met, they’d wanted to get rid of me. I couldn’t see any reason for their feelings to have changed. But for the moment, anyway, they seemed more concerned with Rafael.
“If you can’t see that I’ve never been a threat to you, then you are unworthy of the throne, my Queens,” Rafael replied with a scathing frown. “Avalon has never been in greater danger than now. So now, we must break the rules. We can’t let traditions blind us. I need—I must see the mirrors. Jareth’s fate lines dictate that I must track back through his fate. It is his only chance to survive. And I will do it, with or without your help.” He stood there, feet planted wide and his arms folded in defiance.
The Queens had wanted to execute us ever since we’d set foot in the forbidden Hall of Mirrors. It didn’t seem likely they’d willing help us enter the place a second time.
They both frowned.
But it was the way they did it that struck me.
It looked scripted. Call it a gut-feeling, but they suddenly appeared to be playing a game. And the facts certainly backed that up. They were Queens. If they’d wanted to kidnap me and exact some form of Fairy justice, there was no doubt they could have done it. Nothing could have stopped them from ordering a Fae Protector to zip down to Earth and bring me back. It wasn’t like I’d be able to resist, especially if they shape-shifted into Rafael. I’d probably be fooled long enough to willingly turn myself in before I’d realized my mistake.
I was jolted out of my reverie by the Queens themselves. “Perceptive,” they whispered in unison, their astute gaze giving me the shivers.
But I didn’t know what they meant by that. They could very well have been confirming the fact they could have easily kidnapped me if they’d wished.
Without warning, they raised their hands and a golden bubble of light formed around us—just around the Queens, Rafael, Jareth, and I. And before I had time to even wonder, the bubble popped.
We’d been shifted into the Hall of Mirrors and were standing in the very center of the cathedral-like building. The two enormous mirrors hung suspended in midair, spanning the entire space, stretching from the floor to the breathtaking domed ceiling above me. I could only stand there, staring at them in awe.
Gradually, I became aware of the fact the Queens were watching me, but I couldn’t read their faces. They didn’t display any emotion.
“Human intuition,” they suddenly intoned. “An interesting power. One wonders why it isn’t exercised more often.”
As Rafael’s curious brow ached my way, I just shrugged in return. I didn’t know what to tell him. Yet. I didn’t know what game the Queens were really playing, anyway. It could very well end with nasty consequences for me.
Jareth gave a feeble snort. For a moment, he looked like he wanted to make some kind of snarky comment, but I guess he still lacked the energy. Instead, he just closed his eyes and leaned into Rafael standing at his side.
Seeming to lose interest in me, the Queens addressed Rafael. “You are here, as requested, Rafael. But the mirrors will not help you. They have been silent since the last time the human beheld them. But if you wish, look in them as you will.” With a graceful flutter of fingers, they waved at the mirrors in an open invitation.
We hesitated, uncertain what they were up to. They knew we didn’t trust them. After all, they were Mind Whisperers. And their faces were impossible to read.
I glanced at the massive mirrors. They were astounding, so huge to be just hanging in the air. The Mirrors of Destiny. Rafael had told me that they faced each other to record into infinity, but unlike last time, their surfaces were dark now—pitch black, actually—and didn’t reflect anything.
Or so it seemed.
Instinctively, I knew that was wrong. The more I stared into the blackness, the more I became certain the darkness was alive. Moving. Sensing. Reaching.
With a choking gasp,
“If you can’t see that I’ve never been a threat to you, then you are unworthy of the throne, my Queens,” Rafael replied with a scathing frown. “Avalon has never been in greater danger than now. So now, we must break the rules. We can’t let traditions blind us. I need—I must see the mirrors. Jareth’s fate lines dictate that I must track back through his fate. It is his only chance to survive. And I will do it, with or without your help.” He stood there, feet planted wide and his arms folded in defiance.
The Queens had wanted to execute us ever since we’d set foot in the forbidden Hall of Mirrors. It didn’t seem likely they’d willing help us enter the place a second time.
They both frowned.
But it was the way they did it that struck me.
It looked scripted. Call it a gut-feeling, but they suddenly appeared to be playing a game. And the facts certainly backed that up. They were Queens. If they’d wanted to kidnap me and exact some form of Fairy justice, there was no doubt they could have done it. Nothing could have stopped them from ordering a Fae Protector to zip down to Earth and bring me back. It wasn’t like I’d be able to resist, especially if they shape-shifted into Rafael. I’d probably be fooled long enough to willingly turn myself in before I’d realized my mistake.
I was jolted out of my reverie by the Queens themselves. “Perceptive,” they whispered in unison, their astute gaze giving me the shivers.
But I didn’t know what they meant by that. They could very well have been confirming the fact they could have easily kidnapped me if they’d wished.
Without warning, they raised their hands and a golden bubble of light formed around us—just around the Queens, Rafael, Jareth, and I. And before I had time to even wonder, the bubble popped.
We’d been shifted into the Hall of Mirrors and were standing in the very center of the cathedral-like building. The two enormous mirrors hung suspended in midair, spanning the entire space, stretching from the floor to the breathtaking domed ceiling above me. I could only stand there, staring at them in awe.
Gradually, I became aware of the fact the Queens were watching me, but I couldn’t read their faces. They didn’t display any emotion.
“Human intuition,” they suddenly intoned. “An interesting power. One wonders why it isn’t exercised more often.”
As Rafael’s curious brow ached my way, I just shrugged in return. I didn’t know what to tell him. Yet. I didn’t know what game the Queens were really playing, anyway. It could very well end with nasty consequences for me.
Jareth gave a feeble snort. For a moment, he looked like he wanted to make some kind of snarky comment, but I guess he still lacked the energy. Instead, he just closed his eyes and leaned into Rafael standing at his side.
Seeming to lose interest in me, the Queens addressed Rafael. “You are here, as requested, Rafael. But the mirrors will not help you. They have been silent since the last time the human beheld them. But if you wish, look in them as you will.” With a graceful flutter of fingers, they waved at the mirrors in an open invitation.
We hesitated, uncertain what they were up to. They knew we didn’t trust them. After all, they were Mind Whisperers. And their faces were impossible to read.
I glanced at the massive mirrors. They were astounding, so huge to be just hanging in the air. The Mirrors of Destiny. Rafael had told me that they faced each other to record into infinity, but unlike last time, their surfaces were dark now—pitch black, actually—and didn’t reflect anything.
Or so it seemed.
Instinctively, I knew that was wrong. The more I stared into the blackness, the more I became certain the darkness was alive. Moving. Sensing. Reaching.
With a choking gasp,
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