Sabina rubbed her left arm. Ry's eyes drifted to the laughing guards. One hand wandered to the pocket where Demitra's marble remained hidden. Warmth seeped through his otherwise damp pants. She said it was a part of her magic which would allow her to find him anywhere, but he wondered if he might harness the power himself. Even if but a moment, magic would help him. Both hands moved to the wall and pushed against it as he lifted himself up. Dizziness swirled through him as he stumbled toward the iron bars.

"Then what happened? Keep talking. Give me something to listen to." Ry gasped for air as he spoke. Limbs and lungs protested his standing let alone moving. He slipped the marble from his pocket. Its glow had vanished as had the metallic white swirling within. Instead it was solid green. Kira had once told him that using magic for her was as simple as wanting it to happen. That moment, he wanted magic more than he wanted a good romp with a girl.

"Rodyn demanded to know how the king could keep such a secret from the Princesses betrothed." She spit on the ground after she said betrothed.

Ry looked back at her. "Not a fan of your look alikes future husband?"

"I'd sooner marry a pig."

"Remember, it wouldn't be you marrying him."

"I've been acting as the Princess Sabina long enough that I feel like I'm her. And Rodyn makes me stomach churn."

Ry turned back to the bars.

"Fath . . . the King had no idea what Rodyn was talking about. He wasn't lying, he didn't know about my hair. The Queen kept it from him, and information on the attack from the Wilders. She said it would be best because he wouldn't allow me to stand in for the Princess anymore. She loved me as if I were her daughter. When the King didn't answer Rodyn to his liking he . . . he . . ."

"Killed him."

"Yes. Rodyn has magic. Real magic. Not those tricks the jesters pull. A sword of ice grew from his hand and he . . ." Her voice trailed off as she sobbed.

Ry's hand closed around the marble. Both needed to get out of there. If Rodyn was hunting Kira for being Wilder, Ry assumed he was doing the same to Sabina.

Give me back my strength, my health, please, he thought. The marble burned in his hand, his arms shuddered. Heat and energy spread from its touch, pulsing through him with his blood. Wind came from nowhere and yet, to him, it came from everywhere. Sabina called his name. Her voice rose above the rushing wind as if it were an angel beckoning for his soul. Power became one with his mind and body. He wondered if that was how Kira felt every day. Ry raised the hand holding the marble. Haze curved around fist and arm until it formed a solid green shell. He opened his hand and the marble had vanished. The glowing hand pressed against the lock. It exploded outward, flying toward the guards and knocking them unconscious backwards.

"Time to go," Ry said. He didn't wait for Sabina to argue or question what had happened, he didn't care. If she wanted to stay there, that was her problem. He wanted to find Kira and Addrick. To him, the Princess was nothing. After all, he'd done his part to free her. The rest was on her.

"You have magic, too?" Sabina asked.

"No. I'm human."

"Then how?"

Ry stopped long enough to look at her. Both hands were pulled close to her chest as she rung them together. She bit on her lower lip with one eyebrow raised. Bags circled her eyes, showing her exhaustion to Ry for the first time. He raised his shimmering hand to her face. She cowered back and stared at the glow. Ry smiled the kind of smile he gave the ladies when he was trying to get into their bed. It was soft, yet hard enough to frame his eyes with hints of wrinkles. He always felt wrinkles were a sign of wisdom and he found woman responded well to his brown eyes when hugged by his wisdom. Ry enjoyed busting out his best smile, it was his own kind of magic, though this was the first time he flashed it to a girl he wasn't trying to bed.

Her stance lightened, both hands lowering to her side. His hand cupped her cheek. The glow spread from him into her, the bags slowly fading away with its pulse. In the light of the corridor he could now see the blisters. They healed, her skin once more smooth and unblemished.

"I don't know if I should be impressed you figured out how to expel my magic from the marble, or upset that you acted so recklessly. We were coming for you." Ry jumped at the sound of Demitra's voice. He turned his head to glance behind him. The glow faded from his arm and snaked across the ground. It swirled over Demitra's legs until it vanished. "We need to go now. Rodyn will be on us shortly and then all is lost."

"How did you get in here?" Ry asked. He didn't realize he was still caressing Sabina's cheek until she used one hand to knock it away.

"I am going nowhere with you peasants. I'm going to find the Princess and reason with her." She grabbed the hem of her tattered dress and stomped toward the stairs. Demitra grabbed her arm and jerked her closer. One glowing hand rose to Sabina's hair, illuminating the roots.

"You're Wilder," Demitra said.

"Unhand me, you fiend! I'm not Wilder, your kind attacked me as a child and turned my hair red."

Demitra laughed. "You're daft if you think your hair color can change because of an attack. You were born with red hair."

"That's not possible! Neither my mother nor father have red hair and only—"

"Then they aren't your true parents. Only Wilders have red hair and only a Wilder can give birth to another Wilder."

While Demitra was busy examining Sabina's hair, examined the bracelet dangling from her wrist, light reflected off the silver. A single charm hung from the sterling rings. It was the same symbol tattooed on Addrick's arm. Three interlocking spirals, two with a bronze gem, but where Addrick's was blue, Sabina's was lime green. Kira wore the same symbol around her neck.

"What does that symbol mean?" he asked, pointing to the bracelet.

Demitra glanced down at it. Her jaw flinched before she looked to Ry. "There's no time. Carry her over your shoulder if you must, but we have to get out of here before the change of guards come and notice you've escaped. If we get lucky we can get out of the keep without sounding the bells."

"A guard somewhere in here has my swords," Ry said.

"Oy! You both will be the death of me. Come!" Demitra turned and ran up the stairs. Ry sighed and grabbed Sabina by the waist, flinging her over his shoulder. She pounded on his back, demanding to be put down.

"Be quiet, or do you want to get us both killed?"

Sabina growled, but silenced herself.

He followed Demitra through the narrow corridors of the keep. She used her magic to cast a sleeping spell over guards they couldn't hide from, leading them to an abandoned building with a cross within a triangle pointing downward burned into the wood. One hand waived over the symbol. It glowed for a moment and then vanished into the wood.

"What did you do?" Ry asked. He dropped Sabina from his shoulder but kept a grip on her arm. She squirmed, trying to free herself.

"Sent a message to the Wilders in town, warning them to flee, for the storm has come for us. Has Rodyn seen your bracelet before, Sabina?"

"No, it's usually hidden under my dress sleeves."

"Good. Then we at least have that going for us. If Rodyn discovers you wear that symbol, there is no place safe for you in town and the dungeon would be the least of your problems."

"Why? Why would Rodyn hate Wilders? I didn't know you guys had magic so how could he? What is with that symbol?"

"Don't you get it, Rylanne? Rodyn is Wilder." Demitra sighed. "I'll tell you everything, but first we must get to safety. I'm surprised he didn't sense my magic when you used it."

"Rodyn is out. He left a few nights ago when I didn't give him the answers he wanted about my hair. He thought I had magic and was hiding it," Sabina said.

"You do have magic, but someone has bound it if you can't use it." Demitra looked up and down the street, frowning. "We need to get horses. You're carelessness left me unprepared."

"Get Sabina to the apple orchard to the southwest of here. I'll get horses and meet you there." Ry released Sabina's arm and pushed her toward Demitra.

"How are you going to do that? You're wanted, remember?"

He winked. "Let's just say, I owe the saddle masters daughter some fun in the hay."

Demitra frowned. "Be safe and know this, Rylanne, situations have arisen that you are no longer the priority for me. Getting this girl to New Calandria is higher and I will leave you behind. You have one day."

"Sweetheart, I only need hours. But you will tell me what that symbol means."