Not a very shining moment in my life. When I arrived back at the home of Hans, Caroline and their children, I was met with worried faces. They had thought something happened to me, and I was quite late for dinner. I explained what I had done, poured out a stream of apologies that Elias had been unwilling to hear, ate the food that had been set aside for me, and quickly retired to bed after Hans said "She'll do better tomorrow" to his family and then turned and said, with a slight warning in his tone "Right, Mirror?"

I agreed. That night I relived my awful mistake in my dreams over and over again. I never found Snow White in any of them. I would always wake with a start. By the middle of the night I thought I'd never fall to sleep again, and vowed that I'd make up for my behaviour. Snow White would have wanted me too.

The only trouble was this would mean I would have to postpone my search for her…and who knew what the Queen was planning now.

/

A few days ago…

The morning began quite normally, with the usual time spent on dressing and primping, and the ladies-in-waiting coming in when called, arranging themselves on their respective stools, like flowers placing themselves in vases. Oswald stood at the door, shaking as always. He should have never shown Prince Adalric the mirror. Now whenever the Queen visited the looking glass he feared that the mirror may let it slip that the interaction had occurred. Even worse…that his name should be mentioned. The Queen treated quite a few people poorly, but spies for the neighbouring kingdoms? He was as good as dead.

If he could have he would have smashed the mirror to shards after the prince was finished with it, but the Queen needed it for her own purposes…and if she figured out it was him who destroyed it…he was also as good as dead.

He should have never brought up the magic mirror to begin with, he scolded himself internally. He had brought all this worry on himself. He should have stayed out of all this, he was only a footman after all.

The Queen finished with her morning regime, rose, signaling for the ladies-in-waiting to do so after her, and began walking for the door with a sense of purpose. Oswald swallowed, forced his tremors to subside briefly and opened the door for them. She floated past in jeweled toned fabric, green today, and with a freshly powdered face, looking like a polished emerald.

The walk was silent, just the crisp taps of shoes on the floor. By now the ritual performed in front of the mirror was as much part of a morning routine as brushing hair.

Down the halls they walked, a small parade led by a queen, flanked by her attendants. The Queen was oddly calm. Oswald wondered if that should worry him more, he had expected her to be more than a little upset with the mirror's reply yesterday. Snow White…alive. He had heard it whispered by the kitchen staff, who had heard it spoken of quietly in empty (supposedly empty) corridors by the ladies-in-waiting who had heard her grousing about all that evening. No one in the castle had slept easy that night, half expecting her to leave her bedchamber in a angry outburst, calling forth huntsmen and horses and hounds…all for the sake of finding a young girl with more beauty than her.

But regardless of the unease in everyone else, the Queen was serene, poised, alert. She was starting to remind Oswald of cat, which had not yet decided if it wanted to catch a mouse or not.

The door to the chamber where the mirror was kept was ahead, and Oswald quickened his pace, standing himself at the door again and opening it for the collective party. He choose to stand outdoors, retaining his hold on the door handle. He didn't quite fancy being in the same room as the Queen. He would stand outside the chamber, and pretend that he had continued to hold the door for their exit. He was close enough to hear whether the mirror betrayed his activities during the night of the ball or not.

"Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, reveal yourself to us all." The Queen demanded, and Oswald felt every hair on the back of his neck stand up in dreadful anticipation.

There was nothing but silence for a few seconds. "Mirror Mirror, on the wall, I said reveal yourself to us all."

What?

Oswald's curiosity betrayed himself and he dared to stand a little more in the doorway so he may look into the chamber and see what was happening. Never had the phrase to reveal the mirror been repeated, at least during his time at the palace.

The mirror had cleared, as it always did, revealing the tiny room within with it's dove gray hanging and the cushions arranged in their usual daybed in the corner. But the lady within was not appearing.

And that was certainly the most vital part of the mirror.

"Where is she?" The Queen asked, a tone of shock caught in her voice. "She has to be in there!"

"Perhaps she is hiding behind the draperies?" One lady-in-waiting bravely ventured to suggest.

"How can she be hiding behind the drapes, there is nothing behind them, no wall or door or anything!"

"Well we don't really know for sure…" Another lady-in-waiting whispered to the other attendant beside her.

"Enough!" The Queen snapped, and the women behind her fell silent, and Oswald stepped quickly back out of the doorway.

