Misadventures in Overland Chapter Seven

Mirror Talk

Alannah sighed as she lay back on her bed. The outing in London had been quite a lot of fun, she reflected. But she couldn't help but feel slight pangs of jealousy as she watched Alice and Tarrant. They had been rather oblivious to Alannah at times. In truth, there were times when they were oblivious to everything around them.

Alannah closed her eyes, trying to get to sleep. Five minutes later, she was as wide awake as she had been all day. She sighed in frustration, realizing that she wasn't used to sleeping alone. She had decided that her only reason for sleeping the night before was only due to sheer exhaustion.

She was about to resign herself to a restless night when she saw a strange sight. Her suitcase seemed to be emitting a soft white light. Alannah, her curiosity piqued, climbed out of bed and knelt in front of the suitcase, unlocking the clasps. The light seemed to be coming from a wrapped up object at the bottom of the bag that she hadn't noticed before. She pulled it out, quickly unwrapping it. It was a small mirror, rather plain in appearance, with dark, smoky glass. Alannah gazed at it in confusion, then noticed that there was a rolled up piece of paper near her. She picked it up, and her eyes widened in shock and amazement as she read the contents.

Alannah,

I wish with all my heart that I could be in Overland with you, but perhaps this gift will help. It belonged to my father, and it is quite a remarkable mirror. It's made of the same glass that the Looking Glass was forged out of, and it has some rather remarkable properties. One of these is allowing whoever holds it to communicate with any person, no matter where or indeed, when they are. All you must do is look into the glass and say the name of the person you wish to speak with, and they will appear reflected in the glass. I fervently hope you find this mirror soon, my love, as I find myself missing you quite terribly.

Ilosivic.

P.S-Don't worry about dropping it, it's unbreakable.

Alannah ran over to the bed, and eagerly held the mirror up to her face. "Ilosivic Stayne." The glass, which had been foggy, began to clear slowly. Alannah gaped in amazement as Stayne's face slowly came into view, and she felt her heart twist. Oh, Time but she missed him. She gripped the mirror tighter, smiling as he came into view, looking as though he was standing right behind her. He smiled.

"You found the mirror, I take it?"

Alannah nodded, then took a deep breath and began babbling. "Ilosivic I miss you so much, and I miss Katarina and Michael, and I'm actually having quite the lovely time of it, Overland is so much fun, and Tarrant and I met a wonderfully funny old man who makes watches, and he's promised that if I go by his shop that he'll make me a fine watch, and we went into a bookshop, and I bought six copies of Mr. Carroll's books each, only I skipped reading the chapter about your Trial, and we went to Buckingham Palace and saw the Guards, and they wear funny black hats, and then we went to a museum and saw some wonderful Overland art, then we went to a symphony, and Alice is pregnant, and I forced Veritas Tea on her sister's husband, and…"

Stayne laughed. "Alannah! Darling, take a breath. I'm in no hurry, after all. The children are asleep, and everything's taken care of and…" he trailed off, and then gaped in shock. "Did you say Alice was pregnant?" Alannah nodded, and Stayne laughed. "How did Tarrant take it?"

Alannah giggled. "He fainted. He pieced it together from the bits of information I gave him, and just fainted away on the sidewalk. Course, after he came to he was thrilled. Alice figured it out as well and well…" she sighed. "Seeing them getting amorous with each other made me miss you quite a lot, and all they were doing was kissing!"

Stayne gasped in mock astonishment. "Why, Lady Stayne! Are you perhaps suggesting that had the situation been reversed that you and I would be doing more than kissing?" Alannah grinned wickedly, and Stayne laughed. "You know I think you might be correct. I do believe you might have corrupted me!" Alannah giggled madly. Stayne laughed. "Now, you mentioned going to a symphony. What was that like?"

Alannah grinned widely. "Oh, it was absolutely amazing! The musicians were playing something from a composer named Beethoven! Alice told me all about him afterwards. He was completely deaf, yet he composed such wonderfully beautiful music! We don't have anything like it in Underland!"

Stayne smiled. "I'd imagine not. Now, I'd like to hear about your day without the Rambling, which, by the way, your daughter seems to have inherited."

Alannah laughed. "She has? What did she ramble about?" Stayne laughed.

"Well, she woke me up this morning by landing on my stomach and announcing that Michael was crawling into a cupboard…"

Alannah fell back on the bed, laughing so hard she couldn't breathe. She had been biting her lip while Stayne told his story, and so far had managed to keep herself under control. But when Stayne told her what had happened in Marmoreal's kitchens, she could no longer control herself and collapsed in laughter. "She must have looked so silly! She wasn't hurt, was she?" Stayne smiled.

"No, more shocked than anything. But I think once she realized she wasn't going to be getting in trouble she got over the trauma rather quickly. She made some rather nice raspberry scones, too. I think perhaps she has what it takes to be a cook."

Alannah grinned. "Well, as long as she doesn't develop an affinity for pepper, then I'm all for her becoming a cook." Stayne laughed and nodded.

"Yes, let's hope that was just a trait of the Duchess's Cook. I wonder whatever became of her after she left the Duchess's employ."

Alannah giggled. "My mother hired her. She didn't last too long, Mother got tired of there being pepper in every dish. Come to think of it, I got rather tired of it as well. I think maybe that's the reason I'm not so fond of pepper."

Stayne's jaw dropped. "You're joking!" He grinned and shook his head in amusement. "The world's rather small, isn't it?" Alannah laughed, nodding in agreement, then gave a deep sigh. Stayne looked at her in concern. "Is there something wrong?"

She bit her lip, and nodded. "I can see you, hear you, talk to you, but I can't touch you. I can't feel your lips on mine, your hands caressing me, and it's driving me mad. I don't know if I'll be able to last a whole week."

Stayne grinned wickedly. "Is that all? Why that is easily settled. I wrote that the mirror has many remarkable properties, and there's one on there I've never used-but my father told me it works rather well for those times when you are apart from the one you love-or when you just want a bit of company without having to pay for it. That last bit was all him, by the way. But according to him, all you have to do is touch the center of the mirror with the tips of your fingers, and the person you are talking with will be in the room with you."

Alannah placed her fingertips on the mirror, and shut her eyes. When she opened them again, she gave a cry of disappointment. The glass had gone smoky again. She was about to throw it across the room in rage when she heard the unmistakable sound of Stayne laughing. "Turn around, love."

Alannah spun around and gaped in amazement. Stayne was lounging on the bed, grinning at her. He opened his mouth to speak, but his words were cut short by Alannah pouncing on him and kissing him for all she was worth. He sighed, and happily wrapped his arms around her, eagerly kissing her back. He gently maneuvered her so she was lying on her back, and moved his lips to her throat, licking the soft flesh. Alannah moaned, arching her neck, and gasped his name. Stayne smirked. "After all these years, I can still make you wild, can't I?" Alannah moaned in response, and Stayne laughed. "I'll take that as a yes. Now, this spell only lasts until morning..." he was cut off by Alannah's cry of disappointment. He kissed her. "I don't like it any more than you do my beauty. But I haven't figured out yet how to make it last longer. So instead, we'll have to settle for making this night last for as long as we can."

Alannah nodded, and then pulled him down into a deep kiss. "I'll take whatever I can get, love."