Do you ever have one of those movies that you'll watch twice in a row just because you love it so much? That would be me with Tristan and Isolde.

Tristan in that movie is EXACTLY how I picture James. Oh James Franco, how you astound me.

Song for this Chapter: Broken → Seether feat. Amy Lee. The mood of this song fits really well with what I'm trying to portray in this chapter. Some sexual tension, some life risking, some melancholy on Romeli's part. It's pretty cool.

Chapter 31: Much Ado About Salamanders

There was a knock on the door that woke Romeli up the next day. Her muscles screamed as she attempted to move from her sprawled position on the bed. The lashes on her back were tight and sore.

"Romeli?" called a muffled voice from outside the door.

"Come in," she answered. She…with much difficulty…sat up and swung her legs over the side of her bed.

D'mitri walked inside "It's a great day today. Maybe I can give you a tour of the gardens."

Romeli's face lit up. "That would be great," she replied, beaming. "I need to get outside anyway." She winced as she stood up. Barely able to walk, she limped past her mentor, determination plastered on her face.

He stared at her oddly. What was wrong with her? His eyes widened as he stared at her retreating back. Oh Gods…

"Romeli…" he started with a stricken face. Romeli froze and her shoulders drooped, knowing what he was so surprised about. She turned around and looked at him with sad eyes.

"What did he do to you?"

Romeli smiled at him weakly. "It's really not that big of a deal. It's nothing."

D'mitri's eyes filled with anger. "Tell me, Romeli. Please…"

Romeli sighed. "I disobeyed him," she said bluntly.

D'mitri shook his head in disbelief. "Why would he do that? What did you do?"

"I tried to escape. I wanted to kill him. But could you blame me? He ruined my life...and I couldn't help it. I only wish I could have my Gift back."

D'mitri shook his head. "But why even try?" he pointed out, walking over. "It's not like you could actually kill him. He has so many warding spells and black mages around him that it's sickening. Here, let me help you," he said. He led her to the bed and laid her down. With a blushing face, he undid the back of her shirt to examine the wounds.

"Ouch," he hissed as he traced the cuts on her back with a light finger. He brought out the crimson color of his Gift and his cool hands down on her reddened skin. Romeli sighed peacefully at the healing touch.

"I'm not the best healer in the world," he pointed out. "There will probably be scars."

"No problem," Romeli said into her pillow. "Thanks. I really appreciate it."

D'mitri smiled. "I told you I'd be here for you," he reminded her as he finished up his healing. "There." Romeli sighed in relaxation as she sat up and retied her shirt.

Romeli flashed a grin . "Thanks."

D'mitri smiled weakly. "Sure. Well come on. Do you want a garden tour or not?"

Romeli sighed with relief, thinking that her recently exposed wounds would bring up questioned she didn't want to answer. When D'mitri made his way for the door, she stood up and followed him, making their way outdoors.

The palace gardens held an elegance that challenged even the most expressive of poets. Romeli's jaw dropped, and D'mitri seemed quite pleased with himself. Taking her hand, he pulled her deeper into the green maze.

For the first time since crossing the border, Romeli felt like she had reached a sanctuary. The soft clouds in the distance blurred her surroundings, diffusing the sun into a soft light and forming a surreal landscape behind her. There were many pricks of sparkling, colorful lights floating all around her. They almost seemed like very small fairies.

Romeli looked at them curiously. "D'mitri, what are those glowing lights?"

D'mitri looked at her confused. "What lights?"

For a second, panic rose from her stomach. Was she seeing things? What if something was happening to her?

"Oh…you mean those floating things?" D'mitri asked as he stared at her with his dark eyes. The panic evaporated and Romeli nodded quickly. "Those are actually seeds from plant called Lillium Corperium. These flowers, even though not at all rare, need a lot of care and are quite delicate, so they're usually only found in gardens. They're also only found in the north.

Romeli looked at them curiously. They hardly looked like seeds, and yet a seed needed no particular size to produce. Perhaps they were seeds after all.

"I've never heard of them," Romeli pointed out as she stared at him. D'mitri smiled back. He looked almost confused for a second, but then narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at her more intently. His eyes were full of awareness and thought—a look that she had never seen in him before.

D'mitri shook it away and turned back down the garden path lined with carved shrubs. "Well let's go. We're almost there."

Almost there to what? she thought confused as she followed his quick walking. The morning chill, though perhaps not as cold as other days, bit at her nose with sharp teeth.

D'mitri turned a sharp corner and took Romeli with him.

"So, what do you think?"

The small square garden was lined with rose bushes trimmed in the form of high walls. Each shapely bush rose taller than them, giving the garden's occupant a fair sense of privacy. The roses were a deathly color of black, though some were a dark crimson, blood color.

There was a single black marble bench that sat against one of the rose walls. Across from the bench was a stone-lined pond full of cold water and what looked like many aquatic creatures.

