Sasha had a headache. And she was back in her and her sister’s room. She felt like puking.

“You made her smile.”

The voice sounded familiar, Sasha held her eyes closed, wishing she could go back to unconscious. It was daylight, and it would hurt looking at whomever it was that disturbed her sleep. It was a male, and it was not Elias. Her gut feeling was not working and she sighed.

“I want you to make him purple next time. And preferable before dinner.”

Sasha didn’t like the tone. As proud as she was of her joke, the man in the room didn’t sound like he was amused, and he didn’t ask for a favour, he was giving orders. The pain in her gut was intensifying.

“Well mister, it’s not like I'm in the mood for favours. If you are not complete dumb you would recognise this is a sickbed.”

Someone put his hands on her arm. Sasha opened her eyes and her mouth dropped wide open. The king was sitting next to the bed, in his royal blue cape and the big ring on his finger shining. By the feeling in her body, and the sudden subside of her headache, he was pouring healing power all over her.

“Purple, before dinner. And don’t disappoint me. I don’t care if you are my daughter, I will hurt you.”

He didn’t smile, and he didn’t look angry, he was cold, almost bored. A shiver went down her spine. The king was not known for empty threats.

“Why purple?”

“Why not? I haven’t seen the queen laughing so wholeheartedly for years.” The king’s eyes became soft, as he was remembering some special occasion. Then he turned to her again. “Have you ever wondered how long a witch can stay underwater?”

The anger filled her every cell.

“Don’t know”, she said. “You tell me, father. How long could a King stay underwater?”

“Until I am drawn up and start to heal”, her father said and rose. “For you, I would say far less.”

He left the room a big smile on his face, his eyes looking inwards, paying no more attention to her.

As soon as she didn’t hear his steps anymore, a pair of much smaller steps entered the room.

“I’ve heard everything”, Ivy said. “Bastard.”

“You didn’t do much to help though”, Sasha sighed. “There must be some shortcut. Some way to end him we haven’t thought of.”

“No, I have put too much effort into building up this persona to spoil it now. We will have use of my gullible and innocence. I have a very good feeling for this.” Ivy was looking down at her as if she just remembered something. “Sister, just how far are you willing to endure to get rid of him?”

Sasha grinds her teeth. She hated him before, and he just put fuel to the fire.

“We have to leave. I will contact my troop. You will figure out how to unlock my magic and we will end this. It’s wasting time staying here.”

“You are not a healer Sasha. What if he drowns you?”

Sasha looked at her sister. She looked worn out. Sasha recognized the touch in Ivy´s eyes.

“What have you seen that you are not telling me?” she asked.

“Elias was going down to the stable. If we hurry we can catch him before he sets out.” Ivy pulled her up from her bed, throwing her clothes at her. “Let’s find him, and then we leave this place for good.”

“They never let us out through the port. This castle is a fucking prison!”

Ivy pulled the jumper over Sasha’s head, her fingers caressing her, lightly controlling the state of her magic.

“He is a strong healer, there is not even a subtle hint of weakness in you”, she gasped, shaking her head. “I could learn one or two things from him.”

“You do realise that he has trained by actually drowning people, and then hauling them back to life, just to learn the exact limit of his abilities?”

Ivy looked away and Sasha pulled on her trousers.

“I guess you should be happy he had trained”, Ivy said with a stern voice. “Now, I know beyond a doubt that we will have to leave before the evening. Do you find your way in the labyrinth?”

Sasha stopped, but Ivy caught her hand, pulling her with her down the stairs.

“You have never been down in the labyrinth! I can’t take you there. It is filled with monsters.” She hurried up beside her sister. “How long have I been out? What has really happened?”

“Well, I will enlighten you about the details later. Let’s just try to get hold of our stupid stepbrother first, shall we?”

“You mean our stupid, purple stepbrother?”

Sasha knew Ivy, and she put her curiosity down for the moment. If Ivy said they would leave, they would.

When they came closer to the port the guard stepped forward. Ivy smiled broadly. Sasha looked at the tall wall surrounding the castle. The old ivy growing along the wall side was perfect to climb. She knew it was impossible. The magic poison protecting it ensuring anyone who tried would not do it twice.

