Page 64 of The Broken Mirror
Princess Jeanne smiles, satisfied, and continues walking.
Beatrice tries to remember what Gretel said as they were walking to Snow Country. Princess Jeanne may seem bratty at first, but she’s not really. She really does have a good heart. After all, she’s standing firm against King Richard. She hasn’t given up yet, even though her life is at stake.
Whereas Rosie seems more interested in the castle than in the challenge ahead. “So you live here all alone?” she asks Princess Jeanne. “Like, you have this whole castle?”
“My sister, Little Jeanne, lives here, too, and so do our friends the Merry Men and Women. You’ll meet Little Jeanne soon. I’m not sure where she is right now, actually,” Princess Jeanne responds, her head swiveling as she looks around.
“Little Jeanne, we have guests!” Princess Jeanne calls out to no response. “Or not guests so much as rescuers, right? So what’s the plan?”
“The plan?” Beatrice repeats.
“Don’t tell me Filomena and Jack sent you here without a plan!”
“The plan was for us to come up with a plan,” Beatrice says, defending herself.
“And did you?” Princess Jeanne responds.
Beatrice looks at Rosie and Byron. To be honest, they’d spent most of the walk getting to know each other. With all the drama and the hubbub in Snow Country, Beatrice had barely even talked to Rosie or learned about her cousin. Can you blame her? They didn’t spend a lot of time plotting their next move. Though Beatrice is realizing that might have been a mistake.
“We sort of thought we’d see what the lay of the land isaround here and then figure it out,” she says. Not completely untrue.
“Great.” Princess Jeanne rolls her eyes.
Beatrice can tell Princess Jeanne thinks that, so far, they’re not proving the backup-team theory wrong. “How about you tell us a bit about the crown,” she tries out, “and who you think took it, and where it might be?”
Princess Jeanne sighs. “The crown is an ancient Never After artifact. It was made using materials from the Deep and was blessed by the fairies. It was the first crown to be created in Never After, so it holds a lot of importance. There’s a legend—and I have no idea if this is true or not—but the legend goes that if the crown thinks the person to be coronated isn’t fit to rule the North, it will reject them. That’s why it’s such an important tradition. Without the crown, Northphalians won’t accept me as their queen.”
“That’s such a beautiful symbol,” Byron says, genuinely awed. Beatrice loves how romantic he is. He’s so touched by sentimental ideas.
“It is a nice thought, Byron, but it is also very inconvenient, since it’s been stolen.”
“Where is the crown usually kept?” Rosie asks. “When it’s not stolen?”
“There’s a special case here at the castle where it’s stored between coronations. That’s the thing that puzzles me. Robin says he didn’t steal the crown. He’s a thief, but he’snot a liar. Besides, the glass case the crown is stored in wasn’t smashed. Whoever broke in must have had a key.”
Beatrice wanders the castle halls. She hopes getting her bearings on her surroundings might jog an idea or two. What would Filomena do?
But nothing is helping her think. Not the beautiful sky-like ceiling, not the marble staircase, not the unicorn tapestry hung on the wall. She decides to go back to her bedroom.
She’s about to open the door to her room when she hears voices from the other side. She peeks inside and sees Little Jeanne perched on the windowsill. This isn’t her room—it’s Little Jeanne’s! The grandeur of the castle got the better of Beatrice as she was lost in thought; she must have wandered to a different wing of the castle.
But… That’s odd. Why would Little Jeanne sit in an open window?
Beatrice is about to open the door and say hello, but then the speaking continues. “You ready?” a boy’s voice says.
A male voice? In Little Jeanne’s room? Something’s off.Beatrice tries to position herself so that she can see farther through the crack of the slightly open door without drawing attention. She sneaks another peek.
The boy is none other than Robin Hood!
“You ready?” he asks again.
“Yes. Are you okay? I heard they raided your hideout and got their stuff back. Sorry I couldn’t warn you,” says Little Jeanne.
“That’s all right,” says Robin Hood. “Your uncle’s waiting. You sure you want to do this?”
“I’m sure,” says Little Jeanne.
Robin Hood takes her hand. “You know, I’ve always liked you better.”
