“Yirrie, my surrogate mother, would be devastated if I left. Elator is her husband. He understands me more than she does,” Snow said.
“You mentioned a Master Harwin and a dark wizard. Who are they?”
“I’m getting to that.”
She told him about the first night of festival and how the Shadow tried to kill her, how she heard the woman’s voice in her head telling her she was coming for her. She understood now that voice was Seraphina’s, that the queen controlled the Shadow. That she intended to kill her that night.
“Ardan’s enchanted blade saved me from the Shadow,” she said. “Yourenchanted blade.”
“It can cut through dark magic?” he asked, a hint of wonder in his voice. “I had no idea.”
“Neither did Ardan until he did it. After that, I decided to visit the Master of Archives, Master Harwin. I wanted to find out more about the enchanted blade.”
She told him of visiting the archives and finding the three mirrors missing and about the dark wizard. How he had helped Seraphina gain access to the kingdom and rise to power from a peasant to the queen she was now. How the dark queen turned on him and used his magic and his knowledge to steal the mirrors from the elven archives. How she was sustaining his presence deep within the woods in his cabin through a Magic Mirror curse. How the Magic Mirror must be destroyed to eradicate the queen’s magic, release him from his imprisonment and allow him to rest at long last.
Roderick did not reply for a long moment as he sat there, his hand still against the trunk of the tree. He released the dagger, letting it fall into his lap.
“That’s quite a story,” he said.
She thought she heard a twinge of doubt in his words. “It’s all true.”
Skepticism crossed his features. “You expect me to believe a dark wizard lived in these woods?”
Before she could answer, Faradill’s voice floated through her mind.
The dark wizard gave us life.
Startled, his head snapped toward the tree, then he glanced upward at the leaves rustling in the faint breeze.
“What does that mean?” he asked.
“It means the dark wizard used his magic to enchant the forest. He brought the pixies and the sprites and all manner of magical creatures here. That’s why the elves drove him out. He was using the nature around him to try conquer the forest,” she said.
“He was an elemental,” Roderick said.
She nodded. “Like us.”
As she said it, she saw the flickering light of iridescent wings and smiled. Annilen had joined them. She held out her hand to allow the sprite to land. When she did, she looked Roderick up and down with a critical eye.
“Who’s this?” he asked, leaning closer to get a better look at her.
“This is Annilen. She’s a forest sprite.”
“Who areyou?” Annilen asked. “And what are you doing in our forest?”
Roderick’s brows rose. Snow giggled.
“She’s rather protective of the forest,” Snow said. “Annilen, this is Roderick. He’s come from the village of Bridgefort.”
The little sprite put her fisted hands on her hips. “If he’s come to do you harm, my lady…”
“Not at all,” Roderick said. “I’ve come to help her reclaim her throne.”
“Throne?” Annilen’s little face upturned to her, question written all over it. “What does he mean by that?”
Snow bit her bottom lip. There was no sense in trying to hide it now. Faradill heard the story. Likely it was moving through the rest of the forest. By morning, all creatures within, even the plants, would know her true self.
“She doesn’t know?” Roderick asked.
