Mirrored Snow [short story]

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This was bad. Very, very bad. 

A raging queen was something I was used to. It happened on an almost daily basis when someone annoyed her. But the frosty determination in her eyes, the complete lack of evil tirade... This was new. And something told me it was a lot more dangerous than her usual response. 

What had I done?

There was only one way I was going to find out. 

I shut my eyes and focused on the palace ballroom. When I opened them again I was suspended above hundreds of courtiers, who had travelled from all over the realm to feast on fine food and waltz in fancy dresses. I usually avoided the queen's lavish parties, which were overwhelming reminders of her power and greed. But tonight I needed to make an exception.

It didn't take me long to locate Snowdon. He was leaning suavely against a column, a flock of girls, in big dresses and even bigger hair styles, gathered around him. Luckily for me, there was another long mirror running along the wall behind him. With another close of my eyes, I had a perfect view of the spectacle. His friend, Murphy, was there too, looking slightly less petrified than he had done in the queen's doorway. Snowdon was speaking animatedly, his hands flying through the air. 

I tried to study him objectively. The queen's magic compelled me to answer her question truthfully, so if I said he was the fairest in the kingdom, then he was. He was tall, easily six foot and his trim physique set off perfectly by his tailored shirt and trousers. Unlike the other male courtiers, he had rolled up his sleeves; a sign of confidence and comfort in this high pressure environment. 

I glanced away from him, letting my eyes scan over the crowded room once more. I couldn't see her. I was sure she would come straight here. To him. The fact that she hadn't was as confusing as it was terrifying. If she wasn't confronting him, she was plotting. I had spent enough time around the queen to know that her plotting never resulted in a happy ending. 

I transfered my weight from foot to foot anxiously. Should I go in search of the queen, or stay here and assume she would come to Snowdon eventually? I looked back to Snowdon and all thoughts of leaving vanished from my mind. He was staring at me again. I blinked. No. He couldn't be staring at me. He must just like looking at his own reflection. 

"Snowdon, did you hear me?" 

Snowdon smiled at me. No. Not me. His reflection. Then he turned to the girl, who was pouting as she wound a strand of brunette hair around her finger. 

"My apologies, Miss..."

"Marianne Proust." The pout deepened. "If you spent less time at school and more at home, we would have met years ago."

"My apologies again, Miss Proust. It is a travesty that we have lost so much time while I have been gaining my education. Perhaps the problem could also have been rectified if you had been at school."

Marianna threw her head back and laughed. "Oh, Snowdon, you are hilarious!"

Snowdon looked at Murphy and shrugged. I rolled my eyes. Marianne was the daughter of the head of the treasury. She had been bought up with more money than sense and had no aspirations beyond finding a husband who could bankroll her shopping addiction. 

I scanned the room once more. It was no use. She wasn't in here and I wasn't learning anything by watching Snowdon and Marianne. 

Now, if I was planning something evil, where would I go to do it? With a ball taking place, most of her usual haunts were out. She would have to be somewhere she could make a scene in private. Her study maybe, or the library. The library didn't have any mirrors, so I was going to have to hope that it was the former.