The next time Anya opened her eyes it was dark outside.  There was no light in her cell except for the faint flickering of the light from the guard's room and the sliver of moonlight that managed to reflect into her room.  She realized that she was hungry.

Using the scant light Anya managed to find not one but two trays of food.  Someone had brought her supper.  Anya wondered if it had been Ildri and was glad to have been spared seeing her if it had been.

Anya carried the newer tray back to her cot and ate in the dark.  The food was surprisingly good.  Missus Allendale seemed willing to make decent food for prisoners.  It made Anya feel even worse.

Since Anya had slept most of the day, she found herself unable to go back to sleep.  She wandered around her cell in tight circles, and tried hard not to agonize over all the problems looming over her.  Every time she managed to divert her mind away it circled straight back to her siblings or Thorne or her lord and lady or the king's prison.

The guard came around the corner carrying a lantern.  She could see by his face it was her first guard.  "Marvin?" she asked, just wanting to hear another human voice.

"Yeah?" he responded.  He sounded really tired.

"Do you have to stay awake all night?" she wondered.

He grunted what might have been in agreement.

"Do you like this job?"

"Yeah."  He shuffled off.

Anya nodded.  He obviously did not want to talk to her.  Normally she would leave him be, but being confined was incredibly nerve wracking.  She decided to try again.  "We are at Wildwood, aren't we?" she asked.  There was the smallest possibility that they were not.

"Yeah," his voice came from around the corner.

"Do you know how long I'm going to be kept here?" she wondered.  He probably would not know, or be willing to tell her, but it was worth asking.

"Until they get word from the king or until you confess."

"They sent a messenger?"

"Yeah.  It'll be a few days."

"Oh.  Well.  Thanks," she said.

Marvin grunted what might have meant anything.

Anya stood up and walked around.  She supposed that it was good to know that she at least had a few days left to live.  Of course those few days promised to be filled with guilt and persistent questioning.  But somehow, that her victim knew that she had no desire to harm him made it all seem a little less unbearable.

Anya lay down on the bed again.  She tried to think of some way to occupy the uneventful hours but was largely unsuccessful.  It was not until the first rays of the sun began to rise in the sky that Anya finally fell back to sleep.

* * * * *

It was the most horrible scene imaginable.  Anya had already done what she had to do and she arrived at Thorne's castle only to discover that he had already killed Damani and Kallie.  Thorne was nowhere to be seen.  Anya held their bodies in her arms and screamed her rage.  She would kill him, rip his body and tear the magic straight from his soul when she caught him.

* * * * *

Anya lay on the cot panting, her face wet and her heart aching.  It took her a moment to realize that it had all been a terrible dream.  Lord Wildwood was still alive, and so were her siblings.  Thorne enjoyed tormenting her too much to kill them off so quickly.  He would extract every ounce of sadistic enjoyment out of it.  It had just been her mind pulling out her worst fears.

Nothing would be worse than killing Lord Wildwood in vain.

Slowly Anya's heart stopped racing and Anya lay backwards.  She had a headache, whether from the nightmare or from prolonged exposure to the inhibition magic she was unsure.  All she knew was that she could not allow what she had imagined to become reality.

There had to be some way to thwart Thorne's plans.  Perhaps if she told them everything, they could discover Thorne's identity.  But if she told them, Damani and Kallie would bear his wrath.  It was impossible.

Yet so was killing Lord Wildwood.

Anya cursed under her breath.  It was always the same endless maze in which every direction led to a pitfall.

If only Damani and Kallie...

Anya was instantly angry at herself.  Had she truly wished for even a moment that her precious brother and sister did not exist?  She was selfish, and horrible.  They were worth more than all the pain that she might have to endure for their safety.  It was not their fault that Thorne had dragged them all into this.

It was all Thorne's doing.  Lord Wildwood was wrong when he said she did not truly want to kill anyone because Thorne was the one she really wanted to kill.  She imagined what she could do to him if the twins were safely away from him.  She would be happy to see him dead.  There would be such relief at his demise.

A part of Anya knew that she should be disgusted at her dark desires, but most of Anya did not care.  Thorne deserved to suffer for his crimes.  A quick death was probably too good for him.

The guard came around the corner.  He was shorter and far uglier than Marvin.  Anya thought that it was probably the one named Samson.  Anya ignored his presence.

"Push out your trays," the guard said in a slow voice.

Anya got up and pushed the two old trays out under the bars with her foot.  She kept the new tray that looked as if it contained her breakfast.  She then sat on the floor and started eating.  Samson carried the trays out of sight.

