There was something about Gillian that just put Aaron at ease. “You know, You are not the typical soldier,” he told her. They were walking along the shimmer. One of the cities to the south had heard voices coming from it and they were there to investigate, and they were almost there.

“Like you’re one to talk. I had never even heard of a man trying to soldier with one gimp hand. No offense.”

He smiled. “None taken.”

She grinned at him. “You do have to admit, we are a pair. A female soldier and a man with only one good hand have come to save the village from the invading monsters.”

He laughed. Something about the way that she made fun of him made him feel accepted. He did wonder about the monsters, though. Derrick hadn’t said exactly what was wrong with this little city on the southern edge of the border, only that there was something wrong, and so they rode out to see if there was anything they could do. The captain didn’t seem to think that there was anything wrong, that the people of the city were just jumping at shadows.

But Aaron had seen the body of the man who had been attacked. Clearly something was going on. Inside the city, a woman came running up to them.

“The king should have been smarter than to just send two soldiers. One of them isn’t even a man,” a man called out. Gillian ignored him, focusing on the woman.

“Thank you for coming,” she said. “I heard voices the other night. Woke me from my bed. When the sun came up, I was standing in front of the shimmer, pushing at the wall and trying to get through it as if I could walk through stone. In all my years, I have never done than before. You can ask my husband.”

It turned out that they didn’t need to ask him, because he shouted at them from the porch of a small house. “It’s true. She never walked in her sleep before this. The Conrows saw things coming out of the shimmer.”

“And where are the Conrows?” Asked Gillian.

The woman ran to the next house over and pounded on the door. Her wiry hair flying out in every direction. She seemed really worked up about this, and he shuddered to think what that must have been like to find yourself trying to walk into the shimmer.

Aaron and Gillian dismounted and held onto the reigns of their horses. A tired looking woman stepped out, a small boy clinging to her skirts. “Milly, I was sleeping. I was up all night with Claude talking about the faces he saw in the shimmer last night. He said the fairies were trying to break free of the shimmer.”

“Where is he now?”

“Asleep. He took care of the milking and then collapsed on his bed. I don’t think he’s feeling right.”

“Did he say anything else?” Aaron asked. “Anything else we might need to know.” If the man was really seeing fairies in the shimmer, they were going to have massive problems on their hands soon. The shimmer was what held the fairies and all the other magical creatures back. If it was weakening…” he tried not to show any signs of fear.

“I saw them,” a little girl said. “I saw the fairies. They were glowing and they looked like tiny naked people with wings. They were pushing and flying on the shimmer, trying to get all the way through.”

The girl stood boldly in the circle of people, demanding attention.

“Did any of them get through?” Gillian asked.

She shook her head, making her braids sway on her back. “No, I shouted at them and they went back into the forest where they belong.”

He blinked. “You shouted at them?”

“Yup.” The girl seemed satisfied that her tale was getting the attention it deserved. “I told them to go back in the forest and leave us alone.”

“That was very brave of you,” Gillian said. “Just make sure you don’t get too close to the shimmer yourself, ok?”

“I’m not an idiot,” the girl said.

“I can see that,” Gillian confirmed. “I just want you to be careful.” Then she climbed back on her horse and talked to the group of people who had come to look at them. “We are going to take a look around at the shimmer, but thank you for your help. We will be letting the captain know about everything that you have told us and about anything that we might see.”

The crowd disbursed, no longer interested in the strangers. Aaron doubted that they had talked to everyone who had seen something in the shimmer, but it made him uneasy. Maybe there was something that Hailey hadn’t told them. They took their horses through the small opening in the wall that ringed the shimmer. Aaron did not want to be here anymore. There was clearly something going on and he didn’t have the spell on him that kept him safe from the fairies. Then again, if something was happening with the shimmer, would any of them be safe for much longer? He didn’t know.

Gillian stared into the shimmer. She didn’t look anywhere as nervous as he felt. She climbed off of her horse and tied it to a pole in the fence, and so he did the same. They wandered along it and Aaron almost found himself hoping that they didn’t find anything, that it was just a bunch of worried people who were getting all worked up over nothing.

“Do you see that?” Gillian pointed into. The forest. “I think there is something in there. Is that a girl?”

She stepped into the shimmer.

“Gillian, come back!” he yelled at her, but she wasn’t listening.

“Come back, little girl!” Gillian yelled, racing on through the shimmer and into the forest.

He followed, into the shimmer himself. He could see her racing on, but when she came to the little girl, something huge was coming through the other side. Finally catching her, he grabbed her arm.

“Gillian!” He yanked at her arm, pulling her back, just as the face of something huge snapped at her. He couldn’t see clearly what it was, but she would be dead if he hadn’t grabbed her.

Hailey stepped out of the mage’s library a basket of herbs in one arm and her massive tome in the other. Her eyes burned but her hands were full. She blinked. She knew it was just the lack of sleep. The walk between the mage’s library and the princess’s room was becoming tedious. She decided that rather than taking the large staircase, she would walk a little farther and take the servant’s route.

It wasn’t a big change, but hopefully a little more walking would help her prepare for the spell. She began walking in the familiar ruts up the staircase. It made her remember that not too long ago, this was part of her life. So much had changed. She had never thought that she would miss scrubbing pots, but she did. It was so much more direct than what she was trying to accomplish. It was obvious if you did a good job or not.

“G — Good morning miss,” said a woman balancing a large basket of dirty linens. She tried to curtsy while walking with her load and missed her step. She screamed, dropping the basket. Clothing went everywhere and the young woman almost tumbled down after her basket.

