Page 76 of The Broken Mirror
“I’m not sure yet. I want to say yes, I really do. Especially because of all that stuff with your parents. But you know how it is, Fil. We can’t be too careful. Right now, the only person I trust in this castle is you. So let’s fight these ogres, then we’ll deal with the rest, okay?”
She nods. They leave the office. Once they reach the floor above, all they can do is wait for the ogres. Running away won’t help, not this time, not now.
Filomena tries not to shudder as the footsteps of the ogres, those loud, sloppy footsteps, come closer.
Jack holds her shoulders. “We can do this,” he says. His words fill her with a golden courage, a fire. “You can do this. We’re so close.”
Then, with no curse to break, no dare, no pretense, Jack leans close once more.
Filomena’s heart leaps. He brushes a lock of hair out of his eyes and smiles shyly at her. How brave and shy he can be at the same time! Only Jack’s face can hold those two qualities at once.
When he leans in to kiss her, she raises herself up to meet him, and when they kiss, it’s like she’s going through all the swoop holes in Never After at once. Like she’s moving through time and space. Like she’s floating.
They pull apart and smile at each other.
“That was cool,” he says.
She blushes. “Yeah, that was cool.”
So much has been said between them, and so much waits on the horizon, but for just a moment, they stand and look at each other and smile.
I just kissed Jack the Giant Stalker. I just kissed Jack!Part of Filomena wants to tell Gretel immediately, but a stronger part is present for the moment to fully enjoy the feeling.
But, of course, nothing can ruin the moment after a perfect first kiss like a bumbling ogre.
“There she is!” one screams, drool pooling out of its maw.
“Olga is gonna be so pleased with us,” another snarls, coming up the stairs.
The first ogre has a huge club and swings it right at Jack. Jack ducks and the club goes into a wall. The ogre is mad now and swipes the club backward, and this time it does hit Jack—square in the stomach.
Filomena wants to run to him, but she can’t; the second ogre, this one carrying a machete, is taking a swing at her. If the machete hits, it will be deadly. Filomena swipes her Dragon’s Tooth sword, slicing the ogre’s arm. Wounded and now even angrier, the ogre charges.
Her instinct is to run, but there’s only one open door. She runs through, trying to buy herself some time to regroup. She realizes there’s a balcony attached to this room and charges out onto it. The ogre follows her, machete swinging.
On the balcony, their weapons clash. The machete is huge, but Filomena’s Dragon’s Tooth sword is stronger. The machete nearly hits her, but she blocks it with the shield. Back and forth, they swing and land, swing and miss, swords clanging again and again. Then the ogre looks away for one second and she lunges.
The ogre’s bent back now, Filomena’s sword locked against the machete and held up to the ogre’s throat. Now that she has a second to breathe, she realizes a crowd is forming beneath the balcony, which looks directly over the Westphalian town square. Through the haze of battle, Filomena thinks how lovely it is that her castle is so close to her people and not hidden away.
But this is no time for such thoughts!Focus, Filomena!
She notices people seem confused. Do they not understand what’s going on here?
“People of Westphalia!” she shouts, still holding her sword against the ogre’s throat. “I am Eliana, princess of Westphalia, daughter of Rosanna and Vladimir. I have come to disprove the claims of the ogre queen and take my rightful place as your ruler, if you will have me!”
She feels overcome suddenly—not by the weight of responsibility nor fear over whether she will be a good ruler but by a strong, deep desire to protect her people. “All I want is to serve Westphalia well, to bring this kingdom back to its prosperous origins. I know I haven’t lived here my whole life, but that was not my choice. That was Queen Olga’s doing!And I’m ready. I’m ready to be connected to my kingdom if you will accept me as your queen.”
The crowd, at first awed, begins to cheer.
Filomena removes her sword from the ogre’s throat and plunges it into his heart. Her face is splattered with blood. But then the cheers turn to screams. Another ogre is coming up behind her.
“You think, just because of this public stunt in front of these plebs, you’ll get to be queen? You don’t think we can rework this story?” A huge ogre—one Filomena recognizes as a general in the ogre queen’s army—has come out onto the balcony. “We’ll kill you and make it look like your fault,” he snarls at her. The ogre general paces forward, relishing the moment before the kill. He slowly raises his blade.
But looking past the ogre, Filomena sees a beautiful sight. It’s Jack. And he winks at her. There is nothing to fear. Because Jack always has her back.
The ogre cackles and brings down his blade, but before the ogre knows what is happening, vines are wrapped around his weapon, and around his legs.
Jack pulls and the monster falls.