A short while later Anya lay on her back on the floor.  The dungeon was surprisingly clean and even the straw on the floor seemed not to be too old.  Anya looked around the tiny chamber.  She started counting stone bricks on the ceiling, then on the walls.  She counted the bars of her cage, and she moved the straw on the floor into elaborate designs.

Anya could not focus for long on any task.  She felt like screaming.  How many more days would she be locked inside the small room?

Then the monotony of her cell was broken by a shadow covering the window.  Anya's first thought was that someone was walking by the tiny window, but as the shadow grew deeper, Anya moved to her feet to see what it was.  Could Sabin be coming?  He had no way of knowing where she was.

There was a sound of light flitting, and the shadow moved away from the window.  It took Anya a moment to realize that a piece of parchment had been dropped inside the room.

Anya was afraid that she knew all too well what it was.  What more could he want with her?

Dearest A.S.,

Word of your situation has reached my ears.  Initially I was very displeased.  However, I do believe that your failures are not due to a lack of effort or innovation on your behalf.  I found myself disappointed to consider losing such a valuable tool as you.  Fortunately, I have thought of a way to redeem the situation if you manage everything well.  Consider the following your new orders and task.

You will confess everything and cease your attempts on Lord Wildwood's life.  You will do whatever is necessary without revealing my identity to regain the trust of those at Wildwood.  When pressed, you will name the one manipulating you as Lord Reaumur.  He is the villain who lent your family into deep debt and then forced you to attempt to murder Lord Wildwood.  When you attempted to run, he had your siblings kidnapped.  You don't know where they are and he is holding their safety hostage.  Feel free to express as much fear of him as you are able.  Some at Wildwood will have great sympathy for your sad story.  I have engendered collaborating evidence which will implicate him nicely, and you can be the crowning witness against him.

I and your young siblings have great faith in your capabilities and the new plan.  Do not fail us.  I will contact you with additional information at a later date.

Your humble servant,

T.           

Anya read and reread the note.

She could not believe the words before her.  She had thought she would at least be useless to him now.

Would Thorne ever cease his vile manipulations?  Could Anya ever be free?  It seemed not while either of them were alive.  She felt the familiar tingling as the words on the note faded away.  She stuffed the blank parchment into her pocket.  She could not really identify the feeling of disappointment.  She had thought that it was over.

She had known instantly that she would have to follow Thorne's new plans.  If she did not he would simply threaten her brother and sister and it would be the same as every other time.  At least his new plan did not involve her directly murdering anyone, but what else might he ask?  Was he going to force her to spy?  Surely he had other spies in the castle who were less compromised, such as the person who had dropped the note.  Or had that been Thorne himself?

If it had and he had been so close, perhaps she could have hurled the ignition potion at him.  If she missed, he would know that she wished to kill him.  And, even if he did die, what would happen to Damani and Kallie?  Were they locked up in a room somewhere alone, where they might starve to death?  Or might they have caretakers who had instructions to kill them if Thorne did not return?  Or were they locked up in a cell much like the one that Anya was inside?

Even if Thorne was right in front of her, Anya was not free to act.  Her hands were tied.

Anya forced herself to stop thinking about the things that were out of reach.  She needed to plan for what she would say.  It seemed too easy.  The truth.  Except that she would once more protect Thorne.

And blame Lord Reaumur.  Anya did not want to lay the blame on him, but she could not deny that it would be far easier than trying to kill Lord Wildwood.  Lord Reaumur was not like Lord Wildwood.  He was not the worst nobleman, but he was far from the best.  His people were taxed high.  He was the one who had allowed for her father to borrow himself and his children into financial ruin.  None of this would have happened to her if Lord Reaumur was a more responsible or charitable lord.  He was indirectly responsible for all her problems with Thorne.

That did not make framing him the right thing to do, of course, but it did make it far less painful.  He probably would die a traitor's death.  She felt guilty for that, but once again Thorne had left her little choice.  Thorne was likely now using Anya to cover up his crimes.  It was not fair that all the blame would fall on Lord Reaumur, but Thorne and life itself had taught Anya well that existence was often not fair.

Anya wondered how she should introduce the idea of supposedly confessing everything she knew.  She could not let them find out about her new instructions.  It would probably seem odd, so she would have to figure out a reason that she changed her mind.  Anya decided to wait for someone to come and question her again.  It would likely seem more natural.

Anya decided just to figure it out as she went, the next time someone arrived to interrogate her.