The reflection of the Queen: Exile

Chapter 10: The ancient and new witches

During what was so far the worst night of my life, I could not sleep a wink. For me it was a tremendous disappointment, as I had hoped to meet the Dream Man. If I had gone to sleep, I would have had countless nightmares, but I would have chosen to face them all if it meant meeting him in the end.

If looks could kill, I would already be hiding the corpses of the maids who came to wake me up quite early. It wasn't their fault, but that was a detail I didn't take too much into account. I was handed a gray-green dress, simple and long, but more elegant than the ones I had in my closet, and a tray with a breakfast whose smell would have lifted my spirits on any other day.

I caught a shadow of dark circles under my eyes on the surface, but after my experience the night before, I found the image disappointing. When the two maids left after instructing me to come down to the lobby when I was finished, I pulled out Asreyn's mirror from under my bed. I quickly checked that I did indeed have horrible dark circles under my eyes, and hurriedly closed the box. I didn't want to risk my other reflection showing up, even though I'd had to call it up last time. I could still feel it. It was there, somewhere, contained. It was as if by looking in the mirror I had awakened from a kind of hibernation into which I doubted I would ever sink again.

When I remembered the conversation with Rodion the night before, I tightened my fingers around the box. He loved me, I knew he did, but apparently he was so convinced that he couldn't stop the engagement that he wasn't even going to try. I had no idea how much he would have told his father, or what he would have said to convince him that this was a good thing, but Rodion had never been able to ignore an order from Fyodor. I had been the great exception. He had been raised as his father's favorite, his successor in title, and therefore had always been accustomed to military discipline and iron obedience. Moreover, the prince and the general were the figures he most admired. I should have known that I could not defy them, and therefore not the Insurrection either, but that did not make me any less angry and sad. However, if he still preferred fighting for Eneas over fighting for me, I planned to grant his wish: whatever had been between us for the past two years would be over. It would take me quite some time to stop feeling the love I had professed for him since I was a child. In truth, I would rather not feel anything at all.

Scilla was waiting for me in the lobby, with her dark hair in a bun and an impatient gesture. She tapped her foot on the floor, and when she saw me she snorted and said:

"Have you slept?"

I didn't even bother to answer. My dark circles under my eyes said it all.

"Well, it's enough for me to get you on your feet. The first training won't be too hard, but don't forget that you're preparing for a war."

"A war in which I only face one enemy, isn't it?" I muttered. The worst of them all.

"Preferably two. Your destiny is to finish off Furya, but hopefully you can also kill her bastard."

That said, Scilla turned her back on me and gestured for the servants to open the doors. I frowned. In doing so, she seemed almost aristocratic. And, now that I noticed, the way she moved and her accent did not suggest otherwise.

To my surprise, the woman made me follow her into the forest that covered the mountain. Although I had no idea where she was taking me, I refused to ask her. I didn't have the energy to do so either. That situation reminded me painfully of the times when I used to walk along those paths laughing with the boy I loved. I gritted my teeth without stopping walking.

We reached the top of the mountain, a clearing in the trees. There, Scilla seemed to have created the perfect training place. There was a large circle of mirrors, targets, tables and boxes. There were even boards on which were pinned papers full of texts and drawings, many of which looked as if they had been torn out of books. These depicted mostly white-haired women in various fighting positions, with mirrors placed at various angles to them, and fierce animals, especially creatures with huge wings.