by L. M. Brown
“Oh it is,” Harry replied with another guffaw. “Can you even imagine the looks on the faces of your people if you announced your marriage to a man hired to assassinate you? They’d lock you away before you could rustle up a priest.”
“Well, I wouldn’t draw attention to your former career.”
“You mean my current career?”
“I know what I meant. You wouldn’t be an assassin if you married me.”
Harry sat up, dislodging Lucius from where he rested against him. “I’ll always be an assassin. My face is on wanted posters, and you know as well as I do that the ceremony wouldn’t make it past the does-anyone-object part.”
Lucius touched him again so he could make sure Harry heard him. “Is your profession the only reason you can think of for why we shouldn’t wed?”
“Isn’t that enough?” Harry replied.
“No, it’s not,” Lucius snapped. “You don’t have to make your mind up right away, but I want you to at least think about the possibility.”
Harry severed their connection once more. “I don’t need to think about it. The whole idea is absurd. You’re a king and clearly being trapped in a mirror has caused you to lose your faculties. If you were in your right mind you wouldn’t even consider such nonsense. You wouldn’t have done what we just did either, or at least not with someone like me.”
Lucius reached out to touch Harry again, but he saw him in the mirror and moved to avoid him. Lucius thought about going into his hand mirror so they could talk properly without Harry pulling away to silence him, but he could tell he needed some time.
He retreated from both mirrors, cursing his stupidity at raising the idea of marriage so soon. He should have kept his mouth shut. He should have taken the time to woo Harry and make him see that despite their differences, they were perfect for each other. Maybe then Harry wouldn’t have found the idea so ridiculous.
Chapter Six
Harry had no idea where Lucius had disappeared to. If he hadn’t known better, he might have thought the king’s feelings had been hurt by his reaction to his suggestion of marriage. He had heard stories that the royal family of the Kingdom of Cinders still believed in love at first sight, that they recognised their true love the moment they saw them. If that was the case, Lucius had lost his mind completely, since the first time he had seen Harry, he had been inches away from murdering him.
No, it was obvious that Lucius was insane after spending so long trapped in the mirror. Once he was out and had the pick of whoever he wanted, he would soon forget this nonsense about marrying Harry.
Harry pushed thoughts of Lucius aside and concentrated on his job in the galley until he saw land on the horizon. As they drew near he could tell it was the island he had seen in the magic mirror, the castle visible at the top of a hill. Now all he had to do was get there.
He dismissed any fleeting ideas about asking the captain to make a detour to the island. He had managed to stay out of his way during the journey and didn’t want to press his luck by drawing attention to himself when he was so close to his destination.
There were a couple of rowboats on board, although the condition of them was questionable. He discounted the first after seeing a massive hole in the bow. The second wasn’t in much better shape, but at least it wasn’t likely to sink before he reached land.
A quick scan of the deck highlighted his next problem, stealing the boat without anyone noticing. Deciding it would be better to make the attempt at night, and when they were closer, he retreated back to the galley and the never-ending chopping, slicing and stirring. Every now and then he glanced at the reflective surface of the various pans, hoping to see Lucius in one of them, but he remained absent. Harry didn’t want to admit that he was missing the king’s company. The rest of the crew were busy, and even when they came to eat they didn’t have time to stop and chat with him. Despite the differences in their stations, Harry found Lucius to be surprisingly good company.
When he still hadn’t appeared by the time Harry was ready to steal away in the rowboat, he was starting to worry that something might have happened to him.
Since there was nothing he could do about it, Harry had no choice but to continue with his mission alone.
At night there were fewer people around and security was concentrated around the captain’s cabin and the cargo hold. The crew on deck were more interested in their game of dice than what the cook was doing wandering around in the dark.
Harry gave them a wave and went over to where the rowboat hung over the side of the ship. When he caught one of the crew watching him, he made it look as though he were taking a piss, and the man turned away to give him some privacy. Harry slipped into the rowboat with barely a sound. He cringed at the fact that he had resorted to thievery, but at least his assassin skills helped him to steal away without being heard.
He was about ten meters away from the ship when one of the crew shouted an alert. Knowing the only other boat was too damaged to follow him, Harry spurred himself on until the tide helped carry him to shore.
He dragged the boat up onto the beach and checked he still had Lucius’ handheld mirror. He nearly dropped the mirror when he saw Lucius staring back at him.
“You’re back,” he exclaimed. “How long have you been there? Where have you been?”
Lucius smiled. “It sounds like you might have missed me.”
Harry scowled at Lucius’ accurate guess.
“Just a little?” Lucius pressed. “Come on, admit it. You like me.”
“Fine, I like you, happy now? Where have you been?”
Lucius’ smile turned smug. “I knew it. And I’ve been around.” His expression became serious. “I needed some space.”
Harry didn’t like to ask what for. The conversation was on the verge of getting too personal and too complicated. They also didn’t have time for this. The full moon had already risen and at midnight the island would vanish, taking the two of them with it.
Harry turned the mirror round so Lucius could see the castle. “Well, here we are. You still want to do this?”
