“No fair conjuring Circe!” said Ruby, tears still running down her face.
“I didn’t summon her. I’m just reminding you that we need to conduct ourselves properly if we want to ever be let out of this place!”
“Did I hear you say Gothel sang a song?” asked Ruby, trying to m
uffle her laughter.
“You missed it. The girl asked to see the lights, and Gothel pranced around the tower like a chicken, singing of the terrors and dangers outside the tower.” Lucinda couldn’t even keep a straight face while she tried to recount the story. “Just shut up and listen,” she said, trying to keep herself from laughing. “Gothel is saying something else.”
“Don’t ever ask to leave this tower again.”
The sisters fell into peals of laughter again. “Don’t ever ask to leave the tower again!” Ruby screamed. “Does Gothel really think that is going to work?”
“She’s an eighteen-year-old girl!” said Martha. “Of course it won’t work!”
“Oh, Rapunzel, I love you more!” mocked Martha.
“I love you most?” Lucinda laughed. “Princesses may be stupid, but I don’t think Rapunzel is stupid enough to believe that!”
“Where do you think Gothel is going?” screeched Ruby. “She’s leaving the girl alone!”
“Follow her in the mirrors,” said Lucinda. “I will keep an eye on the girl.”
Ruby went to one of the other mirrors and watched Gothel wander the forest. Lucinda kept an eye on Rapunzel. She almost preferred the dreamscape to the real world, with so many mirrors at her disposal. Sometimes you saw things within the mirrors of the dreamscape you didn’t even know you wanted to see until they appeared before you.
The sisters saw Gothel taking the path that led to the dead forest. “The queen of nothing is headed to her ruined lands.”
“Tragic!” screamed Martha.
“She’s searching for something,” said Lucinda, taking her eyes off Rapunzel for a moment, noticing something in one of the other mirrors. “Sisters, look! It’s him!” Lucinda pointed to a mirror that showed a young man going into the cave entrance to the valley. “It’s Flynn Rider! He has the crown!”
“Who?” asked Ruby.
“Flynn Rider!” snapped Lucinda.
“What kind of name is that? Flynn Rider?” asked Martha.
“Sisters! Please. He’s the young man I told you about,” said Lucinda. “Shhh!”
“Ah yes, the one you compelled to take the crown and bring it to Rapunzel!” said Martha.
“Which crown?” asked Ruby.
“For Hades’ sake, Ruby! Rapunzel’s crown! Remember she’s a princess!”
“Yes, yes, yes! There’s so many stories to keep track of! So many princesses! Stop getting so annoyed with us!” cried Ruby.
“Lucinda! He’s breaking into the tower! He’s there!” Martha said, pointing at one of the many mirrors in the chamber.
“Oh! She hit him in the head!” said Ruby, laughing.
“Serves him right, breaking into the tower!” said Martha.
“Martha! Please do keep up! We want Flynn to break into the tower!” Lucinda said, shaking her head.
“Do we?” asked Martha.
“Yes, we do! How else is he to get Rapunzel the crown?” Lucinda walked away from the mirror, more frustrated with her sisters than she’d been in quite some time.