Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

I was trapped.

Not like a rat, because I was just too darn cute to be compared to such a creature. I was more like a damsel in distress and I was desperately searching for my white knight.

"Come on, Ben. . ." I muttered as I pressed my back against the wall even more.

"Quiet, witch!" Commander Edouard snapped at me as a half dozen of his men pointed their halberds at my chest. "You will hand over the Prima Staff and surrender yourself to the mercy of the king!"

I snorted. "I'll pass. I've already seen what kind of mercy those guys deal out."

He narrowed his cold eyes at me. "Then you will be taken to the dungeons and be made to tell us where you have hidden the staff."

I had a hard time keeping my eyes off the canister on my left arm. My heart pounded in my chest as I squirmed against the brick wall. Damn me for readjusting the ribbon at the worst possible time! I was still getting used to it being back on my arm and then that soldier came along in time to spot me in my true self.

"That is hardly a way to treat a lady," a voice spoke up from the shadows.

My heart leapt as the commander spun around to face the mouth of the dead-end alley in which I found myself. A tall figure with a billowing cloak stood there. Their red eyes glowed in the dim light of twilight with the last rays of the setting sun at their back.

A smile curled onto Commander Edouard's lips as he raised one finger. "I am most pleased to see you, Dragon Thief. You have been absent of late."

Ben bowed his head. "My sincerest apologies. I decided to take a vacation elsewhere."

"That was fortuitous for me, as I have a surprise welcome for you," Edouard countered as one of the men stepped forward.

The soldier's halberd was quite fat at the top, and the reason was revealed when he pressed a switch on the stick and the blade popped off. His action revealed a small crystalline orb that glowed a soft and sickly yellow in the fading light.

Ben folded his arms over his chest. "Surely you haven't forgotten already, my dear commander, that magic doesn't work on me."

"We shall see," Edouard countered as he nodded at the orb's handler.

The soldier stepped forward and held aloft the spear. The faint light spread across the ground and touched Ben's feet. My eyes widened as his dark boots shimmered like disturbed water and I nearly beheld his normal shoes.

Ben stepped back and a growl escaped him. Commander Edouard laughed. "I see we have finally found a magic more potent than yours. Now we'll see the face behind the mask."

His eyes flickered to his man and the soldier rushed forward with the light held aloft. Ben stepped to the side and out of sight. The soldier skidded to a stop at the mouth and grasped the glowing spear in both hands as he searched the area.

"Sir, he's gone!" he announced after a brief examination.

Edouard's eyes widened and he frothed at the mouth. "That spineless fool!" He whipped around to face me. "But I have his accomplice-"

His words caught in his throat. Ben stood behind me with his wings spread out from wall to wall. He wrapped his arms around my waist and bowed his head to the commander. "It was a pleasure to play with again, commander. Let's hope you don't bring any new rules to the game next time."

He leapt into the air as the commander leapt at us. Edouard just barely missed my foot as we flew up the wall and into the night sky. I wiggled my fingers at the furious commander in a playful wave as he roared beneath us.

Ben glided us over the rooftops and in a direction not quite straight for home. I breathed a sigh of relief and my body slightly slumped. "Something bothering you?" he wondered.

"Oh, just a few things," I told him as I patted my pocket where the ribbon was safely tucked. "I think this got stretched during its time in Ramaal's possession."

"And another?"

"What was that orb he was using to see you?"

Ben sighed as he stared ahead. "I don't know, but that's a contemplation under the auspices of a warm fire and a stiff drink."

Eventually, he bent his wings toward home and we landed a block away before traveling on foot the rest of the distance. Ferox greeted us from the stables and Tully at the back door.

"All quiet on the home front, I hope," Ben mused to his servant.

Tully patted his right-hand pocket and held up one finger.

"I'll see to it immediately," Ben assured him as he smiled down at me. "You'll have to excuse me for a moment, there's some business to take care of."

"I'll be in the study collapsing into a puddle of ooze," I informed him.

I was as true to my word as I shuffled down the hall and into the study. I collapsed into one of the chairs in front of the warm fire and groaned. "These nights just keep getting colder and colder. Should've asked Ben to take me on holiday to the Bermudas."

Ben wasn't long in coming and he took a seat in the other chair with a mischievous smile on his face. "You look comfortable."

I snorted. "Compared to being in that alley, even a torture device is comfortable."

"You did seem rather worried I wouldn't arrive."

I snorted. "I wasn't worried. I was terrified. That commander really wants to see my face on the other side of a door of bars."

"You don't want to oblige the kind commander?" Ben teased.

"I had enough of bars on our last adventure in the dungeons of Kalea," I reminded him as I used my heels to draw off my feet. I wiggled my toes in front of the warm fire and sighed. "What I could really use is a vacation. A real vacation. Somewhere where nobody will bother us."

A pensive expression slipped onto Ben's face as he stared into the fire. "A remote location. . ."

I lifted an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you have another villa somewhere in the far-off mountains."

He shook his head. "Nothing so far away, I assure you. I was merely thinking of Rookwood. You haven't been there yet, and we had meant to go several times."

"And always got sidetracked," I finished for him as I sat up a little. The idea intrigued me. "One of your great aunts lives there, right?"

"Yes. My mother's aunt on her father's side. She is the better part of seventy by now and very reclusive. I doubt she has left Rookwood these past twenty years."

I lifted an eyebrow. "Are you sure she'd want to see us?"

Ben patted his breast pocket. "I only just received a letter from her while we were out."

"No crow?"

"She doesn't trust the creatures to understand her. Her accent can be rather thick."

"So what did she want?" I asked him.

He sighed. "It seems my mother has notified her of our betrothal and she wishes to see you."

My face drooped and my voice came out squeakier than I intended. "See me? Why?"

He chuckled. "Nothing more than idle curiosity, I assure you. I won't let her sway my mind on the matter."

I eyed him with a sharp look. "There doesn't happen to be another reason for us going there, does it?"

"Should there be?"

I shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. I guess I was just remembering you told me something about your mom's side being gifted in magic and you keep insisting I need to find my magic."

"You need to embrace it," he corrected me.

"Find. Embrace." I leaned toward him and narrowed my eyes. "Ulterior motive."

He grinned. "What could it hurt to get some advice from my aunt while getting to know her?"

"Uh-huh. Does she know her nephew is this sneaky?"

"She may have encouraged the sneakiness in years past, though admittedly that has been many a year."

I turned my gaze to the fire and watched the flames dance. A weariness settled on me that had arisen during our stay on Kalea. "It would be nice to get away. . ."

"Then it's decided," Ben replied as he took up the decanter that sat on the table between our chairs and poured us each a drink. He handed me one glass and held aloft the other. "To an eventful vacation."

I held my cup up and nodded. "To an uneventful vacation."

We should have sacrificed a goat, too, much good that toast did for us, as we were soon to find out.