The Council of Mirrors (12 page)

Seven smiled. “A surprise wedding. One where the bride doesn’t know she’s getting married until she walks down the aisle. We need your help.”

When Sabrina looked over, Daphne was already biting hard on her palm.

• • •

Sabrina couldn’t be sure if the wedding would boost morale, but she was happy with the effect it was having on her. Keeping it a secret tapped into an old familiar feeling: being sneaky. Not so long ago, Sabrina was known as the Queen of the Sneaks. She had earned the title from her year in foster care. She knew how to open a creaky window without making a sound. She knew how to slink across a room without stepping on a loose floorboard.
She knew how to crawl out onto a roof, shimmy down a trellis, and tiptoe past a watchdog without making a peep. Keeping the wedding plans from the eyes and ears of Morgan le Fay reminded her that she wasn’t a complete loser. She had skills—occasionally illegal skills, but skills nonetheless—and she was determined to make the most of them.

In the shadows and in whispered conversations she gave everyone a job. Flowers, music, food, and the most important job of all, keeping the bride busy until everything was ready. Since the castle was nearly finished, its rooms also needed to be decorated. Morgan had a simple spell for creating furniture from thin air, and Sabrina knew exactly who to team her up with: Goldilocks. Goldi had an eye for interior design. She also had an obsession with things being just right. Under her direction, Morgan would be busy all day.

And it worked. All the pressure and frustration of the prophecy was pushed aside and the tiny community leaped headfirst into planning and preparation. It was the first time Sabrina had seen everyone smiling since her arrival. She even caught Pinocchio humming the wedding march as he and Gepetto built a platform for the couple to stand upon when they exchanged their vows.

“A wedding under the stars is a lovely idea, Sabrina,” Snow said as the two stood back and admired the yard.

“Your boyfriend gave me a lot of the ideas,” Sabrina said. “He’s quite the romantic.”

“I’ve always thought so,” Snow said as she gazed lovingly at Charming, who was working with Nurse Sprat to create some sort of seating chart. “I just hope he saves some for our wedding.”

“Has he asked?” Sabrina said.

Snow smiled. “He will. Or I will, if I get tired of waiting. I hope it’s half as nice as this one.”

Wildflowers lined the path to two beautiful wooden arches interwoven with roses and white lilies. Several rows of chairs, each wrapped in more of the flowers, awaited guests. Mallobarb and Buzzflower hovered overhead on their wide insect wings. They showered the space with magical glitter, making the scene appear otherworldly. It was enough to take Sabrina’s breath away. She hoped Morgan would feel the same.

“Well, I better get ready. I didn’t exactly pack for a formal engagement,” Mr. Seven said, nervously. “I hope my bride doesn’t hate my sneakers and blue jeans.”

Sabrina looked down at herself and gasped. She was a mess. She couldn’t wear her ratty hooded sweatshirt and grungy shoes to a wedding. She rushed into the cabin that housed the magic mirror and darted into the Hall of Wonders. On the floor of
her room was a stack of dirty clothes. She sorted through it, desperate to find anything that could be described as an “outfit.” All that she had managed to save from Granny’s demolished house were three pairs of pants, an oven mitt, a moth-eaten sweater, and eight shoes—none of which matched another. Desperate, she reached for her father’s Red Hot Chili Peppers concert shirt from 1990. She slipped it on, then ran into the mirror room to see how she looked. There was a huge green stain on it from one of Puck’s pranks. It was ruined.

Sabrina was a card-carrying member of the tomboys club, but this particular injustice stung. It wasn’t like she needed a pretty dress or fancy shoes. She just wanted a declaration to the world that things weren’t that bad. If she could have her hair done and wash her face and put on a necklace and show up to a wedding during a war, then the battle hadn’t beaten them. A simple ribbon in her hair would have done it—evidence that there were still very normal things in this abnormal world, and someday, those normal things would return. But she couldn’t win this fight. She couldn’t even find a clean T-shirt.

Sabrina wandered over to the Council of Mirrors for some company. “No one has anything nice to wear, honey,” Fanny said as she and the other guardians appeared in their mirrors.

