A Tale That Never Was
Chapter 16: The Mirror

Still recovering from the kiss, Selvina and Jack stared into one another’s eyes for several minutes with grins on their faces. Selvina’s skin was flushed and a rush of ecstatic energy pulsed throughout her body. It was unlike anything she had felt before and she never wanted it to end.

“We should probably get some sleep,” Jack said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper, saying words she did not want to hear but knew she needed to. “I wouldn’t want Beast to tear us to pieces.”

“No,” Selvina breathed, her chest still heaving, her heart still pumping madly. “I wouldn’t want that…” She had never noticed how truly handsome Jack was. He had always been attractive but as she looked upon him now she felt like she was seeing him in a new light, as if he was someone she had always longed to see.

His arms pulled her in, hugging her against him, and she rested her ear against his chest. She could hear and feel his heart beating and smiled when she noticed it was beating faster than hers. Could this mean that he felt the same way about her that she did of him? Was his body gripped in a blanket of tingling explosions too? She took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around him, holding him close, just as he did with her. She never wanted him to let go.

“Selvina.”

Damn it. Just a little longer…

“I don’t want this moment to end either but we do need to sleep at one point.”

Selvina sighed. “I know, Jack.” It was more difficult than she ever anticipated but she managed to pull away and even accomplished a step back. She rubbed an arm bashfully and took a deep breath. “I guess, goodnight, Jack…” She paused, thought of something, and then added, “But you never said what you wanted to tell me…”

Jack chuckled and his eyes glittered. Don’t do that, Jack… she thought. He took a step toward her and leaned forward. Selvina’s body’s warmed at his approach and she closed her eyes for a moment as he kissed her forehead. “Actions sometimes speak louder than words,” he said before turning and walking away. She watched him bend down and climb down the hatch and before his head had vanished he glanced at her. He flashed a smile, which she returned, and then disappeared.

Selvina stood at the top of the tower by herself for a few minutes, slowly recovering from her kiss. She blushed as she wondered how Jack would react when she told him it had been her first one. Maybe she wouldn’t tell him. It was too embarrassing. Jack had probably kissed a hundred girls before her. He said he hadn’t met many but what was many to him? Selvina then began to wonder if he’d think less of her when knowing that. Would he think her cute and innocent and not someone to be taken seriously? She didn’t want that. She also didn’t want to hide things from him. She felt like she could tell Jack anything now. She had trusted him before but that kiss had ignited something within her heart and soul, something she had never felt in her life until now. Her mind was filled with visions of Jack’s face. She saw him clearly, as if he still stood before her, and could still smell him. She closed her eyes and pressed her lips together, still feeling his, so warm, moist, and yet rough and strong. She inhaled deeply and exhaled with a sigh of pure joy. Was this how the princesses in her books felt after kissing their prince? It had to be. She didn’t know how much happier she could become.

It took several more minutes of bliss and delight before Selvina’s body brought her back to reality by forcing out a long yawn. She nodded and walked toward the hatch. It was time for some sleep. As she climbed down the ladder she grew eager to jump into her bed, wondering what wonderful dreams she would experience. Surely they would be amazing ones.

She strode down the spiral staircase and entered the keep, stepping into dim light and total silence. Torches lined the halls, offering her decent light, but all chandeliers and candles were out and she didn’t hear a single sound. Was she the only one awake?

She paced down the hall that she hoped would lead her to her room, wondering if she had misjudged and taken a wrong turn. The keep was huge and she had only been shown to her room once before climbing up the tower with Jack.

She eyed the paintings on the walls. Some were of landscapes, grand and beautiful, and others were of people she did not know. One woman in a flowing yellow dress almost looked like Belle but Selvina knew it to be impossible. Belle wasn’t royalty, as far as she knew anyhow. Another painting depicted a slender woman in a tight, black dress that draped across the ground and split apart at the ends like the fanning of a raven’s tail feathers. She held herself with an elegant air yet her face was unblemished and beautiful. Atop her head was a huge headdress spread wide like a spider’s web with brilliant diamonds and sapphires dotted all over, rendering it absolutely dazzling. Her long, straight hair was nearly black but glistened with a crimson sheen as it cascaded over her shoulders, front and back, nearly reaching her hips. An aura of royalty surrounded her and with a glance at the bottom of the painting Selvina read the words, Empress Rhiannon.

