Fly or Fall

Chapter Seventeen

Wenly lit the seventh candle and placed it in line with the circle he'd drawn on the floor. The throne room was dark except for the pale glow of the Ulah moon seeping through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Tonight, he'd finally know what M.A.G.E was planning. He'd be able to protect his family. He just needed the twins to do the spell.

A knock sounded at the door and he straightened his jacket before he walked to it. Anna stood next Andy. "Finally," he said as he stepped aside to let them in.

"What exactly do you need us to do?" Anna asked then stepped into the throne room.

"More importantly, who's the unconscious guy you have tied up?" Andy said as his sight fell on Orrick Hast.

"He's the leader of M.A.G.E," Wenly answered. Tied to a chair in the centre of the circle was Orrick. Wenly had him transferred from Greegveryn to the palace dungeons and tonight he had him brought to the throne room. With his mother and everyone else distracted with the Dello ball tonight was the perfect night to perform the spell. "And as for what I need you to do, that's simple." He took a step towards Orrick. "I need you to get into his mind."

"Yeah, that sounds totally simple," Andy rolled his eyes.

"I trust you can do this," he said. He needed them to do this.

"Okay but I need to ask you something first," Anna said and he gestured for her to go on. "Why us?" she asked. "There must be a dozen other witches and mages you could have asked for help. Why choose us?"

"Yeah, we're not exactly the most skilled mages," Andy added.

"True," Wenly said, "but you are the only witch and mage I can trust not to ask questions."

"Are you sure about that?" Andy folded his arms over his chest. "Because I have plenty of questions."

"Not the kind I can't answer." He pulled out a piece of folded up paper and handed it to Anna. "This is the spell we'll need to access his mind."

"," Anna read out loud. "This is a mental spell. I saw it in Zoriah's spell book. It's level one magic, it's forbidden." Wenly hadn't expected them to know that.

"You want us to do a forbidden spell?" Andy frowned. "Won't we be thrown in jail or something?"

"No," he lied. "I'm the crown prince, you're under my protection. Nothing will happen to you." As long as they didn't get caught.

Andy turned to his sister. "I'm not sure about this."

She sighed heavily. "Andy," she said, her voice strained, she sounded exhausted. "He said it's okay."

"Yeah, and that's a totally good reason to do this," he turned his head to Orrick. "I just don't think this is right."

Anna huffed. "Fine," she said in a harsh tone, "If you don't agree that's okay. You can't even do magic anyway, so we don't even really need you here."

Andy visibly flinched. "Okay," he said. "I'm going to bed." He was out of the room before the crown prince could stop him.

"Sorry about him," Anna said. "Can I still do the spell on my own?"

The spell would have been more effective with the both of them but..."Yes, you can." Wenly turned to Orrick who'd started to stir. He opened his dull grey eyes and laid them on the prince and then Anna.

"Nice to see you're finally awake," Wenly spoke.

"What can I say," he tried to shrug but the restrains around his body made it hard and he winced, "I do love my naps. Who's the girl?"