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if she couldn’t break it. Whatever path The Tradition was trying to force, it didn’t much matter. Both ended in a spell of sleep. It was a greatpity there weren’t any Princes lying idly about for this moment, but she would manage. Without a Prince and a kiss, the thing was harder to break, much harder, but not impossible.
    She stepped through the mirror to her own castle, where she had everything she could possibly need, taking Jimson’s mirror with her.
    As soon as she stepped across the frame, the castle resounded with a beautiful bell tone, announcing her arrival. She hadn’t gotten more than both feet on the carpet of the Hall of Mirrors when she was swarmed by her Brownies, all of them in their typical earth colors.
    Brownies were, traditionally and Traditionally both, the servants and helpers of the Godmothers. Being half-Fae, Lily got more than her share of would-be aides and companions. This time she was glad of it, for the ingredients she would need for the sleeping potion were best when gathered fresh.
    Brownies were smaller than Dwarves, of a similar build, but less muscular. They tended to look quite pleasant, jolly even, with round little faces and cheerful expressions. So when her crowd of helpers swarmed her, Lily was still more than tall enough to see over the heads of all of them, and direct who to fetch which component.
    When they were all gone, leaving her alone for the moment, she pressed one hand to her forehead, trying to concentrate. “Plans,” she said, half to Jimson. “We need plans. We can’t just keep solving one crisis after another. We have to anticipate what might happen—”
    For once, the Mirror Servant’s voice was not bored, nor heavy with irony. “My dear Godmother,” he said fondly, “you and I have worked together for many years. Centuries, in fact. If you can do without my services while you make your potions, I will try to anticipate all the paths that might be walked, and uncover as many possible solutions for each as I can.”
    Lily held up the mirror and gazed with astonishment at Jimson’sdisembodied face. “You would do that for me? After all the abuse I’ve heaped on you lately?”
    Jimson laughed. “When one is trapped in mirrors for so many centuries, one learns which reflections are the true ones. You are the kindest Godmother I have ever served, as well as the one with the most difficult and trying Kingdom to keep stable, and I can tell when it is frustration speaking. Just put me down here, where I won’t be distracted, and make your potions and disguises.” The corners of his eyes crinkled a little as he smiled. “If you will trust me with this, it will be a pleasure to act as an advisor instead of a mere—reflection.”
    Lily sighed with relief. She had long known that Jimson was far more than an “ordinary” Mirror Servant; for one thing, she had inherited him, rather than creating him, and he was much, much older than she was. But now, it seemed, he was showing yet another side of himself that she had not expected. “I’d kiss you if you weren’t on the other side of the glass,” she declared. “I promise never to threaten to smash you again.”
    Jimson chuckled. “Now there is a reward indeed!”
    There was another row of mirrors here, each reflecting a different interior. These did not have to be left covered, since no one but herself and her staff would ever see them. It was a pity they were all one-way, but having that many mirror-passages concentrating their magic within the walls of a single building was dangerous enough without making them work in both directions. She stepped through the one that deposited her just outside her workroom and put Jimson’s mirror on a table just outside the door.
    Just as the workroom of a worker of darkness stank, the workroom of a Fairy Godmother generally was awash with heavenly scents, and Lily’s was no exception. Because each Godmother was a little different, each used a different