“Argh!”

  The Esoteric Princess shouted as she kicked open the door to her chambers and threw her crown across the room. The silver tiara hit the wall, bounced, and landed in a corner next to a pile of similarly dented headpieces.

  “Something the matter?” asked the voice behind the mirror.

  “Luke isn’t in the Capital.” growled the Princess.

  “Is that right?” said the voice behind the mirror.

  “You never thought to check?”

  “No.”

  “And you didn’t try to follow him and see where he went?”

  “He’s been living in the castle for years. Never even asked to leave. Do you think to look for the nose on your face?” the voice said playfully.

  The Esoteric Princess placed a hand on the mirror. “I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to smash this mirror. Even though it would be sooo easy. I would only have to tip it over a little bit. The fragments would scatter across the ground. A thousand shards of glass in every direction. You would be able to hear the sound of it throughout the whole castle. I’m, not, going, to, do, it.”

  If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Her white knuckles looked like a row of mountain peaks

  *Sigh*

  The Princess turned and crossed her arms. “He’s disappeared. I assume he grabbed some jewels and bribed his way out of the castle. Who would stop him? He’s the Royal Summoner.”

  “He must have gone somewhere.”

  “It was right after the Demon Lord appeared.”

  “Oh right.” The voice behind the mirror chilled. “Our other problem.”

  The Esoteric Princess kicked off her heels and sat down angrily in a leather armchair. “I can put two and two together. Those old men really did it. They called down a Demon Lord. Right into the Capital and they used Luke to do it.”

  “You’re upset.”

  “I’m mad that I didn’t do it before them.” She sat back in the chair. “But it was too risky. Luke always summons the best thing possible. I can only assume that the Demon Lord he pulled is also the best.”

  “... it is.”

  The Princess sat up. She stared at the vanity mirror that was set against the far wall of her room. “You’re sure?”

  “You can’t tell, but there is something different about this one. We won’t be able to deal with it like an ordinary shadowbeast.”

  “Then we think of something else.” The Princess twirled the heel of her shoe around her finger. “How do you defeat a Demon Lord?”