"W–what are you doing here?" was all Gwen could think to ask. Her legs scarcely felt up to the task of holding her upright all of a sudden.

"Me? Doing? Why, I'm resting," Anifail said, still reclining lazily on Rhosyn's bed. "Relaxing a bit. Being a captain is hard work. I honestly didn't intend to lie down when I first got here, but this bed looked so comfortable that I just had to give it a try." He pressed a hand against the bedding, as though demonstrating how pliant it was. "Bundled cotton – who knew peasant stuffing could be so agreeable to sleep on? Why, I have half a mind to swap my down-filled bedding with–"

"What have you done with Rhosyn?" Gwen half-screamed. "Where is she?"

"Oh, relax, Princess. I haven't done anything to her... she's perfectly safe." Anifail flashed her a quick grin. "Or at least, she was perfectly safe the last time I saw her."

Gwen quickly converted as much of her fear into anger as she could, and focused it. She gave a significant look at Anifail's bandaged hand, and then regarded him coolly.

"I'll give you a choice, Captain. You can tell me where she is, right now, or–" Gwen took off one of her riding gloves and gave Anifail as deadly and serious a look as she could manage, "I can listen to you desperately trying to tell me between screams of agony."

Anifail chuckled sadly at her, shaking his head.

"My, such a dangerous little minx all of a sudden. So fierce, so terrifying! Ooooooh!" He shook his outstretched hands at her in faux terror. "Why, if it weren't for my years and years of training, I fear I might wet myself right here and now."

"Make all the jokes you want, but if you don't tell me where she is, you won't be walking out of here! I promise you that!"

"Oh, you promise? Dear gracious me." Anifail creased his brow, as though in thought. "But what about your crystal in the temple? What would the Goddess think of you after doing something as awful as what I fear you might be suggesting?"

"I think the Goddess would make an exception," Gwen spat. "We don't lose her favour by killing roaches or other vermin, after all."

"How clever. Well then, how about this instead? I'm not going to tell you where Rhosyn is, but allow me tell you a little bit about her situation, using small, easy to understand words. And once I've done that, if you still want to torture or kill me, you'll have my blessing."

"I will do it, Captain. Don't for a second think I won't."

"Hmm? Well, that must explain why I'm so dreadfully nervous," said Anifail, sounding supremely unconcerned. He gave her a patiently amused smile. "For starters, as I've said before, Rhosyn is safe. She's probably better off than she deserves, considering what my sources tell me she was planning. I mean, kidnapping a princess? I'm no expert, but that certainly seems like the sort of thing one might call 'treason'. By rights, she should be in the castle dungeon, waiting for some hooded fellow to come along and chop her head off!

"Now, despite how serious an offense this is, I did take into account just how much you care for her, and decided to spare her the indignities of confinement in the dungeon. Wouldn't want a delicate thing like her stuck all alone in a nasty place like that, would we? Of course not."

Anifail began inspecting his fingernails, whistling tunelessly.

"Where?" Gwen demanded through clenched teeth, taking a step towards him and raising her arm threateningly. "Tell me where she is! Now!"

"She's hidden away in a very special place, Princess. It's a place where nothing can get in or out, save for breathable air. And myself, of course." Anifail's smile got bigger. "Nobody else knows where she is... not even your father. Just me. And I'm afraid that's all I'm going to be telling you, Princess Gwenwyn." He looked at her in mock disappointment. "I suppose that means you'll be killing me. Well, I do hope it's a quick death, and not a long, drawn-out affair like your lady-in-waiting has ahead of her."

"She... what?" Gwen's eyes widened. "You said she was safe!"

"Oh, she is, Princess. As safe as can be. Her continued safety, however, does rather unfortunately depend on me visiting her every day. You know, bringing her food, water... trifling things like that. Poor girl." He feigned sudden comprehension. "Oh, hang on, now I see the dilemma! If you kill me, I'll no longer be able to provide her with those things, and she'll die. How dreadful!"

"Maybe I don't kill you, Captain," she said, trying as best she could to sound confident. "Maybe I keep you alive, and torture the information out of you, or–"

"I think, perhaps, you don't appreciate how extraordinarily meaningless your threats are, Princess. Now, despite knowing how difficult it must be for you, I'd suggest you stop and actually think for a moment. You are addressing the one person in the world who knows where your friend is tucked away right now. There is nothing you can threaten me with."

"Like hell there isn't! You'll let her go, or I'll–"

"Oh dear. I'm starting to suspect you'll need some sort of demonstration of your impotence," Anifail said, swinging his legs around and standing up from the bed. He considered Gwen a moment, then cleared his throat. "Alright then little girl, here it is. Threaten me again, and sweet little Rhosyn won't have a visitor tomorrow. Or the next day... or possibly even the day after. Take a second to think about what that means. No food, no water... just her sitting there, alone, in the dark, wondering what'll happen next, or if anyone will ever come for her. Now then." He gestured for her to continue. "You were saying?"

Gwen was so tantalizingly close to freedom she felt like crying. The travel packs at the door, the saddlebags on the table, the pouch of chi'darro, the horses grazing nearby... all of the ingredients necessary for her to leave this place forever. Anifail wouldn't dare to try to physically stop her; she could simply walk out of here. And yet she couldn't.

