Trent stares out of the window in his room that sits at the farthest end of the castle to the West. He stands with his hands behind his back, his cloak hanging on a peg beside the door along with his staff that sits up against the wall. He breathes in the night air deeply, his mind racing of all that needs to be done tomorrow for his wedding. The castle will look incredible once decorated and he cannot wait to try the food that his personal cooks will make him and his bride and the few people who will attend the wedding. He turns away when he hears a light knocking on his door and he strides over to it, pulling it open to see Sapphire standing before him with her head bowed.
“Is she in her room?”
“Yes, master, she is, and she has seen the gifts you gave her. She also has seen the bath and the nightgown.”
“And?”
Sapphire raises her head, hiding her blue under the black, “It is as expected, she is furious that we have brought here her. You called me before I could see what she did with any of the gifts.”
“We won’t worry about what she does right now as long as she is safe in her room. Did you remember to lock the door?”
Sapphire holds up the key to Sarah’s room and places it in his outstretched hand before bowing and turning to leave. “Good night, master, I will retreat to my sleeping quarters so I may get up early tomorrow to help decorate the ceiling areas of the castle as you have instructed.”
Trent places a hand on her shoulder, preventing her from leaving, “You have done well, Sapphire. Soon you and your family may return to the Southern forest of Wisping Willows and be free.”
“Thank you master,” she whispers and walks away, letting Trent’s hand slide off her shoulder and falling to his side.
Trent looks down at the key, closing his hand into a fist around it before he walks over to a wood table, setting the key inside a box that holds other Knick knacks. He pulls out a ruby ring, smiling at it as it glints in the candlelight of this room. He places it on the table next to the box before he closes it and walks back over to the window.
He does not know why, but he has a strong feeling that something or someone is coming. Must be Eric, but there is someone else with him, someone he had not thought he would see ever again. Trent scoffs at the idea that he, his best friend who Trent stole the castle, servants, staff, and magic from, would ever return here. Trent chuckles to himself as he closes his window and walks over to his bed covered with black sheets and furs. He climbs under and sighs as he does his best to relax but knowing that his friend, or now enemy, is on his way to confront Trent for what he had done to him, causing him to not to fall asleep as fast as he usually does. He closes his eyes, forcing himself to fall asleep.
**************
Sapphire heads back towards Sarah’s room, her head down as her eyes swirl between black and her normal navy-blue. She stops in front of the room and knocks lightly, listening for any movement inside. She hears someone moving inside the room, looking around nervously as she hears feet walking across the rug inside. In a moment, the door opens, Sarah standing in front of her in the nightgown that she had picked out for the Elf before she left to bring Sarah back to the castle. She smiles at the sight and walks into the room as soon as Sarah steps back, allowing her in. Sarah peaks out of the room before she closes the door and turns to face the fairy who is flittering around the room nervously.
“I gave the key to your room to Trent but never locked your door as promised. I have lied to him, so we have time to work on escaping tonight.” Sapphire turns to face Sarah, her eyes now fully Navy blue and her wings a gorgeous baby blue, all the black gone. She reaches up and yanks the choker off, throws it to the ground, and crushes it with the heel of her boot. “I don’t care if I get caught with this off anymore. I will not let him run my life anymore. I will save my family and we will all escape.”
Sarah laughs at the fire that has burst into the energetic fairy and places a hand on the woman’s arm, “We need to rest for a couple of hours first and then we will get up and escape with everyone. We need to break this spell over everyone so we can stop Trent.”
Sapphire nods, overly excited about being free from Trent’s magic. “Okay, fine. We will sleep for 3 to 4 hours and then get to work on freeing the others and my family.”
Sarah chuckles and gets back into bed, curling up under the covers while Sapphire slips in on the other side, sighing happily as she folds her wings down against her back for the night.
“Thank you, Sarah, for giving me the strength to break free and for the strength to fight back against the warlock,” Sapphire whispers to Sarah before she turns to face away from the Elf to sleep.
Sarah smiles and nods off to sleep, feeling stronger herself and knowing what she must be in order to free her friend and the others and get back to her Eric. She allows herself to fall into a deep sleep, knowing she will wake up in a few hours so they can start making plans on how to get the red rubies away from the servants.
*************
Several miles away, Eric stands beside his horse as the group takes a break and eats, his eyes glowing with rage and ready for the fight he knew would come in order to get his beloved Sarah, back. Behind him, he can hear Kyle moving around anxiously as if he needs to tell them something. He turns to look at his comrade sitting beside the fire; the flames making the thief look dangerous and scared at the same time. Adam sees the change in Kyle’s behavior and pats the man on the back, thinking that it because of having to fighting a Warlock.
Kyle stares into the flames for a moment, but once Adam pats his back, he looks over at the Dwarf and then to the Elf. “I have to tell you both something before we get to the City of Dragons within a few hours.”
Adam looks up at Eric who joins them beside the fire, sitting down across from Thief and Dwarf. “We are ready to listen, Kyle.”