Sofie had been close to fainting at the horrible sight of what she had gathered to be the almost sole occupant of the castle, the possessor of the many coloured magic. The magician wore a long black robe, brushing the floor, looking as though it had seen better days. He also wore a tall hat to match, perhaps to enlarge his dwarfed form.

His crooked nose was impossibly long, curving around until almost in his mouth. His teeth, if they were there, were yellow and rotting, making his breath smell foul. The old man's thin lips were curved into a sly smirk, and he aimed this directly at Sofie.

"Well, well, well, what ever have we here?" He edged closer to her, making her shrink back until her back hit the hard stone wall. He reached out one twisted hand and touched her now pale cheek, and laughed menacingly, she winced at the sound.

"A young lady, no, a young princess, who has found her way into my clutches," Sofie had cringed at the word princess. He knows who I am!

The magician continued his poetic speech, "What ever shall we do with this intruder? Let me think…" Sofie had finally recovered enough from her state of shock at his appearance to put on a brave face and reply to her captor.

"Pray sir, do not take the notion into your head that I choose to be here." Looking straight at him, she met his eyes when suddenly a sharp pain came over her and she fell to the ground.

The magician laughed, "My eyes hold more power than can be imagined, young princess." He bent down, lifting her chin with one knarled hand. He said again, in a soft voice, with his face so close that she could barely stay conscious for the stink of his repulsive breath, "My dear, do not fight me. I am much too powerful for you. Instead, comply with my requests and all shall be well for you and your pretty friend." Standing up slowly, his ancient voice became louder. "I shall see you again soon." He began to leave, when Sofie, from her crumpled position on the floor, quietly addressed him.

"Sir, I was wondering how long I have been unconscious for. And the time now please."

He glared at her. "Here, the time is of no consequence. It is odd to me that you should ask for such information, because I could not tell you myself the correct hour. Here you can tell the time by the sun, or not at all!"

Sofie was surprised, who did not function without the time? We must really be in the middle of nowhere then. "Sir, one last thing. I find that I am incredibly hungry. At what h-" remembering herself, she rephrased her question, "When is dinner time?"

He laughed menacingly. "Gillespe will bring it to you shortly. Savour it."

He left the room without another word, leaving Sofie to ponder what on earth was happening to her.

Padi sat waiting for the slave Gillespe to come back with her dinner. She had very nearly screamed at the sight of the horrible magician and her opinion had improved little than it had to begin with. She was angry, she still had no idea where she was and what she was doing here. She estimated that it had been a couple of hours since the lord of the manor had come to visit her, as the room was now bathed in the brilliant colors of twilight and the sun had just dipped below the horizon.

Her throat hurt from yelling, her hands hurt from banging on the door and her feet hurt from stamping and pacing around the room. To begin with it had felt good to have something to do, but now it just seemed more hopeless than ever. Oh whatever am I to do! She delved deeper into her memory, thinking of anything that she could possibly do to escape. Lost in thought, she did not hear the knock on the door and subsequently was startled when the door open ed and a young man of about twenty years old entered, eyes fixed on the ground.

"Ma'am I have brought you some repast." He had a heavy Stackrin accent, and the lock of hair which had fallen into his stormy blue eyes was of a sandy brown color, confirming that he was stackrin. He looked up from the cold stone and his eyes widened when he looked at the beautiful young lady in front of him and his mouth opened slightly. "C-cold I am afraid." Padi smiled at him and replied gently.

"Thankyou, I fear I am so hungry it will not matter if it is cold or not!" As she smiled at him she could see that he was becoming less nervous, but he was still standing in the doorway tray in hand.

"Where would you like it?" He began to move towards the window sill but Padi stopped him.

"No, just bring it here please; I would like to eat on my bed if that's ok." He redirected himself and brought it over to her, and as he put it down next to her and straightened, she caught his eye. This may be my best chance to find out something about Sofie! She thought quickly. "Stay, talk with me while I eat please. The company would mean an enormous amount to me."

He looked very awkward, but in the end pulled up a chair and sat down with her.

"I am sorry ma'am, I am not sure whether I am allowed to stay or not."

"By all means I think it will be allowed. I am lonely and am desirous of a friendly face." She smiled warmly at him. "Now pray tell, what is your name? And do not, I beg you! Continue to call me ma'am. I am not madam and I would be much more comfortable if you just called me Padi."

"Uh, ok then m- Padi." Padi grinned at his mistake and bobbed her head to look over the tray with glee.

"I must thank you for bringing me such wonderful food! I am so hungry I could eat a horse! You must excuse my manners as I am to hungry for them to matter presently."

He smiled amusedly at her and shook his head. He is loosening up a little. Finally! "Padi if you think I take any stock by manners you must be sadly mistaken! I have never grown up worrying about such nonsense as manners at all."

Padi was impressed by this little speech, but found it hard to imagine life without tutors and etiquette and the worry of offending any ant who crawled the thickly carpeted floors. "Really? I do find that hard to imagine indeed! So where did you grow up… I am sorry but I never caught your name."

"Oh don't be, I never said it. My name is George, George Jettson."

A/N: Sorry about the wait! I really ran out of ideas for this one… but it also took you lot a long time to review 5 times! Anyways replies to my fantastic reviewers:

BeaverGirl: thanks ellie. But you must admit it was VERY funny! We gotta go to the movies soon with both of them:P

Masked Dragonfly 0926: haha you wish! That cliffy will stay there until the end of time :D

Pearlwalrus: So glad u like it stefbob lol

LadyVampyre: thanks a lot of bunches! And I promise I will read your story as soon as I get around to it! Im sure its absolutely fab and I will get there ASAP!

Luv u all

R&R

Jess xoxo