"She must be there." The Queen sounded as though she was almost pleading now for the lady in the mirror to step forward. "She has to be, it's a mirror there's no place for her to go." She stepped forward, grabbing hold of the golden frame the looking glass was in. "Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, this is your last chance… reveal yourself to us all." They all waited with their breath held.

But no lady appeared.

"No." The Queen said softly. "I don't understand, how could this happen? It's a magic mirror it's not meant to stop working. No, no, no."

Oswald could feel a building of tremors he knew would last for weeks.

/

"I am an awful, awful human being." I sighed into my pillow. "If only I had stayed a mirror." Shade ran his little sandpaper tongue over my hand. Jonah's kitten was the only sentient being in the house right now that I was sure still liked me. "What do you think, Shade?" I asked. The creature continued to lick at my hand. "Perhaps it's just as well." I muttered. "It's better to be a human being and be no good at it than to be a mirror and never really live."

There was a knock at the door, and Rebecca poked her head in. "Mirror?" She asked. "Are you alright?"

"I'm awful, I feel simply awful." I replied. "Rebecca I swear, I just wanted to find my friend, and someone was giving me a horse to use, and…I knew it was wrong too, and that's what makes me an awful human being." I sighed. "Will your mother ever forgive me?"

"Oh she will, she will." Rebecca promised me. "Father hasn't given up on you yet, and that's the important thing."

"Tomorrow will go better, I swear."

"Oh, I don't doubt it, the way you've poured your emotions into the pillow we gave you."

"Tears are so strange…they sort of sting, don't they?"

Rebecca nodded. "Enough worrying about it, it's been done." She came over and patted my shoulder soothingly. "Now get yourself into a night dress and go to bed, you'll be needing the rest."

"Your brother hates me." I went on as I dashed behind the changing curtain that had been hung in the corner of the attic for me. "I don't think he'll trust me ever again."

"Don't let Elias scare you." Rebecca shook her head. "His first day in the shop went just as bad…if not worse."

My head popped out from behind the curtain. "Worse?" I asked, surprised. "Worse how?"

Rebecca smirked. "Imagine him making a full set of chairs for a dining table and then not one of them being able to support the weight of a mouse, let alone a person." She grinned. "A full day's work, and nothing to prove for it. At least you did a bit of bookkeeping. Does that make you feel any better?"

"Well…perhaps a little." I smiled. "It will make facing him a little easier." I plopped down on the cot in the attic that had become mine. "Mattresses are lovely. You can just flop yourself down onto them and it's the most comfortable thing in the world."

Rebecca sighed. "I wish I liked the little things in life as much as you do."

"It's easy when all of them are new and exciting." I closed my eyes and Rebecca threw the bedcovers over me. Shade curled up at my feet.

"Tomorrow I start repaying your family for all your kindness…properly."

/

Three weeks later

Repaying Rebecca's family and finding another opportunity to search for Snow White was a longer task than what I expected. Three weeks of bookkeeping yielded enough money to give ample payment for room and board. The bit they left for me to have as my own was saved in a box under my mattress until I would have enough to pay a ploughman for use of a horse for a day.

In truth, I didn't mind surrendering most of the money. The effect of some extra income in Rebecca's household was noticeable, and yielded positive results. The bit of extra food required to feed me daily was easily acquired, and fabric for my own dresses. Caroline managed to pinch enough together to bake something nice every week, and Hans used a good portion to make some repairs to the mill.

Snow White would have been so proud. I used thoughts like that to fuel me through the less than exciting work of bookkeeping. Every time the number became too much, or my eyelids turned heavy out of boredom I thought of how happy Emelia, Michal and Jonah were when they came home to see Caroline had been baking all day while they were at school, and how happy that would make Snow White if she were also here.

As long as I kept reminding myself of that it was easier to ignored how I had let almost a month of my short time to find Snow White slip away. I counted my savings every night and went over the math to see how much longer it would be before a chance to go looking for her would arise.

There were times I thought the day would never come around, but finally, after the three weeks had passed with no small amount of effort, the arrangements were made, and a ploughman with a horse was paid.

And I would not be going alone. Rebecca had agreed to come with me, and Hans had given her permission to be away from the mill for a day.

