Stop right there

Elena's anxiety had reached its peak.

Her room looked as though a storm had torn through it.

The mattress had been dragged halfway off the bed and now lay crooked across the floor. Sheets and blankets were piled beside it, tangled with cushions she had already ripped from their covers.

Elena stood before the open wardrobe, pulling out one dress after another and throwing each behind her without even looking. Silk, chiffon, lace, and ribbons accumulated across the carpet until several of her shoes had disappeared beneath them.

Nothing.

She dropped to her knees beside the vanity and yanked open another drawer.

Hairpins, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings scattered across the surface as she searched through them. Her jewellery box had already been emptied completely, its contents strewn around it in glittering little heaps.

Still nothing.

"Where did I put it?"

Elena pushed herself upright and began pacing through the wreckage, stepping over the fallen mattress and kicking aside a discarded dress.

She searched beneath the bed. Behind the curtains. Inside the wardrobe again. The bottle was nowhere to be found.

Elena stopped in the middle of the room, breathing heavily. Then something moved in the mirror.

She froze.

Her eyes shifted slowly toward the reflection. A brief glimpse was all she needed. Elena spun around and ran from the room.

"Stop right there!"
Her voice echoed through the corridor.

"Who the hell are you, and why have you been following me?"

Her eyes narrowed.

"And where is my bottle?"

"You there, with the black hair and the creepy doll—you must be the teacher Rowland was talking about."

Sybill's eyes widened.

A sharp zapping sound followed.

Lightning flashed, and Elena was rendered unconscious.

*********************

In Sammy's servant quarters, Sybill and Silvi sat with their faces down while Elena remained unconscious nearby.

The princess had been tied securely to a wooden chair, her wrists and ankles bound and a gag fastened over her mouth. Her long blonde hair had fallen messily around her face during the struggle.

The room was dimly lit, with only a weak glow reaching the far corners. 

It was the sort of cramped servant's quarters no one would ever think to search for a missing princess.

For the moment, they were safe.

Sammy stared at Elena in disbelief.

"What happened? Explain everything."

"The Elena was first torturing a woman, then bullying the man, then throwing the tea onto the poor girl in the fancy dress—"

"Stop, Sybill. Silvi, you tell me."

Silvi began explaining.

"Yes. We found her throwing tantrums, turning over tables, and leaving her room completely upside down. The most mysterious thing, 

however, was her procuring a bottle from the old gardener, Jack."

Sammy looked from Silvi to Sybill.

"Wait. Why did you zap her?"

Sybill immediately turned her attention toward the wall.

"You could have used a concealment spell. A distraction. Literally anything else."

Sybill stared at the wall with extraordinary concentration, as though it had suddenly begun telling her a fascinating story that only she could hear.

Sammy threw both hands into the air.

"But no. You zapped a princess. Do you understand the consequences if anyone finds out?"

"You lose you head, i lose my head even silvi loses her porcelain head"

Sybill's gaze remained fixed on the wall.

Apparently, the story was getting interesting.

Silvi remained perfectly calm.

"You know how Sibi operates."

Sammy turned toward her.

"That is not an excuse."

"Then why did you ask her to follow Elena in the first place? You should have followed her yourself."

Sammy face flustered for a moment he realised his anger was misplaced and shook his head.

A few momnets of silence were broken by silvi.

"There is something else. We heard Rowland mention that a potion made from blooming nightshade can cause loss of sight if taken repeatedly."

Sammy's expression changed. A low groan came from behind them.

Elena shifted weakly against the chair, her head rolling slightly to one side. Her fingers twitched against the ropes around her wrists before another muffled sound escaped through the gag.

The three of them turned. The princess was stirring. Her eyelids fluttered once, then again, before slowly opening.

"What do we do with her now?" Sammy asked anxiously.

"We could be the doing erasing of the complete memory."

"Not only the part where you kidnapped her?"

"It's all or nothing," Silvi said.

"Sibi's magic is strong. No guarantees."

Elena became increasingly restless as awareness returned. She tugged against the ropes around her wrists and ankles, confusion quickly giving way to panic.

Sammy got up, paced a few steps, grabbed his hair, and pulled.

"Ah, for the love of the goddess that the crazy Grandmaster worships!"

Elena suddenly stopped struggling.

The silence surprised all three of them, and they turned to look at her.

Tears streamed from her green eyes.

"Mmm...ammy..."

The broken sound escaped through the gag, barely recognizable as a word.

Even with the horrible nose disguise, changed eye colour, and altered hair colour, Sammy was still Sammy.

And Elena knew everything about him better than anyone else.

Even his ridiculous curse phrases, known to only two people in the world: Sammy and Elena.

Even trapped in a porcelain body, Silvi's emotional intelligence was still better than that of the two accompanying her.

She looked from Elena to Sammy.

There was something in Elena's eyes that Silvi recognized immediately. Beneath the tears and disbelief was the unmistakable emotion of someone who had finally found the person she had been longing to see for a very long time.

Silvi's gaze briefly shifted toward Sybill.

That was enough.

"Sibi, remove her gag."

Sybill turned toward her.

"Remove the gag."

Sybill obeyed, even though Sammy was still unsure. With a small flick of her fingers, the gag came loose and the ropes binding Elena's wrists and ankles fell away.

The moment Elena was free, she ran toward him and hugged him with all her might.

Sammy, now horribly guilt-ridden, wrapped his arms tightly around her.

Elena watched her brother's face through her tears.

"What happened to your nose? Did you fall or something?"

"And Sammy, why is the doll talking?" She rubbed her teary eyes.

She couldn't make much of his eyes in the dimly lit room.

Elena sat down.

"We need to talk."

Cuss, cuss, cuss, cuss.
Chirp, chirp.
Hiss, hiss.

A tale of tragedy was recounted.

Elena's response came in the form of gasps, oohs, and ahhs.

Elena pointed at Sybill.

"So, you are the goddess with the great magical power."

Then she pointed at Sammy.

"You are alive and still fifteen."

Finally, she pointed at Silvi.

"And you are also alive, but in a doll—and cleverer than these two idiots."

"Why are you staring at me, Sybill?"

"Oh, she does that sometimes."

"No, Sammy. This time I have the question to ask."

Sammy looked puzzled.

“Why did the princess have the secret bottle?”

Sybill stared at Elena.

“And why was she doing the panicking like the crazy animal when the Rowland spoke about the blooming nightshade?”

“Was she using that to do the poisoning of the king? We know he is the losing his eyesight.”