Mirror, Mirr- A Twisted Tale (Disney Twisted Tales) - Jen Calonita Page 0,39
to visitors every few weeks for a garden party, where the king could meet his subjects. It was she who suggested they expand the kingdom’s agricultural efforts so that the farmer and his wife could head up a marketplace in the village square where all subjects could afford fresh fruits and vegetables. She put time and resources into sprucing up the castle so that it could be revered by all and commissioning a ridiculous aviary in the garden where she could invite people to view the various birds that populated the kingdom.
There was no more price gouging—no charging people more for the loveliest apples in the orchard. Again, Ingrid thought the choice foolish. How would the kingdom make money if they didn’t take opportunities like that? She wouldn’t have allowed the kingdom to become so lax with its merchants or agreed to bartering and swapping goods with other kingdoms instead of keeping all the wealth here, where it belonged. She wouldn’t have allowed her betrothed to appear soft to his enemies. But Katherine wouldn’t be swayed. And Georg loved Katherine, not Ingrid, so he only listened to her. Katherine convinced Georg that being kind to his people was more important than being feared. Ingrid was certain the day would come when they would both rue that ideology, but it hadn’t come yet. The kingdom was thriving . . . as was their love.
“Just as the sky is blue and the grass is green, the king is set in his ways. He will only ever listen to his queen,” the mirror said when Ingrid lamented about the state of the kingdom.
A few months after the wedding, Katherine arrived at the shop with an entourage of guards around her.
Ingrid’s master fled his own shop when he saw the guards, but Ingrid stood her ground, staring at her sister. Katherine was wearing the finest silk the kingdom could find, a gown hand-made just for her. Her hair was now pulled back off her face in a pile of curls placed atop her head, where the tiara still looked too big, as though she were playing dress up.
“What do you want?” Ingrid said, liking how uncomfortable her sister was in her surroundings. Taking in the potions and the herbs and the spell books she didn’t understand, Katherine had the low ground. Ingrid couldn’t help preferring it that way. She didn’t care who Katherine thought she was now that she had a title. She was, and would always be, Ingrid’s younger sister.
Somehow, Katherine sensed that. She rushed forward and the guards followed closely behind. “I hate that I don’t see you every day anymore.”
“You left me,” Ingrid said flatly. “I never would have left you behind.”
“I got married,” Katherine said, the hurt registering on her face. “I didn’t leave you.”
“You did,” Ingrid said, looking away, her eyes drawn to the shop’s back room, where the mirror was waiting. Always waiting. “Did you think I’d survive staying at the farmer’s without you? I lasted a day before I remembered how
I wasn’t wanted. And now I sleep here, on my master’s cold shop floor.” Ingrid whirled around. Her eyes blazed as she stormed toward her sister. “Does that make you happy?”
She had taken one too many steps. The guards moved forward, shoving the edges of their swords in Ingrid’s face.
“You will not threaten the queen,” one guard barked, his voice gravelly.
Katherine put her hand up. “It’s all right. Please stand down.” The guards stepped back again.
It was comical, almost. Her sister had such power and she had no clue how to truly use it.
“I have offered you haven in the castle repeatedly since my wedding day, and yet you never accept it,” Katherine tried again.
“Because I don’t want your pity,” Ingrid said.
“It’s not pity!” Katherine insisted. “I don’t like the idea of you here alone, learning witchcraft all day and night.”
“It’s not witchcraft,” Ingrid said. They’d had this conversation too many times before.
“Well, whatever it is,” Katherine said, her tone starting to cool. She wrapped her cape more tightly around herself, as if to keep the chill from entering her bones. “I don’t like thinking of you here at night, all alone, when your master leaves. So if you won’t accept my invitation of a room, maybe you will accept a position on the king’s staff.”
“What?” Ingrid said in surprise.
Katherine smiled shyly now. “I already spoke to Georg. He said yes, of course. You’re my sister. My only family, really, and I want you close by. I