NINE TIME MACHINES: Do you want to undo your entire life on planet earth?

CHAPTER 190

Now all I can think of is how to make sure eyeing rewards don't mess with my intuition. But the serpent is not around to discuss it with me. So I focus on the job at hand, becoming the master of the next throne. The pathway to the throne is paved with moss and broken pieces of mirror. As I get closer, I can see its master seemingly frozen atop it, a painting of an orange sky suspended behind him. I wave my hand to see if he will move but he just sits there motionless. So I lean in to see if he's dead, get as close as possible to his pale skin to confirm. That way I can throw him off the throne and assume authority over it. But I can't really tell. Had Ebony died in front of me, I'd have a clue. The only trouble is that she died while I was asleep, and the castle thief had said it was for the best. Then she packed my clothes and said a nice lady wanted me to come live with her; the first kind stranger to stop and pat me on my head.

I move around him. At his left and right are two tree stumps each, serving absolutely no purpose. Still, he doesn't move an inch. So I do what the real Mary Pethiel would do, poke him to see if he falls. The bark immediately peels off all the tree stumps and the broken mirror raises itself from the dead. Now the throne master decides to move. He stands and dusts himself off then stares at me as though he's awakened from a thousand year sleep and I'm wearing strange new clothes.

"Gather the barks and set them ablaze," he says, and a fireside appears in the wall.

I do as he says. At last! Someone who really means fire when he says it!

"You know, you look nothing like you did as a baby."

"You knew me as a baby?"

"And it gets even worse after you age," he says, ignoring my question. "This Mary is the one I love best."

Good, I think to myself. You wouldn't like the two that stand around in the mirror all day long.

"So, what's the test?" I get right to it.

"Anxious to get out, I see."

"Wouldn't you? I really don't think going further into a pit is good for my health."

"Pace yourself, Mary. It'll all be over soon."

"I want it to be over now."

"Let's go stand by the fire." Then he adds. "I'm Gaap by the way."