Mirror Me

44: The Man in the White Tuxedo

Lord Blackwell sat with his legs crossed on the steps of the once proud mansion of Tempestmist. His white tuxedo pressed against his regal body while his blonde hair flapped in the desert wind. He tapped his cane on the stone steps impatiently as if waiting for someone to arrive.

A dark hooded figure appeared in front of him. Lord Blackwell stood up and dusted his clothes.

"About time you got here," said Lord Blackwell. "For having the gift of wind, I expected you a lot sooner." The figure removed its black hood revealing bright orange hair. Desire sneered.

"I got here as soon as I was able. I can't be everywhere at once like you can, Avarice. And why in the world do you have to wear that ridiculous get up. Our sister's fantasy is over. No need to continue with the charade."

"Awe, you're just upset because I was the only one of us Vanity ever liked." Lord Blackwell twirled on his foot. His clothes changed from white to black and from a suite to a cloak. His long blonde hair shortened and his lovely eyes turned purple. "Sometimes I like to think I look good in white, but black is definitely my color."

"Enough of this," said Desire. "Now down to business. What happened here?"

"It seems that when your little ambush in the Loblolly Forest failed, the Mirrorbender fled through the mirror passages and ended up here. Vanity noticed the girl's arrival and lead her into town. I was passing through on my monthly visit and just happened to see she had stumbled upon the Mirrorbender."

"Yes," said Desire. "And I'm guessing you had a cup of tea with her instead of snatching her up like the master wants."

"I couldn't do that."

"Why not?" asked Desire looking flustered.

"You didn't know Vanity as well as I did. She was never one for sharing and going along with the crowd, probably why she never came to any of the meetings. Besides, Vanity had a tight hold on our Mirrorbender. She wanted to possess the little darling to gain her abilities. Nothing ever said we couldn't do that. All we need is her power. I figured it was a good plan. Told Vanity not to screw it up."

"Well she did, Avarice. And the Mirrorbender got away."

"Quite obvious now."

"Why didn't you step in to help her?"

"Do you see what the Mirrorbender did?" Avarice pointed all around. "That little girl killed our sister. That has never been done before. It is impossible. I was not about to get involved after that nonsense." Desire looked down and twiddled her thumbs.

"There is something I need to tell you," she said. "The Mirrorbender's Glasswalker stole something valuable from us a few days ago. I didn't expect the girl to learn its secrets so quickly, but it seems she has."

"Ah, I see." Avarice turned his back on Desire. "So that's her secret. Tell me, how long were we supposed to go before being informed of this matter? What other secrets are there we should know about that Master is not telling us?"

"Don't tell anyone I told you. The Master wants to keep it quiet. Consider the information a little gift."

"Well speaking of gifts," said Avarice putting on his gloves and turning back towards Desire. "It seems our Ms. Vanity left us quite the gift." He walked up the steps and to the large wooden doors. "Come let me show you. You will never believe it."