Thanks to everyone who reviewed! :-) Let's see how Arael reacts...


For a moment, nobody said or did anything. Arael stared at Kibeth and considered running out the room, while the others waited for her to do just that. Then, when the silence had stretched on for a little too long, Arael tentatively spoke.

'You're a… a Free Magic creature,' she said, trying to sound less afraid than she actually was.

'Yes,' Dyrim answered quietly. 'We are.'

Arael looked at her. 'All of you?'

'Yes,' Belgaer admitted reluctantly, while Ranna glared at Kibeth and Dyrim.

Arael gave a short, nervous laugh and sat down on the edge of the bed, the realisation just dawning on her that she was in a room with five potentially dangerous Free Magic creatures. Slowly, so as not to frighten the girl even more, Dyrim stepped towards her and knelt down, so she could look Arael in the eyes.

'Arael,' she said, infusing her words with the Charter marks for truth. 'I want to make something absolutely clear to you: none of us will harm you. You don't have to be afraid. We are just the same as we were yesterday.' She suddenly snorted with laughter and exclaimed, 'And we are certainly not going to eat you!'

Arael took a deep breath. She couldn't help but believe what Dyrim had said, despite the fact that it went against everything she had been told about Free Magic creatures. They were supposed to be dangerous, and have no regard for human life. But then, she thought, Free Magic creatures were also supposed to have a hot, metallic smell, and right now she couldn't smell anything unusual. Maybe they weren't beings of any considerable power…

Dyrim laughed again, and Arael jumped. Mosrael rolled her eyes at Dyrim and explained, 'Just to clear something else up, Dyrim can read your mind if she wants to.'

'You've scared her again now,' Dyrim retorted. 'Now she's afraid of thinking anything that might offend us.'

'Dyrim, stop it,' Ranna sighed. 'Arael, if you want us to go, we will.'

'No!' Arael replied quickly. 'I don't want you to go! As Dyrim said, you are still the same as you were yesterday and… well… if you really are dangerous, I don't think you would have pretended to be human like you have. If you had come here just to kill us or something, surely you would have just… well… done it.'

'Do you mean you're alright with this?' Ranna asked incredulously. 'Are you sure?'

'I think so,' Arael answered slowly, as if she was surprised by her own response.

'She's not lying,' Dyrim added.

Arael smiled. 'To be completely honest, I think I should be more worried about Nehima wanting to kill me than you.'

'Why?' asked Belgaer.

'Because she already disapproves of me going out without any guards, and I dread to think what she's do when she finds out I've been riding with a group of Free Magic creatures.'

Ranna stared at her. 'You trust us enough to still want to go out riding with us?'

'Yes,' Arael replied. 'Well, providing that you still want to, of course.'

'I do!' announced Kibeth, who had been keeping apologetically quiet up until this point. She gave Arael a wide grin. 'Come on, then. Let's go to the stables.'

Arael had already decided on the part of the surrounding countryside they would go to. Once she and her five companions had ridden their horses out of the city (and she had convinced the men who guarded the city's walls that she had a couple of guards following a few minutes behind her), she led them to the place she had chosen; a place on the far side of one of Belisaere's four hills that, coincidentally, had the added bonus of being completely out of sight of the city.

'Humans really are very strange creatures,' Dyrim said to Belgaer as they rode along.

'I heard that!' Arael exclaimed, pretending to be very offended.

Dyrim grinned at her. 'I know.'

'For your information, you are a lot stranger than me,' Arael retorted. 'Any idiot could see that.'

'Any idiot who knows what we are,' corrected Dyrim. 'Like you.'

'I am not an idiot.'

'Most of Belisaere would think so, if they knew what you were doing right now.'

Arael had to agree with that. 'So, where is Astarael?' she asked, deciding to change the subject. 'I'm assuming she is not ill.'

'No, she isn't,' Belgaer replied slowly. 'She's… um… well, we don't actually know where she is.'

'She did tell me when she left a couple of nights ago,' added Kibeth, 'but I wasn't really listening, so I don't remember what she said.'

'Don't worry about her for now,' Dyrim said dismissively. 'How do you think we have been doing at pretending to be human?'

'Very well, up until this morning,' Arael replied, grinning at Kibeth. 'I certainly had no idea, and I don't think anyone else has either.'

'Good,' said Dyrim. 'I have to say, we've actually found it quite fun. Well, I have, at least.'

'And we've all almost given ourselves away at some point,' Belgaer added, 'which just goes to show how inattentive you humans are.'

Arael rolled her eyes, but found that she couldn't disagree. 'Can you all change into animals?'

'We can change into whatever we want,' Belgaer explained.

'Like this,' added Kibeth, directing her horse closer to Arael's and fluidly changing into an exact likeness of Nehima. The horse, surprisingly, did not seem overly bothered by this. Perhaps, Arael thought, it hadn't even noticed.

