The Swan Princess

Chapter 15: Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall...

"Magic mirror, would you be so kind as to grant me a favor?"

The light on the mirror shimmers in response. It's an elegantly crafted handheld mirror. Gold lining climbs up the sides to form the points of a crown on the top. Its padded, navy blue backing has the royal insignia on it: two swords crossed diagonally over a howling wolf.

I've set the mirror on the desk in front of me, and I can see my reflection shimmer as the mirror ponders my request. If I was still able to enchant, I would will the mirror to my bidding. Alas, I will need to ask with flattery instead.

"Please?" I plead. "You are a very pretty mirror." The shimmers intensify.

"Would you show me my mother? I wish to speak with her."

The light stops reflecting. My hope builds. Then, with a start, the mirror flips itself over on the table. It's now facing reflection-down, like a child having a tantrum.

"Mirror!" I gasp. "I thought we were getting along so nicely!"

The mirror pivots itself from side to side, like a mother, wagging her finger in disappointment at a petulant child.

"How may I improve, lovely mirror?"

It stops pivoting. Taking a sophisticated amount of time, it rotates back up, so that it now hovers mid-air. Now, instead of my reflection, an image appears, spreading from the corners of the mirror to the middle.

The gilded castle banisters appear first, casting sparkles across the dim room. A sparkling crown, myself, and the crown prince follow, each one making the room glow brighter than the last.

The mirror shakes itself, as if to say, "See? This is what I wanted!"

"Ah," I realize. "You wanted to talk to the prince. My apologies, magic mirror. I should have started with an introduction. My name is Odette, and I am a servant here. The honorable Knight Lukas loaned you to me for the purposes of contacting my mother."

The mirror pauses before inching forward. It pauses when it's close enough to touch my eyelashes, and then rotates vertically. It swivels from my head to my toes, left to right side, and then settles on my bewildered eyes.

"Nice to meet you too, mirror," I nod.

Sliding back in the air, it shivers, before unveiling the shadows of a new image.

Princess Insun, masked at the ball, dancing with Prince Siegfried.

As I watch, they separate, and Insun's visage turns to face myself. The mask dissolves in a shimmer of golden dusk, and the elaborate dress fades away. Eyes widened, I see my own reflection, staring at a floating mirror in my commoner's garb.

Stars. The mirror knows.

"You're a clever thing, aren't you?" It nods in affirmation.

"Well—you keep this secret of mine, and I'll keep a secret of yours. Deal?"

Elegant gold script writes on the surface of the mirror.

Deal,

Pretty Princess

Colors dance around on the surface of the mirror — green, white, gold — until a rich red rose materializes, encased in a glass container. Prince Siegfried and Princess Insun are dancing behind the rose, their silhouettes spinning away from the flower. His gaze is transfixed on her smile, not the beautiful flower.

As I watch, the revelers dance, and the petals fall off the rose. They fall hauntingly through the air, depriving the rose of its full bloom, and littering the floor with abandoned petals. The dancers change too, morphing out of their finest and into their everyday clothes - a simple doublet and pants for Prince Siegfried, and a simple brown dress for me. With each petal falling, their movements slow. An exuberant foxtrot morphs into a romantic waltz.

Around and around they dance, his eyes intent on my mask. Time passes, and the rose shrinks to a bud, the outermost petal beginning to peel off.

The rose lingers on the surface, even as the enfolded dancers fade away. It glows a brighter, more substantial red before fading to black.

The screen is now dark.

Empty.

Void.

"What was that?" I whisper

The mirror is silent.

***

I stare, thoughtful, at the empty mirror. Seconds, maybe. Hours? Something about the visage seemed so... personal. Not just the vision of me, of course, but the rose itself. It felt tied to me, somehow. With how long the mirror lingered on it, I knew it was important.

I'm so enraptured by my thoughts, I take by surprise when the mirror returns to my usual reflection. I'm contemplative, lips pursed, eyebrows furrowed. Not the best look to beg the mirror to show me my mother. Especially after the secret it just shared with me.

What does it mean? What was it for? Is the rose even real, or is it symbolic of something? Why show me and the prince dancing in our best, then our worst? What did the petals falling have to do with me?

Brace yourself, the mirror chides, script filling up the reflection once again. Your mother is ready to receive you.

I take a deep breath.

"Oma?" I call out, as my mother's reflection fills the screen.

There she is, looking just as I've left her. Tan skin, laugh lines, crinkles in her eyes. She smiles back at me.

"Eggie!" She hurls toward the screen. "I would hug you if I could." She looks at me sternly. What took you so long to call?"

Tears mist the corner of my eyes. "I missed you."

With great trepidation, I unravel everything that's happened since she sent me here.

The curse.

The castle.

The crowned prince, and I.

I even go into my fake princess persona, and how I spent a day as a princess before disappearing, only to return as a commoner.

My friends, the maids.

How much I miss my family in Joseon.

Through my tale, my mother is silent. My tears are falling, and her anger is simmering. I can tell, because her face has been contorted with rage since I mentioned what my father has done, and energy crackles in the air around her.

I haven't even gotten to my relationship with Lukas when my mother interrupts.

"Odette."

"Mom, I haven't even gotten to tell you the one good thing I've looked forward to lately—"

"We need to get our revenge on your father."

"How!" I cry out. "I can't even spell anything!"

"No, but I can," she emphasizes. I'm quiet.

"I've been thinking of your predicament this entire conversation. The biggest problem is that you have to hide that you are both yourself and the Princess, correct?"

"I suppose?"

"So we make it so that you go between the two unnoticed. Once you can balance your two lives, our revenge scheme will begin"

Oh. My mother has been thinking, indeed.

"My most clever, sweetest daughter,

Take your prince, and ruin the dreams of your father,

Go between your serf and royal identities,

Seduce the likes of the rich and poorest entities,

Live with two beautiful personas, for which men to woo would fight,

And let no one be able to recognize your dual personalities by sight."