2 Trapped

Darrella woke up screaming. With her body rigid, she lay in bed and blinked. Looking around the dimly bit room, she recognized nothing and began to panic.

Again.

Lement's voice filled her mind with his own yelling, "Darrella! Darrella!"

"What? Why are you yelling at me?"

"What do you mean why am I yelling at you? Why are you screaming?"

"I don't know."

"I hope this doesn't become the normal way for you to wake up."

"Again, like I said, I don't know. Where are we?"

"I don't know where we are. I'm not familiar with this room."

"What do you mean? Isn't this another one of your rooms in the palace?" Darrella rubbed the back of her head and winced. She had a small knot right above the base of her neck. "Was I knocked out?"

The room had a single bed, a small table with a lamp which lit the room in a bright light, and a trunk. Above the trunk a glass paned window set at about chest high displayed an open expanse of clouds below, the dull red glow of Arillion lighting the clouds from below.

Darrella approached the window and looked out and down. She could tell she was in a tower on the edge of an island. There was nothing below the window but the red-tinged clouds.

"I'm pretty sure we were," continued Lement. He was as curious as Darrella was about why they were knocked out and where they were. "I don't recognize this tower. There's nothing like this on Kephalan, so I'd imagine we're on another island."

Just then, the door to their room opened and a young man entered. Hair as dark as Darrella's, he had thick, bushy eyebrows, and a neat goatee. "I see you're awake, princess," he said, teeth flashing.

Darrella turned away from the window and stared at the stranger, blinking, "Who are you, and where am I?"

"Ah. I can see why you might be a bit confused as your parents never told you about their origins. I'll give you the quick rundown," the man paused, putting his hand to his chin, thinking. "Hmm… for one, your mother is the king's sister. Hence, you're a princess. Your father was the court wizard here on Annelon. They fell in love, and of course such a thing was forbidden," he paused again and let out a heavy sigh. "They ran off to Kephalan together and got married."

Darrella instantly understood why Kephalan would be a haven for her parents if they were at odds with Annelon. What she didn't understand was her father being a court wizard, "My dad's not a wizard. He's a merchant."

Lement spoke, but of course only Darrella could hear him, "That's not true. He's a wizard. So is your mother. They're both very powerful. King Erasmus was happy to steal Annelon's court wizard, so he let them settle in Kephalan."

"How come I never knew any of this?" thought Darrella to Lement.

"I worked closely with your parents on a few missions. As I understand their thoughts, they didn't want either you or your brother to be embroiled in the same kinds of activities they'd been forced to deal with. They wanted you to live your own lives. Weren't you planning to go to the naval academy?"

"Yes, I was…."

"…princess, are you listening to me?" asked the man. He'd been droning on about her family while she'd been conversing with Lement. He stopped speaking after asking her this question.

Darrella looked at the stranger, "And who are you?"

The man straightened his body at her question. Darrella noticed they were nearly the same height. "I'm prince Kell, second prince of Annelon, and your first cousin."

Darrella widened her eyes, "Did you bring me here?" She rubbed the back of her head again.

Kell noticed and looked concerned, "I hope my agents didn't hurt you too much. I asked them to bring you to me, but I didn't know they would bop you on the head like that. Are you okay?"

"I think so, but why am I here? I don't understand."

"Of course. I should explain myself," Kell flashed another grin. "Like you, I'm also extremely magically talented. I am hoping you'll agree to marry me. Our children will be amazing!"

Darrella stepped back from Kell, mouth open and eyes wide. She didn't know what to say and simply stood there, staring at Kell. Finally, she frowned and glared at him, "How dare you kidnap me and expect me to want to marry you? Who do you think you are?"

Kell crossed his arms across his chest, still smiling, and said, "I was afraid you'd act like this. I'm afraid no one else by my personal servants and guards know you're here. I plan to keep you here until you change your mind. You see, I'm a terrific guy, if I do say so myself, and I think you'll eventually agree with me."

"I don't think so," Darrella rushed Kell and tried to push her way past him. He blocked her, and two beefy men, dressed in the identical uniforms, appeared from behind Kell and shoved her back into the room.

Kell raised his right hand and motioned it toward Darrella, finger raised. He moved his finger side to side, like a metronome, "Now, now, princess. Enough of that. We can't have you running off on your own. It's dangerous out there." He sniggered.

Kell turned to leave and spoke to her over his shoulder, "I'll leave you to your thoughts in this cozy room. Don't worry, dear. You'll be treated well while you're a guest in my custody." He closed the door.

Darrella heard the click of a lock engaging. She rushed the door and pounded her fists against the study metal. The door barely shook.

"Do you want my help?" asked Lement.

"Can you get us out of here?"

"I think so, but I'll need to be in control."

Darrella shook her head, "Nope. Not letting you in control. I might not get it back."

"That won't happen, princess. As the original owner of this body, you have precedence. I've been trying to gain control since you returned from the dead without success."

Darrella raised a brow, "What would you have done if you'd gained control?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to know if I could. This was your body to begin with. I respect that, but I did commit myself to a non-reversable course of action when I had your corpse healed and inhabited your body with my conscience. I think I deserve some consideration."

Darrella huffed out a sharp breath and though, "Be glad you're alive. We'll find you another body to inhabit as soon as possible."

If Lement had control of Darrella's eyes, he'd have rolled them, "I already told you I can't leave without you dying. Why won't you believe me?"

