44. Ella
ELLA
MAIER MANOR
Imay have avoided my family at the ball, but when they returned last night to find me sitting by the fire, an unmarried woman, both Father and my stepmother were livid. Father dragged me up to my tower and locked me inside, telling me I’d stay there without food or water until I married Wissen.
That should’ve upset me, but all I can think about is the ache in my stomach knowing I can never be with Jacob.
When the first rays of sunlight skim across the floor of my tower, I get dressed only to find the door locked.
I pace the room, waiting for the bells to ring or for someone to come and escort me to Dr. Wissen, but I’m only met with silence.
It isn’t until the sun is high in the sky that the stairs creak, signaling someone is coming.
I stand by the far wall, bracing myself as the keyhole clicks and the door opens.
“Oh, Ella.” Jesse slips inside with a tray of food.
She sets it down and rushes to hug me tight.
“I came as soon as I could. The family is taking a nap before the final ball. Your stepmother said to get you so you can help Marianne dress.” She scrunches her nose. “Marianne still won’t let me help her.”
“That’s not a bad thing,” I say, gobbling up the porridge. “I wish you didn’t ever have to deal with either of them again. Did Dr. Wissen show up today?”
“The master sent a servant to the Wissen manor, but no one answered.”
“Jesse, I need your help. If my father locks me in here again, when my family leaves, I need you to sneak up here and unlock my door. Can you do that?”
“But your father. He’ll be so upset.”
“He’ll never know. I’ll be back in my locked room before they return. I just want to spend some time by my mother’s grave.”
Her face softens. “Of course.”
Guilt slides through me for lying to her, but I need her to be as innocent of wrongdoing as possible if she’s questioned.
“Thank you,” I say, hugging her, and then scurry downstairs to Marianne’s room.
When I step inside and close the door behind me, my stepsister is nowhere in sight.
I check her bathing room only to find leaves laid out in a perfect circle with a bowl filled with crushed lentils.
I frown. That’s the same bowl I used to pick them up with yesterday.
Pain sears behind my eyes as another headache comes on.
When I turn around, I nearly jump out of my skin when I see Marianne walking across the room like she’s been here the whole time.
“Oh!” I say, pressing a hand to my chest. “I didn’t hear you enter.”
“I was reading by the couch,” Marianne says, smoothing down her dress. I frown. She definitely hadn’t been sitting on the couch when I entered. “I’m glad you’re here. Now help me with my hair. I must look perfect. The prince will announce his bride tonight.”
“Really?” I help her undress and then slip into a shimmering lily-white gown, but all I can wonder is if I were to attend, would he choose me?
And if he does, would I say yes? That shouldn’t even be a question, I remind myself.
It has to be a yes. Jacob isn’t an option and I can’t live here anymore.
“Has he shown any preferences for any girls?”
“There’s been this one, but after one look at me tonight, he won’t be able to resist me. I’ve been working on this gown all night.” She spins in a circle. The material swishes like the wind rushing over the trees. “What do you think?”
“It’s stunning.” There’s something special about this dress, almost magical. Not that I know much about magic other than Mother’s hazel tree. “But what do you mean you worked on it all night? Surely you didn’t make it?”
“Oh, Cinderella, my sweet sister.” She cups her hands around my face, staring deeply into my eyes. “You’ve no idea how I’ve come to care for you. Without you, I’d never even have a chance with the prince. I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me.”
I can’t look at her. Guilt tugs at me because I don’t want her to marry the prince.
I want to. In fact, every time I’ve listened to her advice, things have only worsened for me.
Not only has she used me to get what she wanted, but she’s tried to make it seem like she’s doing it because she cares about me.
“We have so much in common,” Marianne continues.
“Two women trying to survive in a world where our parents failed us. Perhaps marriage is the only way to freedom and power, but it’s all we’re offered, and so we must take what we can for ourselves.
I know it’s hard to marry a man you think is a monster, but what is love anyway?
A fleeting emotion, that’s what. Sometimes sacrifices must be made to get what we deserve. ”
Then she plops into her chair and pulls out her tiny mirror, staring at herself as I begin to brush her hair. “Curl my hair and then pin it up with this honeysuckle. That’s what I’ll use to bind his love to me. One whiff of it and the prince will be mine.”
One whiff? It’s like she’s using magic. The headache pierces the back of my eyes again. I push back pain, gripping the brush tighter. She can try to tempt him with her dress and flowers, but it’s going to be me whom he will choose. It’s the only way I can escape this madness.
As soon as the carriage rumbles away and Jesse unlocks my door, I grab my meager pack of belongings just in case the prince doesn’t end up choosing me and I need to leave my village forever.
