The candles flashed violently, as if trapped in a vicious wind. Two guards flanked him, directing him down the brightly lit hall. Their swords were angled at his sides, a gesture they thought would keep him in line. They really believe I am their prisoner, he thought. His dancing, dark eyes, glinting in the flickering lights, and the sly smile on his lips would have told anyone who noticed how amusing he found that idea. He humored the guards, letting them think they were leading him; after all, not many people were afforded the opportunity to meet the king in person. But the king wasn’t really his main interest. Meeting the king could prove amusing, but what he wanted, the king couldn’t promise. No, the princess Elisa was his real target.

They finally reached two huge wooden doors with golden frames and what appeared to be diamond doorknobs. Andreas rolled his eyes at the cheap display of wealth. The two guards stopped abruptly, crossing their swords in front of him. His posture was relaxed as they stood there; he was only counting down the minutes to his escape. What the guards were unaware of, was that Andreas could leave anytime he wanted to. But that would be too easy. He enjoyed having some fun with them every once in a while. It was so much more rewarding to escape after they thought they had him. The guard on his left knocked on the door and, in a moment, the heavy doors swung open slowly.

“Ah, it’s about time,” Andreas mused as the guards pushed him roughly into the room, their swords fixed on him once more. His smile never faltered. He gazed around the extravagant throne room, unimpressed by the conspicuous signs of riches: the gold, the expensive chandeliers, the intricate stained glass windows. For him it was yet another ostentatious show of wealth better spent elsewhere. Then again, finding anything that impressed a sorcerer of his caliber was no easy task. How could anything impress you when you could get practically anything with a snap of the fingers or the utterance of a few words? Regardless, it was his first time laying eyes on the throne room, as he had never needed the guards to take him this far before. They must have been very proud to bring in the notorious Andreas Scott Grigoli. He almost felt bad having to negate their triumph.

He spotted the princess in the corner, sitting on a smaller throne next to that of the king, slightly to the back. Andreas’ smile increased and he bowed his head slowly to her. Her dark complexion turned red and she quickly averted her hazel eyes, her wavy blond hair bouncing. Andreas chuckled, his plans for her already formed. She was a woman after all, and falling victim to his charms would be beyond her control.  Andreas finally turned to the king, as if suddenly remembering the monarch’s presence. The guards tried to throw him to the ground and force him to kneel before the king, but Andreas managed to keep his footing and still appear graceful, much to the dismay of the guards.  

“Your majesty,” Andreas said, his obsequious tone augmented by an exaggerated bow.

The king snorted and regarded Andreas with pure hatred. “You understand why you are here today, Andreas Grigoli?” the king demanded in a voice heavy with authority and self-possession.

Andreas straightened out and grinned crookedly. “I believe I do, your royal highness,” he answered. “I came to meet you. I’ve heard all these wonderful things about you, sire, and I wanted to see for myself if they were true.”  With satisfaction, Andreas saw the anger start to radiate from the king’s skin.

“You dare mock me? I am your king! You will respect me!”

Andreas’ features darkened, his jest momentarily forgotten. The king’s last words struck a chord somewhere deep inside him, one he tried to keep buried. “Respect is something one must earn, not demand. And you, sire, have not earned mine.” His words had a dark, deadly solemnity, the falling of a smith’s hammer on steel. After everything he had been through, respect was the last thing he awarded casually.

The king’s entire being seemed to shake with fury. “How dare you speak to me that way? Who do you think you are?”

The king followed up his rhetorical question before Andreas could say a word. “Never mind, I will no longer need to concern myself with your menace, you filthy sorcerer! You have committed serious crimes against this kingdom and its subjects, and for that you must pay. You will elude us no longer!”

Andreas’ demeanor quickly receded to his former indifference, and he grew bored as the king continued to talk. “You, Andreas Scott Grigoli, are here today because you have murdered innocent people, abused women, committed treason against this kingdom, and practiced the forbidden art of magic as if you are not subject to the same laws as every other citizen. Do you deny your charges?”

Andreas smiled. “You are incorrect.”

“What was that?” the king was on the edge of apoplexy.  He was undoubtedly not used to being contradicted by those he considered his subjects.  “There is rocky proof of your copious misdeeds in the records of the marshals of this kingdom!”

Andreas sighed.  “No, your majesty.  I meant your use of the past tense, as in ‘practiced magic’, is incorrect.” With that, he slowly backed up, with the guards immediately moving to counter.

 And suddenly, Andreas was no longer between them.

Before any of the stunned audience could speak, Andreas’ distant voice floated over them, bathing the room in contempt.  “It really baffles me how you have managed to hold on to that crown for so long when you are clearly completely idiotic.”

Furiously, the king searched the room for the source of this apparently disembodied voice.  His subjects followed suit.  In a moment, the king spotted the warlock in a far corner of the room, between two filigreed tapestries.  Running the valuable fabric between his fingers, Andreas continued.  “For one, you bring a known sorcerer into your palace and believe you have him cornered. That was a very big mistake.”

“Bring him back to me!” The king shouted to his assembled guards, who rushed toward Andreas’ distant corner of the room.  Just as they were about to reach him, though, he vanished, leaving them in a comical pile-up as they tried to come to a stop.