“We were looking for Master Elias? You haven’t seen him?” Ivy asked.

“He is out riding. Bet he is back about an hour or so”, the guard said looking wearily at Sasha. “My lady, I wouldn’t try that if I were you.”

Sasha smiled at him, looking at the green ivy. It must be dozens of years old. She felt it underneath her fingers. It spoke to her, sang to the magic she had in her. Too bad it was locked away.

“I could knock him out, it will be easier than going through the labyrinth”, Sasha whispered to Ivy. “We would catch Elias in no time at all.”

“Do it fast. Before the others notice”, Ivy hissed under her breath.

Sasha smiled. She took her hand on the stem of the green ivy, pulling it out from the wall, getting a good grip on it. Then she took out her knife and cut. The sap was dropping from it. She cut off a bit of her sister's blue dress and pressed the cloth towards the sap.

“Will of Ivy, drops of ivy, sleep of princess, and castle of evil”, Sasha muttered and she could feel all her old magic trying to help, putting a finish to her potion that had never been there before. She smiled. It felt divine.

She walked the way back to the guard, looking at his fist's stronghold of his sword, as she folded the piece of Ivy’s blue dress into a napkin.

“What’s your name soldier?” she asked.

“Nils”, he answered. “You really shouldn’t be her miss. Elias has specifically told us to keep an extra eye on you two ladies.”

“He had?” Sasha pondered. “Well, I guess he hasn’t told you who we are? Has he?”

Nils looked down at his shoes, dragging his feet.

“Well. He did.. I got the impression.”

The young lad was actually blushing. Sasha pitied him. He was younger than her, new on his post. She took her napkin, waving it in in front of her, closing in on him and leaning closer.

“I like you Nils”, she said. “I will take your naivety, and I will remember this.” She laughed a bit. “You, however, will not.”

He looked upon her, his eyes all blurry, confused, and drugged. She hurriedly walked past him, dragging Ivy along.

“That was close”, Ivy said. “Thought you would hit him?”

“No, this works better. l only got us some thirty seconds though, so we better be gone when he wakes up”, Sasha said and took the next street to the left. It was not the shortest way to the stable, but it would do. “I will make him one of our best guards with time.”

The street they were walking was busy this time of day. The stand with today’s lunch had a long queue of people and Sasha’s stomach felt empty.

“Now, tell me why we are in such a hurry”, Sasha said.

“Isaak has planned our escape, and he won’t take no for an answer.”

“Our escape? We have already escaped”, Sasha said. “Please, don’t tell me he thought they could hold us?”

“You being drained of magic? Well, he obviously didn’t listen to logic and now he is inside the castle. He is like a rat being trapped in a cage. We will leave tonight, before he starts to gnarl on his leg.”

“His inside the castle!? Then he can come out”, Sasha said. “Now, if you don’t mind, I am hungry.”

Sasha went for one of the small lunch stands. It smelled marvelous and a crispy chicken

would be perfect.

“No, he can’t sister. He bribed his way in. It won’t work again.” Ivy got a tight grip on Sasha’s hand and pulled her away from the chicken. “We buy one on our way back. Promise.”

Sasha pondered on this, seeing the stable just a quarter away. She must say she was not that worried about Isaak. Bribing one of the guards was sure creative and it wouldn’t work twice. The king interrogated them daily. Not being able to lie in front of him was one of the perks of the job.

“Are the guard still alive?” she asked her sister, letting her pull her away from the food.

“Isaak has a way to convince people”, Ivy said and shrugged her shoulders. “Well, I guess we will have to let Elias guide us back, like the well-behaved daughters we are.”

Sasha mused. The thought of teasing Elias made her happy.

“And then we escape, through the labyrinth the very same night.”

“We will”, Ivy said. “And just our pure luck, the prince in shining armor is coming our way.”

“That is one awesome horse”, Sasha gawked the horse. It was grey melange, athletic, and every single muscle at the right place. It legs long, the neck-straining towards the sky as it went up on two legs, neighing.

“I think he has spotted us”, Ivy stopped in her tracks. “Have you made the potion?”

“The potion?” Sasha looked clueless at her sister. “Nils got it.”

“Not that stupid. The purple one.”

“Oh.”