Briar was exhausted. He pulled on the chains but it only made it more uncomfortable. Drained, he leaned against the wall. He hated plants now. All they did was drain his energy, pulsating in an eerie glow; almost as though it was laughing at him. The plants that covered the floor reached towards him much like a sea of grass bending in the wind. Tired he closed his eyes and slept.

In the darkness, Sandry could hear a rhythmic thumping sound. Her pulse raced; maybe this had all been a dream. Painfully she opened her eyes. In front of her, a large loom was being attended by three young girls. They looked at her, but to Sandry's horror she saw three pairs of blank eyes. Sandry's skin crawled.

"I see you have woken up." Sandry looked to her left; an old lady was sitting in a big ornate chair. It seemed as though the chair might swallow the old lady. She had in her lap a ball of silver yarn. Her nimble fingers worked two needles. By the length of knitting, Sandry could tell the lady had been working on it for awhile now.

"Where am I?" Sandry asked. Her mouth felt like it was full of sand. When she spoke her tongue clung to the roof of her mouth. "Who are you?"

"Who am I is of no consequence," the old lady responded. She was staring right at Sandry but she was still knitting. "Bring the young lady some tea and biscuits." One of the girls stood up from the loom and walked to a table nearby and brought over a tray.

Sandry lifted her hand towards one of the tea cups that had been poured. Her arm felt heavy. Looking down she noticed they were wrapped in thread. She checked her other arm, it too was wrapped in thread. She tried to move her legs. They were bound to the legs of the chair.

"What have you done to me?" Sandry asked. "I demand that you let me go."

"My, oh my," the old lady smiled. "They did say you were a willful one."

Sandry then remembered what happened before she fell asleep. "Where are my siblings?"

Sandry tried to reach down to undue her restraints; but the bands around her arms were repelled much like some magnetic rocks that Daja had shown her before.

"A lady like you must not associate with those commoners," the old lady said, another smile spreading across her face. "Even ones with magical talents like them. They are to be used, like tools, and discarded when done. The duchess is a powerful lady and she wants you to be her successor. But first we have to fix you. Your uncle has been lenient letting you run around like a common street rat."

"Even a street rat has teeth," Sandry snarled.

"It's a good thing you're not a street rat then," the old lady replied. "Now be a good girl and relax." The old lady nodded towards Sandry's arm; the serving girl began to unwrap Sandry's arm. The thread glowed with magical energy.

"What are you doing?" Sandry demanded trying to pull away. The young girl just tightened her grip and pulled the thread.

"You are too young for such power," the old lady said. "This power belongs to someone who knows how to use it."

Sandry fell quiet trying to think of a way to escape. She hoped her siblings were having better success than she. Sandry tried pulling away again but the strength left her arms. Her head tilted to the side as her eyelids grew heavy.

"Cat dirt," she mumbled as her world turned dark.

"Do you feel any of your magic returning?" Daja speaking mentally to Tris. They were currently crouched behind the corner of a wall. "We could really use some weather magic."

"I can feel it returning," Tris said. She ran her hand through her unbraided hair. "Got enough for one bolt."

Daja smiled. Tris could only see the white of Daja's teeth. "What do you have in mind?" Tris asked.

Daja nodded once towards the corner. Tris leaned over Daja and slowly peeked around the corner. Daja's hand flashed in front of Tris' face. Frowning Tris looked down.

"What?" she hissed

Daja grinned again, "Your hair."

Tris leaned back. Mumbling she pulled her unruly hair and put it into a pony tail. More sparks were forming. Her frizzled hair would not hold that form for long. She tugged on her tunic. "Why do they make these uniforms so uncomfortable," she mumbled. Tris was tired. They had been sneaking around the castle for the past couple of hours. They couldn't find Briar or Sandry, or their familiars. But they were able to find the store room where their items were being stored. The hairs on Tris' arm were standing on end. They were so close she could feel her magic reaching out . Tris tried again to peek around the corner. Two knights stood guard.

Tris grinned and leaned back behind the wall.

"You think it's in there?" Tris asked.

Daja nodded. Daja closed her eyes and sent her magic out. It was risky because she was so weak but she needed to know for sure that there were only two knights on guard. She only sensed the two suits of armor and the door behind them was covered in magic sigils.

"One bolt?" Daja whispered.

"One," Tris held up her hand the lightning seed dancing in her palm.

"Magnet rocks," Sandry said

"Sandry?" Daja mentally yelled.

"Where are you?" Tris added.

They waited. No response. "I can't reach her over our link." Daja said. "Can you?"

Tris shook her head slowly. "Only link I have is you."

Daja took a deep breath and focused on the task. Daja's eyes sparked with mischief. "One bolt is all we need." Daja closed her eyes and concentrated. The suits of armor began rattling.

"What's going on?" one of the guards asked.

"I don't know," the other replied. "I'm getting very hot."

Tris heard the loud distinctive sound of metal crashing into each other.

"NOW!" Daja yelled

Tris stepped out from the corner and threw her bolt of lightning towards the two knights who were stuck together. The bolt hit and Daja and Tris could hear the men shaking then passing out.

Daja and Tris waited for a second frozen.

"Now or never," Daja said aloud and raced towards the door. Tris sighed and followed. The two suits of armor were smoking but they could hear the sound of soft breathing. Daja opened the door brushing past the sigils. Daja sensed her magic kit and raced down an aisle towards it.

"How much stuff is in here?" Tris asked in a soft voice; her eyes already scanning the shelves and calculating.

It wasn't just their items in the storage room but many others. Tris walked by a bin with what looked like walking sticks but through her magic vision, they glowed brightly. "Green magic. Lots of green magic," Tris whispered.

"Hurry up," Daja said wrapping her cloak around herself. She grasped her magic staff and promptly disappeared. "Makes sneaking much easier."

Tris smiled and went to get her things.