![\"RWISA](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Watch-Write-Showcase-Tour-300x214.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cMirror, Mirror\u201d by A.M. Manay
\nSet in the world of The Hexborn Chronicles<\/p>\n
Shiloh stood in her teacher\u2019s doorway, pulling anxiously on the end of a pink braid that had snuck out of her hood. Brother Edmun was in high dudgeon, ranting about insults and ingrates. A wooden crate sat upon the table, straw peeking through the slats. She could feel magic pouring out of it like waves of heat; it wasn\u2019t dark magic, but it didn\u2019t feel like good magic, either.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaster?\u201d she ventured. \u201cWould you like me to make your breakfast?\u201d She didn\u2019t bother to ask about the box. He\u2019d tell her if he wanted her to know – and, in his own good time, not before.<\/p>\n
Edmun looked at her as though she\u2019d appeared out of thin air. He waved her off. \u201cDon\u2019t bother, poppet. I couldn\u2019t eat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shiloh\u2019s eyes strayed to the crate, but she said nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo finish your essay from yesterday,\u201d Edmun barked.<\/p>\n
Taking her seat at her little desk with her back to the table, Shiloh could hear Brother Edmun unpacking the mysterious arrival. It was all she could do to resist the urge to peek when she heard the sound of a hammer. Under his breath, Edmun muttered a constant patter of unintelligible complaints. At last, she heard him pull out a chair and collapse into it. Carefully scanning the page once more for any mistakes, she stood to present her work to her master.<\/p>\n
He looked down at the offering in her little hand, her words marching neatly across the page. Pen in one hand and her paper in the other, the glower slowly disappeared from his face as he read, leaving behind a hint of satisfaction. At last, he nodded, resting his unused pen. Shiloh exhaled in relief.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell done. A princess at the Academy could not have done better at twice your age.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you, master!\u201d Her smile lit up her eyes, which then strayed over Edmun\u2019s shoulder to a mirror with gilded leaves and lacquered flowers hanging on the wall. The ornate frame looked out of place in the rustic mountain cabin.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t look in it more than you can help it,\u201d Edmun ordered, calling attention back to her teacher\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, master,\u201d she replied. \u201cMay I know why not?\u201d<\/p>\n
Edmun hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can feel that it\u2019s magic, master,\u201d Shiloh continued.<\/p>\n
He snorted. \u201cI\u2019m sure you can.\u201d She waited for more, but knowing well enough not to press him.<\/p>\n
Edmun heaved a sigh. \u201cA man can give you a gift out of love, to please you. Or, he can send it as an insult, to remind you of errors and to caution you against repeating them. This mirror is the latter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it do?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is none of your concern,\u201d he replied. \u201cAnd that is all I will tell you. Go get a wand from the cabinet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Excitement sheathed Shiloh\u2019s face. \u201cWe\u2019re using wands today?\u201d<\/p>\n
Edmun glanced down at her from beneath his eyebrows. \u201cIs there another reason I\u2019d ask you to get one? Now, do it quickly, before I think better of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
The following evening, Shiloh picked up a clean rag and set about the dusting. Edmun was busy in the temple, preparing for the upcoming Feast of the Father. As soon as she was done in the house, she was to join him there. As usual, the red cabinet took most of her attention. The many books, wands, and magical curiosities inside had to be carefully wiped and returned to their accustomed positions. It was tedious work, but she was pleased that Edmun trusted her with the task.<\/p>\n
Her work on the cabinet finally completed, she turned to dust the mirror and gasped. The silver surface had turned to black. A face appeared, and not her own. Shiloh took a step backward.<\/p>\n
A man cocked his head to the side, a slow smile spreading across his face. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but Shiloh did not wait to hear the words. She ran, her head scarf flying behind her all the way to the temple doors. She threw them open.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d Edmun demanded, looking up from the altar.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mirror,\u201d she panted. \u201cIt turned black, and then there was a man…\u201d<\/p>\n
Edmun crossed the floor and took her by the shoulders. \u201cWhat did he see? What did you say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing! I ran as soon as I saw him. I was only finishing up the dusting. Who was he?\u201d<\/p>\n
Edmun ran a hand over his mouth and chin and took a deep breath. \u201cThe most dangerous man in the kingdom. Silas Hatch.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Hatchet?\u201d Shiloh shivered. \u201cThe king\u2019s spymaster? Why would he appear in your mirror?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho do you think sent it? Hatch likely meant to speak with me, to threaten me. The king hates and fears me for reasons you well know.\u201d His brows drew inward. \u201cHe gave you a right scare, didn\u2019t he, poppet?\u201d<\/p>\n
