The next morning, the sun felt too bright. Vesper wasn't used to the real sun yet; in the mirror world, the light was always grey and filtered. Every color in the castle seemed too vivid.
There was one task left. The Reflection had been busy during her stolen months. She had cleaned up the castle, but she had also filled the dungeons.
Vesper walked down the stone steps into the dark beneath the castle. The air smelled of damp earth. It reminded her of the night she had made the deal, the night her nightmare began. She had to force herself to keep walking.
In the deepest cell sat Gareth, her step-brother.
He was the one who had framed her for the poison. He was the reason she had summoned the Reflection in the first place. When the Reflection took over, she hadn't just proven Vesper's innocence; she had destroyed Gareth. She had humiliated him in the town square and thrown him in this hole to rot.
Gareth looked up when Vesper approached the bars. He looked thin and dirty. When he saw her, he sneered.
"Here comes the Iron Duchess," Gareth spat. "Come to mock me again? Or are you finally going to hang me like you promised?"
Vesper stood still. The Reflection had promised to hang him? Of course she had. The Reflection believed in perfect, mathematical justice. An eye for an eye.
"I am not going to hang you, Gareth," Vesper said quietly.
Gareth paused. He squinted at her. He stood up and walked to the bars. He looked at her face—really looked at her. He saw the slight tremble in her hands. He saw the way she hugged her arms around herself for comfort.
A slow, cruel smile spread across his face.
"Wait a minute," Gareth whispered. "You're not her."
Vesper froze.
"The bitch who threw me in here... she didn't blink," Gareth chuckled. "She stood like a statue. But you... you look like a frightened rabbit." He laughed, a harsh, barking sound. "Oh, this is rich. The real Vesper is back. What happened? Did your demon abandon you?"
"She is gone," Vesper said, trying to keep her voice steady.
"Then I have nothing to fear," Gareth said. He leaned against the bars, looking relaxed for the first time in months. "You won't kill me. You're too soft. You'll probably let me go because 'we're family.' And once I'm out, Vesper, I will take everything back. You are weak."
Vesper stared at him. He was right. She was soft. The idea of ordering an execution made her feel sick. The Reflection would have killed him without a second thought to ensure the safety of the throne.
But Vesper remembered the mirror world. She remembered the coldness. She remembered how the Reflection had tried to fix her scar and erase her history.
"You're right," Vesper said. "I am not her. She would have killed you today because it was the logical thing to do."
Vesper stepped closer to the bars. She didn't look like a predator, but she didn't look like a rabbit anymore, either. She looked tired, but resolved.
"She would have killed you to protect her power," Vesper continued. "But I am going to keep you here. Not because I'm scared to kill you, but because I want you to watch."
"Watch what?" Gareth scoffed.
"Watch me rule," Vesper said. "You said I was weak. You said I was nothing. I want you to sit in this cell for the rest of your life and watch that 'weak' girl fix the mess you made. I want you to see that mercy isn't weakness. It's control."
Vesper turned to the guard. "Double the watch on this cell. He gets food and water, nothing else. No visitors."
"Yes, My Lady," the guard said, snapping to attention.
Gareth shouted something as she walked away, but Vesper didn't hear him. She was already thinking about the Northern Lords and the treaties. She didn't need to be a monster to defeat a monster. She just needed to be Vesper.