Chapter 18

"Where is she?" roared the king. "Where is your sister?"

He was in the chamber of his daughters. All of them were huddled against the wall, clutching each other in fear. 

"Father, we don't--" began one daughter. 

"Do not dare tell me that you do not know," said the king. Spit flew from his lips, and his face was white with rage. "You spend every single day together, do not leave this castle, nor are allowed to talk to anyone besides your suitors. So tell me: Where. Is. She?" With every word, the king flipped over a chair. The daughters flinched against the wall. The youngest was crying. 

"Father, she was here when we went to sleep, but when we woke up, she was gone," said the eldest. She spoke as she would to a child, trying to reason with a creature who cannot be reasoned with. 

"So she just disappeared like a ghost? Hm? Is that what you're trying to say?" The king walked closer to the girls and towered over them. "Do you realize what she has done? She has stolen your stepmother's mirror and fled into the night!" 

He reached down and gripped his eldest daughter's arm. "Tell me where she is or I swear none of you will leave this room for a year," he said. There was no stopping the king when he had the wild light of madness in his eyes. 

The eldest daughter glanced to her sisters. Some were crying; others tried to shake their heads.

No, don't tell him, their eyes begged.

The king tightened his grip. The daughter knew she would have bruises later. She took a breath. In a tiny voice, she said, "She said she would go into the woods. That's all she told us."

The king released her. "Good girl," he said. He walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him and locked it. He rubbed his temples; he already has his soldiers searching for the last person with magic. His wife had seen foretold it in the mirror. Now he had a missing daughter on his hands. His forces would have to be divided, which would make it harder to find both.

He turned to the entourage of guards and councilors standing outside the door. 

"Spy Master," he snapped. 

"Yes, Your Grace," a man said, stepping forward. 

"Tell me you discovered the whereabouts of the last remaining person with magic," the king said, walking back to the throne room. The entourage followed. "Once we have killed her, our power will be absolute."

"Yes, Your Grace," said the man. "She lives at the edge of the woods, where the river forms a crook, in the valley of the Dark Mountains."

"What is her name?"

"Elaine, Your Grace," replied the man. 

The king stopped, turned to his soldiers. His face grew white with rage. 

"The Baker's daughter?!" replied the king. 

The head of the soldiers spoke up. "My King, we did not know that she was the girl--"

The king drew his sword and stabbed the knight in the chest. He collapsed on the floor, gasping for breath before he died.

"I should have done this a year ago," said the king. "Amateurs. You there--" said the king, as he snapped his fingers at a second knight. "You've been promoted. It had better not take you a year to get me this Elaine. Spy Master!"

"Yes, my King," said the Spy Master stepping forward.

"Lead the knights. Find her. And bring her to me."