Darrella folder her arms, "We'll see." She tapped a foot against the metal floor. Looking around the room, she noted the entire room was lined in metal. The only openings were the door and the glass window. "What would you be able to do, if, theoretically, I gave you access to my body?"

"Well, as you probably have already surmised by now, you're an incredibly powerful if untrained mage. I could use your power to blast through the walls and escape."

"Speaking of that. Why didn't I know about my talent before now?"

"Your parents suppressed your talent with a drug called Octoteraphilonalin. It's a commonly used mage suppressant and has no known negative effects. We call it 'Octo' for short. Of course, I knew about your potential because I knew your parents."

"I see. So, if I give you control, how can I know you'll give it back?"

"First off, you will be able to take it back whether I want you to or not. Secondly, you'll just have to trust me. I don't see us getting out of here without my help."

"Can't you teach me magic, and then I can cast the spell?"

"I could. How long do you want to stay cooped up in this room? Learning to control the spell would take at least six months. Are you willing to spend that long here?"

"How can I tell you're not lying about that?"

"You can't. You need to learn to trust me already. We're in this together, Darrella. Hurting you is hurting me."

"Okay fine. I'll give you control. I'm not sure I know how."

"I'm not sure either. This is my first time co-inhabiting a body. I've always been alone in a body in the past. My best guess is for you to close your eyes and try to think of nothing. When you feel yourself losing control, allow it to happen."

"Just to let me know, if you get control and I can't get control back, and I do eventually get control again one day, I'll never trust you again."

"Consider me warned," said Lement.

Darrella sat on the bed, scooted in, and crossed her legs. Closing her eyes, she did as Lement suggested. Letting Lement take control was almost too easy. Before she knew it, she was watching as her body slid off the bed and approached the door.

An unfamiliar feeling welled up within her as she spoke words in an unfamiliar language. The feeling suddenly left her body, leaving her feel drained.

Lament slumped to the floor. He couldn't break through the door using magic, "I'm sorry. There is something keeping me from casting spells in this room. I can't get us out. Take back control."

Darrella thought it, and it was so. She was in control again, "Wow. That was easy. You kept your promise."

"Little good it did for me to try. I'm sorry Darrella. There are several ways for someone to ward a room against magic. Obviously, Kell has done so with this room."

Darrella walked to the window, pushing the trunk aside. Peering out, all she could see was the straight, smooth surface of the tower she was in and below that, nothing but clouds. Below the clouds awaited Arillion and death.

"I don't suppose we could climb out the window?"

"Kell's not stupid. He gave you a window but climbing out would lead to your fall to your death."

"Can't wizards fly?"

"Only witches can fly, and neither of us is a witch. No. We can't fly."

"There has to be some way," Darrella opened the window and poked her head out. Reaching down, she felt the tower's surface. It was as smooth as glass. "There's no way I could climb this, is there?"

"Ugh. I can only think of one possible way for us to escape."

"Well, don't make me wait. How?"

"It'll be dangerous, and we may very well die. Maybe we should stay here?"

"I'm not letting that creepy cousin of mine have any opportunities to take advantage of me. I'd rather die than stay."

"You're realize you're risking both of our lives, right?"

"Just tell me how we can escape?"

"According to Jetz third law of motion, a force one direction has an equal force in the opposite direction."

"Who is Jetz, and why do I care? Now isn't really the time for class, is it?"

"Jetz was a brilliant mage, and one of the founding fathers of modern magical theory. Regardless, one of the things you learn as a skilled wizard is how to manage the forces you generate. You can't just produce a powerful beam of energy without push back."

"I think I get it. If you cast a spell and make a forceful beam, we'll be pushed in the opposite direction?"

"Exactly. There's a risk that we will fall past the end of the island before we make land."

"It's possible there's another island underneath this one, though, right?"

"There might be one, but I wouldn't count on it. Even if we were lucky enough to land on a floater underneath this one, there's no guarantee we'd be able to survive long on it. It would depend on what's on the island."

"Yeah, but you're a super powerful wizard, right? We'd have a chance."

"Our chances are much better if I'm able to push us onto this island."

Darrella paused and took in a deep breath. Slowly exhaling, she said, "Okay. Let's do it." She paused again and looked at what she was wearing. "I'm in a night gown. Let's see if there's something better for me to wear before we jump out the window."

Searching the room and resulted in finding nothing else to wear. The trunk was empty. Darrella briefly wondered why the trunk was even in the room if it was empty.

"Maybe they brought you up to this cell inside the trunk," suggested Lement.

"Are you reading my mind?"

"A little bit. It's not all clear."

"Stop it! That's creepy. How come I can't read your thoughts?"

"I don't know. You might be able to, eventually. I'll need control if this is going to work."

"Okay, okay. Here…." Darrella gave Lement control of her body, again amazed at how easy the process was for her.

Lement opened the window, climbed the ledge, and sat. He mentally prepared the spells, held his breath, and leapt, facing at a tangent to the curve of the tower in what he hoped was the closest pathway to the island below him at his back.

Chain casting concussion was easy and didn't take much mana, matching his breathing with each pulse of energy thrust from his body. He was pleased to see his body moving horizontally along the side of the tower as he fell. A quick look behind him showed land!

With renewed vigor, he chain cast concussion even more rapidly and found himself falling toward a copse of trees. With great speed, Lement cast a protective shell spell and landed in a tree. Bouncing from branch to branch, he finally landed.