“Rhiannon,” Selvina whispered, captured by awe. She had heard her name mentioned a few times on her journey but seeing a painting of the woman made the reality of her existence more concrete. What was a painting of her doing in an abandoned castle, though? Selvina was under the impression she lived across the sea. Perhaps Belle had purchased it in Our Lady, she quickly surmised. She had lived here for years, apparently, and it was quite likely that she wished to decorate the old, abandoned fortress. With one last look at Rhiannon’s strange yellow eyes, Selvina continued on her way.

Minutes passed and the hall she walked along had yet to show any signs of familiarity. She had indeed taken a wrong turn. Great. Now she had to turn around and try again. At this rate it would be morning before she ever found her room again. She sighed in annoyance and decided instead to just keep moving forward. Surely a room of some sort would reveal itself. She stomped on, faster than before, eager to replace somewhere to rest her tiring mind. Visions of Jack still flooded her head but gone was the feeling of bliss and happiness, replaced by frustration and exhaustion.

She came across another hall that ran perpendicular with the one she walked along and gazed down either end. They both looked extremely similar and she groaned, debating on where to go. Before her, a grand painting of a woman in blue filled her view. She was surrounded by snow and her blue dress was sparkling with a thousand diamonds stitched into its fabric. The woman, who appeared quite young, had a smug smile on her face and her green eyes looked ahead with a nearly arrogant feel to them. Her wavy hair, a pale blonde, hung behind her shoulders and atop her head was a crown that appeared to be made of ice. Selvina felt a chill creep up her spine when she noticed how much she resembled the young woman in the painting.

“The Snow Queen,” Selvina read. Perhaps the resemblance was only there because she had been playing that very character before getting transported to this world. Her face closely resembled hers but it was just a painting. It was possible the painter had depicted it inaccurately.

Another painting down the hall to her left gripped her attention immediately and she hurried to it. Unlike the other paintings, this one showed two characters. One was of an enchantingly beautiful woman with white, flowing hair so long that it reached her ankles. It resembled a magnificent waterfall and Selvina was captivated by it. The woman wore a purple gown and nothing else. Her feet were bare and no crown adorned her head. Her silver eyes were downturned and she wore a somewhat saddened expression on her face yet it did nothing to dispel any of her beauty. The second figure in the picture was what had initially caught Selvina’s attention. It was a unicorn, as white as the woman’s hair and standing tall and strong. The hair on its mane was eerily similar to the woman’s and its eyes were equine in appearance yet somehow also held a morose expression to them. Its horn glowed with a light not unlike that of the moon’s. The woman in the painting was embracing the unicorn lovingly as behind them both shone a dark sky of stars. Selvina eyed the bottom of the painting for a name but saw nothing. She carefully brought the torch forward and searched more extensively. After several unsuccessful minutes she was about to give up when at the bottom left corner of the painting she saw a single letter: A.

“A?” Selvina asked aloud in confusion. “Her name is A?”

She took a step back and eyed the painting for a while longer before shaking her head and continuing on as intense weariness crawled over her, reminding her that she had yet to replace a place to sleep. She passed other paintings but ignored them, her mind still on the one of the unicorn and the sad woman. She recalled her first memories of being transported to Faeryum and how she had spotted a unicorn laying on the ground, its legs bound together by thick rope. She thought of the painting and then compared it to the unicorn she had freed. It was incredibly similar yet didn’t all unicorns look the same? Was it the same one? She knew unicorns were rare but was it possible that the one in the painting was the one she had freed? The eyes were what gave her that notion. Those eyes. She would never forget them. They were round and shaped like a horse’s but instead of a dark brown they were blue. Maybe all unicorns had blue eyes, though. Selvina had only seen one in her life and that had been at a time when she had still assumed it to be a stage prop. After cutting the rope with a knife she had found nearby it had bolted into the woods, glanced at her once, and then vanished. It was after that that her tale truly began; chased in the woods by a band of dim-witted brothers and a villainous elderly woman. After meeting Red and Bigbad she had thought little of the unicorn, her thoughts more on replaceing a way back home.

Yet, what if the woman in the painting knew of the unicorn? Perhaps she could offer her some information on its whereabouts. Unicorns were magical creatures, as far as Selvina knew, and maybe it could help her return home. Surely it would not mind aiding her considering she had saved its life.