“I know. I still want to try,” she said.

“For Puck?” Donovan asked, then mimed some exaggerated kissing.

Sabrina frowned. “No! Not for Puck. Who cares what he thinks?”

“Don’t tease the girl, Donovan,” Arden chided.

Sabrina buried her face in her hands while the mirrors tried to console her. “Everything is a mess.”

As she sobbed, she felt a hand in hers and sniffed. “I’m OK, Daphne.”

“No you’re not,” a voice replied, but it wasn’t Daphne. It was Red. “None of us are OK.”

Red’s attempt to comfort her took Sabrina off guard. Of all the people in the Grimm family, Sabrina had been the most indifferent to the little girl. It was hard to forget that Red had tried to hurt her family, even if she had been under the control of an evil force. Sabrina knew it wasn’t fair to hold a grudge, but there was a wall around her heart nonetheless.

“Where’s Daphne?” she asked.

“She’s busy with Morgan’s flowers. You know how she bites her palm when she’s excited? I thought she was going to chew her hand off when Mr. Seven asked her to be the flower girl.” Red took out a brush and went to work untangling Sabrina’s blond bird’s nest of hair. “She put me on hair duty.”

Sabrina forced herself to let the little girl work while she brushed some crusty residue off of her pants.

“You’re going to be fine,” Red continued. “Of all of us, you’ll be fine.”

“What makes you think so?” Sabrina said.

“Because you’re brave. That’s your gift.”

“My gift?” Sabrina laughed.

“Yes. Your dad is the one who watches over everyone, your mom is the leader, your sister is the smile-maker, and you—you’re the brave one. You just jump in and fight. Mr. Canis says he’s never seen you run.”

“Mr. Canis hasn’t been paying attention. Listen, if anything my gift is being the stupid one. I get into a lot of trouble because of my bravery. Every time I turn around someone has to save my butt.”

“You do your fair share of butt-saving too.” Red giggled. “We all need saving sometimes.”

“Did Mr. Canis say that, too?” Sabrina asked.

“No. I say that,” Red said. “Look at Mr. Canis. These days he’s feeling old and useless. He doesn’t feel like he has a purpose, so I’m saving him.”

“How?”

“By making him my father.”

“So maybe that’s your gift,” Sabrina said.

“How do you suppose?”

“You can make even the grouchiest person care about another,” Sabrina said. She looked into one of the mirrors and spotted Red’s smile.

The little girl set down the brush. “I did the best I could. Not as good as Daphne, but . . .”

“Looking good!” Reggie said when Sabrina studied herself in his reflection.

Red turned to go, but Sabrina took her hand. “Um, want me to comb your hair?” she asked.

Red smiled. “I would love that.”

• • •

Sabrina slinked into the courtyard, hoping no one would notice her clothes. She found a seat next to Henry and Veronica. Baby Basil was slumbering in his mother’s arms. Veronica studied her son’s beautiful face. The only time the little boy would sit still for her was when he was asleep, and Veronica took full advantage of the time to worship her cherub.

“You look uh . . . lovely,” Henry said, when Sabrina sat down next to him.

“Nice try, Dad,” Sabrina replied. She turned in her seat to check out the other guests. Fanny was right. Most were dressed
in the best clothes they had, which turned out to be nothing more than T-shirts and sneakers. Nurse Sprat and Snow White had stolen flowers from their chairs and woven them in their hair. Even Charming had a rose pinned to his shirt. Everyone had done the best they could. Sabrina took a flower from her chair and twirled the stem around her ear. It was better than nothing.

“He’s been trained well, honey,” Veronica said. “Don’t worry about it. We’re all a wreck. The bride is wearing farmer’s overalls.”

“Has she got any clue?” Henry asked.

Sabrina grinned. “Not one.”

Puck dropped clumsily out of the sky into the chair next to her.

“Where have you been?”

Puck had a dead skunk in his hand. “Shopping for the happy couple. I didn’t check the registry, but I’m sure they don’t have one of these.”

“You got them roadkill as a wedding present?” Henry asked.

