CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Royce stood there in stunned horror as his brother toppled from his horse, his blood on Altfor’s sword.
“I did this,” Royce said. “I changed things.”
Just a few words had done it; just a few words that he never should have said, explaining himself to his enemy in the way he’d been so careful not to when it had come to his friends. That warning had been enough for Altfor to turn away in time, rather than being caught by the mirror’s possibilities.
“You didn’t kill him,” his father said, placing his hand on Royce’s shoulder. “Altfor made his own choice about that.”
“But if I’d caught him with the mirror… it showed me a way that didn’t involve blood, Father!”
“The mirror tricked us all,” his father said. “It shows us the truth and turns it into lies. We have to act no
