Movement!
Something was in the Mirror Realm. It wasn't the Others, though. Noble had seen that reflective quality once before. The strangeness of the moment was ingrained in her memory.
'Mordret.' Noble shielded her thought from her husband.
When she had felt the strange, incomplete emotional signature of the mysterious Saint, his mirror-like eyes had warned her to keep the thought to herself. Those unforgettable, haunting eyes had possessed the same sheen.
Now, with the sight given to her by the foreign shimmers in her soul, Noble had noticed something beyond what the normal human eye could see. And that sight told her one thing.
Mordret was in the Mirror Realm.
'Oh…oh!'
'What?' Fort heard her distress.
Noble's mind raced. 'What did you say the government called Anvil's disgraced son, Mordret?'
There had been multiple communiques from government headquarters on the matter just before Noble had left for the Nightmare. They desired to locate the Saint without alerting Clan Song.
'You mean the strange title from Saint Athena? Uh, I think it was the Prince of Nothing.'
'That's what I thought.' Noble's eyes opened wide.
The Prince of Nothing!
The title hadn't meant anything at the time. Indeed, Noble had assumed that Saint Athena had meant the moniker as mockery.
But now…
'It wasn't nothing as in he rules nothing. It literally meant Nothing like the Nothing used to make the Others.'
Was Mordret an Other? Noble didn't think so. He was too keen, confident, and cared little about what the princesses of Song thought about him.
If he were an Other, then he was different from any Noble had encountered. There was an easier explanation.
Mordret was from Bastion. Perhaps, like her, he had been influenced by the strange things there, either by the whim of the Spell or from his own adventures.
While Noble had gotten a quality that made her invisible, Mordret could travel where humans should not be able to go.
"Like what you see?" Seishan winked at Noble through the reflection.
"Its beautiful. It must be very special." Noble tried not to seem too interested.
"Not really. It's just a mundane mirror. It's mostly for show. We have a surplus of them at the palace." The princess shrugged.
She wasn't lying!
'Fascinating!'
No wonder Mordret had told her to whisper his name if she found a Skinwalker. He could exit through any reflective surface just like he had come to help Seishan.
Noble smiled politely. "It's very well crafted. Clan Song does excellent work."
Seishan nodded. "I will have one sent over to your house this evening."
"What? No, thank you." Noble shook her head.
"I insist. It would be a gift of goodwill from Clan Song to our dear Ambassador and his wife," The princess ran her hand along the glass.
More shimmers that only Noble could see moved across the surface. Any doubt that the so-called Prince of Nothing was monitoring the conversation vanished.
Was this some sort of test?
Fort handled a lot of secrets daily. Was this Clan Song's way of keeping tabs on them?
"I cannot accept. At least not today," Noble said firmly.
She had expected Seishan to express some obligation of the ambassador to accept tokens offered by the royal family, but instead, the princess waved her hand casually.
"Suit yourself. But I think every woman deserves to see herself so clearly."
While Seishan believed the words she had said, Noble could still sense her ulterior motive.
Placing Mordret in a prominent place in their home? That was diabolical.
His presence in the glass also explained why the government couldn't locate the Saint. He was eluding them expertly while spying in countless places without their knowledge.
'I wonder what else he is up to that they don't know about.'
Noble had no idea what Mordret's other powers might be. For all she knew, he was living multiple lives like Sunny. Perhaps the man wasn't just hiding from his father. He could be running his own clan in the land of mirrors or somewhere else in the Dream Realm. That would explain his absence from humanity.
'I'd rather just believe he is watching over Ravenheart.' Noble shook her head.
'Who? Mordret? You found him?' Fort barely contained his excited interest. 'Is he in the mirror?'
Noble continued to gaze in the glass.
'Sort of. I think he might be in every mirror…'
"What?!" Realizing he had spoken aloud, Fort covered his shock behind a hacking cough.
Noble patted his back as he pounded his fist on his chest.
"Are you alright, Ambassador?" Seishan arched her brow.
"Yes, yes. Just a tickle," Fort cleared his throat.
"I see. You should get that looked at. I hear the doctor by the bridge is quite good." Seishan offered.
Fort placed his hand on his heart. "Ah, yes, thank you. I will keep that in mind."
Seishan motioned to the guards, and the gates began to shut.
"You may want to cover your eyes," the Princess warned, summoning a parasol.
The humongous doors slammed with a loud rumble. The reverberation dislodged the loose snow from the walls, sending it directly toward the humans' heads. Fort raised his arm, but Noble simply let her eyes swirl.
Seishan watched quietly as the snow drifted to the ground around them, leaving a cone of protection where they stood.
When the last piece of ice finally landed, Noble nodded.
"That should do it."
Seishan closed her parasol and dismissed it. "Seems my warning was unnecessary."
"I am happy to help." Child of Promise gave a modified bow.
From some hidden alcove, a pilgrim approached and whispered in Seishan's ear. The princess glanced at Noble and Fort as she listened.
"Are you sure you won't take a mirror?" Seishan asked again.
"I am certain. Thank Her Majesty for her most generous offer. We cannot accept." Noble bowed deeply to the pilgrim.
"You know my mother extended the offer, and still you refuse?" The grey-skinned woman chewed her lip.
"I'm afraid so." Noble kept her voice even.
"My wife is the beauty expert in our house. What she says goes." Fort took his wife's hand.
"I see." The princess nodded to the pilgrim, who walked away. "You are different since last we met." Seishan looked Noble up and down carefully. "I like it."
There was a probing question behind it that unsettled the new Saint.
"You look as impressive as ever," Noble responded, deflecting the compliment. "Congratulations on your Transcendence, by the way. The Queen must be very proud."
"Thank you, Master Noble. My sisters are very glad to have me home again." Seishan licked her lips, her sharp teeth glistening in the last light of the evening. "On that note, I am hungry, and I will not be dining here tonight. Good evening."
Seishan disappeared down the road, and the presence in the mirror vanished as well, leaving Fort and Noble alone by the gates.
"Well, that was...memorable." Noble found no other words to describe what had just occurred.
"Time with you always is," Fort responded, "but yes, that one was a bit unique."
The two stared at each other before heading toward their home. They had a lot to talk about.