The Mirror Mage | ONC2022

17. Stars

(Author's Note: dedicated to Di_Rossi and her ONC story, Teacups and Tentacles, a steampunk adventure with a fishy twist. The author had two entries this year, but this one is my favourite! )

Ben kept the horse trotting along at a good pace and Lucian seemed content to leave the reins in his hands. Perhaps now was as good a time as any to seek some answers.

"So, Lucian... may I call you Lucian?"

"Thou may. It's nice to hear that name after so long."

"Is it true we can never go back home?"

"Well, it's certainly true that no one here could tell me how, and by the time I learned to glass walk for myself, it was too late, I'd lost the path."

"'Lost the path'? What does that mean?"

"Can thou remember anything of what thou saw between the worlds? Before thou arrived in Rhillion?"

Ben shook his head. "I think I shut my eyes," he confessed.

"Let me try and explain, then. When I walk into a glass, I stop, and open my eyes," Lucian added with a sideways look of amusement at Ben, "It's like I've walked into a roomful of stars. Though room is not quite the right word. The space is full of tiny lights. Further away than the walls of a room but closer than the stars at night.

"Each light represents a mirror. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of them. Most are too small for our purposes, but the larger ones, they can be used to travel back and forth. The nearest are those located on Rhillion. The others... are gates to other worlds."

"That sounds confusing! Is there any sort of map?"

Lucian laughed. "If only!"

"Then how do you know which is which?" Ben persisted, unoffended by the laughter.

"Experience and... and feeling, instinct, perhaps. It's hard to explain, but when thou are there, thou just know which ones are close and which are far. At the beginning, I tried a few of the farther gates, trying to find my way home, but the worlds I looked out on were...not safe." He shuddered.

"Not Earth?"

"Not even close."

"And the pathways? You mentioned a path."

"Once thou have travelled between gates, thou can see the path, the trail, thou have left, especially if thou have travelled the same way many times. But it doesn't last forever."

"So, that means I would have left a path when I came here from Earth?" asked Ben, getting to the heart of the matter as far as he was concerned.

Lucian nodded.

"That's true. Thou would have, but whether it's still there or not..." he gave a small shrug. "How long have thou been here?"

"Four days, five counting today."

"Well, it's possible, I guess. I really don't know. We'll have to wait until we get to Vierrac to check. The mirror I have here is far too small for glass walking."

"Would you want to go back to Earth now, though, after all this time?"

Lucian thought for a moment then shook his head. "No. Not now, not since thou have told me how much time has passed. I suspect I would find thy world even stranger than I found Rhillion when I arrived. And I wouldn't be able to glass walk there, either. No, I think Rhillion is my home now."

The tension eased from Lucian's face, as if a weight had lifted, a weight perhaps that he hadn't known he'd been carrying.

He turned to face Ben. "Even though I don't want to go there myself, perhaps thou could tell me more about thy England. What is he like, my great, great-nephew? Thou called him Luke, I think? That's interesting. I wonder if he was named after me..."

"Perhaps he was," Ben smiled, looking back at Lucian. "I can see a slight resemblance, though his hair is much darker and his eyes are brown. When you smile though, I can see Luke."

"Thou were close?" Lucian asked, delicately.

"We were. Are. I don't know. We'd been going out for a while, getting to know each other, and I thought the invitation to his home meant that we were going to get even closer. But nothing happened. Though, of course it might have if I hadn't fallen through the mirror."

"Thou were more than friends? And others knew?" Lucian's eyebrows had ridden halfway up his forehead.

"Yes, it wasn't a secret."

"I see England has changed much since my day. Sex between men at that time was a hanging offence."

"That must have been so hard." Ben shook his head. "I don't know how you coped."

"Thou guessed then? About me?"

"Luke suspected as much. When you disappeared, the common view was that you left to escape a loveless marriage. But given that arranged marriages were the norm back then, Luke thought there must have been more to it."

"There was!" Lucian sighed. "Though, to be honest, if it hadn't been for the mirror, I probably would have gone along with the wedding. I had no real choice. We wouldn't have been a particularly happy couple, but we would have managed. Once you have an heir or two, it's generally accepted that a couple can go their own way, provided they are discreet of course. Ours would not have been the only loveless marriage, that's for certain."

Ben thought he hadn't heard anything more depressing.

"What about Rhillion? What are the customs here in Sunia?"

"Interesting!" Lucian gave a wry grin. "It's certainly no crime to love another man, but most of those in Selena who do, love women also. I've only met one or two men who are attracted solely toward other men, and those tend to be in permanent relationships. And that's another thing, here there is no compulsion to marry. People seem to move quite freely from one relationship to another, or even balance several at a time, without censure. So different from my world."

"You're not wrong! Sounds like a fun place." Ben grinned.

"Well, it can be, especially when thou are young and questing. It can be a bit... frustrating though, when thou want commitment in a relationship."

Ben sobered. "I suppose so."

There a was a small pause while Ben summoned up the courage to ask his next question.

"Lucian... do you have anyone, at the moment? Tell me to mind my own business if you like."

"I'm having a break," Lucian said. "My last relationship didn't end well, and I'm in no hurry to race into another."