you aren’t keen to join my company, I assure you, the feeling is mutual. But unless I am mistaken, Mirror Magic is a crime, punishable by death. So die in the waters or die when they find you. Or you can let me help you.”
Splintered wood stabbed against my palms as I gripped the edge of the boat, aware that the waters were too deep, the night too black.
I couldn’t swim nor had I any idea which direction the shore lay.
I could only assume the Prince was taking me away from the palace, which was what I wanted.
Still, the words slipped from my lips, my fear rising. “Aren’t you going to kill me?”
A sound I could not decipher passed between his lips, his words hard. “How will it look if those in power find the shattered mirror and then your body floating in the river? They will hunt for both of us and I have many questions for you, so no, I will not be killing you.”
The cold water surged around me, numbing my skin, making my bones hurt and setting my teeth on edge. I recognized my stupidity. If my father were in my place, he’d make a bargain, not take deathly actions. “If I give you answers, will you promise not to hurt me?”
“Is that the deal you wish to make?”
He was laughing at me.
“For now,” I said, unable to keep my teeth from chattering.
“Then we are agreed.”
Leaning over he gripped my forearm with surprising strength and hauled me out of the water.
I tumbled into the boat, trembling with cold, miserably wishing I’d thought first before taking action.
My silk dress clung to my skin and I tried to rearrange it over my body, more to keep out the cold than to preserve my modesty.
Something struck me in the chest. A mewl of protest left my lips and I threw out my hands, intending to fling the object away from me, only to discover it was some sort of blanket.
“I suggest trading your wet clothes for the cloak,” instructed the Prince. “We have a long journey ahead.”
I turned my back on him, heat flaming my cheeks as I peeled off the wet dress and covered myself with the cloak.
It was overlarge and warm, immediately dispelling the cold.
I sank into it with a disturbing realization that he wasn’t trying to hurt me, he was helping me.
But he couldn’t be. He was the Wicked Prince.
Once I regained my composure I spoke. “What is your true name?”
“Methrin.”
It was a beautiful name that sounded like a distant chord, a note of magic hovering around it. I held his name in my mouth and it tasted sweet instead of bitter, light instead of evil. “I’m called Esmira. You aren’t human, are you?”
“And you are a pureblooded human, Esmira?” he challenged, drawing out each syllable of my name.
I stiffened, disliking the question. “I am.”
“How did you come by Mirror Magic?”
“How can you be sure I have magic?” I asked, wondering if it were possible to decipher his truth from lies. I knew little about this Prince, aside from the fact he was pure evil, full of malice and trickery. At least, according to the legends.
The only reason I hadn’t given in to the watery grave was that, unlike the Captain of the Venators, he wasn’t trying to kill me.
At least there was the hope of being able to flee from him when daylight arrived.
I clung to those strands of hope, willing myself to survive the conversation and make it to dawn.
“I felt a disturbance. I felt your power, bending the curse, thinning the veil between this world and the mirrorverse, from there I was able to break free. How did you do it?”
“It was a mistake,” I choked. I didn’t understand the magic and it was one topic I wished he wouldn’t linger on, besides I had questions of my own. “Where are you taking me?”
“Does it matter? Do you have a preference?”
“Not south,” I sputtered.
“Curious. Why? Are you not from the southern lands, your skin color indicates you are from that region.”
I glared at him but it elicited no reaction. Could he see in the dark? With the hood pulled over his face I couldn’t tell how good his vision was or if he were even looking at me.
A low growl drew my attention to the bank which rose on either side like walls.
It was cold, eerie, and the thrashing in the distance turned into vicious cries and screams of pain.
A predator had found its prey. Fear swept through me and I drew my knees to my chest, burying myself in the warmth of the cloak.
I was helpless but I wasn’t alone, I needed Prince Methrin, but what a shame it would be if he were as helpless as me.
After all, he’d been a Prince. Spoiled, arrogant, dripping with wealth.
Had he traveled the lands and did he know how to fend for himself?
More disturbingly, where had he been for the past two decades?
“I haven’t been to the south. I grew up here, in the palace.”
“A child of one of the usurpers?”
“How can there be an usurper if there’s no one to unseat? My father took up leadership of this nation when you left it in ruin.”
“You have a bold tongue, no doubt taking after your bold father.” The scorn in his tone was plain. “Does he still live? Did he proclaim himself king?”
“He took the empty throne you left.”
His voice dripped with malice. “Princess Esmira, am I correct? A false princess with a false crown.”
I despised him, and my words came out hard. “The kingdom belongs to those who take it, who can hold it.”
“Ah yes, and now I have a pawn. You belong to me, Princess of Mirror Magic.”
I saw myself being handed off in marriage to a scornful prince and bile filled my throat. “I’m not yours,” I snapped.
“No? Then feel free to toss yourself overboard again, the water will take you.”
I paused, regretting my heated words, but the trajectory of the conversation had slipped out of my control.
I had to steer it back to safety. My father often said that while the sword was might, words were powerful.
I needed to figure out what, exactly, Prince Methrin wanted and use it to my advantage.
“I have no wish to go back into the cold waters, but I want freedom.”
“Freedom,” he repeated and held up his hand.
Something glittered there and it looked like a dagger, or perhaps a slice of a mirror.
“Then answer my questions, child of the usurper. I am still waiting for truth to pass from your lips. Answer my questions and I might be gentle with you, I might withhold my wrath.”
My throat went dry. “What do you wish to know?”
“Tell me, Princess, how long have I been gone?”
“Two decades. There are many who are still alive and remember how it was before.”
“Before, as in when I ruled.”
“Yes, before you were cursed?—”
“Is that how they tell it?” Methrin interrupted. “I was cursed ?”
I lifted my chin, everything that happened had been his fault.
He’d asked for the truth and I’d given it to him, although I had to be careful lest I invoke his anger.
“You did not help your people, you did not save them from monsters, from war, from famine, and so they revolted. They marched upon the city and called you to come forth and answer to your crimes.”
“Interesting.” The one word sliced through the air like a knife. “You tell the story as if you were there. Continue, do not spare any details.”
I braced my hands on either side of the rocking boat, body tensed for an attack.
Would magic protect me if he flew into a rage?
“I was born a few years after the war so my words are not spoken from experience but from the knowledge that was passed down to me. Do not be angry with me for speaking the truth.”
“It is not truth you speak but a story which has been given to you, there is a difference, but we shall argue the details later. Continue.”
I bit down on my tongue and forced myself to go on. “As the legend says, when you discovered the treachery of the people, you were furious and called a monster forth from the mirrorverse.”
A dark laugh escaped from his throat.
I tensed, but when he did not leap at me, I continued. “Armies were destroyed, cities ruined, but a sorcerer came forward and cursed you, binding you to the mirrors until you learned your lesson.”
“I wonder what lesson that was supposed to be,” Methrin said bitterly. “Then what happened?”