Ileus: The Dark Prince

"Ah, I see!" said Lila. She knew that Anastasia would never show her magic and that if she did that, it would expose her identity. "Then prove that this is a mirage," she challenged her. 

Anastasia turned her head towards Kaizan and said, "Is there a mirror here?" 

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Before Kaizan could say anything, Cora replied, "Of course!" She signaled the servants to get a mirror. When they got it, she said, "Here it is." The servant gave it to Anastasia and stepped back as far as possible. The whole room watched them with extreme interest. All the servants who had lined the room on the sides were also watching excitedly. 

Lila shook her head lightly and on the inside thought how dumb the fae was. She would not be able to prove that the rubies were fake. What was she doing with the mirror? Just a few more minutes and her adversary was going down the drain. She would insult her nicely once Anastasia would prove that she was a fool instead of an expert. Lila turned her head to peer at Murtagh who had a smug smile on his face. With a cursory glance she saw that all the nobles present at the table had their eyes on Anastasia and not her. 

Anastasia placed the mirror in front of her palm and said, "Do they show inside the mirror?" 

Lila raised an eyebrow and nodded with a very tired expression. She yawned slightly to show how boring this was getting. "Well, Anastasia, accept your defeat. You can never prove that this is a mirage because it isn't. I don't know how you get the idea that it is a mirage. Just because I am a witch doesn't mean that I am going to create illusions and that too in front of so many nobles." 

"Yes, everyone in the room can see the gems in the mirror," added Murtagh to support her. Murtagh knew that Anastasia was in Draoidh, but when he saw her in Silver Vales, he was shocked. And he gathered that he couldn't speak a word about her to anyone. Darla and Kaizan were watching him warily.

With the way things were coming up, Darla's confidence wavered. She touched Anastasia's dress and tugged it as if asking her to retreat. 

As for Kaizan, he sat there with his brows drawn together. He tapped his foot and looked extremely impatient now. 

Anastasia blinked her eyes. A frown formed on her forehead when she looked at the reflection of gems in the mirror. 

Lila watched her intently, laughing on the inside. She was such a seasoned witch, how could this stupid fae even think of outsmarting her? She was going to eat dust soon. Proudly, she looked at the gems in her palms and followed their reflection in the mirror. However, she felt a tug in her right hand, and a moment later it froze. Wide eyed, she peered in the mirror. Suddenly, the glass rippled. A small hand that shimmered like diamonds broke its surface in the center and emerged. Lila couldn't pull her eyes away from the hand. It was as if she was watching her own hand that was covered in diamond dust. It opened its fist and disclosed the ruby in it. Shocked, her mind became numb. With her free hand she lunged at the ruby as if to test that she wasn't dreaming. Upon her touch, the ruby disintegrated into dust, which faded away. She felt her right hand was still locked. 

"What is going on?" she demanded. Right in front of her eyes, the ruby in the right hand disappeared. And as soon as it faded away, her hand was free. The next moment it happened with her left hand. The ruby disappeared. Her heart leapt at the sight and her face darkened. The girl was using magic to outsmart her? This time she got hold of the magic and using the same energy, inserted her right hand in the mirror to yank her left hand out, but nothing happened and now both her hands were locked inside the mirror. Sweat lined her brows. Confused, she looked at Anastasia. Her eyes had become silvery and magic was growing on her face and a murderous look came in her glassy eyes. 

"Anastasia, what in the hell are you doing?" Lila tried to yank her hands out of the mirror, now realizing that her hands were getting locked in one of the most dangerous and complicated realms of the mirrors. If she ever got sucked in that realm, there was no way she would be able to come out. The realm of the mirrors was where witches rarely came out from if they got stuck. But how did Anastasia know of that realm? She shook her head wildly. "Stop it!" she shrieked, scared for her life. "Have you lost your mind?" 

"Don't fight me Lila," a warning in a cold voice stunned her as much as the situation she was in. 

"Anastasia, leave me!" she said and tried to use her magic in the mirror realm by thrusting her palms forward, but what happened next made her skin burn. The magic got reflected and came back to her. "Ahhhhh!" she screamed as if on fire. 

Somewhere from outside this chaos, she heard voices, "Lila, wake up!" There was panic. She could feel fingers crawling over her skin. "Lila!" Someone shook her. "Lila!" A voice came again from far away. True fear surged through her. She found herself unable to move and much worse—forced to do nothing but watch herself getting sucked in the mirror realm. The glass rippled and bulged out. It flowed towards her hands like a sticky, gooey liquid, threatening to engulf her. The liquid spread around her arms and then all at once collapsed just before reaching her elbows. Her hands became free and she pulled them out instantly. Breathless, she crossed her arms and almost shrank in her chair. She was sweating profusely. Her throat was dry. Her gaze went to Anastasia and her eyes were… sapphire blue. 

In a raspy voice she said, "D— Did you all see what happened?" Her head turned to the left and she found Cora standing next to her, stroking her back. 

"Lila," she said in a soft voice. "You need rest. Why did you go wild after the rubies disappeared from your palms?" 

Fear and disorientation cruising through her she asked, "H— how did the gems disappear?"

"I don't know," said Cora, puzzled at her question. "You moved your hands towards the mirror and they just disintegrated into red dust, which faded away. We all saw your magic. And then you began to shriek." 

Lila's mind scrambled. Confusion made her thoughts hazy. Only she experienced the magic whilst others didn't see anything? She took the napkin from her lap to wipe her forehead. People around the table watched her with a puzzled expression that was mixed with a hint of sneer.

If she said that she didn't do the magic, then she would have to accept that she was trapped in the mirror realm, which everyone didn't know about and no one would believe. They would immediately brand her as weird. If she said she performed the magic then they would all call her a liar.