Then again, it was just a painting. It could mean nothing. The woman in it might not even exist.

“But I have to do this,” someone said from somewhere nearby.

Selvina recognized the voice as Belle’s. It was coming from a room directly to her right. The door was slightly ajar and it sounded as if Belle was speaking to someone. Curious to know what they were discussing, Selvina hung the torch on an empty sconce on the wall and slowly crept to the door. She knelt down beside the doorway and quieted her breathing, hoping to catch every word.

“Your life will be one of misery, Belle,” the second party was saying. The voice belonged to Beast.

“I will have no life if I act any other way,” Belle replied.

Beast sighed. “You must reconsider your actions, my love. I would not be able to live with myself knowing that you would be married to such a fiend.”

“He is not a fiend, Adam. I am certain he is not as horrible as he used to be.”

“You see the good in everyone, Belle, but Gaston has none. What do you think he will do if he discovers the truth about me?”

“I will explain to him that no matter what happens to me, that you will be there to protect me, whether I am married to him or not.”

“No man would allow that.”

“It is a condition I will bring up before I marry him. He will swear before the gods that he will not lie to me. He will not break his vows.”

“He will, Belle! See the truth of the matter! Stop clinging to false hope that this blood-thirsty bounty hunter is a man worthy of your heart!”

“I never said I would give him my heart, Adam! I will only pledge to live my life with him! Even if I wished to, I would not have the means to offer him my heart as I already gave it to someone else…”

“Belle…”

“Please, Adam, I need your support more than ever now. If I do not marry him he will hunt us both down. Were he to fail, someone else would take his place. It would never stop and I am weary of running. I know you are as well.”

“Is there no other way? Surely there must be something else you can do. I can acquire money, diamonds, gems, anything of value. I would give it all to him if he would just leave us alone.”

“Gaston needs none of those things, Adam. You and I both know of the one treasure he has always desired.”

“A man like him does not deserve someone like you, Belle. I often claim myself unworthy of such an honor.”

“You are more than worthy, Adam. We have gone through so much together that there isn’t anyone else I would rather live my life with than you. Unfortunately, Gaston will be there as well, as much as we both despise it.”

“Perhaps the gods will be kind and make him trip on his way out of the cathedral and he will crack his head on the steps…”

“Adam, you know the only thing that would keep other hunters at bay would be him. We both need him alive.”

Beast, or Adam as it appeared was his true name, sighed sadly. “I love you, Belle. I wish that fate had treated us more fairly…”

“Adam, fate gave me you, and I cannot thank it enough for that. I love you with all that I am and I forever will.”

Selvina had steadily crept closer to the crack in the door during the conversation and was now kneeling directly before it. She peeked through it to gaze into the room. She saw elegant chairs, a large sofa, and at the far end was a huge dresser. Belle was standing before it, looking at a mirror she held in her hands. She could not replace Beast anywhere but it was possible he was simply off to the side where she could not see.

“What of these guests we have?” Beast asked.

“What of them, Adam? They only sought to help us. It was noble of them to travel here to relay the message we all knew we’d eventually hear one day.”

“What if they work for Gaston? What if they are planning to fool us?”

“Now you are being foolish. You know that they are not doing that. You would have sensed it immediately. I do believe they are only here to help.”

“Yet they have given us nothing but news we already knew would one day come.”

“Because of them we know that the time is now. There is no more fleeing for us, Adam. Tomorrow I expect to see Gaston ride up to this castle and I will go to him. I will do what I must.”

“The red-hooded girl smells of wolf or dog, one or the other. Perhaps her animal can accidentally kill Gaston for us.”

“Adam, we’ve discussed this already! We need Gaston alive if we want to live in peace.”

Beast growled. “I know that, Belle! I only wish it was not so! I long for a world where you and I can live in peace with no hunters, no danger, and no Gaston.”

“So do I, love, but this is the only world we have and we must make due with what the gods have given us. Would you rather want that I be out of your life forever?”

“Never.”

“Then let me marry Gaston, Adam. I despise the idea as much as you but it must be done if we are to remain together.”

Beast sighed but said nothing.

Belle then turned to her right slightly, revealing the ornate mirror she held. Selvina glanced at it briefly but then paused and glanced again after catching sight of the reflection upon it. It was not Belle’s.

It was Beast’s.