"It's beautiful," Romeli whispered in awe. In the cloud-darkened day, the garden looked all the more elegant. At night it probably looked breathtaking.

D'mitri beamed and sat down on the cobblestone ground next to the pond and began to take off his shoes. Romeli sat down next to him and took off hers as well.

"So, this is what you call a tour of the gardens?" Romeli asked eyeing him suspiciously.

D'mitri shrugged. "I thought you would like this place. The rest of the garden is stifled in happiness and colorful butterflies. And to top it off, dramatic statues of pointless arts that no one really cares about but admires anyway because they think the king likes them."

Romeli laughed. "So I guess this place is like a black box on a floor of white?"

D'mitri smiled. "You could put it that way. It's a one and only type of place, compared to the colorful flowers surrounding it."

"I like it," Romeli admitted with a small smile. "It's so...serene."

"Yeah. A cool kind of bitter-sweet," he added. "I always come down here to think." Slowly, he rolled up his pants and dipped his feet in the pond. Splashes of small ripples against the middle of his calf told him that Romeli had put her feet in as well.

A rush of cold swept through her as dunked her feet in. D'mitri couldn't help but laugh. Romeli bit her lip and fought down the instinct to run to a sunbathed field for a while.

"You'll get used to it," D'mitri assured her, clasping her shoulder.

Romeli shivered. "Whatever you say."

A rush of warmth rushed through her body. At first, she thought it came from D'mitri's firm hand on her shoulder. Then she realized that he had summoned heat into her body through his crimson Gift. A burst of heat swept through her body.

"Thanks," she said gratefully as the cold began to wear away from her body and her feet began to numb.

D'mitri looked at her confused. "I don't understand. How come you didn't just warm yourself?" His black sweeping bangs fell over his eyes as he stared at her.

Romeli tapped her slave collar. "They blocked my Gift, remember?" She clenched her jaw to keep from laughing. That, and I wouldn't have been able to summon heat anyways...

D'mitri nodded. "True," he agreed. "But is your Gift really that powerful that the king would go through so much trouble to take it away from you?"

Romeli sighed under her breath. "It's a lot more complicated than you think. I'm not just here as a prisoner of war."

D'mitri eyed her. "Well how about you explain the whole story then? I'm a good listener." He looked at her deeply, willing her to trust him. Well, of course she had a good reason not to trust him. He was a Scanran, a people who's kingp had just captured her and turned her into a slave for life. But he wasn't like Maggur. King and countrymen were two different people. If only she could open her mind up enough to notice that.

Romeli looked at the pond doubtfully. Why would she have to tell him her secret? He was an enemy, and they were sitting in the middle of a public garden where anyone could be listening just on the other side of the rose bushes.

D'mitri looked down. His voice was more hurt and weak then he thought it would be. "I understand," he said. "I know what it feels like to not be able to trust easily."

"No…" Romeli whispered, as she looked down at the fish inhabited pool. She glanced back up at D'mitri with sorry eyes. He had helped her so much over the past few weeks. He had even told her all about him—an act that must have been challenging to pull through with, considering his past. And even though her story was an unbelievable one, and undoubtedly dangerous to say in an open area, she knew she could tell him—it was a gut feeling.

"I trust you," she said. "And I would love to tell you my story."

D'mitri looked at her deeply again. He gave off a large smile that, even though seemed small in his mouth, reached his eyes sincerely. Such a look caught Romeli off guard as she stared at him. He really did care about her.

With a big breath, she began her story.

"I guess it all starts with a prophecy," she started. "You've probably heard of The God's Prophecy?"

D'mitri nodded as he stared at her intently.

"Well this war was the war that the prophecy speaks of. Maggur, the one who was looking for the so called It, believed that Tortall contained the object, therefore starting a war."

D'mitri caught on fast. He shook his head as if trying to block out what he was hearing. "You're…you're kidding me right?"

"Unfortunately no," Romeli answered. "Now as you may know, the It that the war was fought over had unbelievable amounts of magic, power, and the meaning of life and jewel.

D'mitri's eyes widened. "...are you trying to tell me..."

Romeli stared at him sadly.

"You're kidding me right? I mean, nothing can have that much power to it. You're lying."

"It's not something you would really lie about."

D'mitri still looked skeptical. "How did you know?"

Romeli shrugged. "I don't think even I knew how I knew. You just know, you know?"

D'mitri looked confused. "I'll reply to that when it makes sense," he replied slowly, looking down at the ripping water.

Romeli brushed it off. "So I guess, being the It, I had to try and stop the war somehow. And Maggur kidnapped my friends; I had to rescue them. When I did find them however, I fell for Maggur's trap and he turned me into a slave and set my friends free."

"That's noble of you."

"Truthfully…it was the only thing I could do."

"So you stopped the war?"

Romeli nodded bitterly. "Yeah."

"How?"

"I'll get to that."

D'mitri sighed.

