Philip worked Tak hard for the next few days, to reassure himself that he still had full control over the boy. To try to convince himself that he hadn't seen what he thought he'd seen in his eyes that day in the courtyard.

     Most of it was just make work. Useless labour that accomplished nothing but to teach the younger apprentice who was in charge. To exhaust him into submission. He made Tak scrub every wall and floor in the castle. He made him go out into the courtyard in the freezing wind to pull the weeds up with his bare hands. He made him carry heavy boxes up the spiral staircases to the tallest towers, then bring them down again. Every soul crushingly arduous task he could think of, until Tak's body cried out with weariness and the very sight of the elder apprentice approaching made him tremble and whimper in fear. Ironically, though, it was Tak's helplessness to do anything but obey that led to Philip eventually growing bored with this sport, and he began looking for other ways to occupy his time, very much to Tak's relief.

     One other thing that Tak was very grateful for was that Philip only occasionally ordered him to his bed. The older apprentice had been brought up by Molos Gomm to believe that the sexual use of young boys was natural and acceptable, but his heart was never really in it. He preferred young women, and on the fifth day after his master's departure he went into town to fetch one back to the castle.

     She was a timid, dark haired thing whose eyes darted nervously in all directions as he helped her down from the cart and in through the main gate. She wore a dress that looked as though it might once have been stately and elegant but which had been handed down through many generations. Lovingly cared for, cleaned and repaired as needed, but nevertheless looking its age. The colours faded and some of the lacework clearly having been replaced with simpler and poorer quality material. Even so, though, it was probably her best dress. She'd made an attempt to dress up for Philip, which meant she must have come willingly, unlike Tak, who was watching from his window in the tower. But if she was a willing visitor, he thought, why was she clearly so afraid? Because Philip was a wizard, he realised, and sensible people didn't say no to a wizard if they knew what was good for them.

     He got a better look at her later that day, in the library. Tak went to find a volume he'd been studying for some days as part of his magical studies and found her sitting in the study chair looking lost and afraid, her hands clutching each other in her lap. She gave a start when she saw him and rose from the chair, staring at him as if he had two heads. Tak actually looked over his shoulder to see what fearsome creature had followed him in before realising it was him she was afraid of, and it occurred to him that he and Philip must look like brothers, both having been chosen for their perfect beauty. Their blonde hair and their strikingly bright eyes. Blue in Tak's case, green in Philip's.

     "Please don't be scared," he said soothingly, hanging back in the doorway. "I won't hurt you."

     Her wide, frightened eyes remained fixed on his, though, and her hands clutched each other below her low cut bosom. She was no longer wearing the dress she'd come in. Philip had found another for her. A scandalous crimson affair that showed more cleavage than he'd ever seen in a woman who wasn't actually naked.

     "I'm Tak," he said in an attempt to calm her down. "I live here."

     She gave a deep curtsy, the ringlets of her glossy hair brushing the carpeted floor before she looked timidly up again for permission to rise. "Lord," she whispered.

     "I'm not a lord," said Tak, stepping forward to gently touch her bare shoulders, urging her to rise. In fact, he had only the vaguest idea what a lord was, but he was pretty sure he didn't qualify for the title. He offered her his hand. "My name's Tak. I'm the master's other apprentice."

     She stared in terror at his outstretched hand, then timidly reached out to take it. "Lyssa," she whispered. Her fingers were slender, cool and moist, and her feather light grip sent an electric chill up Tak's arm. He'd almost forgotten what the touch of female skin was like. Suddenly he was flushed and feverish, his heart pounding as if he'd run a mile.

     She gasped in fear, snatching her hand back and retreating against the wall, her eyes wide and staring. "It's all right!" cried Tak, starting forward, then retreating again when it only increased her fear. "I'm not going to hurt you."

     He waited for her to say something, but she just stared at him, her hands at her white throat, her fingers twined through each other like a nest of snakes.

     "You're not here willingly, are you?" he ventured, feeling a sudden anger at Philip for causing such fear in such a pretty girl. Someone barely older than he was. "What did he threaten you with? To put a curse on your town? To destroy your crops with bad weather or a plague of locusts? He's not that powerful. Any soldier with a sword could send him packing. You've no need to be afraid of him, or of me."

