Hailey gasped awake. She was in a new place, a narrow hallway with a door at one end. The old man she had seen before they put the sack on her head was sitting there looking at her. She was tied to a chair and her neck ached from the way she had been sleeping.

“Hello,” he said to her. He had dark skin, like Margaret’s and had wrinkles around his eyes that crinkled when he smiled. His hair and the small beard he wore were peppered with white.

Her eyes narrowed. How dare he take her from the castle? She had things to do. “Who are you?”

His voice was patient and he spoke to her like he he was talking to a very small child. “My name is Barinon.” He wore one of the old robes that the mages used to wear. She thought that all of them had died. She thought back to that day and could not remember.

“Can you tell me anything about the princess? You’re the only one who has seen her…”

She cut him off. “She’s alive, same as the rest. Still in her bed.”

He was trying to make her trust him and she didn’t know why. Usually when people tried really hard to make your rust them, they were up to no good. She had to remind herself of that.

He looked worried when he said, “I would like to test what kind of a mage you are.”

That surprised her. “I didn’t know that there were different kinds of mages,” she said.

“There are. At least, we all have affinities to certain kinds of magic when we start out, like the way that you manage to turn invisible.”

She frowned at him. That was not something she had told him. “How did you know I could turn invisible?”

“I’ve seen you do it. Usually when you put your chicken out.”

She gasped. “You’ve been spying on me! That’s rude!”

He shrugged one shoulder. “Everyone talked about the girl who remained standing, and then the bodies…”

“They’re not bodies.” She glared at him.

“Ok the sleeping people on the hill just started to disappear. I would wake up one morning and another would be gone. So I decided to watch. Sure enough, there you were, dragging another one into the castle.”

She had let him talk with that calming voice for too long. She glared at him. “Where is Aaron? What did you do to him?”

“He is safe. Don’t worry.”

“You put a bag over my head and made me fall asleep. I don’t think I should do anything for you. Then you took my friend away. I need to go back to the castle. I don’t belong here.”

“Calm down.”

Those simple words did nothing to calm her, though. She was angry. She didn’t want to calm down. She struggled against the roped but it did no good.

“I will let you go, after a little test,” he told her.

“And what if I won’t cooperate?”

He sighed. “Then we will have to try this again and again until you do. Do you want me to tell you what I can really see when you’re invisible?”

She narrowed her eyes, but nodded at him. He didn’t seem likely to let her go for the moment, so why not? He stood and waved his arms around like a crazy person. Then he disappeared.

Hailey gasped. Where had he gone? But then she could see the spell, a very faint, sort of darkish sphere.

His voice came from nowhere. “You can see the spell?” He asked.

She could see the spell, and it was amazing. He probably knew lots of spells. It was in her best interest to get away from this man and return to the castle where he couldn’t get her. Whatever he wanted from her, she didn’t have to help.

“Now it’s your turn, he told her. “I need you to turn invisible.”

She shook her head.

“The sooner you work with me, the sooner I can send you back to your friend.”

“Fine.” Her heart hurt when. She thought about Aaron. His mom was going to be so worried. He would be in big trouble for sure, and the longer he was gone, the more trouble he would be in.

“I’m going to need you to hold the spell for a while, can you do that?”

She rolled her eyes. “Like you don’t know.” Then she made herself invisible. Whatever she could do to help Aaron, she would try.

He pushed and prodded at her spell. It was an odd sensation, like someone was touching her skin, pushing on it but it wasn’t her actual skin. “What are you doing?”

“Just a bit longer.” And then he was done. Two guards came to escort her somewhere. “What are you doing? You let Aaron go!” But he didn’t seem to be listening to her. Maybe she shouldn’t have held her spell for him. What had he learned? She had a sinking feeling that she had done the wrong thing and he hadn’t even agreed to let Aaron go or her. What would happen to the castle if no one was there to look after it?

“Wine, Barinon?” The king asked. They had agreed to meet in the council room. It was small and may once have been a bedroom but it was conveniently close to his majesty’s rooms. Large padded chairs surrounded a dark table. He missed the library of the castle. Something about having the girl here reminded Barinon how much had been left behind in the mad dash to get everyone out, and how much had been lost.

Barinon accepted the wine gratefully. The king poured and then handed him a goblet. The wine was dark enough that it looked almost black. It coated his tongue. He loved the dark wines that had been coming to the manor lately. He would have to ask which vineyard they were coming from, but that would be more of a question for the steward when he didn’t have so many other things to worry about.

“So?” The king prodded him, taking one of the large seats. King Theodric was a tall man, though shorter than you originally surmised. It was probably his lean frame that made him look taller. The small beard he wore came to a point and the mustaches curled at the edges.

Berinon sighed and sat in the chair next to the king’s. “She is going to be more of a handful than I had even suspected.”

“And the little test you did?” Theodric seemed almost impatient.

“She is even stronger than I thought she would be.”

“You don’t look happy about it.”

“I don’t have time to spend fighting with a child. We need her. She may be able to solve the fifteen year problem, but…” he paused, taking a deep breath. “…but I don’t know. I’m a little worried that she has spent too much time alone and that her mind will never be repaired because of that.”

The king frowned at that. “Of course, she’s spent too much time alone. This will be good for her and good for the kingdom. Our shortage of mages is becoming a crisis. We will take what we can get, and if that means a half crazy girl who should be a woman by now, than it doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, but when she’s trained…”

The king cut him off. “When she’s trained she will be an asset tot he kingdom, one we badly need. Where is she now?”

“I’m letting her cool off. She wouldn’t quit whining about her friend.”

“You are going to hold on to this friend as well?” It wasn’t as much a question as it was a command.

“Of course. He may be the key to getting her to work with me.”

“Good.” The king put his hands flat on the table. “I am sure that when she’s around people for long enough, she will come around. She’s still very young, even if she should not be.”

“She is, and I don’t think we can make any headway on getting your daughter free without her. It’s not that I’m doubting it’s the right thing to do, I’m just hoping I’m up to the challenge.”

The king chuckled. “It’s that you are going to have a more difficult job now and won’t have as much time to read.”

That was partly true. He had his doubts about his own abilities and she was going to be a challenge, but having another mage around, unless she was truly unhinged, would be more than an asset to him. It was what he had been hoping for. No one else understood half of the things he wanted to talk about. No one else was excited about spells the way he was.

“Did she say anything about my daughter?”

“Only that she’s breathing like the others. She has kept watch over all that are in the castle. She told me she needs to return. She has things to do.”

The king nodded. His worry over his daughter would probably not be sated until Barinon had seen her himself. “So what is your next step?”

“I don’t see that we have much time to waste. I will have to take her into the forest to begin her real training as soon as I know she won’t run away from me.”

Barinon had expected the look of concern that flitted across the kings’s face. It wasn’t just that the kingdom would be left vulnerable, if the dragon chose to attack, how would Barinon know to return? It was a risk, but if the girl was ready for it, it was time to take that chance.