The Magic Mirror of the Mermaid Queen - Delia Sherman [53]
“That’s because I think before I say something.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That you’ve just told some random Glamourist that the Mermaid Queen’s Magic Mirror is missing.”
“No, I haven’t.”
“What other mirror would the Mermaid Queen’s Ambassador be looking for?”
I was trying to think of an answer when the red door swung open and a voice said, “Come in. I’m just dying to hear what would bring the Mermaid Queen’s Ambassador to Madam Elizabeth Factor’s Beauty Salon.”
It was not the kind of voice I wanted to hear a lot of—loud and flat and harsh, with a rasp to it like a bad cold. Airboy stiffened, then took a deep breath and walked forward, with me a half step behind him.
I’d half expected Elizabeth Factor’s salon to look like the LIVING DOLLS loft, full of clothes and shelves and beauty products. Instead, all I saw were mirrors.
There were hundreds of them, hung floor to ceiling on the walls and set up on stands and tables in a glittering maze. There were pier mirrors and wall mirrors; hand, table, and compact mirrors; mirrors round, rectangular, oval, and heart shaped; mirrors framed in metal and tile and carved wood; and mirrors with no frames at all.
And then I noticed the humming.
It was more a feeling in my back teeth and breastbone than a sound, uncomfortable and exciting at once. It was the sound of magic, and it came from the mirrors.
Interesting.
“So you’re the Mermaid Queen’s Ambassador?” Thinking the voice came from behind a tall mirror in a gold frame, I looked behind it and saw—another mirror. The voice went on. “Please tell me she’s ready to get rid of that faux punk pirate look. It’s so . . . last century.”
“He’s not really an Ambassador,” I said, when Airboy didn’t answer. “I just said that so you’d see us.”
The invisible Madame Factor laughed—a loud hnya, hnya,like a donkey braying. “A lie, eh? How human. I never thought you belonged to the Mermaid Queen, little girl. You’re too ugly. The boy, on the other hand, has a certain waterlogged charm.”
“Do you think so? He’s my sidekick.” Airboy glared at me. “I’m a hero. I’m on a quest.”
“A quest?” Madame Factor sounded amused. “Quests are Out, you know—too Olde Countrye for words. Still, I could use a laugh.”
The humming changed pitch, and the mirrors began to move. I stood very still as they slid around me, tossing me fractured glimpses of my startled face and Airboy’s frozen stare. When they stopped, we were standing in a solid oval of mirrors.
The humming intensified. The air shimmered unsteadily, then thickened into a glittering mist that twisted and flickered and solidified into the figure of a woman.
I stared at her, open-mouthed. Madame Elizabeth Factor was sun-haired and emerald-eyed, graceful as a young birch in spring, divinely tall, and stunningly, awesomely beautiful.
She stretched out her white arms and smiled into my eyes. It suddenly became clear to me that Elizabeth Factor was the most important person in New York Between. Her love and approval were like air and water. I was willing to do anything if only she’d let me stay and look at her forever and ever.
“You, ugly girl.” Her voice was still harsh, but somehow I didn’t care. “Close your mouth before something flies in, hnya, hnya. You look like a perfect pig. Or do I mean a toad? Take a look and tell me what you think.”
A mirror appeared, cutting off my view of Madame Factor’s beauty and replacing it with a spreading, lumpy horror. I moaned and covered my eyes.
“What’s wrong, ugly girl? Are you afraid to face the truth? You know magic can’t lie. Look, I said.”
I dragged my eyes open and gazed at the toad. It was wearing my jeans, my sneakers, even beat-up old Satchel and the stupid black coat I’d thought was so cool. The expression on its wide, lumpy face was the same disgusted horror I felt pulling at my own. And the worst thing of all? It wasn’t even scary, which might have been bearable. It was just pathetic.
“Does that look like a hero to you?” Madame Factor went on. “Of course it doesn’t. Heroes are tall and strong and as beautiful as a summer