Breaking the Spell

Mairwen pulled the orange-tinted glasses from her dress. She had been talking with her mother about them when they were getting ready, and she had slipped them in her pocket on a whim. It seemed the Fates were with her. She put the glasses on her face and used the knife to reflect the images of the ballroom. It was distorted, but she could make out four figures on the dais. A bright light was beaming from one of their hands. Feeling braver, the girl moved around Junayd and looked into the room. Unlike the others, she did not instantly become a statue. This was a relief, because she had no back up plan.

By the thrones, three men stood gloating and discussing their next move. Mairwen recognized Alaron and the strange general, but the third figure was completely unfamiliar. Now that she had a fuller view of the room, a few people were moving through the crowd, stealing odds and ends off the wealthy mannequins.

The man with the shining ball was defending the thieves' actions. "They deserve some compensation," he argued. "They have been sneaking in for days under every name and doing all sorts of jobs without any marauding. They have been on their best behavior, mind you. They should receive some sort of reward."

"I am paying them with a large portion of my treasury, Xander," Alaron countered. Mairwen gasped quietly. The flamboyant duke was the infamous pirate, Xander, and her brother had hired him to do something awful. This meant the fake general must be... "Cafer, they must stop. It will turn my people against me," the prince reasoned.

"He has a point, Captain Xander. Please call off your men."

"Fine. You both are no fun." Xander called off his men, who grumbled and took their places along the exits. Mairwen hid behind Junayd as a pirate came into the doorway. While she could no longer see, she could still hear the conversation within. The pirate captain chuckled, "You want to know something exciting? When people are looking at this little ball of light, I can do anything I want and they are none the wiser." He quickly took his knife in his free hand and cut Aurora's left arm just below her shoulder. The sleeve ripped clean and fresh blood trickled down her arm. "If you were to try something like that, it might actually wake her from her trance, but not me. I own the Empress right now. Maybe I should carve my name right here," the pirate laughed. "That would give her something to remember me by." Xander circled Aurora and then held his knife to her throat. "Or I could just finish her now. I would be doing you a large favor."

"You go too far," the prince warned through his teeth. "I do not want a bloodbath."

"Maybe you don't, but..." The pirate and prince continued their banter with Cafer silently listening. Because anyone who looked on the pearl would fall under its control unless Xander willed it otherwise, the three men felt no urgency in their coup. Mairwen tried to think of how she could stop them. She loved her brother, but the idea that he should rule was utterly crazy. Knowing her mother's life was at stake only added to the urgency she felt.

'I need a better view,' she thought. Mairwen saw a few soldiers as she headed for the closest balcony. She tried to warn them of the danger, but they did not understand and promptly got pulled into the light just like all the others. The merpearl was like a hurricane, taking everyone captive that it could.

On the nearest balcony, Brinn stood frozen with her bow and arrow pulled taught. It looked painful, yet Brinn looked happy in her dazed state. Mairwen crawled on her belly to see between the gaps in the balusters. With her orange glasses in place, she could clearly view the men below. The Princess felt a thrill that the glasses made by Renat had worked, but she needed to stay focused. Below, she could see Cafer was growing impatient. While Alaron wanted the Empress alive and Xander wanted her dead, the gnome had yet to make his stance known.

"Perhaps we keep the Empress alive so that we can get her to renounce her throne to you," Cafer suggested. "And then we allow Xander to hold her captive, so she is out of the way while you rule." The gnome and pirate exchanged a look of understanding. Captives died all the time by accident... or otherwise.

Young Alaron missed their exchange. "Very well," he agreed. "Let us get this over with."

Captain Xander sent two of his men to go get the sleeping Emperor. "This woman will do anything for her husband. Foolish Love!" Cafer spat, like it was a dirty word.

Mairwen knew the pirates were unlikely to return with her father. The soldiers would see to them quickly. She needed to act before the men realized that the Emperor had already been discovered. Lifting her shoe from her foot, she peeked quickly over the banister and threw it across the ballroom. It landed with a loud thud.

As the three males turned in the direction of the sound, Mariwen popped up behind her elf friend and attempted to pry the bow from her hands. Brinn had a tight hold on the string, and it took all of Mairwen's strength to wrench it free. Unfortunately, as the string released, it shot the nocked arrow towards where Xander had been moments before. The shot buried itself in the wood.

"It seems we have company. Come out, rat, and show yourself!" Xander called to the balcony. He ducked behind the Empress to keep a second shot from hitting him. He called to one of his men, "You! Go up there and see who would dare shoot at me."

Her cover blown, Mairwen leapt from the ground and jerked full force at the bow. "You!" Cafer growled. He stepped off the platform and onto the stone floor. His eyes glowing, the gnome used his magic, and her feet sunk into the floor. "She will not be going anywhere," he said confidently.

"Mairwen!" Alaron was aghast. He had made sure his sister would be absent. In the back of his mind, the prince worried that Xander might do something to her. "You shouldn't be here!"

"It is not a rat, but a mouse," Xander was surprised. "And what creature are you that is immune to my pearl?" Xander was both amused and concerned.

Mairwen ignored him. Getting the bow from the elf, the princess nocked her arrow, turned her torso, and aimed toward the pirate captain's hand. Cafer backed up quickly, taking a step behind Alaron in case the princess decided to aim at him instead.

Mairwen could hear someone coming to capture her. Xander and Cafer, like cowards, were hiding behind Aurora and Alaron respectively. Mairwen could only just make out a the pearl sticking out from Aurora's back.

"I do not think the Empress would fancy being a pincushion. You better not miss!" Xander mocked.

It was Alaron who answered, "She never does."

The arrow flew true and grazed the pearl, knocking it from Xander's hand. The pearl skittered across the ground. "I have got her!" a pirate called from the balcony as he held a knife to the princess's neck and disarmed her.

Xander stood from his crouched position to confirm the capture. "Well done!"

The pirate turned just in time to see the prince reaching for the pearl. "You may want this back," the boy offered.

"No!" Xander screamed a moment too late. As Alaron touched the pearl, the spell was broken.