"And remember she has-"

"Black hair and pale skin, about this tall (she held her hand to show me this)…very beautiful…red lips. Am I missing anything important?"

"No, that should cover it all." I nodded. "You know how to ride a horse, yes? Because the last time I went riding it was a miracle I made it home at all. The horse startled…some strange beast."

"Strange beast? Like what?"

"I don't know, it had fur of every color."

If this information bothered Rebecca she said nothing, and didn't dare ask anymore questions.

We departed early in the morning, when most people were making their way to work. Elias walked passed and Rebecca waved to him in a friendly manner. I avoided making eye contact with him. The last few weeks had been quiet between us. Whenever I looked at him I felt the same embarrassment and guilt I had felt when I returned late with the mare, both of us exhausted, and nothing accomplished. It was enough to make me press my face back in the books for a good hour or two.

"Both of you now?" Elias saw the horse that Rebecca was leading by the reins.

Rebecca nodded. "She has a friend she needs to find…and should have probably found three weeks ago."

"If everyone had only been so lucky." Elias joked.

Rebecca did not take kindly to the remark. "Elias!" She snapped. "That remark was in poor taste."

Elias, every serious, sighed, apologized, and continued on his way lest we delay him too much. "Good luck." He wished us both. He added, just before disappearing, "Do make sure to come back before dark."

Rebecca groaned. "Of all times for him to make jokes…of course he chooses now, it's just like him."

"Do you not get along well with him?" I asked as we continued along.

"As well as any brother and sister do." Rebecca said. "We all love him dearly, really, but it's hard to not grow frustrated with each other sometimes."

"Why does he not live with you?"

"Oh, he didn't get tossed out of the house or anything." Rebecca shook her head. "Elias left on his own. He went to father one day and said he didn't want to be a miller like him. Wouldn't be able to stand it, not even for a day in his life."

"Oh no." I interrupted her. "It must have hurt your father's feelings to hear that."

"It probably did a little, but we all suspected Elias wouldn't want to replace father at the mill. Father went off the very next day to see about fitting him into an apprenticeship in another trade. That's when he started carpentry and the like. He had to work off all his debt for being trained, but he did it. Elias just wanted to do better in life than what milling would get him I think."

Which I felt meant, somewhere between the lines, that Elias didn't want to continue living a life where income was more troubling than it should be.

"He rents a little set of rooms above one of the shops now." Rebecca laughed. "It's probably like living in a matchbox, the rooms are so tiny, but it's a roof over his head."

I found myself laughing too, though I had no idea why. Hearing other people laugh often caused laughter on my own part now that I was human.

We reached the path into the forest, mounted the horse and started along. We passed the normal cabins and foresters, and before long Rebecca was leading us all deeper into the woods. "Do you expect to find her hiding in some cave?" Rebecca asked. "Maybe captured by that beast you were speaking of earlier?"

"Oh no…at least I don't think so." I said. "From what I could tell, she was sleeping in a bed, which means she must be in some sort of house somewhere."

"How did you two get separated?"

I wondered if I should lie outright, but decided to reply as honestly as I could, without revealing too much. "There was a women who…wanted her to leave, and so she ran away when she got the chance. And then when I learned she was still in trouble I ran away too. I was hoping I could find her quickly and then we'd be able to…I don't know, run even farther away I suppose." I frowned. "At least find a safer kingdom."

"So…I suppose you're not a mirror after all?" Rebecca asked.

"No, wait…it's not quite like that…" I tried to find the words.

"So you haven't figured out your true name."

"Strictly speaking I don't think I've had one of those ever." I sighed. "But Mirror has always suited me fine."

"You're so odd." Rebecca smiled. "I think I'm starting to grow quite fond of you, Mirror."

"I should hope so." I smiled in return. "Otherwise eating dinner with your family, working with them, and living under same roof would be very awkward."

Rebecca laughed, and I felt the compulsion to tell her more of my unique story. Not of Snow White and her history, those were her own private tales, but things of just me.

"I'm very old you know." I said. "I was here before most villages stood, when there was only the castle, newly built."

"You mean when the first kingdom was split into the three kingdoms we have today?"

"Yes, about that old."

Rebecca snorted. "There's no possible way for you to be a thousand years old."

"Magic." I answered.

"There's no such thing."