“Yes, of course. If the mirror isn’t destroyed I’ll be spending the rest of my life as a prisoner, watching the wizard destroy my kingdom, while helpless to stop him.”
“Then let’s get up there and find this magic mirror,” Harry declared. “I just hope smashing it doesn’t bring me seven years bad luck, since my luck isn’t that great anyway.”
Lucius chuckled as Harry tucked the mirror into his belt and started the long walk towards the castle.
He had been walking for about an hour when he found himself back on the beach again. “Did I just walk in a circle?”
“Apparently,” Lucius replied from the mirror. “Try taking a bit more notice of landmarks this time.”
“There aren’t any landmarks,” Harry pointed out. “There’s just the castle, which is where we’re trying to get to.”
He set off on a second attempt, this time frequently checking the position of the moon. It therefore came as something of a surprise to find himself back on the beach for the third time.
“I think there’s magic at work here,” Lucius commented.
Harry had figured that out for himself. “Any ideas how we can get to the castle then?”
“Maybe try walking around the island, rather than going directly to it?”
With no other ideas coming to mind, Harry set off back into the trees again, only this time he walked in a circular pattern, keeping the castle always to his left.
He didn’t seem to be getting any closer to his destination, but at least he hadn’t arrived back at the wretched beach again.
“What’s that?” Lucius asked suddenly.
“What?” Harry stopped and stared around him. He couldn’t see anything unusual though.
“Turn to your left a little,” Lucius said. “A little more, yes, there, you see it?”
Harry faced the same direction of the mirror and squinted in the dark. “I just see a load
of bushes.”
“Go towards them, there’s something there.”
Harry wasn’t sure what Lucius had seen, but he didn’t seem to be getting anywhere with wandering around, so he went to take a closer look.
The bushes appeared like any other vegetation and he suspected he was wasting his time. A glance at the moon did nothing to stop his fears that they were running out of time.
As he drew closer he saw what Lucius’ sharp eyes had already picked out, the bushes were in front of some form of cave or tunnel.
“I guess I should check it out,” Harry said, though going into the pitch-black opening wasn’t something he particularly wanted to do. At least out here he had the light of the full moon to see by.
Since he didn’t have a torch, he guessed he had no choice except to grope around in the dark.
He had only gone a few paces into the cave when it became clear it was a tunnel. As it veered to the left and he turned the corner, the light of a strange torch on the wall made him squint.
“Magic,” he whispered as he stared down the tunnel at the neat row of torches, all glowing lime-green.
“Dark magic,” Lucius corrected. “You need to hurry.”
Harry didn’t need telling twice. Now he could see where he was going, he ran down the tunnel until he reached a doorway with a sign reading No Traders. “Do you think they get a lot of traders?” Harry asked with a laugh.
“I think this whole place is magically designed to keep people away,” Lucius replied. “Even from within the mirror I can feel the way the spell pushes us to leave. I’m proud of you for resisting it so well.”
Harry didn’t know what to say to that. He was a little embarrassed at Lucius’ words. Rather than respond, he opened the door, relieved to find it unlocked.
Now all he had to do was find the mirror and smash it to pieces.
Harry checked room after room but the place was bereft of any type of mirror, not even in the furnished bed chambers.
His explorations took him higher up the castle until he found himself climbing the main tower, finally reaching the topmost room.
The door looked as if it should have squeaked when he pushed it, but it glided open without a sound.
Harry stepped into what appeared to be a potions laboratory and knew at once he had found the mirror he needed to break. It was large, elaborately decorated and set up in the centre of the room.
Most tellingly, it didn’t show Harry’s reflection or the shelves of potions. Instead, it showed nothing but a grey mist.
“It’s nearly midnight,” Lucius said. “You need to hurry.”
Harry didn’t ask how Lucius could tell what time it was, they both knew they were in danger of being stuck on the island when it moved. He cast about for something heavy, but there was nothing to be found.
“Knock it from the stand and smash it on the floor,” Lucius suggested.
Harry ran to the mirror and grabbed the top right corner. The moment he touched the mirror the grey mist evaporated and the image of Lucius’ bed chamber appeared in the mirror. The wizard was fast asleep in the king’s bed.
“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” the mirror said.
Harry jumped back, surprised to hear the mirror speak. “Why not?”
“Because it would be a very bad idea,” the mirror replied.
Harry wasn’t impressed with the answer. The mirror might not be speaking in irritating rhymes like Robert’s mirror had, but it wasn’t exactly helpful with its comments. He grabbed the mirror again.
“What happens if he breaks the mirror?” Lucius called out. “Will it return me to my body?”
Harry waited for the mirror to reply. It seemed to be taking a while and he wondered if it was trying to think up some silly verse.
“Yes, you’ll be restored to your life.”
“And the wizard?”
“He will return here.”
“Is his body here?” Harry asked.
“Yes. It is in the next room in a sleep like death.”
“Then if I were to kill him here, he’d have no body to return to,” Harry surmised.