     She just stared. "You do believe me, don't you?" She nodded slowly, although she clearly didn't. Tak sighed, and because his presence was clearly distressing her he backed away, towards the door. "I'm sorry to have disturbed you. Please..." He gestured towards the chair, but she made no move towards it.

     He turned to leave, the book he'd come for forgotten, and almost crashed into Philip on the way in. "Ah, my little sweetcheeks," he grinned, putting a friendly arm around his shoulder. "I see you've met out guest. Lyssa, this is Tak. Tak, Lyssa."

     She curtsied again, without taking her eyes from them. "My Lords."

     "Isn't she delightful?" cried Philip, crossing the room to take the girl by the arm and pull her closer. "Just what we need to brighten up the place. The female touch, eh, my girl?" He put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close against him. She trembled with fear and a tear rolled down one cheek.

     "You're scaring her!" cried Tak angrily. He pulled her away from him and put himself firmly between them. "Leave her alone!"

     Philip looked startled for a moment, then grinned again. "She's just shy," he said, trying to get past him, but he blocked his way. "She'll soon get used to us. Give her a couple of weeks and she'll settle right in."

     "Weeks!" gasped Lyssa weakly. "You said a few days! Just a few days!" She burst into tears. Tak turned to comfort her, but Philip pushed roughly past him and shoved him aside.

     "There, there my dear," he said, putting his arms around her and holding her close. She made no move to push him away but trembled piteously. She knew there was no escaping her fate.

     Tak knew it as well, and knew he couldn't help her. Philip would only tolerate so much interference from his younger colleague before speaking the word that would bring him back under full hypnotic control and Tak wanted to avoid that if at all possible. So long as he had partial freedom he could at least try to make her stay as pleasant as possible. Besides, he was beginning to know Philip and knew he quickly grew bored with things. Before long he would probably tire of Lyssa and take her back home before choosing another bedmate. If he discovered that his use of her upset Tak, though, he might very well hang onto her longer, just to get at him.

     He forced his outrage over her treatment to the back of his mind, therefore, and tried to make himself sound reasonable. "She'll get used to it a lot quicker if you don't scare her so much. Why not give her some time alone to get used to the idea? If she's relaxed and enjoying herself when you take her to your bed you'll enjoy it much more yourself."

     Philip looked at him thoughtfully. "You know, that's not a bad idea? She can spend the day in the guest room. Perhaps I'll bring some of her stuff up from the village to make her feel more at home. What do you think of that, my dear?"

     "You said just a few days," she repeated, however. She seemed to be finding a bit of spirit from somewhere. "That was the agreement! You'd use your magic to help my father, and in return I, I... Just for a few days, you said!"

     "But how many is a few, eh?" chuckled Philip. "A few can mean anything. You'll be staying here until I say you can go, and only I can help your dear old father, if what I get from you is worth it." He stared firmly at her. "It will be worth it, won't it? You will do your very best to make me happy?"

     She stared hopelessly up at him. "I will do what you want me to do," she whispered.

     "You'll do your very best?" insisted Philip. "Put your heart and soul into it?"

     She dropped her eyes, tears leaked from between her eyelids. "I will do my best."

     It was as much as Tak could do to watch her submission without charging to her rescue, but he held himself back, knowing that he could only make things worse for her. "What's wrong with your father?" he asked.

     She gave no answer, so Philip answered for her. "The poor old soul's been taken ill, very sudden. Lucky I was in the village or I'd never have known. I can cure him, you see. A simple bit of magic, but some of the ingredients are very rare and precious. Her family is poor. Far too poor to pay for the treatment, so we agreed that they would pay me another way."

     Tak was shocked. "Her own father gave her to you?" He tried to imagine his own father giving Laira up for prostitution. He would have died first. He'd have found another way. Something. Anything!

     "He had no choice," giggled Philip. "His suffering was quite unbearable. You couldn't bear to see him writhing and crying out, could you, my dear?"

     A horrible thought struck Tak. "You say it came on suddenly? How suddenly? I've never heard of a disease like that, and me and my family had just about everything going."

     "It's particular to this area. Something to do with the water hereabouts."

     Tak spoke to Lyssa. "Have there been other instances of this disease? Have many recovered?"

