Hailey and Aaron stopped outside the throne room. He had grumbled all the way there about what she had done to his arm, but the spell should keep his arm in place, and since he couldn’t feel it, he couldn’t injure it.

They walked into the throne room. It was late. Was the king still working? The room was empty except for the king and queen who were sitting in the thrones at the far end. It was richly decorated with a painted, arched ceiling. The throne and a smaller chair sat on a raised dais. The queen stood, her light green gown was spotted with pink flowers, and it flowed gracefully as she walked to stand near the throne. Her delicate fingers clasped the back of the ornate throne. Her hair was white, not gray and it was curled to frame her face. The king remained seated. His well cut red jacket and black trousers did nothing to hide the way he slumped in his chair.

Hailey strolled forward and Aaron came with her, bowing before the royalty.

Before she could say anything, the queen asked her, “Have you come to tell us that you have finally made progress on the spell that is holding my daughter trapped?”

“No, but…”

The queen cut her off. “So you haven’t made even the slightest bit of progress?”

“I have tried…”

“Trying is not going to cut it around here. You are the royal mage. You are the only mage, and the only one who can see that spell undone.”

“I am only one person, your majesty. I have come to tell you that I found another girl who could be trained as a mage, but…”

“So you’ve been roaming the countryside instead of taking care of the problems that are right before us.”

“We need more mages. Maybe I will never have the power to undo a spell that was cast by more than twenty mages.”

“Is that what you really think? Have you given up entirely?”

“I didn’t say that. I have spent every spare moment beside the princess…”

“But you don’t believe you can do it…”

“Look,” Hailey said, clenching her fists. “You are putting words in my mouth. You are acting like I haven’t even tried. I didn’t say that I can’t do it. I said that I don’t know how yet. I have looked through books but there is a possibility that the dragon destroyed the one with the spell I need to know. Barinon had only begun training me. There is a lot that I don’t know.” Her voice echoed through the large room.

She glanced at Aaron, who shook his head slightly.

“I just don’t see what is taking you so long. You could have…”

“I could have what? If you know how to undo the spell, please let me know so that I can…”

“Silence!” The king roared.

The room fell very still.

Hailey suddenly realized what she had done. A knot formed in her stomach. She came in here, tracking dried mud and had yelled at the queen of all Taivalon. “I’m sorry,” she said. “That was wrong of me,” and curtsied, hoping that she didn’t end up in prison or something. She should never have let her temper get away from her like that. What was wrong with her?

The king coughed, holding a handkerchief to his mouth. “Martin, would you be so kind as to inform us what has been done in finding someone to help our mage?”

Martin was the assistant to the king. He worked closely with the steward, to ensure that the castle was running smoothly and probably knew more about what was going on in the kingdom than anyone else. He was always immaculately dressed, but his long orange jacket made him look that much shorter. Hailey was fond of the little man. He was always polite and always busy.

He smoothed his mustaches and then he said, “Yes, your majesty. We have heard back from several kingdoms, but not one of them have agreed to help us. They all make apologies for not having the time or the resources.” He shuffled through his papers. “I am sorry. We may have to try something else.”

“You see,” said the king. “We are trying. We know that you need further training, but so far we have been unsuccessful in finding you a new tutor. Until we find one, I fear you are on your own.” He mumbled something about bickering women under his breath, and then finally, he asked, “I am sure you did not come here to argue about what you have not been able to accomplish so far. Why did you come?”

“As you know, I have been trying to find candidates who may be able to become mages in our kingdom.” Hailey went on to explain what she saw on the edge of the kingdom, about the little girl, Juliana, and about the woman who showed up all in black. “I think, and I could be wrong about this, but she may be Isabella.”

“That is highly disturbing,” said the queen. “You saw her take the child?”

“Yes. She was gone when I woke.” Going back over the battle with the king and queen helped her think through everything that had happened. “She came through the shimmer and there were fairies with her.”

“How would you describe this woman?” The king asked.

“She’s tall and beautiful with pale skin and dark hair. She has a particular way of carrying herself, like she’s always in control, even though she walked with a limp.”

“It could be her, or someone who looks like her. I don’t remember the limp but everything else sounds like it could be.” the king said. He would have seen Isabella when she cast the curse on his daughter. He mumbled something that Hailey didn’t quite catch. He rose, as if to say something very important. “Something must…” then he devolved into a coughing fit. He staggered and almost fell off of the dais. Martin grabbed him around the waist and guards rushed to help the king. The guards each took an arm and helped the king out of the room.

Hailey’s hand went to her mouth. “Is he ok?”

The queen brows knitted as she watched him go, but when she turned back to them, she had smoothed her features. “The king is fine. He did not sleep well last night. Matters of state can be quite taxing.”

“I’m sure they can be,” Hailey said, but it was clear that the king was not fine. He was sick and they hadn’t told her. How was she supposed to protect the king if she didn’t know about his sickness? If they didn’t admit to her that he was sick, there was nothing she could do. She had already overstepped her boundaries today. She would not do it again.

She glanced at Aaron. He looked just as worried as she felt.

“What the king was trying to tell you before,” she paused for a moment “was that the other kingdoms don’t really care if we succeed or not. Our survival does not matter to them. We have only ourselves to rely on. Two of the kingdoms have offered to have you come train under their mages, but to leave an entire kingdom without a mage could be most disastrous.”

“I understand,” Hailey said. “I had never even considered leaving.”

“The most important task you can perform for this kingdom is something that will secure your own future as well. You must free the princess as soon as possible. If some thing were to happen to the king, the power could not transfer to the heir as it should. The entire kingdom would fall and there would be nothing you could do to save the people. Every day you waste on something else is a day that you risk the lives of the entire kingdom.”