But it was not.
***
The shift happened so quickly, so violently, that I was unable to cling to my reality, as I had the last several weeks since that first episode, just hours after my father’s will was read, just minutes before Editha kicked me out of the house.
The world swirled around me, collapsing into nothing. And then the nothingness dissolved and I was not myself, but yet I was.
You’re here, I thought, and then wondered why I did. There was no one in this place but myself.
This place? I started to my feet to examine my surroundings, but instead nearly tripped on yards and yards of heavy fabric. Just what was I wearing?
Fortunately, my surroundings proved very convenient for examining my apparel. I was surrounded on all six sides by mirror. Every inch of wall, ceiling, and floor showed my face, eyes staring back at me wherever I turned.
Lifting my skirts to avoid treading on them, I stepped forward, and a thousand of my reflections did the same.
“Talk about me, myself, and I,” I whispered, desperate to hear a human voice.
I was trapped inside the mirror.
Somehow, that didn’t terrify me. I’d been in this mirror for so long, terror had long-since given way to despair – and now I was here, and I would find the way out of this prison.
What was terrifying was how my thoughts weren’t making any sense. And how I was wrapped in a dress that looked like it’d come straight out of a history book. It was gorgeous, don’t get me wrong, but that skirt…
It filled the room. I stood in a veritable ocean of red brocade, buried under a mountain of petticoats. Was I wearing a corset?
I was wearing a corset.
Now, I did like the effect it had on my waist, and it wasn’t cinched to the point of suffocation, but, still, a corset!
To crown the look, my bodice and shoes were encrusted in rubies and diamonds, and those same jewels dripped from my ears, neck, and wrists. I’d never worn so much jewelry in my life, and I’d been a rich kid.
At least my face was my own. Well, under the cosmetics, I assumed. My already-pale skin was powered as white as paper, and my lips were painted red. I had to confess, it wasn’t a bad look for me. Just an impractical one that reminded me of the goth stage that I’d gone through as a young teen.
I looked like a princess. Or a queen.
I was a princess.
I should be a queen.
Somehow, that thought had clicked my fractured mind together and made peace of my warring memories. True, I still didn’t understand how my consciousness had shifted to such a different version of myself, but it had. And this hadn’t been the first time – not for Princess Bianca of the Triaga Kingdom.
That was my name here.
My stepmother had trapped me in the Mirror of Sight – at the very hour that she had kicked me from my father’s house as Gwen. This mirror should have been the emblem of my reign, but instead, it became my prison on the day of my coronation. I hadn’t even thought it possible for a person to live within this mirror.
It shouldn’t be possible. My presence here was straining it, forcing it to use every ounce of its magic to keep me alive. How much longer could it last? What would happen when I drained it?
I had to escape.
But, of course, I’d known that from the moment I’d found myself here. Knowing a necessity doesn’t equal fulfilling it. My stepmother held the mirror firmly in her power, and there was nothing I could do about it from within.
That was why it was good that I was here.
I, as in the version of me that was not Princess Bianca of the Triaga kingdom. I apologize if this is a bit confusing. I wasn’t quite making sense of it myself, at the time.
What I did understand was that Gwen now held the mirror in her realm, and I hoped that this would sway the balance of power to my favor. Taking another step forward, I pressed my hands against those of my nearest reflection. The mirror’s surface rippled. I smiled. The mirror had not responded to me since I’d been trapped in it.
“Show me Alditha, my stepmother,” I ordered, choosing to test the waters of my control before I plunged in.
The surfaced rippled again, and my reflection disappeared entirely, replaced by a view of the court, Alditha sitting on my throne, wearing my crown. I noticed, however, that she was in no way as bedecked and bedazzled as I was.
She wasn’t dressed for her coronation. Had I really thought that Bianca dressed like this every day? That was ridiculous!
A tense air hung over the court. No one laughed or smiled, as had been the norm under my father’s rule. My stepmother governed with a rod of iron.
The mirror hung on the wall behind her, looming over the court in its largeness. Its surface was clouded, not clear as it should be. No doubt because I was inside.
I frowned. I’d hoped to make my escape when she was away, but I also dared not risk any delay. It would occur in the public eye, and I would settle for that.
“Mirror, Mirror, set me free.”
I pushed, with every ounce of my strength, and fell into nothingness.
And landed in the middle of court.
After disentangling myself from my skirts, again, taking my time to preserve my dignity, I surveyed the crowd, all staring at me with mouths agape.
“I apologize for my tardiness and regret that I missed my own coronation,” I stated. “But,” and I swept my gaze straight to Alditha, who glowered at me in annoyed disgust. “I was detained.”
“Oh, were you?” she asked, somehow able to keep control of herself and act all sickly-sweet. “For eight whole weeks?”
“I’m afraid so,” I answered. “And how many of those weeks passed before you took my crown for yourself? Did you even wait one?”
It felt so good to finally have the upper hand against this woman. We could both hear the crowd’s murmuring. I was their true princess – true queen. They would sway in my favor.
Her lip twisted in a sneer – as she clearly didn’t realize yet that she was beaten, or else refused to admit it. “I had to give the kingdom stability, after all.”