“If you were to kill him here, his spell would become permanent and there would be no way to return his majesty to his body. He would become permanently trapped in the mirror he is currently in.”
Lucius gasped. “Harry, you have to smash the mirror and get out of here as fast as you can.”
Harry moved to grab the mirror again, but before he could topple it, the mirror halted him once more.
“I’m a magic mirror,” the mirror told him. “I won’t stay smashed and when I reform the one who tried to destroy me will be trapped within my frame.”
Harry stopped immediately. “What did you say?”
“Magic mirrors cannot be destroyed,” the mirror explained. “If you break me, you’ll be trapped within this frame when I reform. And you won’t be able to travel from mirror to mirror as his majesty does either. This mirror will be your prison, your punishment for breaking me.”
Harry didn’t know why he believed the mirror, but he did.
“Don’t do it,” Lucius said. “It’s not worth it. We’ll find another way to reverse this magic.”
“There is no other way,” Harry replied as he brought the mirror crashing down from its stand.
It shattered into pieces that spread across the stone floor.
The mirror was only broken for a matter of seconds. The pieces flew into the air and slotted together as it pieced itself back together.
An image of Lucius’ bed chamber appeared. The last thing Harry saw before he was sucked into his prison was the sight of Lucius leaping from his bed and racing for the dressing table.
Chapter Seven
Harry watched the doorway as he waited for the wizard to return. He had no doubt he would be here soon, and that he wouldn’t be happy about what had happened.
“I did warn you,” the mirror said. This time the voice seemed more in his head than in his ears.
“I know,” Harry replied. “But King Lucius is needed by his kingdom.”
“You’ll be trapped in here until someone else smashes the mirror, and it’s not likely to happen again.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Harry said as he wandered around his prison. Like Lucius, he could interact with the things in the reflection, but a quick bit of experimentation revealed that was all he could do. Nothing he did to the items in the mirror world made any impact in the real world. Which meant he couldn’t use his knife to stab the wizard when he burst through the door a few moments later.
The warlock glared furiously at Harry. “Who are you? What have you done?”
Harry shrugged. “The name’s Harry. Assassination is my trade, though I appear to be somewhat limited in what I can do from here. Perhaps you’d be good enough to free me?”
Unsurprisingly, the wizard ignored his request. “Your interference may have returned that fool to his body for the moment, but it won’t be for long.”
“What do you mean?” Harry asked. He drew out his knife and tried to stab the wizard’s reflection, but as he had suspected, it didn’t work. The wizard didn’t even react to his attempt, though Harry had no doubt he had seen his actions.
The wizard appeared to calm down a little and when he spoke again he was no longer shouting. “You might have undone my spell, but it can be cast again. I only need to prepare the ingredients and figure out a way to stop Lucius from wandering when I sleep. It shouldn’t take long, and in a few months I’ll be back where I should be and Lucius will be back in his mirror.”
“No!” Harry shouted. “You can’t do that to him, not again.”
The wizard laughed. “Of course I can. Though why you’re so concerned I don’t know. You claim to be an assassin, and I’m sure you know what happens to men like you in the Kingdom of Cinders. They usually end up on the scaffold. Though maybe I could find a place for an enterprising fella such as yourself.”
Harry gave him a sceptica
l look and the wizard laughed again.
“Or maybe not, after all, I can’t free you from the mirror without trapping myself.”
Harry glanced around the room and realised there was a stool near the door. He took a seat, suspecting he was going to be here for a very long time.
* * * *
Lucius ran to the mirror, hoping to see inside the wizard’s laboratory, but the surface showed nothing but his own image staring back at him. He shouted for Harry, but no one appeared.
Curse the stubborn assassin. They could have found another way to get Lucius back into his own body. Some method that didn’t include trapping the man he loved inside a magic mirror.
Lucius had never believed in the whole love at first sight thing, even if it was his family motto. At least he hadn’t until the night he had met Harry. The attraction to him had been instant. Lucius had never considered that he might have a thing for bad boys, but his feelings for Harry said he did.
Travelling with the assassin had been an interesting experience, and despite being trapped in a mirror the whole time, Lucius had enjoyed his time with Harry. Their night on the ship had been especially enjoyable, and he had hoped to be able to repeat it, somewhere with some oils to hand so they could do a little more than they had.
Now that chance had gone.
Harry had sacrificed his freedom so Lucius could return to his own body. Lucius felt humbled by what Harry had done and he resolved to keep his promise and pardon him for his crimes, even if Harry would never know.
No. He shook his head. Harry would know what he had done, because he had no intention of leaving Harry stuck in a mirror. He would get him out of there and bring him home, where he would convince him that they belonged together, or spend the rest of his life trying.
But, first things first. He dressed and went to wake his advisers. He had a lot of damage to undo from the wizard’s actions.
Once his advisers had woken up, finished complaining, and listened to what he had to say, Lucius felt a lot better about things. He also made sure to warn them that the wizard might try to take over his body again, and if that were to happen they should lock him up at the first sign of rash decisions on his part that were contrary to the kingdom’s stability.
