Kieran was furious when he woke up on the stone floor of the temple. His brother and the witch were both gone, and he only the body of the idiot who used to work for him as company.

He was angry and confused, which he disliked immensely. How had his idiot brother gotten the better of him? He was so much more powerful than his brother, and yet, his brother had knocked him out before Kieran had time to do anything in defense. How was that possible?

Kieran was annoyed when he realized the problem. He had underestimated his brother, just as he had underestimated the witch, and he'd paid the price.

Fine. He would not make that mistake again. The witch wasn't leaving for a week, there was plenty of time.

He still had the mess to clean up at headquarters, so he took out his frustration on the idiots who let his pet kill herself. That helped. And then he had their replacements clean up that mess while he sipped brandy. That helped too. Fear was an excellent motivator in the workplace.

He took some time after that to choose a new pet, and then decided to spend the night at headquarters. His quarters there were his little home away from home. And when he returned to the palace late the next morning, he felt refreshed and ready to decide on a new way of getting the witch.

He went to his office and took the report from the people watching Donovan and the witch. He hadn't been able to have them tailed all the time, but he got the highlights. There was nothing significant to report. His idiot brother put out a story about a "riding accident" and said the witch was confined to her rooms to recover. That was fine, so much the better that Kieran knew where she was.

He skimmed the rest of the reports on the various people he liked to keep tabs on ministers, nobles, his parents. He was ready to put them aside when he saw something that caught his eye on the report about miscellaneous items that might be of interest.

Court Physician's temporary substitute arrived from the city yesterday afternoon.

Court Physician.

Kieran gritted his teeth.

If the substitute physician had arrived, then the regular physician must have left. And the regular physician was Alec Drake, and Alec Drake was both one of Donovan's people and the son of the Duke of Worthingham.

He slammed his hand on his desk in frustration.

The witch was gone.

He had not thought his brother would send her away early. He knew that his brother was weak and foolish and "loved" the witch. So, he did not expect that his brother would let her leave even if she was engaged to someone else. He would not have done that for someone he wanted.

It would be problematic to get her while she was at Worthingham. That blasted Duke had entirely too much power. He added that to his mental list of things to fix when the time came.

But it might not be too late to catch the witch on the road. He'd send orders to the Trackers in that area. She may not have gotten away just yet.

But if she did get away, he'd have to put that particular venture aside for the moment. That was irritating, but it was all right. The chase would continue.

As a child, Kieran loved chasing games. He didn't play them frequently because the other children didn't like him, but his brother would invite him every so often. Kieran liked chasing games more than he disliked his brother.

Kieran always wanted to be the one doing the chasing; he did not enjoy being the one who was chased. But he loved chasing the other children and listening to their shrieks. Sometimes, he would even let the other child slip through his grasp on purpose, just so the chase could continue.

He thought of Marjorie. She had been his in the end. He wasn't sure how yet, but he was sure that eventually Donovan's witch would end up chained to his desk, just like her. Perhaps he'd have a special collar made for the occasion.

Kieran was a very patient man. And he remembered that sometimes the best part of a chase was when the prey escaped at the last second, so the game could go on.

—

A/N: That's a wrap on book one! Thank you so much for reading. Please vote and comment so I know what you think.

What to know what happens to Maren now that she's left the palace? Check out Book Two: The Love of a Wielder asap!