'That is too strange,' Arael said, trying to work out what made the Kibeth-Nehima different from the real one. Then, she realised: this Nehima was smiling at her. 'Please don't do that.'

'Alright,' sighed Kibeth, reverting back to her original appearance.

'We each have our preferred shapes,' Belgaer continued to explain. 'We usually take the forms we are in now, but we often turn into animals as well, as you saw with Kibeth earlier.'

Arael paused and looked around, checking that there was no-one else in sight. 'Can you show me?'

'Now?' Ranna asked.

'Yes.'

'Mosrael, will it be alright?' asked Belgaer.

'Yes, it will be fine,' Mosrael replied, winking at Arael. 'No-one will see us.'

'Mosrael can See the future,' Dyrim whispered to Arael, seeing her confused expression.

Arael nodded, deciding not to ask for a fuller explanation, and dismounted. The others did the same, albeit much more gracefully, and Arael tied their horses' reins to a branch on a nearby tree.

'You already know what my preferred animal shape is,' said Kibeth, transforming into her dog-shape again before jumping up and licking Arael's face enthusiastically. Arael laughed and tried not to fall over, counter-attacking by scratching Kibeth behind the ear, just as she did with real dogs. Then, she started as she felt something land on her shoulder. Turning her head to look, she saw a pale green dragonfly looking back at her in a way that no real dragonfly ever could.

'Don't worry, it's only me,' the dragonfly said in Mosrael's voice.

'I tend to take the shape of an eagle,' Dyrim explained, 'but while I've been in Belisaere, I've taken quite a liking to a gull form. It gives me an excuse to make as much noise as I want.'

'And it seems to make all the real gulls a lot more noisy too,' Belgaer added, taking on the form of an owl. Dyrim – now in the shape of a large seagull – attempted to peck at Belgaer's feathers, but the owl's wing suddenly grew larger and hit her over the head.

'Oh, stop it, you two,' Ranna sighed, reluctantly changing into a dove. Her words had no effect, however, and Dyrim and Belgaer continued to squabble until Kibeth ran at them both, barking excitedly.

Arael grinned at them all. 'Have you been changing your forms while you've been staying in Belisaere?'

'No,' Ranna answered.

'Yes,' admitted Dyrim, Kibeth, Belgaer and Mosrael, all at the same time.

'Only a few times, though,' Dyrim added. 'And only at night, so nobody wonders where we are.'

'Well, I haven't done it at all,' Ranna said indignantly. 'I have been behaving myself completely.'

'Except for that sleeping spell you use on Merenne all the time,' commented Dyrim. 'Merenne won't like it if she finds out that a Free Magic creature has been singing her to sleep every night, will she?'

Ranna looked at Arael pleadingly. 'You won't tell anyone, will you?'

'Of course I won't,' Arael promised. She looked at the dragonfly on her shoulder and added, 'Your secret is safe with me.'

When they returned to Belisaere, Arael was in a very good mood. This puzzled Nehima, who they happened to meet just after the horses had been handed over to a stable-boy.

'You didn't take any guards with you again, Arael,' Nehima pointed out, after nodding in greeting. 'What have I told you about going out riding without any of the guard?'

'You've told me not to do that because I might get attacked by something nasty,' Arael recited, rolling her eyes. 'But, seeing as we didn't get attacked, everything is alright.'

Nehima nodded, still bemused by her sister's cheerful mood. 'Lunch will be served in an hour,' she said finally. 'Try to look at least a little presentable this time.'

'I'll try,' Arael lied. 'But you do want me to be on time, don't you?'

'I want you to be there on time and looking presentable,' Nehima replied. 'If that is at all possible.'

Arael rolled her eyes again as Nehima walked away, and Dyrim grinned at her.

'It would be so much easier to be ready on time if I could just shape-shift like you can,' Arael whispered. 'Then I could look as presentable as Nehima wants me to be.'

Dyrim laughed loudly as she tried to imagine Arael looking "presentable" by Nehima's standards. It didn't seem a very likely image. 'Maybe you should start getting yourself ready now,' she suggested, resting her hand on Arael's shoulder and starting to direct her towards her chambers.

Just at that moment, Anstyr came striding towards them, accompanied by a group of rather worried-looking guards.

'Arael, get away from them,' the king instructed, trying to hide the slight note of urgency is his voice.

'Why?' Arael asked, although she had already begun to guess the reason.

'They are dangerous,' he answered, taking her wrist and pulling her towards the protective group of guards. 'They are not what they say they are.'

'What do you mean?' Arael asked, deciding to feign ignorance for the time being.

'They are Free Magic creatures,' Anstyr replied, his voice betraying his fear.

'What makes you think that?'

'They were seen, earlier today, changing their forms.'