Andreas’ distant voice again rang out, echoing in the vast space. “The second mistake was showing me your lovely daughter, whom I have big plans for.”

This time Andreas had materialized in the opposite corner, near the stained glass windows.  He rapped his fingers on them impetuously as he spoke.

The king was livid, and the guards changed course without even a command.  Andreas waited playfully again, tracing the rear curves of a woman depicted in the glass as the troops approached.  Once again, before they could arrive, he was gone.

Without interruption, his voice again.  “The third was thinking that you could ever be able to catch me without magic if I didn’t want you to. I wanted to meet you, sire, because you have been so widely acclaimed throughout the kingdom, but I cannot for the life of me see why.”

Everyone’s eyes scanned every corner of the room to find Andreas’ new location.  It took several moments for one observant subject to raise his glance upward far enough to see that, this time, Andreas had come out of his netherworld perched on one of the expensive chandeliers.  He swung it in long slow arcs back and forth, as everyone looked on.

The king was about to explode, and Andreas laughed, knowing he got the reaction he wanted.  The sovereign’s yell befitted a king.  “I want that piece of scum on his knees before me immediately!  Bring him down here.”

“Sire,” one of the guards offered up timidly, “he confounds our attempts to hold him.”

“You imbecile!” the king shot back. “He’s just goading you.  Even the strongest sorcerer cannot move through the walls or doors of this room. Everything is fortified and at least a dozen hands thick.  Just block the way out and bring him down!” He turned back to the man on the chandelier and spoke with all the imperiousness he could bring to bear. “What say you, gadfly? There’s nowhere for you to go, and I have more than enough guards to pursue you until you tire of this game.  Will you come down or shall we go on?”

Andreas nodded a second and threw up his hands in a quick gesture of surrender. The guards ran to where the ropes holding the chandeliers were fixed on the wall. Andreas just hung there, a smug look on his face, waiting to be lowered. The chandelier was brought to the floor and the guards – tentatively, at first, as if they could not believe they had him, then more strongly – grabbed Andreas and brought him back to the king. They forced him, without his resistance, into a kneeling position.

The king was also wary, but maintained his royal demeanor. “You are hereby sentenced to death as soon as the sun sets! I will not tolerate your disrespect and treachery!  And I will never countenance you having any part of my daughter! Take him away!”

Andreas sighed and the guards started to move back, trying to pull him along. He did not budge. “Really? Have you not been listening at all? I am a sorcerer for a reason. I have only permitted your displays of power up to now because your futile attempts to control me are amusing.” Andreas lifted his hands and the guards went flying to the sides. Other guards ran toward him, but he disappeared before they could reach him. All the eyes in the room searched frantically for him once again.

“Over here,” he said with a wave from behind the princess’ throne. She startled and attempted to move away, but Andreas grabbed her arm. “In such a hurry, princess. You and I have yet to get acquainted.”

He pulled her to his chest as the king and all the guards gasped in shock. Then, without so much as a flash of smoke, Andreas and the princess disappeared.  This time, no part of the room offered up any trace of the sorcerer or his hostage.  The king and all his men could only stare, astonished, for long moments, before the king regained his ire. “Search the castle and all the grounds!  Search the countryside, if you have to! I want that man found!”

While the search began in another part of the castle, Andreas and the princess reappeared in her room. Her heart beat frantically in her chest

Andreas felt a sense of accomplishment. He had gotten to the princess a lot more easily than he had expected. Now he had only to make her agree to his terms.  And the only way he knew how to do that was to make the option he wanted her to choose, in her mind, the lesser evil.

“This can go one of three ways,” he said, an edge of silky menace creeping into his voice. “One, you can tell your father that I savagely abused you. I won’t lay a finger on you if you choose this option, as long as you remember that you owe me a favor I will collect from you whenever I need it most. Two, you can sleep with me; in which case, you will get something you are sure to enjoy, and I won’t hurt anyone in this kingdom for the next two years. Or three, you try to be brave and run away, I catch you, and I savagely abuse you. What is your choice?”

The princess’ pretty face was horror struck. Nothing had prepared her to come face-to-face with this conscienceless sorcerer.  She weighed the options as carefully as her mortified state would allow.

 The first one appeared to be the safest option… but she couldn’t help but wonder about that favor. What would he ask her to do? It could be anything. What if he waited for her to be queen and then demanded something… like lifting the ban of magic? Would she be able to do it? She didn’t want to sleep with him; she was saving herself for the prince of the neighboring kingdom. And option three… she could try and get away, but knew he would catch up with her if she did. Option one was the most selfish option, and the one that may turn out to be the worst choice for her kingdom in the future, but she couldn’t think of that now. All she could think of was helping herself in the moment.  Right now, she didn’t want anyone that dealt with magic touching her.

“Option one,” she said carefully. She was a selfish princess after all. Anything that required no immediate sacrifice was what she would do. And she told herself that she'd find a way to get out of the deal eventually.

Andreas smiled widely. “Good choice, princess. I will come to collect, you have my word.”

And with that, Andreas disappeared again.