Chapter 4

An angry roar woke me and I sat up, looking frantically around the room. Zoe was awake, too, and when I realized who had roared, I started to laugh.

But I stopped when Master Leopold stormed into the room, his eyes flashing in my direction. "What did you do?" he yelled, holding his stomach as if the pain was unbearable.

"What do you mean?" I asked, pretending not to know.

"Those cherries! They were poisoned, weren't they? You used magic, you stupid wizard prince!"

"I'm a knight-in-training, too," I added, annoyed that the man didn't know. "And yes, I used magic. How did you expect Zoe to make the cherries sweeter? You complain about everything. I thought I'd teach you a lesson."

"Teach me a lesson?" Master Leopold boomed. "I'm your master! You do not push me around like that. You respect me, you make my cherries sweeter, and you do not give me a stomachache!"

"You deserved it," Zoe told him, giving him her signature glare. "We're not your slaves, even if you think we are. You can't push us around, either. We don't have to listen to you!"

"You'll be punished for what you did," the man said, glaring at both of us. He turned to me. "But you, you think you can use your magic against me! I'm the strongest wizard in all of Greater Greensward."

"What about the Green Witch?" asked Zoe. The Green Witch was the most powerful witch in the kingdom, and the kingdom's protector. Not only was Master Leopold nasty and cruel, but his magic obviously didn't compare to the Green Witch's.

"The Green Witch!" laughed Master Leopold. "What a fool. She only cares about the kingdom's protection, which is what's not important. I'm going to get rid of her!"

Before Zoe and I could reply, Master Leopold grabbed me and started to pull me out of the room. I kicked and thrashed around in his arms, trying to break free from the man. When Zoe saw this, she grew angry and jumped onto Master Leopold. Alarmed, he whirled around, glaring at her and yelling, "get off of me!"

But Zoe was quick. She bit him square in the neck and he howled with pain, dropping me so that I fell to the ground.

"Come on, Francis!" Zoe said, heading out of the room.

We ran out together, through the corridors, and trying to find an exit. "There has to be a way out of here," I muttered.

Sure enough, we found a door and dashed outside, finally stopping to catch our breath.

I glanced around. The area looked similar to the area around Haywood's family's house, but it wasn't exactly the same. I wondered where Zoe and I would go from here.

Anywhere away from here, I immediately thought as I heard the sound of Master Leopold's shouting. I grabbed Zoe's hand and led her into the nearby trees that grew nearby, going as fast as I could.

When we had reached a small clearing that seemed far enough away from my great-uncle, I glanced back at Zoe. She looked relieved. I smiled and we sat down on a log together.

She turned to me, her dark eyes glowing. "I can't believe we escaped, Francis," she whispered.

"And I can't believe you bit Master Leopold."

Zoe smiled and shrugged. "We don't have to call him Master Leopold anymore. He's not our master. In fact, he never was."

"Yeah," I murmured. I found myself gazing at Zoe. We stared at each other for a moment, then, as if automatically, leaned in and kissed.

I savoured the moment and let my eyes drift shut. It felt so good, to kiss Zoe. Then I realized something - it was not all just a kiss.

I loved Zoe.

I had always had a little crush on her, even though we were just friends. But now, it was more than just friendship.

"I love you, Zoe," I whispered.

"Me, too, Francis," she replied, kissing me again.

And at that moment, I knew that whatever happened, everything was going to be alright, and Zoe and I would be together in the end.