Page 14 of The Broken Mirror
“Our head of staff here at the castle came up with a great spell for cleaning dishes that allows the staff a break,” Princess Jeanne says in answer. “She’s distantly related to the fairies. I can get her to teach it to you sometime if you want. Since, according to Jack, you’re so talented at spellwork.”
“I would love that,” Filomena says, shyly accepting the compliment. How handy! She never considered that spells could be used for anything other than preventing mortal danger.
As the dishes fly away, musical instruments in the corner of the room start to play: A cello’s bow zigzags across its strings, violins float in midair, a harp plucks itself, and a piano’s keys press themselves down.
“Nothing takes the edge off like dancing!” Princess Jeanne says to the group.
Soon the dance floor is full of Merry Men and Women swaying, cheering, laughing, and dancing. Filomena’s feeling a bit shy. She’s never been to a dance. School was always sohorrible thanks to her bullies, the Alfredos, that she never even considered participating in after-school activities. But this isn’t home; it’s Never After. Where instruments magically play themselves!
“Come on, then!” Gretel grabs Filomena’s hand and brings her to the dance floor.
Gretel and Filomena dance together, and soon Alistair joins in. The three friends do the twist.
The song ends, and when the next one begins, Gretel whispers to Filomena, “Go ask Jack to dance.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you! He’s just sitting there. Go on… Ask him!” urges Gretel.
Filomena is paralyzed. “Shouldn’t he askmeto dance?”
“What is this, the eleventh century? Actually, itisthe eleventh century in Never After. Butwe’refrom the twenty-first!” says Gretel, rolling her eyes.
“What about you? Shouldn’t you ask Riff?”
“Just because I think he’s attractive doesn’t mean I like him. It’s just an observation, like saying the sky is blue,” says Gretel. “Besides, look—he’s taken.” They watch as Princess Jeanne and Riff dance in each other’s arms. The two appear as though they were made for each other.
“Whodoyou like, Gretel?” asks Filomena. She is curious.
Gretel shrugs. “I don’t know. I like myself. I like making things. I like my friends. I haven’t really felt that way about anyone yet. Maybe I never will. Who knows?”
Filomena nods. That sounds reasonable. Not everyone needs a someone, and Gretel is certainly enough on her own.
As the night goes on, Princess Jeanne and Riff are graceful and fluid on the dance floor. Alistair and Gretel, on the other hand, seem to be involved in a dance battle; they’re trying to outdo each other’s moves. Alistair is pretending to be a watering can while Gretel is doing the robot.
Jack, however, sits alone at the head table. Filomena wants to ask him to dance or to pull him up off his feet, to join them. But she’s paralyzed. What if he says no? Does that mean something, if he says no? If he doesn’t want to dance with her, does that mean he doesn’t like her in the way she likes him? And if he doesn’t like her in the way she likes him, will she just melt into a humiliated puddle?
She feels ill and suddenly thirsty, and notices the jug of peony fizz on the head table is empty. Ready for a break from dancing, she grabs the jug and makes her way to the kitchen to refill it. Surely there’s no shortage of peony fizz in the castle.
She walks across the dining room and through the kitchen door. A person wearing a pink silk dress is leaning out the window. Little Jeanne? Filomena gets a pinprick of fear, though she doesn’t know why.What’s she doing with her head out the window?Filomena thinks she can hear Little Jeanne speak but can barely make out what she’s saying.
Filomena thinks she hears Little Jeanne whisper, “Don’t worry! I’ve got it covered,” but when she steps closer, trying to hear more clearly, Little Jeanne seems to sense herpresence and whips around. Her face is a mask of surprise and anger, but it quickly smooths into a laugh.
“You scared me!” Little Jeanne says forcefully. “Sneaking up on me, are you?”
“I was just refilling the peony fizz,” Filomena says. The same feeling of suspicion from earlier is washing over her once more.
Little Jeanne smiles. “Oh, that’s what I was doing, too!”
“But you don’t have a jug.”
“There are more jugs here in the kitchen. I was just getting a breath of fresh air when you walked in. The dining room can get stuffy with so many people.” Little Jeanne continues to smile so sweetly, it’s giving Filomena a toothache.
“All right, well, I’ll leave you to it!” Little Jeanne says, sauntering out of the kitchen and leaving Filomena with an empty jug and a pounding heart.
When Filomena comes back to the dining room with a full jug of peony fizz, a dreaded slow song starts. Oh, the horror! Filomena panics. Why is there slow dancing in Never After? That terror should be exclusively mortal. Gretel and Alistair are slow dancing together, chatting and smiling like the friends they are. At least some people are enjoying this.
“Jack, care to dance?”