"So Maggur caught me and took away my Gift, knowing how powerful I am. Obviously he was scared that if I could stop a war, I could blast him to bits, despite his shielding charms."

"Well, how powerful are you then?" asked D'mitri slightly shocked. "I mean, sure there are plenty of very powerful mages all over the land, but I don't think that even a black robed mage could stop a war."

"See, that's a hard question," she explained as she tried to assemble an answer in her head. "Truthfully, I'm not sure how powerful I am. My powers seem to grow and evolve every day. But I do know that my Gift is exceptionally powerful."

D'mitri felt like she was keeping something from him and looked at her questioningly. It felt like she had placed a mental shield around herself that no one could penetrate. Only she could decide what information could go through, leaving the rest knocked in her mind.

Romeli seemed to hesitate for a moment before opening her mouth and speaking again. "My Gift…I guess you could call it never ending."

D'mitri's body went stiff as he stared at the pond. She didn't actually mean that did she? He wasn't the most intelligent person when it came to Gifts, in fact, he would classify himself as ignorant, but he knew about the myth of powerful mages whose Gifts would never run out. No one could possibly have a gift like that. "How is that possible? I mean, how can you know for sure?"

Romeli sighed. James was much easier to convince. She served up all of her news on a heaping plate and he ate it all up without even a hesitation. "I don't know how it's possible. Just because I was born with such powers, doesn't mean that I understand. You just have to believe me. You said for me to trust you. Now you have to trust me."

D'mitri stared at her skeptically, but then his eyes softened and he nodded. "Okay." Romeli looked deep into his eyes and found a fiery strength of trust inside of him. His eyes were beautiful.

She turned back to the pond again when she noticed something tap her wet foot under the pond. A spotted Salamander peered up at her innocently.

D'mitri looked on with an amused face as Romeli smiled at the newcomer. The salamander crawled up her leg and perched on her knee.

Romeli wet her hands so as not to rip the delicate creature's skin. The salamander licked her fingers with its curious tongue before climbing aboard her hand. She set the creature on her shoulder.

"Find a new boyfriend, Romeli?" His voice sounded more jealous then intended. Wait…what?

"No. I've never had a boyfriend."

D'mitri couldn't help but stare in shock. "That, my dear, is very hard to believe. And here, I thought your father might have married you off to the richest people in the land."

Romeli shook her head uncomfortably. "My father wouldn't do that. And you better believe it. I'm perfectly happy being single." She thought about Quinn at the Red Orchid and fought off rolling her eyes.

"Oh really?" D'mitri questioned heatedly, leaning in with his inquiry. His face was mere inches from hers.

Romeli looked back at him startled. She gulped as her stomach dropped and a heat began to pulse through her veins. She didn't know if she had ever felt this way before. Something about D'mitri made her want to kiss him. Wait…what?

Romeli shook her head to rid her thoughts as she turned back to the attention of the pond. She felt D'mitri's eyes on her, but he then sighed and glanced down at his lap.

"I was just joking around you know," he told her apologetically.

Romeli smiled and laughed. "You have a right to rub it in I guess. All my other friends did."

D'mitri decided to change the uncomfortable subject. "So, what type of lizard is that? I've never one them before."

Romeli touched the salamander's slippery skin and put it back in the pond again so it wouldn't dry out. The salamander happily swum around a bit and crawled back onto her knee.

"Actually, it's not a lizard, it's a salamander. Lizards don't spend half of their life in water. To be exact, he is a spotted lizard of the northern variety. It's an odd species, since most amphibians are located in the more tropical portion of the world. I guess there's an exception to everything.

D'mitri nodded in fascination as he dipped his hand in the pool and reached to feel the salamander. The creature froze and quickly scurried away back into the pool.

"Hey, how come he doesn't like me?" he asked hurt. He stuck out his lower lip in a pout.

Romeli laughed and leaned towards the water. The salamander was swimming around her foot.

"Come out little guy," she coaxed as she held out her hand. "He's not going to hurt you. Nothing to be afraid of."

There was a ripple in the water and the salamander scurried up her leg again. He perched on his back legs and tasted the air in front of D'mitri. Concluding that all was safe, he scurried over onto D'mitri's lap and urged him to pet him.

"Wow, you have a knack with animals," D'mitri pointed out as he stroked the small creature.

Romeli smiled. "You could call it that."

D'mitri looked at her suspiciously. "More secrets?."

Romeli groaned. "Nothing gets past you does it?" she complained exasperated. "I'm also a Wild Mage."

He nodded with fascination. "That's actually pretty cool. I guess that doesn't exactly surprise me. There was a family of rabbits following you into the gardens earlier." Both of them laughed.

Romeli shook her head and she leaned back on her forearms. "I didn't even notice."

"So does that mean that you can turn into animals and stuff?"

Romeli nodded, and then she froze. Had it really taken her this long to realize this? How ignorant could she get? The answer to her needs was swimming right in front of her. Of course there were complications, but she would work around them.

She could transform into animals.