One of the guards cleared his throat in a slightly embarrassed way. 'Sire, the Lady Arael was seen with them at the time.'

Anstyr stared at his sister and gaped. 'You knew?' he asked quietly. 'You knew, and you still went out with them? Are you completely insane, Arael? You could have been killed!'

'But I wasn't,' Arael retorted. 'I am fine, and that proves that they are not dangerous.'

'It proves nothing,' Anstyr snapped, 'other than the fact that you are possibly more stupid than your sister and I originally thought.' He turned to two of the guards. 'Please escort my sister back to her room immediately, and make sure she stays there. I will speak with her later.'

Arael glared at Anstyr as she was led away, her heart sinking fast. She knew that she was in more trouble now than she had ever been in before. And that trouble was sure to increase the minute Nehima found out. Furiously, she broke away from the guards, marching ahead of them to her chambers and slamming the door in their faces. Then, she locked the door and threw herself onto her bed. Neither of her siblings would ever understand that not all Free Magic beings were dangerous killers. They had never been very open-minded. She knew her new friends would leave Belisaere now. They might have already left. Anstyr was unlikely to be able to force them to go, but they would probably go of their own accord, just to prove that they really didn't mean any harm. And, Arael decided, she was going to go with them.

Later that afternoon, Nehima stormed up the stairs to Arael's chambers. Anstyr had explained that their sister was in a lot of trouble and would probably miss the afternoon meal, but he had not said anything more than that. Arael had then failed to turn up to Petty Court, so Nehima had decided that it was time to have a talk with her before she could miss the evening meal as well. As she climbed the stairs, she heard a thumping sound coming from the direction of Arael's chambers, and hurried to see what it was. It was Anstyr, knocking very hard on the door with his fist. As Nehima approached, she heard her brother let out an exasperated sigh.

'What is it?' Nehima asked, puzzled by Anstyr's furious expression.

The king glared at the closed door. 'Your sister is in a lot of trouble.'

'I know,' Nehima answered. 'You told me that earlier.'

Anstyr took a deep breath in a futile attempt to calm himself. 'She decided it would be a good idea to be in the company of five Free Magic beings this morning.'

Nehima gasped. 'What? She cannot have done! I saw her just after she had returned from her morning ride.'

'You must have seen her with them then,' Anstyr said flatly.

'You mean...' Nehima whispered, turning visibly white, 'her friends... Ranna and her sisters? They are Free Magic beings? All of them?' Anstyr nodded. 'Did Arael know?'

'Yes,' Anstyr answered, shooting another livid glare at the door. 'They were seen shape-shifting in front of her by two of the guards who were out on patrol this morning. Stupid girl...' he muttered, and then thumped the door again. 'Arael! Open this door immediately!'

There was no reply.

Anstyr gritted his teeth and struggled to stop himself breaking down the door and throttling his sister. 'I demand that you let me in right now.'

Still no reply.

'This is the third time I have tried to talk to her today, and I am losing my temper,' Anstyr growled.

You have lost it already, Nehima thought to herself, taking in her brother's reddened face and clenched fists. She winced as Anstyr pounded on the door and yelled at Arael again to unlock the door, and then she took off a simple, gold chain she wore around her neck. On the chain dangled a silver key – an exact replica of the one Arael wore around her own neck. She handed the key to Anstyr, who stared at it incredulously.

'I had a spare one made last year,' Nehima explained. 'She was refusing to let me in, just like this, and so I thought of this simple solution.'

Anstyr took the key and unlocked Arael's door, and both he and Nehima looked in, noticing how unusually tidy everything was. Arael had a habit of throwing things around when she was angry. Anstyr barged into the room, and Nehima followed him.

'She is not in here,' Nehima stated, looking around in confusion.

'She must be,' Anstyr replied, opening Arael's wardrobe to see if she was hiding inside it, and then checking under the bed. 'The guards were under specific orders not to let her leave the room. She has to be in here somewhere.'

Anstyr and Nehima searched all of Arael's rooms several times, but there was still no sign of their sister. Eventually, they had to agree that there was no point in looking any more. Arael was not there.

'How could she have got out?' Anstyr asked, bewildered.

Nehima crossed to the window in Arael's bedroom, and observed the way it was not quite closed properly. 'She must have climbed out of the window,' she said quietly. Anstyr came to join her, and they both stared out of the window at the dark ground below. The rough stone of the outside wall and the ivy clinging to it created a convenient, if unsafe, way down from the window.

'I want her found,' Anstyr declared firmly. 'Guards!'

The two men who had guarded Arael's door entered the room quickly and stood to attention.

'Find my sister,' Anstyr told them. 'She cannot have gone far, and somebody must have seen her. I want her back here immediately.'


Something tells me Arael's just making things worse for herself...

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