Mirror, Mirror

Once, there was a King and Queen who believed in peace and never sought war. The King and Queen loved everyone the same and never attacked any nation. The King and Queen were expecting a baby. The baby was born but the Queen died in labor. A beautiful baby girl was born. She was so beautiful the King named her Angel because that’s what he believed she was. The King went from village to village and kingdom to kingdom to show off his beautiful ¨Angel.¨ She was presented with gifts of gold, animals, and land from those who could. The poor and peasants would even present her with flowers or fruit they picked from their lands.

As the years went by, the people began to forget about Angel and she slowly received fewer and fewer gifts until one day she was presented with no gifts at all.

In a rage of fury and greed, the King began a war within his own kingdom. Mad with power, he felt that his ¨Angel¨ deserved to have every land, every kingdom, and everything within it. Anyone who believed otherwise would die. So, the King took over every kingdom there was, whether it was large or small. Some were smart and would bow to Angel and would give her everything they had to give, while others fought valiantly against the mad King and his Angel.

The King and his army would fight the bloodiest battles this world has ever seen. Demons would speak in disbelief of the horrors and atrocities they saw. After each battle, the prisoners captured would be presented in front of the princess and then executed with the King stating, ¨Look upon an angel, before your journey to hell.¨ The bloodshed and horror continued like this for years.

Finally, the King met his match, a witch, whose land contained mines, with the purest of gold. Her magic protected the mines and any soldier who approached the lands were cursed. The King traveled to the witch’s house. With the entirety of his army behind him and his ¨Angel¨ by his side, he called out to the witch.

¨Good evening." The king called out with a well-natured smile that he once wore spread across his face. ¨I mean you no harm. I only wish to speak with you. No weapons. No hexes. No tricks. Just a discussion.¨

The witch opened her door and allowed the King and Angel to enter. His army still stood back with apprehension.

¨Thank you for speaking with me. This is my daughter, Angel.¨ The King removed his gloves and pointed in the general direction of Angel. ¨Now, there is no need for bloodshed. I will simply take your gold as a gift to my Angel here, and in return, we will spare your life. What say you?¨

The witch looked into King´s wrathful eyes and denied him her lands. The witch knew that no amount of gold or lands could fulfill the King’s endless hole of greed. She knew that she was already dead when the first soldier told the King about the mines.

The King, in return, sucked the air in through his teeth and smiled. ¨I am sorry that it has to be this way. But, before my army comes and takes these mines, and essentially your life, I wish to offer you a gift." The King offered her his hand to shake. ¨You have stood against me and done so incredibly well. So much, my soldiers were afraid to enter your lands without me to lead. You deserve one last gift.¨

The witch wearily placed her hand out, and asked, “What gift?” The King forcefully brought her into his chest, placed his jeweled encrusted dagger into her back, and said, “Death!”

The dying witch looked at the King and smiled while still grimacing in pain, ¨Fool! The gold is gone. I melted it all.¨ The King, encompassed by anger tried to stab her again as she lay on the ground, but the witch threw a spell at the King which flew him across the room. The witch staggered to get up and finish the King off when Angel thrust her father’s knife deep into the witch’s spine. She hastily spun around to look at Angel with the King´s dagger quivering in her hand. The witch then forcefully whispered, “You are no angel. You are but a demon painted as an angel. You are only an angel of death. So beauty created you, it shall be your demise.¨ The witch fell to the floor and let out a last murmur under her breath.

The house began to shake and walls caught aflame, there was no escape. The ground opened up underneath Angel; however, she did not fly, instead, she fell straight into the mines. While she fell she could hear her father scream out, as the witch’s house collapsed on top of him, burning him alive. As Angel looked around she noticed she was in the witch’s mine, but rather than gold, the mine was full of mirrors. The witch had disposed of the gold and replaced its walls with cursed mirrors. From ceiling to floor, the room was covered in mirrors. Each mirror cast the same ugly reflection of the princess. Angel’s face was covered in scars, her lips were plagued with pus burst blisters, her hair had messy clumps missing, and her eyes were a snowy pale white. Everywhere she looked around the room she saw this exact reflection.

Time had passed, and the princess was still locked away in her cave of mirrors. No matter where the princess ran and hid she was always followed by her hideous reflection; even closing her eyes couldn’t remove the image she had seen.

One day, a brave man broke through the cave, splintering the mirror in the ceiling, and causing a rain of glass shards below. Finally, he saw the princess in the corner hiding away rocking in a fetal position. He reached out his hand and said ¨My princess come with me, and I will rid you of this hell.¨ The princess reached for his hand and slowly pushed herself up to face the gentleman. The man gasped for breath and was so shocked at the very sight of her that he withdrew his hand. The princess, heated with rejection, reached out for a shard of broken glass and held it to her chest. She looked at the breathless man and said, ¨I never was an angel. I finally see through the eyes of those who knelt before me. I see what everyone saw. Beauty created me and so shall it be my end.¨ She jabbed the shard of glass deep into her breast, piercing her heart. She fell forward and began to bleed out onto the mirrored floor. The gentleman rushed over to her quivering body and grabbed the dying princess and began to cry, and in his tear-filled eyes, the princess saw her reflection. She was beautiful.