How stupid was she to not think of it before? Her mind just opened up to new possibilities that she had never even considered. Of course there was the fact that her slave collar would still fit her despite animal transformations, but it would still be a useful ability. It would definitely help with finding a way to escape.

"What is it?" asked D'mitri confused.

"I can transform into animals."

Now D'mitri was only more confused. "What? Of course you can. You're a Wild Mage."

Romeli shook her head. "I didn't realize that the spells didn't hold off my wild magic...which is impossible since it's intertwined with me!" her voice grew excited as a rush of hope swept through her. "That means…plants…"

D'mitri looked at her confused. "What? What are you talking about? Just hold up a sec and…"

But before he could say another word, Romeli stood up and grabbed her shoes. The salamander crawled back into the pond from all the commotion as she yanked up D'mitri onto his feet and pulled him out of the garden with determined strides.

"I have someone I want you to meet."

OOO

There was an urgent knock on the door of Maryann's personal quarters.

One moment of piece is all I ask for, Maryann thought as she sighed and stood up from her desk to get the door. I thought that being undercover would give me plenty of peace, but no. I knew I should have become a damn librarian.

"Yes?" Maryann questioned to the young maid who stood at the door. Her polite and patient voice was the exact opposite of what she was thinking. Really she wanted to say, 'who the heck are you, why have you interrupted my much needed peace, and where in the world did my dagger go?'.

"I have a message from Romeli of Salmalin," The maid announced. She then hesitated.

"Well go on then," growled Maryann impatiently.

The maid continued, bluntly. "You better get over to my rooms right now or I will personally rip out your tongue and stick it up your arse then rip off all your limbs one by one and insert them into absurd places in your body. This is a real emergency. I think I found a breakthrough."

Maryann paled. That was quite a life involved threat that Romeli had just mentioned.

With a sigh, she nodded and tipped the maid for delivering the violent message before briskly heading off to Romeli's room.

What the heck had gotten into that girl?

OOO

Romeli paced her rooms in deep thought. This possibility had opened up so many new things to her. She completely ignored D'mitri's confused questions as he sat on the sofa and stared at her.

She knew that she could use her wild magic without a doubt. She could sense it in her. Plus, everything seemed just fine when she had spoken to the salamander. No one could take away wild magic anyway. You were born with it and that's that.

But her plant magic was different all together. Could you take away plant magic? It seemed impossible, but how was she to know?

Well I'll just have to test it then, she thought. She prayed to the Gods that perhaps the magic over plants held the same properties as the magic of the People. She would need all the power she could possibly muster to achieve her goal.

She stopped in front of a vase of flowers that was on a table. They were brand new and fresh—probably picked just this morning. If she had her plant magic, she would be able to grow the flowers into even a bigger and bolder bloom than before.

Nervously, she raised her hands and closed her eyes.

"What are you doing?"

Romeli sighed and looked at D'mitri. "I'm checking something, now be quiet. I need to concentrate."

Okay, focus. She stared at the bouquet of flowers with a creased brow and searched in herself for the magic that the plants so greedily fed on. Give the plants what they want. Force them to grow.

Come on, she thought as a deeper crease formed on her forehead. She felt herself begin to perspire.

Nothing happened. The flowers didn't even look a slight shade brighter.

Oh no, thought Romeli, her shoulders falling. She thought she had had it. She could feel the power inside of her.

Then a horrific thought overthrew her. What if I forgot how?

D'mitri stared at Romeli with a blank look on his face. What was she trying to do, blow up the flowers?

The past ten minutes had been like a slow motion drama. He felt absolutely clueless as to what was going on. It was like he walked into a theatre for a play when it was already halfway through. And who was he supposed to meet anyway?

Wow…what? he thought as he stared at the vase full of flowers. They seemed to be blooming. He looked at Romeli in shock. What was she doing?

Romeli beamed as the flowers began to grow. She couldn't help but jump around with glee. She had plant magic!

The door knocked. She answered it with a skip in her step. Opening the door, she let in a pale faced Maryann.

"Gods, how long does it take you to get to my room?" demanded Romeli exasperated. "I almost died."

Maryann rose a single brow. "Oh really? And how do you think I felt after your wonderful threat for me to come here?"

Romeli blushed. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"Whatever. What's the emergency? I nearly sprinted here. And who the heck is he?" she asked pointing to D'mitri.

Romeli looked at D'mitri, who was now absolutely clueless as to what was going on.

"Maryann, this is D'mitri. He's a really good friend, and my mentor. He pretty much knows the whole story. We can trust him. And I think he'll be willing to help us."

Maryann nodded as she inspected the young man. Romeli turned to D'mitri.

"This is Maryann. She's a…cook."

Maryann snorted. "Girl, if he's gonna play in the game, then he has to know the players."

Romeli rolled her eyes. "Maryann is an undercover spy for Tortall who came to Scanra and was assigned to be an undercover spy for Maggur as a cook in Tortall."