"As a magic mirror I feel quite offended to hear you say that when I'm right behind you."

"Well maybe there once was…once upon a time."

"Once upon a time…what a nice phrase."

"That's how mother used to begin all our bedtime stories." She turned her head around to face me again, as we continued looking back and forth through the wood for a cottage or some other sign of a person living nearby. So far there was nothing, not a trail of smoke from a chimney nor even a trail marked with footprints. "So?"

"So…what?" I raised an eyebrow.

"What did you do in all that time?"

"Well, as someone who can answer any sort of question, I was used for a lot of things. War strategy, saying when heirs would be born, arranging good marriages, answering questions regarding lessons, beauty, alliances, criminal actions…my friend was the first person to ask questions that I really did feel like answering, things about far off places and how the world worked and that sort of thing."

"War strategy?" Rebecca was surprised.

"What?" I asked. "You don't think those old kings could have managed it all on their own do you? No, some were really quite hopeless. They needed the advantage only a magic mirror like myself could give." I snickered. "Otherwise the land we're riding over right now would have been blown to bits by hap hazard canon fire."

"It sounds like an adventure. So many people and so many things you had a hand in."

"I was trapped in a looking glass the entire time, you have to remember that. And I'd like to see you try to enjoy yourself when your regarded like just another piece of furniture." I sighed. "I didn't even have feelings Rebecca…maybe some, but so minimal, terribly stunted…nothing like I have now. Happiness, sadness, hunger, sleepiness, contentment…such an array."

"I hope you're enjoying life with all it's quirks, Mirror."

"I am." I winked at her, a neat little trick Michal and Jonah had thought worthwhile to teach me. "But really Rebecca, there's no such thing as magic, so the whole mirror story must be a tall tale, right?" I said jokingly.

"I suppose until we have another story for you it will have to suffice." She heaved a heavy sigh, but I could tell there was a joking tone in her own voice.

Suddenly there was the snap of a twig, and Rebecca stopped the horse, who's ears were flicking about now. "Did you hear that?" She asked. "It may have been only a rabbit or something but…"

"Hello?!| I shouted for Snow White. "Is anyone there?! Hello!"

Nothing…again. Where on earth was that princess hiding?

"I suppose it was just a rabbit after all." Rebecca said. Yet there was another snap of underbrush, and the sound of what seemed to be branches being pushed out of the way.

"Hello?" We both called out then.

"You can come out, this is Rebecca, a good friend of mine." I called, thinking I would soon see raven hair and a familiar face.

But a face of a very different kind rose from behind a young tree.

Behind it was a great brown and black hump, shaggy with wooly fur like a bison's in some patches, and smooth and black like a bears in others. The pelt patched off further into silvery coat colors like a wolf's and then more brown, in strange shapes, some no more than dots, like mouse fur, and other's lighter and softer to touch, like a rabbits. At one joint on the creature's hip I could have sworn I saw a squirrel tail. And then the face was framed with smoother hair like an otter's, patches of thicker fur like a donkey's and strands of horsehair. A patch of bright red hair, like a foxes backside, hung upon what looked like a massive brow.

We made eye contact for the briefest time, this calico-coated animal and I, as it stood up.

I gasped. Rebecca screamed.

And then it ran right past us, before diving into the mess of trees and disappearing. My eyes shot back to where it had stood, and I beheld a dark figure, holding a crossbow. The figure was dressed in plain colors, but the fabric was fine, and the form familiar.

I gasped again, before slapping the horses backside and stealing the reins from Rebecca's grasp. The horse sped away, with Rebecca scolding me for taking the reins from her. "What did you do that for?! Are you trying to get us thrown from the horse?"

"There was a huntsman."

"Well, it is the forest Mirror." She huffed. "He may have seen a cottage. He may have known something about your friend."

I shook my head, silent and scared for three reasons.

I hadn't found Snow White, and it had now been over three weeks.

The creature had human eyes.

And Wilhelm had been the huntsman.

Yet another update...after forever. I tried my best when it comes to the Catskin fur coat but there are simply too many variations, the most prominent of which is that it's made from some of the fur from every animal in the country. In some it's the whole skin of something most people wouldn't want a coat made of (like pig skin or donkey fur). The point is...it's not meant to be a very flattering coat, and make the wearer look like an animal at first glance.