They had decided that getting Hailey out would be the first step. He made a step with his hands and she stepped into it, and then swung a leg around his shoulders. It was a tricky maneuver.

“Ow! Are you sure you can’t do anything with magic?”

“No,” she told him. “The only thing I know how to do is turn invisible.”

“Lot of good that will do us in here,” he said, and then grunted as she finally settled herself around his shoulders.

She waved her arms around in the darkness, but she could not feel the trap door.

“Do you think you could stand?”

“Hmm.” She shifted again to see if she could get a knee up on one of his shoulders. She would have to do this slowly. It was probably a good thing that she was so much smaller than he was now. So much changed on the outside of the castle. He should know that. He lived there, but he seemed to be fine with it. He didn’t even really worry that much about rotting in this dungeon.

He grunted, but she finally managed to get one knee on his shoulder. Now for the other. It was uncomfortable for her and had to be worse for him but he didn’t complain. Just as she got the other knee up and was ready to try for her feet, the trap door opened. It surprised Aaron, who took a step back. Hailey fell off his shoulders and would’ve hit the floor, but she bounced. In the dim light, she could see a bubble around her, stopping her from cracking her head.

She stood up, feeling embarrassed that she had just been saved by the very man who had put her in here.

Barinon cleared his throat and looked down at the two of them as if they were naughty children for trying to escape.

As if he would have done any different, she thought.

He lay on his stomach so that he could watch them while he spoke. It was a very undignified position for a mage to be in, but he could see her expression better. That must have been what he was getting at. He wanted to look at her so he would know if she was lying or not. She was almost offended.

“I have an offer for you,” he said. “I have met with the king and we have come to an agreement. Our kingdom is in desperate need of another mage. There had not been another found in all the time I have been the royal mage.”

“You mean there should be other kids who can do magic?”

“Yes. And usually there are more mages to help track them down. Suffice it to say that you are the first that we have found.”

That surprised her, but she didn’t see how it was her problem. She crossed her arms over her chest. “You said that I could be a mage if I wanted to. What if I don’t want to?”

“Well…”

“I don’t think I want to help you. You shoved me down in this pit with my friend. You took me away from people who are relying on me.”

“Has it ever occurred to you what would happen to the kingdom without its mages? Do you know how we trade? How we interact with other kingdoms? What will happen if in a hundred years, your people wake and there is no one else here to take care of them? No city left?”

“Of course there will be a city. There was a city before I was even born and there will be a city long after I die.”

“What if the heir dies? What then? Will the magic recognize the sleeping princess as the heir? You have the opportunity to make a difference, not only for the people sleeping inside that castle, but for the whole kingdom.”

Hailey thought about that. When she was young and the queen wanted her to be tutored by the same tutors that taught the princess, they had discussed the powers of the heir, and how the heir kept the whole kingdom safe from the magical creatures that lived in the forest.

He let the silence stretch out for a ling time, and then he said, “Your people, the people inside the castle will wake hungry and there will be no food, no one to help them survive because the whole kingdom will either have to flee to safety or die. This entire kingdom may not survive without your help.”

She frowned at him. “That’s not fair.” She glanced back at Aaron, who was standing there speechless.

“Are you serious about the threat to the kingdom?” He asked the old man.

Berinon pulled himself up off the floor, groaning. “That is not a good position for a man my age. Yes, the threat to the kingdom is not imminent but it is very real. The heir keeps us all safe and without that protection, the kingdom will fall. It has happened before.”

“You have to help him, Hailey. I don’t see that you can do anything else. The kingdom needs you.”

She looked at her friend aghast. “He’s just saying whatever he can to get me to agree because he knows that if I get out of here, he won’t be able to catch me again.”

“That may be true, but it doesn’t make my words any less so.”

Hailey thought about it, pacing back and forth. She didn’t like the way Barinon and now Aaron were pressuring her to do things she wasn’t certain she wanted to do. Then she grabbed Aaron’s arm pulled on it until he bent low enough for her to whispered in his ear.

“You think I should trust him?”

He nodded.

“Ok, so he needs my help. I will agree but before I do, he’s going to have to agree to a few things first. He’s not getting my help for free.”

A light came into Aaron’s eyes and she knew that he understood. They were going to make sure this old man paid for throwing them down in this pit.

“Fine, I will help you,” Hailey said.

The old man let out a breath as if he as sure she would refuse.

“But I have some stuff you gotta do for me first.”

Barinon took a deep breath. “And that is?”

“I want a fancy dress, and I get to eat good food, like what the king has.”

“Ok. Anything else?”

“I will be bringing my chicken, Henny to live in my room with me.”

“You’re kidding. You can’t possibly have a chicken living in the same house as the king and queen of all Taivalon.”

Hailey shrugged. “Chickens are not that big.”

“But they make a horrible mess. You know what, fine. Bring your chicken and we will deal with it. Is that all?” The mage was starting to sound impatient.

“I want to be soldier and I want my sword back,” Aaron said.

“That, too,” said Hailey. Aaron had probably asked for the best thing. He would get to do the job he always wanted to do.”

Barinon looked at him for a moment before he realized that Aaron was not joking. “Derrick,” he shouted.

“A bald man with a big red beard came up to the trap door to peer at them. Hailey frowned at him. He was one of the ones who had shoved her in here in the first place. Berinon told him what Aaron had asked for and asked if he thought that it would be possible. Aaron was looking up at the bald man with hope in his eyes. She really hoped that he would get what he wanted, but her neck was starting to hurt.

Finally, they let Hailey and Aaron out of the pit. They let down a rope ladder, which Hailey climbed up easily. Aaron took his time, having to wedge his bad arm in between the rungs with each step. Hailey blinked at the torches. Mage light was such a better thing to use. It didn’t sputter and you didn’t have to worry about it burning the castle down. That simple thing reminded her what she had signed up to do.

Maybe she would be able to make mage light in the future. A thrill ran through her with that thought. She hadn’t told the mage how exciting she found the idea of being able to do magic, important magic that saved the kingdom. She had never really worried about what she what she was going to do with the rest of her life. When she was young, she thought she would work the kitchens until she was old. That’s what Lavina did. Maybe she would become the cook’s assistant, but she didn’t think she could ever be head cook. Now she was considering the life of a mage. In all the excitement, she almost forgot about Henny.

She tugged on Barinon’s sleeve as he led them to the kitchen to get something to eat. “Do you think my chicken will survive if she was outside alone?”

Barinon paused, then said, “It’s a warm night. I think it will be fine.”