The Catswold Portal

She watched him intently, convinced that he wasn’t lying and that this man could tell her all the secrets that had been locked away from her.

“Tell me, Melissa…Tell me what you remember of your childhood.”

“The usual things. Working in the garden, caring for the sheep, collecting honey, learning to ride the pony—”

“Stop it. What do you really remember?” He held her shoulders hard, searching her face. “What do you remember? If you really remember nothing, why were you searching for the Harpy’s mirror?”

“What is the Harpy’s mirror?” she said dumbly.

He shook his head. “I can see it in your eyes. You do not lie very well. You have been to the Harpy in the cellars. She begged you to steal her mirror. What,” Efil said softly, “would you trade for the Harpy’s mirror, my Melissa?” He began again to caress her; he was so changeable, emotions danced and flickered across his face. She felt there was no real core to him, no one person. He stroked her throat, kissed her neck, until she pulled away. He turned from her, folding back the velvet bed cover, revealing dark satin sheets. He said, “Afterward, I will give you the Harpy’s mirror.”

“Give me the mirror first.”

He only looked at her.

She looked back steadily. He might be selfish and quickly enraged, but underneath she sensed that he was weak. She said, “The mirror first.”

“Your promise to come to my bed?”

“My promise.”

He opened the wardrobe and pulled aside jackets and breeches, whispering a sharp, short spell—one she had never heard before. A panel slid away revealing a small cupboard. He took from within a mirror no bigger than her hand. It was oval, its platinum frame jeweled with opals and topaz and moonstones flashing in the lamplight. He placed it in her hands; it was surprisingly heavy. But it gave back no reflection. She could not see her face, or Efil’s. Across its clear surface ran one fleeting shadow deep within, then its surface burned clear.

He said, “Did the Harpy promise to give you visions for this?”

“She—she did.”

“You have the mirror. Now come to bed.”

“Wait,” she whispered.

His rage flared; he took her shoulders. “You will not take the mirror from this chamber until you have paid for it.”

“That was my promise. But I cannot promise you a healthy child until the woman-spells are complete.” She held the mirror tightly. “If you force me to bed too soon, there will be little chance of a healthy child.”

Anger flashed in his eyes, and then uncertainty. “You can’t think…”

A noise from the solar stopped him. He froze, listening to movement in the next room. She panicked, not knowing where to run. He pushed her toward the draperies and behind them. “She’s in the solar. Stay hidden.” He straightened the heavy draperies, hiding her. She stood in darkness that smelled of dust from the thick velvet, her heart pounding, clutching the Harpy’s mirror. She heard the chamber door open and close, then silence, and knew he had gone out to distract Siddonie. For the first time she was thankful for Siddonie’s presence.

Chapter 14

From behind the draperies Melissa listened to the queen’s muffled voice in the next chamber, heard the king reply to some question, then the queen snapped irritably at him. Slipping the mirror inside her bodice Melissa moved out from the draperies. Pressing against the door, she listened.

“…be a fool,” Siddonie was saying, “of course she is. You had a colossal nerve to approach her. And in public. Everyone saw you. Briccha has orders to confine her to the scullery. I have instructed the guards not to let her out of the palace. If you—”

“And I suppose you will put her in the dungeons,” he interrupted.

“And what of it?”

“You’ll never train her if you lock her up. She will be no use to you.”

“And she will be no use to you,” Siddonie said coldly.

“Don’t you understand that she would bring them all here, that they would destroy Affandar!” Another pause, then the queen’s voice came closer. Melissa fled to the draperies. Behind them, she opened the glass door and slipped out onto the balcony. She had a leg over the rail, searching for a foothold in the vines, when she saw three guards below and drew back.

She stood against the wall listening to their idle conversation. She heard an inner door open, but when after a very long time she heard nothing more from the chamber, she slipped inside.

Efil’s room was empty. She crossed to the door and listened, then drew it open, faint with fear.

The solar was empty. She hurried across the pale carpet between the satin chairs and cracked open the outer door. When she saw no one in the hall, she fled to the back stairs and down. She was halfway down the first flight when she saw a guard below, walking the corridor. She drew back into the shadows. When he moved away, she slipped down past him, silent and quick.