The training itself started the next day. Cousin Arabella was the first; she was James's niece, his cousin Ruth's daughter. She had been an exceptionally gifted artist when she'd been outside, and in the mirror world she had found a way to keep on drawing. She loved geography so much, she had even charted the entire valley.
«I always wanted to be a cartographer, you know», she told me while she drew a map on the hard floor. «But it's hard when you're a woman and you want to do a man's job. They didn't even look at me, or consider me, even when I gave proof of being better than any cartographer they compared me with», she said, while she added even more details to her drawings. «Then I ended up in here, and I found myself free of everything. I was too young to marry, and I didn't think well of any of the men in my acquaintance, so it was liberating, in a certain way. I miss my mother, but it doesn't hurt anymore».
«How old are you, Ari?»
She looked at me with big hazelnut eyes; my eyes were so used to the dim light that I even managed to see a few red strands in the long blond braid on her right shoulder. Her smile was sad when she spoke. «Fifteen. I had my whole life in front of me, and I let it go for being too vain. All my life gone for a mirror. But I don't want to think about it anymore», she said, getting on her feet. «Being here gave me the chance to do what I wanted to do, which was making maps and traveling, but gave me no husband, nor children. Being outside would have given me a big family and a loving husband, but my dreams would have died without seeing the light. So, there is a silver lining in my being in here, even if I am trapped and can't get out.» She gave me a lopsided smile and started teaching.
The map was an irregular circle, surrounded by the hills that worked as a natural limit. Four points of the hill had names: the Mirror Hill in the South, the Reflection Hill in the East, the Original Hill on our left, and the City Hill in the North. «The Mirror Hill is where the entrance is», she said, pointing at it with a long branch. «It's an entrance, but not an exit. The only way out of the Mirror Realm is through the second mirror on top of City Hill», she added, pointing at the opposite spot on the map, «but to go through, you need the key that will be given to you if you win the Games.»
«I still don't know what the Games are. Or what kind of Games I'm supposed to play.»
«James will tell you that in the next few days. Now, concentrate on this, please. There might be questions about it.»
The Original Hill was where the members of our family lied when they ceased to exist (those were her exact words), and the Reflection Hill was just the same for the Reflections. Right under the City Hill was the arena where the Games took place. «It's not exactly a city. It's more like a citadel, and there are no people living there. But it's the biggest building in this place. Besides, the Reflections call it like that, and so do we.»
«Who names these things?»
«I believe they did. When I charted the valley, the names were already there, I just wrote them down and memorized them. And the names you see, the way they're written, is exactly the way you find them on the road.»
I looked at the words, they were all mirrored. I could read them rather well, but I still needed help from Genevieve.
James's mother was an astounding person, and not only because of her tall and imposing figure. She spoke with a voice both delicate and severe, that made everyone respect her wishes. Every time she spoke, all of us, even myself, felt the urge of looking down and obeying. «The key to the mirror reading, my dear», she said, «is trying to read the words with an imaginary mirror. Train your mind to do it, and it will do it on its own whenever it's necessary.»
«It's not that hard, I can do it with the words in the map.»
«Yes, but if they introduce mirror reading as one of the Games, then it means the writing will be mirrored twice: from right to left and upside down.» A bout of hysteria crept up my legs and fingers, numbing my brain. She must have seen it in my eyes, because she held me by the shoulders and shook me a little. «You do not need to worry, we're here for you, to help you win and get out. My game was one of the worst», she said after some time, sighing as she sat on a rock. «No one taught me anything. There were some members of our family, yes, but they had all been rich and noble, not used to move even one finger, so no one wanted to work on it.» She spoke with a low voice, it sounded painful in my ears. For just a moment, she looked small, and defenseless. «I learned everything I could on my own, but it still wasn't enough, and I lost. Right there and then I decided I would learn as much as I could, and I would teach the next member of our family who walked through, so we'd try to win the Games. Imagine my surprise when I saw my James on this side of the Mirror, and my disappointment at not being able to help him properly. But sill, I went on, learning as much as I could, teaching as much as I could, in order to save our family, and help someone win the Games. And it happened, with Thomas. Unfortunately, he didn't follow the rules. If he had, maybe Lewis, Peggie, Mark and you wouldn't have been here. It's too late for that, though», she said, regaining her hard posture and getting back up. «It's time for you to win. Now, concentrate.»
I tried as hard as I could, but my brain tended to scatter. «I'll do it better the next time.»
«The next time you do it wrong, it could be during the Games. Are you sure that's what you want?» She had a point, but the letters and the words were mixing in my head. She sighed. «You need a break. Come, let's call James, he will tell you a few stories.»
YOU ARE READING
The Mirror Games
FantasyAli was delighted when she received the old mirror that belonged to her old Great-Aunt Peg. She couldn't possibly imagine that her Great-Aunt herself had been a prisoner in the Mirror realm for over fifty years, and that the mirror she had received...
