Page 66 of The Broken Mirror
“If we do succeed in all this,” Filomena says, “and I do become queen of Westphalia, what happens then?”
“What do you mean?”
“Like, do I have to choose which world I live in? Do I stay in Never After forever, give up my life in the mortal world, never see my parents again? Do I have to stay in Westphalia permanently? Or do I just visit sometimes? How will it all work? Will I still see you all? Where will you, Gretel, and Alistair be? Will we still see each other?”
Jack is silent for a beat. Then he says, “I think we just need to focus on keeping the ogres out of the castles and on meeting this deadline before we can go that far.”
Filomena gets a slight sinking feeling. Does he not want to stick with her after she’s crowned? What about Gretel and Alistair? Never After will be just as lonely as the mortal world without her friends.
They start to climb another hill. They’re about halfway to the castle from where they started.
Jack’s right. Her being crowned is the best-case scenario. Her not meeting that deadline… Well, that would mean a reign of terror she can’t even imagine. She’s barely even had time to think about the deaths of two great fairies, Colette and Scheherazade.
“Jack, I know that no one really brought this up with you, but I’m so sorry about Zera. If I’m torn up about it, I can’t even imagine how much pain you must be in.”
Jack just nods silently. Filomena can tell it’s still too fresh for him to really talk about. But she wanted to say that to him, all the same.
Her fear creeps back in. “Maybe the ogres and the prime minister are right.” She sighs.
At this, Jack stops in his tracks. “Whoa, whoa,” he says. “Now that can’t be true. Right about what?”
“About me ruling over Westphalia. Maybe I’mnotready.”
Jack is quiet for a moment.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “It’s just that… it’s freaking me out a bit, what you’re saying.”
Oh great. He can’t handle her and she’s already freaking him out. Guess she can kiss a first kiss goodbye. She looks at her feet as they continue the walk, not making eye contact.
“The thing is, it’s freaking me out how much I feel like you’re describing me,” Jack finally admits. “All that stuff about your parents, about feeling like you’re always out of place.”
Now that’s a surprise. She looks up at him.
“I feel exactly the same, Fil. I’ve always felt out of place, my whole life. Ever since my village burned down, I’ve felt alone. I have Alistair, of course, and I have friends in Never After and allies everywhere. But I’ve been running my wholelife. It’s always been on to the next adventure, the next quest. Always someone to rescue or something to figure out. It’s lonely.”
Now Jack’s the one staring at his feet as he talks. Filomena’s looking right at him, though, silently urging him to go on.
“And what you said about not knowing how to rule Westphalia? I get it. No one taught me how to be Jack the Giant Stalker. Sometimes it feels like it just happenedtome. Like I had no choice. And maybe that’s true.”
At this, Filomena can’t be quiet anymore. “Aren’t you the one who reminded me that we choose our own destiny?”
He smiles at the ground. Then he looks up at her, locking eyes with her own. She feels heat on her cheeks. She almost trips over a rock.
“Sometimes I feel like you’re the only one who really understands,” he says. “We have a lot in common, even though we also have nothing in common.”
They both laugh. They’re silent for a few paces. While they’re being truthful, Filomena feels the need to say something she’s been thinking about ever since they learned of the summer solstice deadline.
But then Jack stops her, touching her shoulder. “Hey,” he says.
She turns to face him. They’re standing so close now.
“I know at first we were only going to do it to break an enchantment,” he says. “But I meant what I said. I don’t needa curse to break to know I want to, uh…” Suddenly he gets shy. He looks at his feet, takes a breath. “To do this.”
He leans in, but before anything else can happen, an all-too-familiar voice calls to them from behind: “Glad to see you lovebirds are going strong!”
Filomena would recognize that voice anywhere. They whip around.
Standing on the hill before them are Robin Hood and Little Jeanne.
