Lucinda wondered if trapping her within the mirror like they had done to her father before her was a punishment at all. Now she was eternally young and beautiful, and somehow stronger than Lucinda remembered her.
“How did you get into the dreamscape?” Lucinda’s question made Grimhilde laugh.
“It’s your magic, Lucinda. You cast the spell that trapped me in the world of mirrors. And yet you don’t know how I am able to appear before you?” Lucinda wondered if Grimhilde would work out that she was no longer bound by their spell. She suddenly felt self-conscious, standing before the queen in her tattered, bloodstained clothing. How she wished she wasn’t trapped in the dreamscape, powerless with only her witless sisters. She longed to be in their own lands, where they would rule as queens. Instead she was in the land of mirrors and madness, talking to the old queen Grimhilde. What did the queen think of them, trapped in this place, so frightful-looking?
Curse Circe for taking away our powers! We’re helpless without them and our mirrors!
Then, as she realized something, she laughed.
“The mirrors! Circe, the smartest, most powerful witch of any age forgot to enchant the dreamscape’s mirrors so that Grimhilde couldn’t enter!” Lucinda’s laugh echoed throughout the chamber.
The wicked queen narrowed her eyes at Lucinda. “Aren’t you the least bit interested in knowing why I’ve come here, or are you content to stand there and laugh until I get bored and walk away?”
“Oh, I know exactly why you’re here, witch. You’re here for revenge.”
Ruby and Martha screamed. “It’s not fair! We don’t have our powers! We have no means to defend ourselves! It isn’t fair! It isn’t fair!”
Grimhilde shook her head. “Calm yourselves. I’m not going to hurt you, though by rights I should. I’m here because I need your help.
”
The sisters were silenced. Their eyes bulged with shock. They didn’t know how to respond. They just stood there, twitching and sputtering, the three of them thunderstruck.
“Clearly I’ve made a mistake coming here. You’re even more insane than the last time I saw you.” Grimhilde chuckled and continued. “Even if I was here for revenge, I wouldn’t be able to bring myself to wield my magic against you. Not as you are now. Defenseless, forgotten, and addled. You’re pathetic.”
“How dare you—”
Grimhilde cut her off. “How dare I? How dare you? You destroyed my life! You contrived to have me kill my own daughter! And now your daughter, your Circe, has taken Snow from me! My poor Snow, whose nightmares are still filled with visions of you! I should destroy you where you stand!” The witch’s eyes were conflicted. “But I came to you for help. After everything Maleficent told me about you, I thought—well, it doesn’t matter what I thought. I see I’ve made a mistake coming here. You are losing your minds. I dare say they are already lost! Any revenge I could take on you would be nothing compared to the torment you’re suffering here, trapped without your daughter in this perpetual madness. It’s exactly what you deserve.”
Grimhilde turned away, moving farther into the depths of the mirror, where she almost disappeared into the flickering green flames.
“No! Grimhilde, wait!”
“Yes, Lucinda?” The wicked queen paused and glanced back over her shoulder.
“What do you want of us?”
The queen sighed. She seemed to make a decision and turned back to the sisters.
“I want you to help me get Snow White back. I want a spell to bind her to me. I’m willing to do anything in exchange.” Lucinda could see that Grimhilde was being honest. She sensed her desperation. She felt it almost as acutely as her own longing for Circe.
“I see,” said Lucinda. “And where is your daughter now?”
“She is with Circe, among the fairies.”
“Oh, is she? Well, we have a plan for the fairies,” said Lucinda, her voice calm and steady.
“One that you can wield from the dreamscape?” Grimhilde asked, a hint of irony in her voice as she looked around the small room.
“With your help,” Lucinda said, smiling.
“And you promise my daughter won’t be harmed.”
“We promise no harm will come to your daughter.”
“Are you willing to be bound by those words, by blood, and by magic?” the old queen asked, looking at them through narrowed eyes, as if it would help her see whether they were telling the truth. Lucinda smiled at her sisters, who smiled back at her in agreement. “We will happily bind ourselves to that oath.”
“Then tell me what you need me to do!”