Page 51 of The Broken Mirror
“Well, not exactly aking,” Alistair says, blushing. “More like an emperor, I guess?”
But their good spirits immediately dissipate when the dust settles and they see what lies within the most secure chamber in the dungeon: Zera.
The great fairy Zera, Jack’s mentor and dear friend, is chained to a wall. She’s slumped over. She looks so weak.
Jack rushes over to her, kneels, touches her face.Filomena’s heart wrenches in her chest. “Zera,” Jack says softly. “We’ve come to rescue you!”
Zera looks up. Her eyes seem to be gazing into a different world. “Hello, my dear Jack. Bravest Jack. Thank you for coming,” she says weakly. All color is drained from her face. “There’s no need to rescue me now. I’m already gone.”
Jack’s eyes brim with tears. “No, no, Zera, that can’t be true. You’re still speaking, you’re still here! We’ll nurse you back to health.”
“My children, you know how my name appears in the prophecies.”
Jack and Alistair look at each other, confused. They have no idea what she’s talking about. But Filomena does. She’s read the words hundreds of times.
“Clever Scheherazade, who spun a thousand and one dreams.”
“Yes, dearest Filomena. You are right. I’ve spun a thousand dreams now. This is my final dream to spin. This last one I must tell you about, and then I will be gone.”
Jack wipes his eyes. Part of him must have known this would happen. “Let us at least take you out of here. A great fairy like you can’t die chained to a wall in a horrid queen’s dungeon. Let us give you a ceremonial burial,” he pleads.
Zera touches Jack’s face, looks deep into his eyes. “Jack, it doesn’t matter where I die. You can’t bury a fairy. When we die, we are reabsorbed into the cosmos, where we remain forever. Just honor me in your actions, dear boy, like you always do.”
Jack bows his head. “Zera, I’m so sorry I failed you. I should have been here sooner. I should have rescued you.”
“I never asked for you to rescue me, Jack. Only for your help. You’ve given your help, and you continue to give it. There is no way in which you have failed me.” She pets Jack’s head. “The only way you can fail me now is to be so hard on yourself that you stop living life. Now, chin up. I have one final dream to weave.”
She waves for Alistair, Filomena, and Timothée to join them on the floor. They sit around her.
“I know where my sister Colette is. I know you’re with her daughter, Rose Red. You must take Rose Red to Colette. She has a message that only she can relay to you. You need to wake her up. Now listen to me carefully: Colette is in a glass coffin in the forest near the giants’ cottages. She is under an enchantment. Only true love’s kiss can break her spell.” Zera lets her breath escape her now, having said what she needed to.
But Filomena promised Rose Red that she’d ask Zera a question. “Zera, if I could ask one last thing of you…,” she starts.
“Of course, my child. Anything.”
“Rose Red. She’s trying to create a talking mirror. She thinks it could be important in the fight with the ogres. She acquired a truth serum from the Winter Witch, but she still can’t figure out how to make the talking mirror come to life. Do you know how?”
Zera chuckles until it turns into a cough. “Colette’s daughter, Rose Red, is brave to have gone to the Winter Witch. That witch is a true judge of character, for she has no allegiances. Rose Red must be truly pure of heart if the witch gave her a truth serum. The answer to her question is this: Each mirror must be animated by a fairy. But a fairy can animate only one mirror. That is why talking mirrors are so powerful.”
Filomena feels the wind leave her sails. “So it’s impossible, then? Because each fairy has already animated a mirror?” she asks.
“It’s true that each fairy has already animated a mirror and that is why there are the thirteen talking mirrors of Never After. However, I have a feeling—a strong, deep feeling—that a princess who carries the mark of Carabosse might just be powerful enough to animate one, too,” Zera explains.
A princess with the mark of Carabosse… Where would they find—wait. Wait! Filomena gasps. “Me?”
“I believe you can, Filomena, Eliana. Now go, my heroes. Go find Colette, go conquer them. I have given you my final dream. Do everything you can with it. For Never After.”
And with that, the light leaves Zera’s face and her body slowly fades, then blinks out, disappearing.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVETRUELOVE’SKISS
They’re silent for the whole walk back to the giants’ cottage. It is a grave day for Never After. Another fairy gone, another bright beam of goodness in the world extinguished by the ogres and their allies. But amid her grief, deep in Filomena’s stomach, there is a burning seed of hope. She might be powerful enough to animate a talking mirror. They can find Colette. They will break the curse and have another fairy on their side!
When they reach the cottage, the sacred silence breaks. They congregate inside. Filomena explains to Gretel andRose Red what Zera said about Colette. Rose Red’s face lights up.
“Mom!” she cries. “I’ll get to see my mom.”
“Rosie, do you know who your mom’s true love is? Zera said that only true love’s kiss will break the enchantment.”
