The guards struggled to keep hold of her, but it was no use. She escaped them. Somehow they had managed to relax their grip, although having a foot stood on and an elbow in the chest didn't really help matters. The rest of the court watched with amusement as the girl swiftly fled from the room, her words having gone ignored, for the time being at least. Uther looked up as the doors slammed shut and looked at the soldiers who were stood there dumbstruck.

"Where's the girl?" he asked, but he already knew the answer. She'd ran. Well, of course she had. Not many people actually accepted their fate without trying some form of escape, even if it's when their head is on the block.

"Well, what are you waiting for? After her! And ring the alarm. She's a dangerous sorceress. Who knows what chaos she can create? Go!"

The soldiers didn't think twice and as the alarm bells rang, every guard in the town started the search, checking passageways and rooms, secret doors and in every available hiding place. All soldiers were then sent on a search for the girl, but the youth who had first brought the girl up was hot on her heels. He could see her ahead dressed in that weird costume she had. He assumed it was something to do with her beliefs, but he made a mental note to ask her about them before she was killed. The adrenalin pumping through his veins as the bells rang loudly in his ears, he could see her not far away. It wouldn't be too long until he caught up with her, he was sure of it.

Hearing her footsteps ring out, he came to a cross roads in the corridors and looked all ways, only to find that she had disappeared. Of course, if she could just appear from nowhere then surely she could just vanish. That was if she was a sorceress, which she most probably was. Biting his lip, he made his decision and turned left, not knowing that she had turned right. As he went to the first room on the corridor, he felt like he was hunting, except he had no horse, he was indoors and he wasn't hunting deer nor game, he was hunting a girl, a criminal apparently. And this most definitely wasn't for sport.

Those few minutes spent going in the wrong direction could have been used to save her from her fate had he known what was taking place just a few rooms away, but he didn't know, so he couldn't save her. Searching the first room he came to, he found the door open and looked everywhere. Under the bed, in the curtained off area, in the wooden chest and even out of the window but of her, there was no sign. He did the same in the rest of the rooms on that corridor but got the same result. No sign of her. Going back to the junction in the corridors, he decided to do the other side, only to find that soldiers had done all of the rooms but one. It was locked and he had a good feeling that she may just be behind the door. But why hide inside the castle when there were more hiding places in the town where there was less of a chance of getting caught? Unless she hadn't had chance or she had got lost. After all, not everyone would know the castle like he did. Especially if it was their first time here.

Finding the key on his belt, he unlocked the door and tried to open it, but found it was stuck. There was nothing wrong with the lock or door itself, it was just wedged shut from the other side and by the sound of the thud, he guessed they had found who they were after. Or perhaps a victim who got in the way. Managing to slide it open just enough to fit himself through, he smiled slightly. Well, they'd found their quarry, but whether she was dead or alive was another matter entirely. Drawing his sword, he placed the blade to her mouth and removed it a moment later to find condensation on it. She was alive then. Good. He could find out the answer to his question then when she woke.

Rolling her to one side so that she was no longer blocking the doorway, he sent one of the guards to find his father and another to fetch the court physician. They'd know what to do. After all, you can't execute a magician if they were already dead, nor would it be just to execute an innocent person, even if they had literally appeared from out of thin air. Whilst he waited for either of them to arrive, he took time to take a proper look at her. A strange thing she was, both in appearance and in fashion. She seemed to be wearing boots tied with some kind of black string, trousers which were deep blue in colour but of a fabric new to him and a grey shirt with the image of some kind of wolf painted onto it. On top of the shirt she wore a jacket, black but with a hood attached and then there was the matter of her necklace. A dragon, silver sat atop a round white polished stone. Dragons were the Pendragon's symbol but surely she was not one of them? Then there was her face. She wore some kind of glass in metal frames on her eyes, the hooks hanging onto her ears, hidden by her brown curled hair. Except her hair wasn't' completely brown, there were also streaks of gold. Perhaps she was a sorceress, it would certainly explain things considering he knew of no tribe or culture who she could belong to.

The door opened and snapped him from his thoughts as the physician walked in, his young lodger following him, carrying various potions and medicines that he used to treat the sick. Whether his science and knowledge would be enough to cure her, he had no idea, but it was worth a try. Besides, if she died then she would save herself a crueller death by execution, although the blonde youth had an idea that beheading would be too kind an execution in his father's eyes.

"How long has she been here?"

"Not long. About half an hour at most."

"And you found her?"

"Yes. She has said and done nothing since we found her." The elderly physician knelt beside his patient, missing the chalice that was so close to her hand. The youth hadn't missed this and, for a reason even unbeknownst to him, he quickly hid it from sight.

"Your diagnosis?"

"She'll live, if she gets the right treatment."

"Very well, she will. The moment she recovers, mind you, let me know." The youth said as he got to his feet. " And don't let her out of your sight."

"As you wish sire." A stretcher made ready, the sorceress was carried up to the physicians chambers where she would be treated. Placed on the bed in the middle of the room, the physician started to do his work.