     "No more questions!" snapped Philip in sudden anger. "Our guest is tired and needs to rest. Trobo!" The houseman was there as if he'd been hovering in the corridor, waiting for the call. "Show our guest to the restroom."

     The houseman gave the slightest of bows and gestured the girl towards the door. She left with quiet dignity and Tak's heart went out to her. She had come willingly after all, more or less, and despite being terrified of what she knew awaited her. The courage of the girl!

     Philip had poisoned her father, of course, or put some kind of spell on him, and Tak suddenly hated him with all his heart and soul. To do such a thing to an innocent family! Did Lyssa know that her 'host' was the cause of her father's suffering? She must at least suspect. The timing was too perfect for it to be a coincidence, but she had to pretend to be ignorant in case Philip, in his anger, refused to keep his promise.

     The rage built up inside him, but suddenly it was coupled with a desire for the girl to match Philip's. His hand still tingled with the gentle touch of her fingers, and he knew that if he lifted it to his face he'd be able to smell the delicate scent of her perspiration on his skin. He longed to feel the softness of her body, to crush her against him and know the kind of love that had created him.

     The power of his lust shocked and shamed him, dampening down the fury and hatred that had turned his hands into fists. Was he really any better than Philip himself, to be having thoughts like these? Yes! Because he was only thinking it, while the older apprentice was actually doing it.

     It occurred to him that, great though his hatred was, it must be as nothing compared to the hatred being felt by other members of the girl's family. A quiver of fear ran through him as he imagined all that hatred and anger and resentment festering down in the valley, all directed at the castle and its occupants.

     "Philip," he said quietly, "what would you do if the whole population of that town came marching up the road carrying burning torches and ropes to hang us with?"

     Philip gave a dismissive laugh. "They wouldn't dare! They're sheep! You should see the way they run and hide when I walk down the street! besides, I'm helping her father. They should be grateful."

     "But what if they're not?" prompted Tak. "What if they somehow got the idea into their heads that you'd done something bad? Really, really bad?"

     The elder apprentice snorted with contempt. "Our master would see them coming and destroy them. He could wipe them all out with a single spell."

     "But he's not here at the moment, is he? Philip, our master brought both of us from countries hundreds of miles away. He's always been very careful not to do anything to upset the locals. He knows the dangers. What's he going to think of what you've done when he gets back?"

     "I'm helping her father!" insisted Philip, his voice rising with anger. "They understand that!"

     "I wouldn't be surprised if they understand more than you give them credit for."

     Tak stormed out of the room before his feelings caused him to lose control of himself. He shook his head in disbelief. Could the man really be as stupid as to believe what he was saying? Did he really think a whole town could be terrified into submission by two apprentice wizards, the most powerful of whom could only cast a handful of minor spells a day? How would the townspeople react when the 'few days' had elapsed and the girl hadn't been returned to them?

     In his minds eye he could already see the mob pouring in through the ruined sections of the outer wall. Swarming across the outer and inner baileys to attack the keep itself. He could see the stupefied surprise and disbelief on Philip's face as the great iron barred door shook under the blows of a battering ram, unable to comprehend how the 'sheep' had found the will to rise up against them.

     It might not happen, of course. The townspeople probably didn't know that Molos Gomm was away from the castle. In fact, they might think that there were now two powerful wizards in residence. They'd seen Gal-Gowan with his retinue of soldiers passing through on their way to the castle, after all, and they'd seen the soldiers returning without their master, who could only have been a wizard. Fear of the power of the two wizards might hold them in check.

     Even if that were so, though, Molos Gomm certainly wouldn't be pleased to learn how they'd endangered his security while he'd been away and he would probably vent his anger on both of them. Tak knew that he had to do something! He had to think of something! But what?

     He couldn't go against Philip openly, the hypnosis spells made sure of that, but so long as they were only at half strength he had considerable freedom of movement. Could he leave the castle, go into the town? He felt the shackles around his mind tighten at the very thought, but that was because of the prohibition against any attempt to escape. He wasn't trying to escape, though. He intended to come right back. Would the hypnotic control he was under allow him to leave if he knew he would be coming right back?

     He wouldn't know until he tried, but he knew that he had to try. Not just to save himself but to save Lyssa. Her bravery, her willingness to undergo the ordeal, just made him more determined to see her safely back with her family.