Shiloh nodded. Edmun knelt to look her in the eye. \u201cNow, if I were a kind man, I\u2019d tell you that you need not fear him. But I\u2019m not, so I\u2019ll tell you the truth. You should be terrified of him. If you ever give him reason to believe you are disloyal to the crown, he will slit your throat with his own hands.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would I ever be disloyal to the crown?\u201d<\/p>\n
Edmun placed a hand on her head. \u201cGood girl. Now, put that man out of your mind and help me ready the temple for tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shiloh nodded, yet the ice of fear in her stomach remained; as did the look of worry on her beloved teacher\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Shiloh sat on her bed in the loft above her father\u2019s smithy. Upon her blanket lay an array of charms she\u2019d just made for protection against all manner of hexes or ill-wishing.<\/p>\n
The look upon the mirror man\u2019s face had chilled her to the bone\u2014something about the smile. It had been predatory. Proprietary. Wary. It had given her the distinct impression that the man\u2019s interest lay not only in her master but in herself, as well. I will not leave my teacher unprotected.<\/em><\/p>\n She pinned one charm on the linen beneath her tunic. The others she gathered into an old handkerchief. She tied it tight and placed the bundle in her pocket along with a jar of paste.<\/p>\n She knew Edmun would already be in the temple performing his ablutions for the feast day. She let herself into his house and crossed warily to the mirror. She exhaled with relief to find it clad in its ordinary silver.<\/p>\n Carefully, she lifted the mirror off its nail and turned it face down upon the table. She held the pot of glue in the crook of her elbow and pried it open, then affixed seven charms to the back of the Hatchet\u2019s \u201cgift\u201d to her master, one for each of the Lords of Heaven. She returned the mirror to its proper place and hurried to the temple before Edmun could scold her for tardiness.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n At dusk, Edmun sat his tired bones into his favorite chair and looked balefully at the mirror. Given the visitation to Shiloh the night before, Edmun expected to see Silas Hatch\u2019s face, yet as the pink light of sunset faded, the man did not appear.<\/p>\n \u201cPerhaps tomorrow,\u201d Edmun murmured. \u201cI had hoped to get it over with.\u201d He looked up at the mirror and realized that it was just slightly askew. Standing, he removed it from the wall. Turning it over, he found Shiloh\u2019s handiwork.<\/p>\n Edmun smiled and shook his head. \u201cMy sweet, clever poppet. Too clever by half.\u201d Sighing, he plucked the charms from the backing and set the mirror on the table, leaning against a water pitcher. Silas appeared in moments.<\/p>\n \u201cMaster Edmun, I feared you had forgotten the terms of our arrangement. There was to be no meddling with the mirror.\u201d<\/p>\n Edmun swallowed heavily. \u201cIt was a momentary lapse,\u201d he lied. \u201cI thought better of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Silas grinned. \u201cYou don\u2019t have lapses. It was the girl, wasn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n Edmun said nothing.<\/p>\n Silas laughed. \u201cIt was. Ha! And what is she, only eight years old?\u201d<\/p>\n Still, Edmun said nothing.<\/p>\n \u201cShe must love you as much as I did,\u201d Hatch mused.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you want?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAre you really teaching her mirror magic this young?\u201d Hatch asked, brow raised.<\/p>\n Edmun closed his eyes and sighed. \u201cOf course not. Evidently, I didn\u2019t teach you your own well enough, as she defeated you with a handful of charms and some paste.\u201d<\/p>\n The young man\u2019s ears flushed. \u201cWell, then,\u201d he managed, \u201cI shall have to redouble my efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou do that. And Silas?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n Edmun leaned in. \u201cThe next time you frighten that girl, it had best be after I\u2019m cold in the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n We ask that you also check out their books in the RWISA<\/strong> or RRBC<\/strong> catalogs.\u00a0 Thanks, again for your support and we hope that you will follow each member along this amazing tour of talent!\u00a0 Don’t forget to click the link below to learn more about this author:<\/p>\n A.M. Manay’s\u00a0RWISA Author Page<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cMirror, Mirror\u201d by A.M. Manay Set in the world of The Hexborn Chronicles Shiloh stood in her teacher\u2019s doorway, pulling anxiously on the end of a pink braid that had snuck out of her hood. Brother Edmun was in high dudgeon, ranting about insults and ingrates. A wooden crate sat upon the table, straw peeking … Continue reading “Welcome to the WATCH “RWISA” WRITE Showcase Tour! #RRBC #RWISA”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,3,1],"tags":[661,537,657],"class_list":["post-1165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-topics","category-general","category-uncategorized","tag-a-m-manay","tag-rrbc","tag-rwisa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9wA33-iN","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1165"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1191,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165\/revisions\/1191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A.M.](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nomadauthors.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/AM-Manay-200x300.jpg?resize=119%2C179&ssl=1\")
Thank you for supporting this member along the WATCH “RWISA” WRITE Showcase Tour <\/strong>today!\u00a0 We ask that if you have enjoyed this member’s writing, please visit their Author Page on the RWISA<\/strong> site, where you can find more of their writing, along with their contact and social media links, if they’ve turned you into a fan.<\/p>\n