Page 34 of The Broken Mirror
Jack perks up, interested. “You’re trying to make one? I didn’t even know they could be made.”
“Well, I don’t have proof that they can be just yet, but I’m working on it,” Rose Red replies.
Filomena’s playing catch-up here. “Are there a lot of talking mirrors in Never After?” she asks the group.
“Only thirteen,” Jack answers. “Long ago, each fairy animated one as a gift to the kingdoms. They were a great way to communicate across Never After. They had very temperamental personalities, but if the mirror liked you, you could use it as a sort of portal to talk to someone standing in front of another mirror.”
“Like FaceTime!” Filomena says.
“Face time?” Rose Red asks.
“Yeah, it’s this thing in the mortal world. You can video chat with someone on your cell phone.”
Rose Red shrugs. “I have no idea what any of those words mean.”
Filomena feels shy then. She figures she can explain FaceTime later. Sensing this, Jack picks up where he left off.
“And they’re not only used to communicate to other people; you can talk to the mirrors themselves. They’re quite fun to chat with. They’re blunt, but if you want someone to tell it to you straight, a mirror is the one to do it. They know a lot, too, of course. They have some sort of mirror world capability to know the truth of our world. And that’s another thing: They can speak only truth. But the ogres have taken control of most of them. Actually, come to think of it, I might be wrong, but I heard the last non-ogre-possessed talking mirror is here…”
“In this room?!” Alistair jumps up, excited.
“No, in Snow Country.” Jack turns to Rose Red. “Isn’t that right?”
“Queen Christina has it,” she answers. Filomena can’t tell whether this is a good thing or not. “So anyway, like you say, Jack, since talking mirrors tell only truth, I figured I’d try to infuse my prototype with some truth serum I acquired. That’s what the smell is.” She waves her hands through the air.
Alistair sniffs. “Ah, the smell of truth.”
From the kitchen, the giants bellow their readiness.
“Dinner’s about to be served!” Joyful shouts.
“Yeah, so get your butts to the table,” Crabby says.
“You guys hungry?” Rose Red asks.
The table is packed with people. Well, people and giants. On one side sit the seven giants in massive chairs, and on the other side sit five of the humans—Filomena, Jack, Gretel, Alistair, and Byron—on a bench far too long for them. At each end of the table are Beatrice and Rose Red. Everyone passes around plates and bowls of fabulously warm curries.
“So… not that I’m not glad my long-lost cousins have come for a visit,” Rose Red starts, “but since you seem to have brought an entourage with you, I presume there’s another reason you’re here.”
“You presume correctly, Rose Red,” Jack starts. “I’m Jack, by the way—Jack the Giant Stalker. These are Alistair Bartholomew Barnaby and Filomena Jefferson-Cho of North Pasadena.”
“Before you ask,” Filomena chimes in, “yes, I’m a mortal, but I’m also the daughter of Rosanna, who I never met, and a niece of Carabosse; I have the mark of the thirteenth fairy; Jack and I are fairy gifts; Gretel’s biportal; Byron used to be a beast, but we broke his curse; and Beatrice is the not-so-wicked stepsister of Cinderella and is now married to Byron,so they’re the prince and princess of Wonderland.” She gasps for air after saying all that in one breath.
“You’re getting really good at that, Fil,” Alistair says.
“You’re the daughter of Rosanna?” Rose Red asks. “Doesn’t that make us cousins as well?”
“Licking lilies, are all girls in Never After cousins?” Alistair shouts, throwing his hands up.
“I guess so!” Filomena smiles. “Cousins on a different side of the family than Beatrice and Gretel, I suppose.”
“Not to break up the family reunion,” Jack says, “but you’re right, Rose Red: There is another reason why we’re here.”
“Please, call me Rosie. Rose Red issomedieval. My mom’s into classic names.”
“Rosie. Got it. You see, the fairy Zera is an old friend of mine, and when we were in Wonderland, she called us and requested our help, asking that we come to Snow Country. We got slightly delayed by a week or so, but we’re here now. Beatrice thinks you might be able to help us find Zera.”
Rosie nods. “That’s what I thought. I saw Zera not too long ago. She came to visit me when she got to Snow Country and couldn’t find my mom. I have no idea where my mom is, either. I haven’t seen her in years, so I wasn’t much help,” she says softly.
