Free The Magic Mirror of the Mermaid Queen by Delia Sherman Page A

“Which is why you’re in school, learning the finer points of Genius-herding.”
    School, where Tiffany was Queen of the May and I was just a Wild Child slated to get her face scratched off on Hallowe’en night. I made a quick decision. “I’m quitting school, Pooka. Maybe I’ll go back later, after I’ve saved the Park.”
    The Pooka was amused. “And how will you be doing that thing?”
    This seemed obvious. “I’ll persuade the Lady to give the Mermaid Queen her mirror back, of course.”
    “The Lady’d throw you to the Hunt before you’d opened your mouth.”
    “Well, I’ll get the Mermaid Queen to back off.”
    “Have they taught you underwater breathing, then, in that school of yours?”
    I had one last idea. “I could go on a quest?”
    “Bah,” the Pooka said. “What kind of quest? For what? To where? Herne the Hunter help me, do you know nothing? No,” he went on before I could argue, “you’ll go to school tomorrow as always, bright and early in the morning, brushed and dressed and ready to learn. In the meantime, tonight is a dancing night, and dance you must, willing or no.”
    I knew I’d lost the argument, but at least I could have the last word. “Aha,” I said triumphantly. “I can’t go to school tomorrow. It’s a day off.”
    “All the more reason to dance tonight, then.” And the Pooka drew me into the reel.
     
    At dawn, the Pooka carried me up to the Castle. I slept all day, and when I woke up, it was dark out. Disoriented, I got up and tripped over a heap of cold slitheriness that smelled of tarnish.
    I remembered everything: the Dress Silver as the Moon, the Equinox Reel, the Voice of the Mermaid Queen. I remembered the threat to the Park. I remembered Miss Van Loon’s Hallowe’en Revels and Tiffany’s challenge.
    It looked like this fall was going to be even more full of adventures than last summer.

Chapter 8

    RULE 3: STUDENTS MUST NEVER SPEAK OF WHAT HAPPENS INSIDE THE WALLS OF MISS VAN LOON’S TO ANY SUPERNATURAL BEING WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING THEIR FAIRY GODPARENTS.
    Miss Van Loon’s Big Book of Rules
     
     
    T he first lesson the morning after Equinox Break was Talismans.
    When we were all seated, the Magic Tech said, “Today we’re going to talk about magic mirrors. Anybody here ever used one?”
    I didn’t raise my hand. Too many explanations I didn’t feel like making, too many questions I didn’t want to answer. I listened with half an ear while the Magic Tech went on about doors between realities and harmonic resonances and the technical differences between mirrors backed with silver and mirrors backed with mercury.
    “It’s possible to tune mirrors to each other,” the Magic Tech said. “But it’s dangerous, and ultimately unstable. If one mirror goes offline, it weakens all the others.”
    The only mirror that interested me at the moment was the Mermaid Queen’s. I stopped listening.
    While I’d been waiting for it to be dawn, I’d done a lot of thinking. Taking the Magnifying Mirror from the Mermaid Queen had made me a hero, but it had also put the Park in danger. Was that my fault? Or was it the Lady’s for giving me the quest in the first place? Not that it mattered one way or the other. As official Park changeling, it was my job to fix it.
    If I could figure out how. If I survived Hallowe’en and my stupid bet with Tiffany.
    At this point, I realized the Magic Tech was standing in front of me. He was holding a ring with a black stone over my head and looking concerned.
    “Problems, Neef?”
    I cranked up a smile. “Problems?” I said brightly. “No. Just not enough sleep.”
    He frowned at the ring. “The Mood Ring says Distress. Must be broken.” He shook the ring and stuck it in the pocket of his lab coat. “Pull yourself together, Neef. What if you broke a mirror and you’d been woolgathering when we talked about counterspells?”
    “I’d be in deep trouble,” I said. “I know. I’m focused now.”
    Which wasn’t true,