Never let it be said Samir had no sense of drama.

Because this was a dream within a dream within a dream, Samir could take license. He pulled the vision out of his own head, moved them out of the maze, and into the prison.

Sidaine was in her workroom. Here, on the floor, was the maze inscribed in miniature. Narrow paths that were no wider than a finger, covering the floor. At this scale, the maze looked huge. It was hard to imagine walking through it once, much less over and over in endless repetition.

Sidaine stood at the center, eyes closed, arms held out with fingers spread. It glowed with energy, the light from below casting up to make eerie shadows across her face.

Dreaming wizards wandered in and out. They roamed the house, their bodies reflecting what was happening in their dreams. It was a bit of an annoyance, but Sidaine had learned to work around it. One must make sacrifices, after all, for one’s art.

She didn’t pay particular attention to who was coming and going. For the most part, she didn’t work that hard to even remember their names. Names didn’t matter when these wizards would never use them again.

Is this real? Ruan asked, sounding sick. Did she really—

Yes. This is real.

What broke her focus was the brush of a sleeve against her arm. She hated that, when the captives got too close. Most of the time it didn’t happen. Most of the time they unconsciously avoided her. Sometimes she had to reinforce the lesson.

When she opened her eyes, he was still standing there. Just standing, staring. Was it her imagination, or was there something other than a vacant look in his eyes?

“May I help you,” she asked irritably. Not expecting any response.

It was an utter shock when he said, “No.” And grabbed her by the hands.

Darkness closed in around her. The feel of sinking. Sidaine allowed herself to be startled for a few more seconds, then her mind kicked in, preparing to fight back.

This pup had somehow broken his leash, and had found a way to drag her down into the maze with him. Impressive, but the gesture was useless. This was her own magic. Did he think he could trap her in it? Did he think he could take control from her?

She looked around at the maze she had created, but never visited. Jerked her hands free from his grip and backed up a step.

She looked him up and down. There was nothing different about this one, nothing to set him apart from the others. He’d been here a while—she’d definitely seen him before. A few years, perhaps, but no more. She was fairly certain he’d come here after that disastrous business with Eldred—not before. One of the ones from Girald.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Samir.”

Very impressive. He’d somehow found enough of his mind to remember who he was. “And how exactly did you break free, Samir?”

That, he didn’t answer. Wouldn’t? Or couldn’t? It was a more complicated question, for certain, but Sidaine needed to gauge just how far he’d lifted himself out of her magic.

“It’s all right, Samir. You can talk to me. I’m not angry with you. If anything, I’m impressed at how far you’ve come on your own.”

“Impressed,” he repeated, his annunciation slow, exaggerated. He was struggling. That was clear.

“Absolutely impressed. Look at you. Finding your way out of the maze. Regaining enough focus to pull me back in here with you. It’s quite something.” She smiled broadly. “No wonder Girald singled you out to come to me.”

A ripple went through the maze, like a heat shimmer. Her words had startled him, shaken his focus. Yes. That was clear. He must be struggling just to hold everything as it was.

She could work with that. “Yes, you understand, don’t you? The reason you’re here? Girald saw how promising you were, and he doesn’t like competition. Oh no, my sweet. He wanted you safely away where you would never grow up and challenge him for the position of archwizard.”

Everything wavered again. Sidaine was ready for that. She pushed against the break with a wave of her own power.

The world crumpled and spun and shrunk. So easy. The poor boy. He’d worked so hard, and it would be over so quickly. “It was a good try.”

The maze crumbled around them. Sidaine readied her strike. She would make it quick. No need for him to suffer. As soon as she opened her eyes in the real world…

Except her eyes didn’t open.

Instead of rising, she fell.