Page 12 of Bewitched

Medea suddenly felt extremely invaded. She wasn’t sure what kind of powers this faerie held, but she guessed it had something to do with reading minds. She didn’t like that at all. Her thoughts were private and she didn’t share them with anyone.

Disgust filled Medea, and she felt anger rearing its ugly head. She could do nothing to stop her darkness from surfacing. “You disgust me!” she spat, feeling a bitterness on her tongue. She also had the urge to push the woman to the ground, or perhaps send her flying through the air like she did to Rhys. It took all her restraint not to do so.

“I disgust you?” The woman looked surprised to hear this. “How so?” she asked, innocently, as if she were not guilty at all.

“You can read minds, just admit it.”

“What if I can?”

Medea walked up to the fae and stuck her face up close to hers. “Stay out of my mind, I warn you. I don’t like you putting your nose where it doesn’t belong. You do it again, and I promise you that you’ll be sorry.”

They stared at each other for a minute, neither of them moving or blinking at all. Their faces were very close to each other.

“Your eyes have turned black, Medea. Why is that?” asked Alaina.

“Why don’t you tell me? You’re the one who invades people’s minds,” she challenged her.

“Medea, are you out there?” Rapunzel stuck her head out the door. “Please come inside. Talia was kind enough to fix us some food. We are going to have a bite to eat now.”

“Of course,” said Medea, glaring at Alaina, throwing the apple core over her shoulder. When she walked past the fae woman, she could feel the mistrust leaking out from the woman’s pores. She stopped and turned, looking directly at her once again. “Is something wrong, Alaina?” she asked, not afraid to meet the fae in challenge.

“I warn you, witch,” Alaina said in a low voice. “Don’t you dare hurt my son, or you’ll have to deal with me.” She turned and walked into the house, leaving Medea standing there wondering what in the world that meant. Medea didn’t even know Rhys. She’d been thinking about kissing him, not hurting him. Or was that what the man’s mother was talking about after all?

Four

Rhys made his way over the drawbridge of Kasculbough Castle, realizing that everyone was running around in a frenzy, shouting in alarm.

“What’s wrong?” he called out, dismounting, and throwing the reins to a stable boy.

“There was a beast that breathes fire,” the stable boy told him. “It flew right over the castle.”

“Was it a red dragon?” he asked.

“I believe so,” said the boy, looking up at the sky. “It was terrifying, I tell you.”

“Aye,” said Rhys, looking up at the sky. He knew exactly how terrifying the dragon was. He also knew the extent of the beast’s fiery breath. He might be able to heal himself from the breath of the dragon, but the people of Kasculbough wouldn’t be so lucky. Thankfully, it didn’t look as if the dragon had attacked, but the fact that it might was not a reassuring thought. If the dragon attacked, people would die. Fires could burn everything, and crops and livestock could be lost. The occupants of Kasculbough counted on this to survive. He had to do something to stop this from possibly happening.

“Sir Rhys, the King has been calling for you,” said one of the guards. “He is in the great hall now, instructing the men to don their weapons to kill the beast.”

“Kill it?” he asked. “Nay, he can’t do that.” If the dragon was killed, Medea and Rapunzel would never leave. With the way he felt about Medea right now, the sooner they found the dragon and a way to open the portal, the better.

Rhys hurried up the stairs and into the great hall to find King Osric with a group of knights and foot soldiers gathered around him. They all seemed to be in the middle of an important conversation. Concern showed on the brows of all of them.

“Blackseed, there you are,” said King Osric. “Where have you been? Get over here, anon. Your presence is required.” The King was a stout man with a double chin, black hair, and squinty eyes. He wore a long, ermine-lined cloak and a tall crown on his head with lots of etchings in the gold and embedded jewels upon it.

“My King, I am sorry for my absence.” Rhys hurried over to the rest of the group. “Is there a problem?”

“There’s a beast in the sky that I’ve never seen before,” the King told him.

“Aye, I know,” said Rhys, figuring he needed to tell his ruler at least a little of what he knew. The King trusted him completely and this made Rhys the man’s favored knight. Rhys was loyal and couldn’t lie to his king. “It is a dragon, Your Majesty. It came through a portal just this day.” While he didn’t want to lie, he purposely didn’t mention Rapunzel or Medea, just to protect them, even if he didn’t know them well. He felt it was his duty since they possessed magic.

“I want you to find that dragon and catch it for me, Sir Rhys,” came the King’s order.

“Catch it?” Rhys looked from one man to the next. No one was laughing. This was a serious situation. “My King, no one but a Dragon Lord can control such a beast.”

“Aye, but you’re my best knight, and also my strongest,” said Osric, sounding as if he had total confidence that Rhys could accomplish this impossible feat. “I know you can do it, if anyone can.”

This only made things worse for Rhys. How could he do his king’s bidding, and at the same time help the magical women, too? “Why do you want me to capture it?” he asked. “What do you plan to do with it? Dragons are magical creatures, you realize.”