Free The Crystal Mirror by Paula Harrison

procedure becomes dangerous if you start moving.”
    Laney felt sick. She glanced at the tightly closed walls of the thicket all around her. She had to remember that she was doing this for Toby, to keep him safe.
    Stingwood stood close to her, widening the loop and holding it over her head. As he brought the string down around her, a searing pain began at the top of her forehead and worked down over her face, matching the pace of the string. Longing to move but knowing that she mustn’t, she clenched her fists.
    The Elders were speaking to each other but their voices were muffled by the pain in her head. Stingwood carried on lowering the thread, past her neck and over her shoulders to her middle. Suddenly the loop was broken. Miss Reed let go of Laney’s hands and she fell to the ground, the agony inside her fading.
    “Laney!” Gwen bent over her. “You were so brave, my dear. I’m sorry you had to go through that.” She picked some pale feathery leaves from a plant growing near the trunk of a tree. “Smell this feverfew. It will help a little.”
    She crushed the leaves between the palms of her hands and gave them to Laney, who breathed them in and instantly felt a lot better.
    “Tell me the results,” Stingwood commanded. “How much Mist power does she have?”
    “She failed to raise even a single drop of water from the pool. She has a tiny amount of Mist power and the Seeing Thread confirms that,” said Miss Reed. “I do
not
think we need to fear this child as the next evil faerie of our time. It’s most likely that she didn’t Awaken until the age of twelve because she’s barely a faerie at all.”
    “But what about how she turned the river water red?” said Mrs Lionhart sharply. “That seems real enough.”
    “It was probably a one-off that happened because the child had just Awoken. A sudden burst of energy around the time of Awakening has been known before, but that doesn’t mean she’ll carry on being powerful,” said Miss Reed smoothly. “We all know that the father ignores faerie ways and has married a human. This is a family where the power is dying out and that is fine by me. She should not join the Mist tribe. There is no room in our clan for weaklings.”
    Laney met her cold eyes. “But aren’t I already in the Mist tribe? I mean, my power is over…water…” She trailed off. She hadn’t exactly shown them she had control over water.
    “You are a Mist, I suppose,” said Miss Reed. “But no one is taught how to use their full power without an invitation from their tribe and I shall not be recommending you for training.”
    Laney felt hollow inside. She’d failed the test. She hadn’t been able to show them anything.
    “I find it impossible to believe that she is so weak.” Stingwood pointed his finger in Laney’s face. “We must be absolutely sure. Hold her arms whilst I use the Seeing Thread again.” His eyes gleamed as he reassembled the loop in the spider silk.
    “No, that is enough. No more.” Gwen spread her wings and the air around her blazed with light. Stingwood’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t oppose me on this, Peter. Your Thorn spells are strong, but you have never tried them against mine.”
    “The test is done,” said Mrs Lionhart fiercely. “Leave the child alone.”
    Stingwood puffed out his chest angrily, but before he could speak the branches at the bottom of the thicket snapped and a hole appeared. A scuffling came from behind the bushes, followed by a low stuttering snarl.
    “Hobgobbits!” said Gwen. “Your wall of thorns won’t stop them, Peter!”
    “We shall
not
be interrupted by those low creatures!” snapped Stingwood. “We will get rid of them and carry on.”
    A dozen more holes appeared in the thicket and a squat shape that was little more than waist high rushed straight at them. Laney tried to dodge, but the growling thing caught her by the ankles andknocked her over. She had a close-up view of its matted fur and sharp teeth.
    “Ow!”