"Wait…what?" D'mitri asked with a crease in his brow.

Maryann waved it off. "I'm a spy, boy." She said.

"Oh," D'mitri replied.

Maryann ignored his remark and turned to Romeli. "So, what's the big life threatening deal here?"

Romeli looked excited. "I can use my wild magic."

"Bloody hell. Is that what I ran down here for?" Maryann asked unimpressed.

"Well it really opens up our plan. Everything will be a lot easier to do now."

"No shit, Hun," stated Maryann bluntly. "Fine. You have your wild magic. Really that is quite excellent. I just thought we already knew that."

"Um…" started Romeli. Well maybe Maggur did say something. "But, I can also use my plant magic."

D'mitri's eyes grew wide but he did not say anything.

"Now that is an emergency worthy thing to say," said Maryann nodding. "It really opens up our chances. We'll have to be subtle with your plant magic however. If Maggur notices anything fishy, he'll start a commotion that we'll want to avoid. Maggur's trickier than most think."

Romeli nodded. "I think D'mitri will come in handy there." D'mitri looked up at the sound of his name.

Maryann looked thoughtful. "Indeed. Listen, I need to go. I have many things to think about now. I will meet both of you here tonight right after supper." With that, she fled out of the room like some hero making a dramatic exit.

"What are we meeting for?"

"Okay. Maryann and I have somewhat of a mission. We're trying to get my Gift back so that I can have more control over what the king is doing. To do that, we need to research a way to get the spells off. That's what we're doing tonight. Later on, all of this will lead to my mandatory escape and…potential assassination."

D'mitri paled. "That's quite a plan you got there. Romeli, you know that this is like suicide, doing this."

Romeli shrugged. "It's all for the best. You don't have to join if you don't want to, you know."

D'mitri nodded. "I know. But I want to. I want to help you get out of here, whatever it takes. Even not being able to see you again."

Romeli smiled. Warmth spread through her body from the look in his eyes and the small, kind smile on his lips.

"You're a really good friend," Romeli told him as she walked over and hugged him tight.

D'mitri stroked her hair. "Yeah, I know." He laughed. "Well, I'll see you later on today I guess."

He kissed her cheek and left the room with a wave.

Romeli brought her hand up to her cheek, her body still tingling from the brush of his soft lips.

OOO

Romeli had the honor of dining with the king that night for dinner. More than ever, she didn't want to go, but she had to. Gaining the king's trust in her was essential—it would make the escape at least somewhat possible.

But it wont be easy, she told herself, searching through her new wardrobe. I can't just suddenly act all kind. I have to make it seem like he's winning.

Romeli picked out a black gown that had a high back and a V cut front. The sleeves went down to her elbows and the long dress covered her toes.

Romeli got dressed quickly and ran a brush through her hair before slipping on a pair of shoes and stepping out the door. The second she was outside her door, she realized that she had no idea where she was going.

Taking a right, she decided it would be best to look for a flight of stairs that would take her to a lower level. But after a few glances one way and another, she couldn't find a staircase anywhere.

Damn, I take five steps and I'm already lost.

Romeli walked quickly, looking around with a lost look on her face. She was already on the floor in a daze before she could comprehend the fact that she ran into someone.

"Sorry," she mumbled, starting to get up. A familiar hand was offered and she looked up to see who it was.

D'mitri was smiling down at her.

"Lost?" he asked with a wicked grin.

Romeli glared and took his hand to help herself up. "Just a little bit."

D'mitri couldn't help but laugh. "Funny. You're about one and a half feet away from your room."

Romeli rose her brows and turned around. Indeed her room door stared back at her mockingly. Odd…I swear I turned a couple corners. She turned back to D'mitri. "Right you are."

D'mitri eyed what she was wearing with raised brows, making Romeli blush. "What's the occasion?"

Romeli brushed herself off. "I'm ordered to dine with the king for dinner."

D'mitri winced. "Sorry."

Romeli looked confused. "What are you sorry for?"

"Well you hate him don't you?"

"Well yeah, but I have to earn his trust for my plan to succeed. Hopefully the dinner won't have like ten courses though."

D'mitri nodded. "So, do you want me to walk you there then?"

Romeli blushed and nodded. "Yes please."

D'mitri took her hand and led her off towards their destination.

Ten minutes later, the two of them arrived outside of the double doors of the king's dining room. D'mitri clasped her shoulders and stared at her intently.

"Be careful," he told her sternly.

Romeli nodded as she looked up at him. The touch of his firm hands on her shoulders made her feel giddy. "I will," she told him, a little shakily.

D'mitri looked at her doubtfully. "I may not have known you for long, but you seem to always cause trouble."

Romeli shook her head. "I'm serious D'mitri. I know how to do this. I'm on a mission. And anyway, I'm just having dinner. It's not like we're going off to war."

D'mitri smiled. "You're right. But still, Maggur is very tricky. Just watch out for yourself."

