"Well, you've put me in quite a pickle haven't you, dear?" the sorceress asked, leering at me.
I stayed silent.
"What to do? What to do?" She tapped on the cottage walls. Then, apparently getting an idea, she snapped her fingers. "I know! My garden decor has been sadly lacking. One of you would be a great addition. Perhaps your little friend?" She looked over at Mildred who was trussed and gagged.
Her eyes widened and she let out a muffled, "Mmph!"
I stepped forward. "Arica, I think we both know you want me. She has nothing to do with this." I tried to keep my voice from trembling.
She laughed. "My poor misguided child. I'm not here for you!"
This confused me. "Then what do you want?"
"Oh, it's not about what I want it's what those who pay me want. And what they want isn't you, it's your spirit to be broken!"
"Who are your employers? And why do they want me broken?" I demanded.
"Honey, you're in no position to bargain here. I'm just going to shatter you, and in my experience, the best way to do that is to destroy your friends! Now, Mildred, dear, try to look happy, you're going to be on display after all!" Mildred snarled. "No, no, that's not good at all!"
I was close to panicking by now. There was no way that I could see both of us getting out alive. So, I decided, the one that didn't would have to be me.
"Ugly flower lady?" I called and Arica turned around, eyes glittering angrily. "I don't know who these people were but obviously they hated you?"
"What?" It was her turn to be confused.
"Well, you know, a few days ago, EAS got a letter saying something about how we should assemble a backup team to accompany us. Something about a sorceress kidnapping us. Which I guess is you!" Arica just looked at me for a second. Then she started laughing. The small amount of hope I had evaporated. Shaking from laughter, she pointed at me. "You almost got me there! Very creative! But we both know there is no backup coming and I'm going to turn Miss Grubb into a lawn gnome. Minus the pointy hat of course."
This was it, I was going to lose her, I thought. But Fate always has a strange way of working. This day was proof of that.
"Actually, I'm the backup," a voice behind her said, and she jumped nearly six inches. I took this as a chance to get next to Mildred. I started untying her bonds as the sorceress whirled around.
"Who are you?"
"Wolfgang Sebastian Brauhm," he announced. "Seb to my friends. But you, ma'am are most definitely no friend of mine." He unsheathed his sword and pointed it at her heart. "Now, I must ask you to free the young ladies."
Arica grumbled. "No. Why should I?" By now, Mildred was free.
"Because if you don't, this very sharp blade will slip between your ribs."
"You do have a way with words don't you?" she remarked dryly. Mildred and I hurried out the back door while she was distracted. Once we were safe, I peered through the window.
Seb still had the sword pointed at her, but Arica was muttering some sort of incantation. He only smiled though. I saw a faint shimmer as the spell traveled toward him, but then it stopped.
"Wha-what is this?" she spluttered.
Holding up his hand, he explained how this marvelous ring he was wearing had been crafted by the Queen of Fairies, thus making him impervious to magical harm while he wore it.
Arica slumped, defeated. Then she caught a glimpse of me through the window. A small sly smile crossed her lips. Heart pounding, I dropped out of sight. What was she going to do to me? A few minutes later when Seb exited cottage, though, nothing had happened, so I guessed I was safe. We walked out of the gate and into EAS. He had apparently gotten one of the powerful magic doers to set up a DoorTrek there. As soon as we were through, Mildred ran off to talk to the Canon and I threw my arms around him.
"Wait one second. This thing always hurts my finger, it's like 5 pounds!" He slid the ring off of his fingers and slipped it into his pocket. "There we go." Now he embraced me.
"You saved us," I whispered.
"It's part of my job description, isn't it?" he joked. Then he started coughing.
"Are you alright?"
He nodded but kept coughing. "C-c-cold." He started trembling.
"It's eighty degrees! Let's get you to the nurses." I started to walk him in the direction of the infirmary but he resisted and shook his head.
"Not much time."
"Time for what?"
He smiled sadly, like he knew something I didn't. "She got me. I thought she couldn't, but someone she did. I love you, Sol," he said.
"I love- what's going on?" Seb's face was turning an alarming shade of gray. I touched him. He was cold and hard. Like stone. She had turned him into a rock! But how? The ring it should have protected him! My mind flashed back. Her smile when she saw me. How she cast a second spell. On-on me. She must have known he would take the ring off. That I would touch him.
"No, no, no!" This did not happen! There was a way to fix it! I knew there was! One of the most powerful forms of magic was True Love's Kiss, right? I was nearly hysterical as I kissed him. Nothing happened. And right and then I knew that nothing would happen. That Seb would be stuck as a statue forever. So I vowed revenge. I vowed that if it was the last thing I did, I would kill Arica. And right then, my heart started to harden, started becoming the heart of a ruthless queen, the Snow Queen.