“Good luck at the ball,” Jesse says, squeezing my hands. “Maybe you’ll even get to see the prince.”
I promise to tell her all about it when I return and then rush downstairs into the hallway, but when I pass by Marianne’s room, those crushed lentils haunt me.
Could those lentils be the same ones I tossed to the ground last night?
There was something strange about her last words to me.
I peer inside, noticing once again those strange leaves scattered about.
Pain pierces my forehead as I step inside.
Ignoring the ache, I follow the trail of leaves to the far wall where Marianne’s large mirror stands.
I stare at myself with neatly braided hair and a pale blue dress.
Except there’s something about this mirror.
My headache pounds, and my stomach cramps so tight, I double over, reaching to the mirror for support.
Except the surface of the mirror isn’t hard.
It’s fluid like the curtain of a waterfall.
I fall through face-first, tumbling onto soft grass.
Terrified, I scramble to my feet to find I’m in a garden enclosed by towering stone walls.
The same mirror from Marianne’s room rests in the center, surrounded by lavender, roses, and honeysuckle.
The sky is light purple, and the air smells like the herb tea Marianne drinks each morning. Hundreds of empty bird cages hang from twisted birch trees, swinging and creaking.
My heart clatters. What is this place?
Curious, I peek into a cage to discover it riddled with bones and a mirror. Biting back my dismay, I slip my hand inside and pull out the mirror. As I stare into it, an unblinking eye gazes back at me. I drop the mirror. It smashes into a million pieces on the stones at my feet.
Mirror magic. Just like Wissen used with his saws and carpentry.
A tiny chirp and a flutter of wings break the silence.
“Help, Ella! Help!”
Two doves flutter inside the cages behind me. I run to them.
“You poor things. I’m going to get you out of here.”
My pulse kicks up in horror as I unlatch their cages and hold out my hand, which they promptly fly onto. These must be some of the missing birds Aunt Fiona was talking about. Which also means all these bones must belong to the other missing birds.
“How did you get in here?” I ask them.
“Witch, witch, witch,” they sing.
Witch? This mirror leads to Marianne’s room. Does that mean she is a witch?
“Are there any others?” I ask the doves.
“Gone, gone, gone.”
Gooseflesh prickles across my skin. I need to leave and get these birds out of here. I’m about to return to the full-sized mirror when I notice a book bound in vines lying on a stone table. Dread fills me as I creep closer to it.
Reaching down, I touch the vines. My fingers tingle. A sizzling sound fills the air, and the vines shrink away from the leather-bound tome. Hands shaking, I open the book. Quickly, I skim through the pages.
There are rumors that magic from our world seeps through the shadows of the Black Forest. I cannot say if they’re true, but with the coven’s strength waning, and with it my throne, I can’t afford to ignore them.
If that magic could replenish my powers, it would change everything.
An old friend lives in the area. He might be able to help us. He certainly owes me.
Powers? Covens? My hands tremble. Is Marianne a witch? No, that can’t be possible. Someone else’s handwriting appears below that.
Be careful. There are rumors that the Enchantress has been hiring hunters to search for us. And where there is magic, they are sure to find it.
“This isn’t just a book,” I whisper in realization. It’s a means of communication between witches.
I was right. The Kingdom of Württemberg is perfect. I’ll have to appoint servants to take the roles of my mother and sister, but sacrifices must be made.
Stepmother and Bertha are Marianne’s servants? My head spins as the pieces snap together.
Sacrifices? You dare speak of sacrifices while I rot on this forsaken island, shackled to the whims of those slippery mermaids?
I flip through the conversations between the witches until I come to the last page. It’s a journal entry about me. My breath catches.
I knew there was no way the cinder girl could collect those lentils in the time she did. Thankfully, the foolish girl has no idea the powers she holds.
And here I thought she was watching out for me. She’s right, I think angrily. I was a fool.
Last night, I went outside and discovered them on the ground, laced with magic.
I crushed them and infused their magic into my dress.
Now the prince won’t be able to resist me.
Even that annoying Southlander princess won’t come close to my beauty.
The Kingdom of Württemberg and all its power will be mine.
The Enchantress will rue the day she ever stepped in my path.
My blood runs cold. The prince is being hunted by a witch planning to use him to control the entire kingdom. I need to warn him.
I’m about to close the book when I spy a single word scrawled in sharp, angry handwriting. The world tips sideways as terror claws at my heart.
GRIMM
Jacob. She knows about him, which means he’s in danger. Talons pierce through my hands as anger ripples through me. I take long, deep breaths and calm myself. Magic or not, I’m going to do everything in my power to stop Marianne.
I tuck the book under my arm and rush back through the mirror, running faster than I’d ever run in my life.