“Oh?” I took a step forward. “And is that also why you thought it necessary to trap me in the Mirror of Sight? I fail to see how that possibly brought stability to Triaga.”
The crowd’s murmuring grew louder and featured a large number of gasps. My stepmother said not a word. She had no defense. Not even her ivory gown could lend her any innocence in the eyes of the people.
“Mirror, show us what Aditha did on the morning when I should have been crowned queen,” I ordered.
As The Mirror’s now-clear surface swirled to show Alditha shoving me into its depths, I focused again on my stepmother to find her still smiling.
“You think that’s all it takes to win, Bianca?” she asked. Her voice was so quiet that I should not have heard it over the crowd, and yet I did. She stepped down from the throne. “Very well, I shall let you enjoy your game of victory.”
Without a fight, she removed the crown from her head and placed it in my hands.
“It’s over, Alditha,” I hissed, tightening my hands around it, lest she try to take it back.
“Over?” She shook her head. “It’s barely begun, child. And when you are dead, the people will welcome me back.”
With that, she vanished.
2
The Box
I awoke to my alarm clock blaring.
Groaning, I rolled over and slammed the snooze button with my fist, yet didn’t fall back asleep. Just squinted at the wall as I mused over the dream I’d had.
I’d been having some pretty weird dreams, dreams that felt like memories – but this was stranger still. I could not only remember every moment of it with perfect clarity, but all of Princess Bianca’s memories remained lodged in my head, and trying to recall one of my memories as Gwen was as likely to recall a memory as Bianca alongside it. Father, Rosa, Editha, Williams – they all appeared somewhere in both lives. Only Jeremy see
med to lack a counterpart in my alternate existence.
Did that mean that he wasn’t supposed to be in my life at all? But that just felt wrong. Just as it felt wrong to not have him in my life here.
Taking a deep breath, I put Jeremy out of my mind and shoved the covers off of myself. I had a life to live, and if he had chosen to not be part of it, then so be it. I couldn’t put my life on hold, waiting for him to come back to me.
My eye fell on the mirror, lying on my nightstand, and memory came rushing back.
It hadn’t been a dream. Bianca’s reality was as real as my own, and I had been there yesterday evening. I’d come back just in time to tuck myself into bed here, and it had blended into my dream – but it was, itself, not the dream.
What was going on with me? I’d never argued that parallel realities couldn’t exist, but I wasn’t supposed to swap between them like this. People stayed rooted in their own world.
Or was I going crazy? I’d been questioning my sanity since my father’s death, but now … maybe Father had been right to leave everything to Editha. I wasn’t mentally fit to run Kingdoms. She shouldn’t have just kicked me out of the house – I should have been checked into the nearest asylum.
No, I couldn’t let myself think like this. Editha was a soulless monster who did not deserve my family’s legacy. I had to get a hold of myself. Maybe there was a better explanation for my seeming insanity. Maybe it was just a response to grief and I just had to work harder to get through it.
Still…
“Mirror, show me Rosa,” I instructed.
If it worked here, then maybe that would prove that it had really happened and that my brain wasn’t taking a quick vacation. Or it could prove that my sanity was even more shredded than I knew.
On a second thought, this probably wasn’t a good idea, but it was too late. The mirror’s surface was already swirling, and it cleared to reveal Rosa standing on my front doorstep, fishing her keys out of her purse.
I quickly dispelled the image, hastening out of my room just in time to see her step through the door.
Well, maybe the thing was genuine. I didn’t think that my brain would invent something that was actually happening.
“Ah, good, you’re awake, and I don’t have to drag you out of bed,” she declared, sizing me up. “I guess ‘dressed’ was too much to ask for.”
“I … was working on my make-up,” I declared, realizing that her eye had drifted to the mirror I held.
Up went her eyebrow. “You do know that you should do that after you’re out of your pajamas.” She shook her head. “Gwen, you truly amaze me, some days. Is this really how rich people live?”
“I’m not a rich person anymore,” I stated. “I’m as poor as you. And, you’re right. I should have gotten dressed first, but you know how I am when I’m still half asleep. What are you doing in my house, by the way?”
“If you didn’t want me popping in at wrong hours, then maybe you shouldn’t have given me a key,” Rosa stated. “See, both of us have the same rare day off, so I wondered if you might want to come with me and hang out. Just for fun. Like old times.”
I blinked, lowering my mirror. “Old times? Like, when I would drag you to all of my favorite places and pay your way against all of your protests?” I shook my head. “Sorry, but I don’t have money anymore. I thought you knew that.”
Rosa laughed. “Gwen, please, you know I only went along for your company – and never liked living off of your charity. There are ways to have fun without spending half a million dollars on every drop of the hat.”
“Noted,” I said, choosing not to point out that I’d never spent that much money on our excursions. “But I happen to have plans for the day already.”
“Without me?” Rosa stuck out her lower lip in a pout as she folded her arms over her chest. “Also, what’s up with that mirror? I don’t think that I’ve seen it before.”
“It … was a gift from my father,” I explained. “Found it last night in a drawer.”
“I’ve never seen it before,” Rosa stated again. “And you were living on my couch out of a suitcase for six weeks.”