She had everything she needed except for her best friend. There was no way Gwen could leave Rhosyn like this.

And Anifail knew it.

"Alright," she whispered after several long moments. "I understand. I won't try to threaten you."

"Oh, I'm sorry, but did you think that was the end of the demonstration, Princess?" Anifail reached into a vest pocket with his gloved hand. "No, I'm positive a girl as dense as you requires much, much more convincing than that. Now, here's a bit of fun. Let's see if you recognize what this is."

Anifail drew something from his pocket and held it up so that she might see. Gwen gasped, and instinctively backed away.

It was a geis sphere.

Anifail chuckled.

"Ah, so you do know what it is. Yes, I suspected that after your experience with the first one, even someone as bafflingly stupid as you would learn to recognize them. This one was much cheaper than the last one. This time, instead of spouting off meaningless nothings, you'll be utterly silent. Nothing but sweet, blissful silence from our princess until it's destroyed." He smiled wistfully. "That, or until you plant a kiss on the lips of a certain Prince Gavin, whichever comes first."

"Don't touch me with that!" Gwen said, edging away from him.

Anifail pretended to look confused a moment, and he regarded the dull, glassy orb he held.

"Why, it would hardly be an effective demonstration if I simply tricked you into touching it, or forced it upon you, would it?" Anifail chuckled, as though greatly amused. "No, I wouldn't dream of settling for something like that. Instead, you're going to ask me to give it to you."

"What?"

"You are going to ask me, very nicely, if I might allow you the esteemed privilege of putting this new compulsion upon yourself. And then, once that's done, you're going to reach out with your bare hand and touch this bauble."

The sick feeling in Gwen's stomach intensified as she realized the full extent of her helplessness.

What could she do? If she did anything Anifail didn't like, Rhosyn would be the one who would end up paying for it.

"If you let Rhosyn go, I'll take the sphere," she offered.

"Oh, no no no... that wasn't what I asked for at all! How about you take a moment, think about your friend, and try once more."

Once again, it appeared Anifail and her father were one step ahead of her, and there seemed nothing she could do. They were now holding Rhosyn hostage, and would use her to ensure she followed their plan to the letter.

She was trapped.

Gwen slumped her shoulders, defeated.

"I'll take it," she said, meekly.

"Oh come now. A princess has better manners than that," Anifail chided. "Again!"

"Please give it to me," she whispered, hating the words as they left her mouth.

"Not nearly good enough," he said, a little bit louder this time, flashing her a smile of grotesque glee. "These will be the last words of yours I hear for quite some time, and I wish to savour them. Beg, Princess."

Gwen felt the beginnings of tears forming.

"Please, Captain. I... please, let me take that from you. I'll do as you've said."

Anifail shook his head. "Well, obviously you're not that accustomed to begging. And you understand, don't you, what'll happen if you find some clever way to warn your future husband of your condition? If you do anything but exactly what I or your father tell you do? Tell me, what will happen then?"

"You'll let Rhosyn die," Gwen whispered.

"That, or I visit her and do something so, so much worse. Now, knowing how utterly helpless you are, I want you to convince me you understand everything I've just told you." He strode forward and leaned in close enough to whisper into her ear. "Beg. For. It."

"Please, I–" said Gwen, her voice catching slightly. "I'll do whatever you and father say. I promise I will. Just please... please don't hurt Rhosyn!"

Anifail smiled at her.

"Well, because you asked me so nicely, I suppose it's not too much to ask. Here," he said, holding the hated sphere out towards her. "You merely have to touch it."

Shoulders shaking from suppressed sobbing, Gwen reached out with a trembling hand and touched the top of the sphere with her fingertips. It felt cool, then warm, and a small, familiar shiver passed through her.

"There, now was that so bad?" Anifail asked, pocketing the orb. "I'll make sure this ends up somewhere safe. Now, we're absolutely clear? Your cooperation with every aspect of the king's plan. Your full cooperation. That's the only thing that will keep your lady-in-waiting alive. If you alert anyone to what you are – the prince, the castle staff, anyone at all – I will be forgetting all about that poor, sweet young girl you're so fond of. Am I understood?"

Gwen tried saying 'yes'. When nothing came out, she merely nodded in agreement. A tear trickled down the side of her face, leaving a trail of wetness along her jaw.

"Well, good. Now, kindly return to the castle, with your travel pack, and go to bed. Be sure to return anything that doesn't belong to you as well. That includes whatever you lifted from your father's study. The next time you go snooping around there, perhaps you'll remember to wear shoes, so as not to leave footprints of dead grass throughout the garden lawn. Oh, and Princess?" He gave her a particularly nasty grin. "When I see you again, I'll expect you to be looking very, very contrite. Head bowed, eyes lowered, treating me with respectful deference, that sort of thing. I believe it's safe to say your friend Rhosyn sincerely hopes you do a particularly terrific job of it."

He sat back down on the bed, sighed contentedly to himself, and then gave her a wave of dismissal, as though he was shooing away a pet.

Picking up her pack, Gwen hurried out of the room and fled into the night, sobbing noiselessly.