Puck seemed confused. “It’s a wedding! Aren’t you supposed to send the couple off with things they’ll need for their home? Which reminds me, when your daughter and I get married, it’s customary in the fairy world for the groom and the father-in-law to challenge each other in a fight to the death. Glad to see
I’ll have a worthy contender. It’s very disappointing when the bride’s dad gets killed right away. It can totally kill the mood of a reception.”

“Has anyone seen Uncle Jake today?” Sabrina asked to change the subject.

“I don’t think he’s in the mood for a wedding,” Veronica said.

The Pied Piper and his son stood at the front of the audience with their instruments in hand. They played an up-tempo march and the crowd stood to greet the wedding party. Daphne was the first to appear, and Sabrina’s jaw hit the floor. The little girl was dressed in a beautiful silk dress lined with delicate lace. Her shoes were spotless and her hair was clean and flawless. She strolled to the front of the crowd, sprinkling rose petals behind her, and when she got to the platform she reached into her flower basket and removed the star-tipped fairy godmother wand.

“Attention, everyone,” Daphne said. “I thought and thought about what kind of gift I could give the happy couple, and I hope you don’t mind, but this is what I came up with.”

Daphne flicked her wrist and there was a loud
POP!
The air filled with a purple mist. When it lifted, Sabrina looked down at herself. Her jeans and T-shirt were gone, replaced with a soft pink gown and white shoes. Pearls draped her neck, and her face and hands were scrubbed clean and fresh. Sabrina glanced
around the courtyard. Everyone was dressed just as beautifully. Even her father’s four-day beard was gone.

“Wow!” Puck said.

Sabrina turned to Puck, hoping for a compliment, but the boy fairy was looking down at himself. He was wearing a smart black tuxedo with a black tie. His hair was shiny and combed. There wasn’t a single fly buzzing around his head, and he had the pleasant aroma of soap about him. “This suit is going to look great when I roll in those deer droppings I found by the front gate.”

Sabrina sighed and told herself she should have known better.

“Enjoy the clothes while they last, ’cause at midnight we all go back to being slobs,” Daphne said.

Everyone laughed and broke into applause as Mr. Seven appeared in a blue tuxedo, top hat, and tails. He thanked everyone for coming. He pointed to Sabrina, thanking her for all her hard work, and also thanked Daphne for the fancy suit but, he insisted, the crowd hadn’t seen anything yet. He pointed to the back of the courtyard and there was Morgan le Fay. Her dress was the color of vanilla cream, and it was embroidered with seed pearls and tiny crystals. The dress’s train spread behind her for several yards and her jet-black hair was woven with little white daisies. She was the most beautiful bride Sabrina had ever seen.

“She’s breathtaking,” Veronica whispered.

By her side was her son, Mordred, who through the help of magic or his own effort had a perfectly combed head of hair. He grinned nearly as wide as his mother. He led her to the arches, where he placed his mother’s hands into Seven’s. That was when the Scarecrow approached the couple. He greeted everyone with a broad smile on his burlap face. “Thank you for coming to this most wonderful of events. As the former emperor of Oz, I have the privilege and honor to officiate this ceremony.”

The Scarecrow invited the crowd to join him in a prayer for the happy couple. Then Seven and Morgan spoke of their brief but intense love and how fate had finally brought them together. Morgan cried as she promised her life to Seven. Mr. Seven did the same, and when the Scarecrow pronounced them man and wife, Morgan planted the biggest kiss on the little man that Sabrina had ever seen.

Confetti showered down on the newlyweds and music floated over the crowd. There was much cheering and shaking of hands and kissing of the bride.

“You’re a lucky man,” Gepetto said to the groom.

“I’m the lucky one,” Morgan cried, swooping the little man into her arms for another kiss.

And then Charming called for everyone’s attention. He had a
glass of champagne in his hand and Sabrina watched as several trays of the bubbly stuff magically floated through the crowd. “Just one more interruption, folks. This morning Mr. Seven came to me and asked me to be the best man at this wedding. For some strange reason he thought a wedding could be planned in one day.”