Romeli rolled her eyes, but nodded. "Yes, Father."

D'mitri leaned his head towards hers. For a brief moment, Romeli thought he was going to kiss her. He hesitated and brushed her cheek with his hand instead.

"Say…if there are any leftovers," D'mitri started.

Romeli slapped him on the arm playfully. "If there are any leftovers, I will personally stick them up your sorry arse until they start popping out your ears."

D'mitri paled but laughed. "You best get going, don't want Maggur to think you're late." He gave her a quick hug before walking away, leaving Romeli face to face with the double doors.

Well, here we go.

OOO

The door creaked open and Romeli stepped inside an elegant dining room. King Maggur sat in his royal chair at the head of the long table. The room that was made to serve many people seemed so vacant with only the two of them and a few guards and servants.

"Hello Romeli," greeted Maggur with a raise of his hand. His voice seemed harder. "Please sit down."

Romeli obliged with a small glare. Remember the mission, she thought determined.

"Hi," she said. Slowly she sat down by him and looked around.

Maggur brought his hand to a big welt on his reddened cheek and rubbed it. "You're probably wondering why I have invited you to dine with me."

Romeli stared at his cheek and couldn't help but mentally pat herself on the back at a job well done. A corner of her lips turned up. "No, not really."

Maggur folded his hands on the table and looked at her. He obviously wasn't expecting such a straightforward reply. "Well, I just wanted to apologize for all the commotion yesterday."

Romeli couldn't help but look shocked as she stared at the decorated table. How was she supposed to reply to that? Just be stubborn about it, she told herself. Make him work for your trust.

"Why would you want to do that?" she replied, blank-faced.

"Well, the meeting just didn't go as planned. I'm sorry that my soldiers attacked you like that. I promise it won't happen again."

"Yeah. Sure it wont."

Maggur sighed, his mind frustrated, while Romeli sat, pleased with herself. The king's mind drifted silently to the blunt fact that coaxing Romeli would be harder than she thought. Romeli on the other hand, mentally pat herself on the back. Everything was going perfectly.

Just then a servant came bearing two platters of food in his hands. He set one in front of the king and the other in front of her. Lifting the lids, he revealed to them both an elegant platter of roast chicken smothered in a frothing sauce, an assortment of cheese sprinkled on a small bowl of what looked like clam chowder, a few crispy biscuits, and a baked potato.

Odd, thought Romeli as she looked at the tempting food. Usually when she ate at a court, they would serve food that she refused to eat. Like wolf, or deer. Usually she would have to turn down the food despite how rude it was. She just couldn't eat it. But this, she could eat everything on this plate. Perhaps the king did some research. He really was trying to earn her trust.

Romeli inhaled the scent of the food. It smelled delicious and made her mouth water. The king had already taken his first bite of a soft roll. Romeli suddenly froze and sniffed again. Was it just her…

Romeli's eyes widened. The sly devil magicked her food! Romeli quickly lassoed in her composure. She could easily smell the spells in the food, and her Gift stirred inside her. They were strong and made her eyes water. There was a truth spell in there, a sleep spell, and…was that poison? And to think, he was trying to gain her trust!

Panic rose over Romeli as she stole a short glance at the king who was taking another bite of his roll. It would probably be less than a minute before he discovered she was not eating and question her. He would grow suspicious even if she hadn't found the spells, and would most likely summon the guards to take her down.

Well what am I supposed to do? She thought panicked. I can't just leave my food, or turn the food down. He probably knows from his spies what my diet is. I could use my wild magic to have someone eat my food for me, but king Maggur would surely notice a bunch of animals grouping around the table.

"Romeli?"

Panic arose in her as she turned to Maggur with a blank face. "Yes?"

"Well, don't you like your food?"

Damn, Romeli bit her lip as her mind turned like clockwork. "Actually, I was just admiring the presentation of it all. It almost looks too good to eat." She let out a small laugh.

The king chuckled as well. "My cooks are some of the best in the realm. I guess they deserve the admiration."

Romeli smiled innocently. Think Romeli, think!

The king once again turned back to his food.

Okay, she thought. I guess the wild magic plan might work. One of father's sleight of hand tricks may help.

Romeli mentally hit her head.

Dragons were immune to these little charms and poisons. And because she was part dragon, she wouldn't be affected by the spells.

She hoped.

There was also the chance that through the genetics of only being part dragon, she had no immunity at all.

Do and die, do and don't die, or just die, Romeli, she told herself innerly. One in three chance of surviving this wasn't exactly a confidence boost. With a sigh, she picked up her fork and took a bite of chicken.

She felt the spell in her mouth but swallowed anyway. So far so good. In fact, as she took another bite, she could feel the magic of the dragon part of her go to work.

Obviously there was one thing that Maggur didn't know about her. She wasn't surprised though. Hardly anyone knew. Only those keen enough to realize that transforming into a dragon required such genetics.