“Um, that’s beside the point.” There was no way that I was going to tell her that a chest of drawers had magically appeared in my bedroom, or that the mirror showed me anything I asked it to. Rosa was a very no-nonsense person, and I barely accepted it for myself. “As I said, I have plans for the day – I have to go talk to a few lawyers.”
“Lawyers?” Rosa’s eyebrow arched higher. “Gwen, you and Williams already examined the will – quite thoroughly, too. Everything was left to Editha, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. I thought you were moving forward. Please don’t take a step back now.”
“I’m not,” I assured her. “This isn’t about Kingdoms. This is about Apple Pancakes.”
“And you’re going to sue them for not paying you enough? Gwen!”
“No, Editha decided to make a consolation prize of it for me,” I answered, retreating into my bedroom to change into my clothes. “I have to talk to her lawyer to claim it, but I want to talk to Williams, first.”
“Why Williams?”
“I just want to make sure that it’s a good idea to accept it from her,” I answered. “I don’t trust Editha, and you know it.”
“Yes, I know it, and you need to stop imagining issues that aren’t there,” Rosa answered. “Maybe Editha is just trying to be nice?”
“By giving me a failing restaurant?” I asked. “Rosa, Editha doesn’t do ‘nice.’ She’s either setting me up for failure or…”
My eye fell on the chest of drawers that stood at the end of my bed, and I fell silent.
Or she was trying to distract me from claiming my own.
“Or maybe she’s just trying to cut her losses with that place,” said Rosa. “I think you’ll do a much better job of running it than she ever did.”
I didn’t answer her, lost in my own thoughts. In that other realm, my stepmother said that things had only just begun. Did I dare let my guard down? Was it possible to beat her on both fronts at once?
I called to mind my last thoughts as Bianca in that other realm. See to the others. I can handle myself here.
Others? More realms and alternate versions of myself? I sized up the chest of drawers. Seven of them. One for each realm?
Kneeling, I pulled open the second drawer. Inside, nestled in velvet as the mirror had been, was a ceramic box – a jewelry case. It was solid white, save for the outline of a pink heart on the lid.
I opened the box and the world swirled around me.
***
I was running for my life. Such terror overwhelmed me as my mind melded with this version of myself that this was all that I could know about her.
I ran through a dark forest with little care for what direction I chose. Spindly branches grabbed my hair and clothes, while thorns tore my feet and skirt. My legs and sides ached, my lungs burned, and my whole body begged for rest and sleep.
But I could not stop. Not for a moment. I had to escape him.
Him?
I ground to a stop, grabbing a low-hanging tree branch to cling to as I caught my breath and sorted out who I was in this realm.
My name was Candice. Very good.
I was a princess, here, too. Fair enough.
My stepmother had seized power immediately upon my father’s death, casting me into a dungeon for some invented crime. No surprise there.
I was now in the dark forest, running for my life from him.
From…
His trudging step cut short the thought. I whirled around, heart hammering in my throat. I knew I should run again. Every impulse in my body screamed for it. But I wobbled unsteadily on my feet, and only my hold of the tree branch kept me standing. Now that I had stopped running, there would be no way that I could convince my legs to move again.
Not even as he emerged from behind a tree.
His brown hair was a mess that could never be tam
ed, that I knew – but his brown eyes held no trace of their usual glint of mischief, and there was not even a trace of his crooked smile in the hard line of his mouth.
“Done running, little rabbit?” he asked, with a mocking tone that was nothing but wrong, coming from him. “I knew you would tire of the chase soon enough. A huntsman’s endurance is his greatest weapon.”
“Rinold, no,” I whimpered.
After enduring Jeremy’s silence for two months as Gwen, to see the man I loved like this nearly tore my heart into a thousand pieces. It wasn’t right. This wasn’t him.
He and Rosa’s counterpart, Lilian, had come to me in the middle of the night, promising me escape and freedom from my stepmother. I’d gone with them – what other choice did I have? Lilian had stayed behind at the castle in hopes to misdirect my stepmother’s search, while Rinold had taken me away to the forest to hide.
I don’t care if the queen has declared you the most vile of criminals, he had declared. You are still the princess. I know the promises I made your father, and I will protect you to my last breath until you breathe yours.
I care not that the queen will declare me a traitor, my loyalty was sworn to you long ago.
I will see you restored to your proper throne.
And then he had produced that black knife and tried to kill me.
He held it even now, tight in his fist, evil magic oozing from it in such force that I knew it was controlling him.
I don’t know how I’d escaped that knife, what impulse had spirited me out the reach of his arm, but I hadn’t wasted time then to ask questions. Perhaps as Bianca, I would have, but Candice seemed altogether a weaker, more timid version of myself, completely lacking her counterpart’s backbone.
“Rinold, why? Why are you doing this?” I gasped. He was nearly upon me now. “This isn’t you.”
A wicked grin lifted one corner of his mouth. “I could kill you now,” he said, catching me by my waist, and tracing across my throat with the tip of his knife. I swallowed down a scream. Whatever had happened to him, I couldn’t help him by running.
The Seven Drawers Page 2