Hailey dropped the basket of herbs and held out a hand to help the woman. “Extollo,” Hailey said, floating her above the staircase. She put the woman back on her feet. “I am sorry. I shouldn’t have been here.”

“No miss. Thank you. I’m sorry.” The girl’s chest was heaving and she looked at Hailey with wide eyes, and almost panicked expression. “You won’t tell no one, will you?”

“Of course not. Why would I?”

Then she curtsied and began gathering Hailey’s herbs. “I am so sorry. I’m new to the castle and...” She cut off, looking even more distraught. “You don’t need to know about me.”

“I was a kitchen maid a year ago,” Hailey said flatly. I don’t think you have anything to worry about. I know I shouldn’t take this staircase, but I used to all the time. I’m sorry for upsetting you. I will try to stay off these stairs, but if you see me on them again, don’t try to curtsy.”

The girl nodded and then curtsied again. “Thank you. I might have broken my back.” Then tears filled her eyes. “I could have died just now.”

Hailey could see that she was making the girl uncomfortable and so she gathered up the herbs that hadn’t fallen too far and let the girl gather up the laundry. She might get in trouble for being late and Hailey didn’t want to cause any more trouble for the girl.

At the top of the staircase, Hailey the sounds of someone who is not particularly good at the lute playing away, and was that singing? Who was singing? As she got closer, she realized that the voice was coming from the princess’s chambers.

She clenched her fists. Whoever was in there, bothering the princess was going to get a tongue lashing from her. She didn’t need another distraction right now. She entered the princess’s room and paused.

The man she had heard, was holding a lute, pausing every few notes and trying to sing. He was wearing puffy pants and hose, a fashion that had never quite taken on in Taivalon. His sleeves were equally puffy and he wore a velvet hat that matched the burgandy ensemble. The feather danced as he looked down at his strings and back up at the women who had clustered around to hear him play. From the looks on their faces, one would think it was the most beautiful thing than anyone had ever played.

“He is magnificent, isn’t he?” A woman with a cascade of strawberry blonde hair said to her companion.

Hailey dropped all of her books on the floor. It hit with a loud thwack. She had work to do and she didn’t have time to deal with ridiculous people with lutes. All heads turned towards her. “Who are you and what are you doing in the princess’s room?”

When he didn’t respond, she decided to float him out of the room so that she could get to work. “Extollo,” she said but nothing happened. Had she done the spell incorrectly? She eyed the people in the room. One of them was glaring at her.

The man who had been standing behind him and came forward. “We have not had the pleasure of meeting. My name is Frederick.”

“And what are you doing here?” She demanded, though in truth, he hadn’t answered the first question. Frederick who?

“I have come to entertain the beautiful princess while she is trapped in the spell. I had hoped that my fine music might be enough to lift the spell and set her free.”

“It’s so romantic,” one of the girls said.

Hailey ground her teeth. It wasn’t romantic. It was idiotic. “Whoever heard of someone singing a spell away. It’s not how they work.”

“Have you tried it?”

“No.”

“So how do you know that it won’t work?”

“That’s like saying that juggling or acrobatics might wake her up.”

“An excellent idea, my lady.”

“No,” Hailey said. Why was he being so annoying? “None of these ideas are excellent. That was my point. It’s ridiculous to think that any of those things might work.”

“Rumors say that all kinds of things have been tried. There is a mage who keeps leaving twigs and leaves around. She thinks that that might work, so why not singing. If anything, it will make her feel better about being stuck in a spell so sad and all alone.”

Hailey’s voice rose. “Those are herbs meant to boost the spell. It’s not at all the same thing as singing. Magic made this problem and magic is going to be the thing that fixes it.”

“So you are the mage who battled the dragon and set the castle free. I have heard tell of you.” He bowed to her. “It is an honor to meet you, my lady. I have heard tell of your great deeds. This kingdom is fortunate to have you.”

Hailey ground her teeth. She knew he was trying to be polite, knew that every barbed word she had thrown at him, he had taken with grace, but to bring up the dragon and what the kingdom lost that day. She walked back out of the princess’s room, eyes following her. She stood in front of the two guards.

“Could you please escort that man out of the princess’s room?”

The guards were both more than a head taller than she was and she felt like a child throwing a tantrum, which made her even more angry. They eyed each other with nervous glances.

“Go! What are you waiting for? I need to try to undo the spell and I can’t with people singing.”

“My lady, he is the Prince of Yapuris. He wasn’t doing anything to harm the princess. We watched him to make sure.”

So the guards were not going to be of any use. She would have to handle this herself. She squared her shoulders and marched back into the room, just as the prince opened his mouth to begin singing again.

“Why are you here?” She asked him, trying to keep her frustration under control.

“I had heard that there was a sleeping princess in Taivalon and I came to see if there was anything I could do to help.”

He wasn’t kidding. A prince from a foreign land had come. If he wanted to be of any assistance, he should have brought mages with him. She wanted to tell him so, but decided against it.

“Prince Frederick, I am sure you mean well.” Her anger was boiling just under the surface, but she fought to keep her voice steady. “However, I have work to do. This spell will be undone, but it won’t be undone by singing or juggling or anything like that. Magic created this problem and magic will fix it. I have work to do and you cannot be in here while I’m working.”

He strode up to her, getting uncomfortably close, then he picked up her hand and kissed it. “My lady, I will be happy to be of any assistance.”

Then he and his entire entourage walked out of the room.