She risked a glance at the king to see his reaction. He seemed pleased that she was eating. His lips were curled into a smile.

He won't be pleased for long, Romeli thought slyly.

"This food is wonderful," Romeli admitted as if she were in paradise.

"I'm glad you like it," replied Maggur casually, as if he didn't even know about the spells in her food. His clueless words made her want to gag on the chunk of biscuit currently in her mouth. "Try the soup. It's one of Scanra's specialties."

Oh I'll try the soup, Romeli thought with a grin. She set down her fork and picked up the spoon. Getting a nice heaping spoonful, she brought it to her lips and swallowed it. The king's eyes watched her wickedly.

OOO

Twenty minutes later, not only was the bowl of soup empty of its clam chowder, but her whole plate was cleared. Only the chicken bones were left on her plate.

King Maggur, much to Romeli's amusement, looked thoroughly confused. The spells were supposed to affect her within the first five minutes of her first bite, but here she was twenty minutes later with not even a pale face.

Romeli eyed the king's confused face. "Anything wrong, Sir?"

Maggur looked up at her. "No nothing at all, I was just thinking."

Romeli nodded, silently laughing up a storm.

Maggur was utterly perplexed. Maybe she had found the spells out or something. Now that he thought about it, it wouldn't be surprising for her to find them. Perhaps she used her wild magic to feed an animal the food. But he would have noticed her sneaking it under the table. The only way she could have defended herself against the spells was through her Gift, and he knew she couldn't do that. All other possibilities, illusions, wards, de-spelling, they all needed magic. Then how come she wasn't affected? There was no human alive who could eat poisoned food and not be harmed by it. Not even incredibly strong and powerful people like her.

Romeli looked out the window. It was already dark and she was probably late for the meeting with Maryann and D'mitri.

Looking at the king, he still seemed deep in his own confused thoughts, and as much as she would love to savor this moment, she really had to go, even if he was a king.

"Um…Highness?" she started. As much as it made her sick to call him that, it was all for the mission. The more obedient she was, the more trust she could earn from the king.

The king looked up with raised brows. "Yes?" his voice gave off a hint of perplexity.

"As much as this may seem rude. It's getting late, and I really must go."

In his own daze, he nodded. "Very well. Off you go."

Romeli thanked him for the nice dinner and left.

The king still sat in his chair, absolutely bewildered.

OOO

"Sorry I'm late," Romeli apologized as she rushed into her room.

Maryann was standing in front of her, arms crossed over her chest and tapping her foot. D'mitri rolled his eyes looking at them as he sat in one of the room's chairs.

"You threaten my life to talk about your big emergency, and all I ask in return is for you to be on time for a little meeting. And of course you're late."

Romeli shrugged. "I was having dinner with the king. You'll never guess what happened."

"Oh Gods, what did you do this time?" demanded Maryann and D'mitri at the same time in horror.

Romeli rolled her eyes. "How come you guys always think I'm causing mass destruction?"

Silence.

"Whatever. Well, I was having dinner with the king, and I noticed that my food was magicked and poisoned. I was freaking out, I mean, what was I supposed to do? But then I realized that since I'm part dragon, I was most likely immune to those spells. So I just...ate it. The look on King Maggur's face was hilarious. He was looking all sly and confident. Well about twenty minutes later, he was absolutely confused, since the poison was supposed to kick in. So there he is in a daze, probably wondering what the heck went wrong. I left a little after that. He's probably still sitting at the table with that dumb expression on his face."

"He poisoned your food?"

"You're part dragon?"

"Well yeah," Romeli said. "That's not really the point though. The point is, I screwed him over good."

Maryann pat her back. "That was good. But now, let's get to work. It's late enough as it is."

The three of them sat down in a circle of three comfortable chairs that surrounded a small round table.

"Okay," started Maryann. "Our goal is to get your Gift back. And to do that, we need to break certain spells on your collar. We need to find what those spells are, and how to break them. How do you suppose we do that?"

Romeli shrugged. "I'm guessing that the king has the spells written down somewhere. He's taking me pretty seriously. I don't think he would just throw a whole bunch of charms on me and expect to remember them all."

Maryann nodded. "I wouldn't know where he would put them. King Maggur is a very private person. There are locked rooms in this place that even I don't know about."

D'mitri nodded as well. "She's right. This palace is so huge that it could be anywhere. The first place that I would check is his office however. The thing is, no one actually knows where it is located except for him. Supposedly it's hidden by spells."

Romeli pursed her lips. "Well we can try and find the place. It's worth a shot."

"That's a good start," agreed Maryann, grinning. "Romeli, you say that you aren't affected by spells right?"

Romeli nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Well if his office is really hidden through magic, then you can probably see it."

"Most likely, yeah."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Maryann questioned looking at Romeli's hesitant face.

"Well I'm only part dragon. For all I know, I can only sense certain spells."

Maryann thought for a moment. "True. Most likely you'll be able to see this one however. I'm guessing it's just a simple invisibility trick."

