Page 7 of Bewitched

“Never mind. You two need to hide, quickly.” Rhys directed them behind a tall standing stone. “Stay quiet, and whatever you do, do not—I repeat—do not use magic.”

“But I thought it was allowed now,” said Medea.

“Not by all the Kings,” answered Rhys, mounting his horse and riding out to meet the soldiers.

“Have you seen or heard anything odd?” asked one of the guards.

“Odd? How so?” asked Rhys, not wanting to give away information until he found out what they knew first.

“King Sethor swears he saw a flying beast over the castle.”

“A flying beast?” Rhys chuckled. “Perhaps King Sethor is well in his cups again. What has he been drinking that would cause him to see such things?”

“That is none of your concern. Now answer my question.” The guard’s brows arched. “Did you see a flying beast? Perhaps a dragon?”

“A dragon?” Rhys tried to feign surprise. “Is that what the King thought he saw?”

“Answer me!” growled the guard. “You are standing out here in the open so you must have seen it.” His hand gripped the hilt of his sword. “Do not lie, Blackseed,” he warned.

Damn, Rhys now wished that he and Zann would have hidden as well. The last thing he wanted to do was to answer King Sethor’s men when he was supposed to be trying to convince the King to allow magic. This wasn’t going to be an easy feat after what he just saw. “I think I might have seen something large pass overhead, but I wasn’t really paying attention,” he told them.

“The King thinks another portal might have opened and something came through,” reported the second soldier.

“Really,” said Zann, coming to join them atop his horse now.

“King Sethor wants that flying... dragon, for his own,” said the man.

“Whatever for?” asked Rhys, knowing the King’s greed and also that this meant trouble. “Has King Sethor accepted magic now, like the other two kings of Mura?”

“Nay,” answered the first guard. “However, if he has a powerful creature like that in his possession, he might change his tune.”

“Well, we’ll keep our eyes opened,” said Rhys, nodding to the man. The soldier grunted and directed his men to leave. They rode off quickly to the east kicking up a puff of dust.

“What was that all about?” Medea emerged from her hiding place and ran over to join them.

“They’re looking for your dragon,” announced Zann.

“Well, so are we,” stated Medea. “Perhaps we can do it together with them.”

“Nay. If King Sethor finds it first, he’ll want to keep it,” Rhys told them.

“Nay, he can’t have it. It belongs to my husband,” protested Rapunzel. “Besides, only a Dragon Lord can command it.”

“Really? Then why were you two on it?” Rhys asked suspiciously, eyeing up the women.

“My sister stole it, wanting to go for a ride.” Rapunzel shook her head in disgust, glaring at Medea.

“You did what?” Zann sounded as in disbelief as Rhys was right now. After all, who would do a daft thing like stealing a dragon just to go for a ride? It was preposterous. Especially when they couldn’t control the beast.

“I was bored,” said Medea, nonchalantly brushing dirt off her skirt.

“Bored?” asked Zann with a chuckle. “You were bored and so you decided to steal a dragon? Did I just hear that correctly?”

“You did,” said Rapunzel, scowling at her sister. “My sister didn’t think through the consequences before doing such a reckless thing. Now, we really need to find our dragon and head back home. Will you two please help us?”

“Help you? Hunt down a dragon? Hah! I think not,” spat Zann. “Even if you two do find the damned thing, what makes you think you’re going anywhere?”

“That’s right,” agreed Rhys. “Until that portal reopens, you are stuck here. And unfortunately, we have no way of knowing where and when it’ll open again, or even if it will at all.”