Page 25 of The Broken Mirror
“But you don’t have your crown.”
“Because you took it!”
“Did I, though?” asks Robin.
“If you didn’t take it, who did?”
Robin shrugs. “Does it matter?”
“Yes, it does.”
“But without it, you don’t have to be queen anymore! You can be with me!”
That beating heart now drops into her stomach. She could leave it all behind, run away with Robin Hood. Is he serious? She can never tell. He doesn’t act like this around anyone else. Serious. Earnest. Is he tricking her? Is this real? But she wants to be queen. (Doesn’t she?) She does. If she’s not queen, then King Richard will take over the North. And he’ll ruin it; the ogres will ruin it. Running away with Robin Hood would be an act of complete selfishness. The ogres would be one step closer to taking all of Never After, and no matter how scared she might be, she can’t let them do that. Not without a fight.
“Robin, I wish I could, but I can’t.” It’s so hard to deny Robin. All their childhood promises are still alive in his heart.
Jeanne may be a princess, but she’s no longer a child.
Robin Hood leans over, his eyes flashing. “It’s that lunkhead, isn’t it? That Sharif of Nottingham? Are you going to marry him? Is that it?”
“I don’t know, Robin, but I know I’m not running away with you.”
“The ogres will win, you know. You don’t stand a chance. At least if you run away with me, we’ll be free and happy somewhere.”
“How can I be free and happy if my people are living infear and darkness?” She wants to make him understand, but she knows he never will.
“Fine then. Stay. I hope you get what you deserve,” he bites.
“I can’t, Robin. I just can’t. You have to go.”
He stares at her one final time. “Goodbye, Jeannie.”
“Bye, Robin,” she whispers.
Robin turns away, then motions over his shoulder. “And, um, good luck.”
Jeanne watches him shimmy down the trellis and disappear, but even though her heart is heavy, something catches her eye.
Something large and terrifying and beating war drums.
An army marches north.
King Richard’s army.
She gasps. If she won’t abdicate, Richard will take the crown another way: by removing her head and placing the crown on his own.
It’s too late.
CHAPTERTWELVEMOTHERKNOWSBEST
After Filomena hangs up from her phone call with her dad, she slinks to the floor.Mum is in the hospital?This all makes no sense. Her mom is one of the healthiest people Filomena’s ever met. And sure, maybe some of that is because Bettina’s really intense about hand sanitizer and doesn’t leave the house much, but she always makes jokes about her “strong English constitution.” Filomena can’t even remember her mom having the flu, let alone needing to go to the hospital.
She decides to put together a care package. It’s exactlythe kind of thing that Gretel would suggest. Filomena feels a pang of missing Gretel but tries to push it away. How is it that, no matter which world she’s in, she’s missing someone? Being biportal definitely isn’t as easy as it seems.
There are limited supplies in the house, and Filomena doesn’t have a car, nor a driver’s license come to think of it, nor a way to get to a shop and back in time to meet her dad. So she makes due with what’s around: a packet of cookies in the pantry, some of her mother’s favorite English breakfast tea, and a couple of Filomena’s stuffed animals for some extra-plush support.
As she packs up her care package, she can’t help but think of her friends. She never feels alone when she’s with Jack, Alistair, and Gretel. But she feels so alone now.