"So you want me to go in his office and look for my slave collar spells?"

"Yes. It will be our first little mission. Within the next few days, I'm sure that Maggur will call you back again. I want you to do whatever he says so that he really thinks that he's broken you. Afterwards, Maggur will probably go to his office to write down notes or things about his 'progress'. I want you to follow him."

"But won't he notice me? I'm not exactly a blend-with-the-crowd type of girl."

Maryann grinned. "Not if you're an animal."

"Ah."

"So you will follow him into his office. Maggur usually talks to himself when he's alone, so make sure you listen close. When he leaves, which may be from five minutes, to hours, search around and look for anything good."

Romeli nodded. "Doesn't seem too hard."

Maryann looked at her seriously. "As a spy, I mean it when I say that things don't always go as planned. Just get ready to improvise if there's an emergency."

"And what do you want me to do?" asked D'mitri as he looked at Maryann.

"You do lots of jobs around the palace correct?"

D'mitri nodded.

"Then you probably hear a lot of the palace gossip. I want you to listen hard. Sneak around a bit. Just don't get caught. I'm not in the mood to bail someone out of the gallows. And also," Maryann got two books from off of the small table and gave them to him. "Browse through these. Take notes if there is anything important. Hopefully it will educate us more about what Maggur may be up to."

D'mitri looked at the two books. One was called What is the God's Prophecy and What Does It Mean? And the other was called The History Of Scanra Slavery. D'mitri nodded.

Maryann stood up. "Well, hopefully this will help us out a bit. Don't forget about your missions. I'll do a little sneaking of my own, but right now I must go. Adieu." She quickly walked out of the room as if she were in a hurry.

D'mitri collected his books and stood up. Romeli stood up as well, her face pale.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked. "I mean, what you're doing is treachery."

D'mitri looked at her hardly. "I'm positive I want to do this. I have nothing to lose here."

Romeli shook her head. "And if you get caught?"

D'mitri stared deeply into her with his dark eyes, and she truly noticed that he did not care.

"I would rather get caught helping you get out of here, then live here guiltily knowing I could have done something."

"But I don't need help."

D'mitri shook his head. "Yeah you do. You just don't know it yet." He gave her a hug and began to walk out of the door. He stopped right in front of the door and turned around.

"By the way, I thought you were going to give me leftovers."

Romeli stared. "Are you kidding? That food was good."

D'mitri shook his head with a chuckle and left the room.

Romeli turned around and got ready for bed, mentally preparing herself for the risky mission. Besides, Maryann was right. Things don't always go as planned.

Replies:

Aravuli: You've been banned? Lol. I've been banned like three times now. I just can't help breaking the rules. Lol. Trust me, there are a lot of traitors in this fic. Lol. Maryann needs to be a good guy. Heehee. Just a dream…

QueenThayet12990: Okay, let's see if I can unconfuse you. Romeli didn't kill him because she didn't have enough time to since the people attacked her. And maggot didn't use magic because he doesn't have the gift. I might kill D'mitri. At first I thought I was, but now I'm not so sure. Hmm.

Akira Shinaichi: hmm. A maggur causing Chaos thoughts. I shall look into it. I'll do it when…no, not telling!

Apathetically Interested: Yes, school always does seem to waste your time. I had you confused? That's great. That's what I was trying to do. Hahaha. Maryann has it tough, and D'mitri will most likely be more then just a friend by the next couple of chapters. Toodles!

The Purple Texas Cowgirl: I will update on another story, once I get rid of my writer's block. Which will hopefully be soon! Hehe. The whole dream thing was meant to confuse you. Did it work?

XXKarie7770: hehe. I love updates too! I'm going to start the sequel once the big event happens. Which doesn't happen until later on. Much later on. I think. Real JR…hmmm. We'll see my dear. I've never heard of runescape. Enlighten me with this odd term.

Mystique Angel: lol. Well I'm glad you like it. It makes me happy. And I threw in the whole twist to stump you. Glad that it almost worked!

Silver-star-0: hehehe. Just you wait and see. Mwa ha. And I'm serious when I say that Maryann is a good guy. That would be too twisted if she was actually bad…(is very confused). Well what can I say…Romeli can be an imposter if she wants to. Hehe.

Mercury-Shadowfeather: hooray for curve balls! Don't worry! Your hopes and dreams will be inflated soon when Romeli and D'mitri start making out and then…well…um…yah. Nah…I'm not that evil. However…I will be very very evil in a couple of chapters. Bwa ha.

Kuyaga: I like Maryann also. She's kick ass. Just wait until you see what she does on her mission thingy. I love it! No…that's why the dream wasn't real. Romeli isn't nearly as smart. Haha. She's a blonde at heart sometimes. No. James is going with Romeli when she goes somewere cold. D'mitri's gonna die. Haha.

Remember kids…pillows that have radiation are bad for you. Just thought I'd let you know.

Heartdamoose.