A Grimm Warning (The Land of Stories, #3)(104)
The twins looked at each other, equally intrigued.
“Which man?” Conner asked.
“The man Little Bo fell madly in love with,” Hagetta said. “He was older than she was and a total crook.”
“Are you talking about the man trapped inside her magic mirror?” Alex asked. Her curiosity had completely taken over her body and she couldn’t help asking.
Conner and Hagetta both stared at her. Conner had no idea what she was talking about but Hagetta was astonished she knew anything about it.
“How did you know about the magic mirror?” Hagetta asked.
“What magic mirror?” Conner asked, hoping one of them would fill him in.
Alex hesitated as she tried to make the explanation as harmless for herself as possible. “During the election a friend and I thought it would be fun to spy on Little Bo,” Alex said. “We weren’t looking to cause any trouble, just to have some fun, but we saw a magic mirror inside her barn and there was a man trapped inside it.”
Conner raised a suspicious eyebrow. “Is this the same friend you’re not dating?”
Alex didn’t respond. All her attention was on Hagetta.
“The magic mirror in Little Bo’s possession is a mirror of communication, not of imprisonment,” Hagetta said. “I should know—I made it for her. The man you saw wasn’t trapped in the mirror; he was locked away in prison many years ago. I gave them each a mirror so they could still communicate.”
Alex covered her mouth. It had never occurred to her that the mirror in Little Bo’s barn might be a communication mirror like the kind she and her brother had.
“Wait a second,” Conner said, making connections of his own. “There was a mirror in one of the cells in Pinocchio Prison! Is Little Bo Peep in love with the Masked Man?”
“She never told me his real name but yes, that is the name he chose for himself,” Hagetta said. “He was the youngest son in a very powerful family—but he longed to be more powerful than all of them. He tried everything he possibly could to gain the control he desired; he lied and stole, he made promises he couldn’t keep, and bargained deals he couldn’t afford. He’s the most conniving type of man there is.”
Alex nodded as everything began making sense to her. “Little Bo wanted to be queen because she thought being the ruler of a kingdom would give her the authority to free him from prison.”
Hagetta grunted. “I’m sure she also couldn’t live with the guilt,” she said. “Little Bo is the reason he was caught in the first place—she turned him in.”
Conner gasped. “She turned in the man she loved?”
“He may have cast a spell on Little Bo’s innocent heart, but even she couldn’t deny how dangerous he was. She warned me about him just as many times as she confessed her undying love. She betrayed him because Little Bo was protecting someone else she loved,” Hagetta explained. “Little Bo and the Masked Man had a child.”
Both the twins shook their heads in disbelief. “Little Bo is a mother?” Conner asked.
“She was,” Hagetta said. “Little Bo was terrified of what the Masked Man would do if he found out she was carrying his child. He was so obsessed with power she was afraid he would see an heir as a threat. So she wrote an anonymous letter to the Fairy Palace warning them of his plans to steal from the Fairy Godmother, and he was caught in the act. Little Bo gave birth to a son while he was locked up and he never knew about the baby or the betrayal.”
“What happened to the baby?” Alex asked.
Hagetta sighed and shook her head. “Little Bo came here while she was in labor and delivered the child right in this room,” she said. “She begged me to take the child somewhere the Masked Man could never find him. She was so young at the time I couldn’t argue that the child should be raised by someone else. So I took him to a place I will never reveal for as long as I live, so his father will never find him. It broke Little Bo’s heart to be separated from the child and the Masked Man. I tried soothing her with the healing flame, but even the flames of an albino dragon can’t fix a broken heart.”
“Did you do anything else to help her?” Conner asked.
“I did,” Hagetta said. “And it was the only time I ever performed dark magic. I followed a spell I saw my sister perform on a lovesick maiden a long time ago. I cut out a small piece of Little Bo’s heart, the part that was full of hurt and longing for the men in her life, and I turned it into stone. The maiden my sister used the enchantment on turned into a soulless monster, and I wanted better for Little Bo, so I gave Little Bo the piece of her heart on a chain and told her to wear it when she was ready to face the loss that comes with love. For her sake, I hope he stays in prison for the rest of his life.”
It was a tragic story and it made Alex even more nervous about the chapter of the story they were still in.
“Hagetta, the Masked Man was recruited by the Grande Armée,” Alex said. “He promised the general he could take them to a dragon egg. We were told it was impossible, but if he is as powerful as you say, do you think he actually knows where to obtain one?”
Hagetta went very quiet and her face became still. Horrific images flashed behind her eyes that she didn’t share with the twins.
“I pray he doesn’t,” Hagetta said. “The fairies were successful in ridding the world of dragons, but there have always been rumors that there were one or two eggs left behind. No one would know how to kill a dragon anymore if one should arise—all those fairies are either dead or too old to slay a dragon now. If the Masked Man were to get his hands on a dragon egg, it wouldn’t matter what kind of plan you formed, the world would be over.”