Nimueh marched up the steps to the tower prison. The guards looked at her fearfully, making no move to block her path. "Get out of my sight," she spat at them. There was little use in having the guards there. She would have to have a word with Helena about how powerful her magical traps were. The men scampered away, looking like bugs avoiding the light.

Once they were gone, Nimueh used her magic to open the door. Scrunched as close to the wall as she could get was Nimueh's Guardian prisoner Elisa. The girl's blonde curls covered her pretty face from view, but her hands were covered in scratches and blood as she tirelessly wove the nettles into shirts. Nimueh knelt in front of her. "Look at me, Elisa," she ordered.

Elisa raised her dark blue eyes to Nimueh. No matter what threats the sorceress made against her, she would utter no words that could bring about the end of her brothers. It would have been impressive if it hadn't been so pathetic. Nimueh had learned long ago that she could not rely on anyone. It would be a painful lesson Elisa would learn as well when she was burned at the stake. "Your execution is coming," Nimueh said. "Call your Guardian brother here and I'll make his death clean and painless. And I'll simply allow you to die in your sleep. Wouldn't that be better than being slowly burned to death?"

Although tears gathered in Elisa's eyes, that stubbornness remained. She shook her head and looked back down at her work. Although Nimueh was sorely tempted to rip the shirts from her grasp, she didn't know how the magic would react if she attempted to destroy them. "Insolent girl," she sneered, slapping Elisa. "You have doomed yourself to a painful death!"

It was infuriating how Elisa didn't even meet Nimueh's eyes. The unfortunate thing was that if Nimueh wanted to snare Elisa's Guardian brother, she needed the annoying girl as bait. She grabbed Elisa's hand and squeezed it over the nettles, forcing them to dig into her skin. Then she shoved Elisa against the wall and marched out, slamming the door shut behind her. She needed to act quickly. Merlin had entered The Story; although she was pleased that he had survived the poison, she didn't need him muddying her plans. The good news was that he'd brought the children with him. She would be able to make good use of them.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Eve blew her hair out of her eyes as she ducked behind a pillar. The servant disguise seemed to be working pretty well. Nobody had even given her a second look. The negative part of it was that Gwaine had been whisked away by some overpowering manservant, leaving her alone. Never before had Eve ever considered that she would find herself in the role of a servant. It seemed ... demeaning. However, if that was what it would take to save her mother, she would endure it.

Someone grabbed her arm, and she turned, horrified that she'd been caught. An impressively-sized, middle-aged woman stood there, her free hand on her hip. "Sie!" she bellowed. Then she proceeded to launch into a tirade in German.

Eve stared at her blankly, having no idea what she was saying. The woman shoved a tray of food into her arms and pointed back behind her. Then she pushed Eve forward, evidently thinking that she'd understood everything. Faced with the angry woman she couldn't understand, Eve proceeded down the hall and opened the first door she came upon. A flight of stairs met her, and she proceeded to mount them.

The woman still bellowed at her, but she ignored her, figuring that she wasn't moving fast enough for her. Taking the stairs as quickly as she could, Eve rounded up to the top of the tower. A metal door awaited her. Had she not still been thinking about the servant's anger, she would have noticed the bars covering the window.

Laying a hand on the door, Eve was surprised when it creaked open. She was even more surprised when she saw the girl huddled close to the wall. They both stared at each other for a moment before Eve impulsively stepped forward.

The girl's eyes widened and she shook her head, clamping a hand over her mouth. Before Eve could fully translate what the girl was trying to tell her, the door slammed shut behind her. Eve swung around, putting the tray on the floor and shoving against the metal. It didn't give. "Oh, no," she breathed.

She was trapped.

. . . . . . . . . .

Lana swept a bow before King Hans. Merlin stood behind and a little to the side of her, confident in her abilities as a performer to gain them permanent access to the castle. If he hadn't known that Hans was under Nimueh's influence, it wouldn't have been evident. The young King was handsome and his green eyes were clear and rather innocent. Ashen-blond curls of hair swept over his forehead.

Lana smiled flirtatiously at Hans. "Sire, I am but a simple performer, but the opportunity to light up these dim halls with my music is almost too much to allow it to pass. I would be most grateful for the opportunity."

Merlin tried not to look too interested in what she was saying. After all, he would have heard all of her business proposals before, being her assistant. The girl didn't get enough credit from the others, though. She lied as easily as some people talked. Hans stroked the stubbly beard on his chin thoughtfully. "We could use some performers," he said after a moment. "Entertainment has been short in supply here. Do you sing? Dance? Play an instrument?"

"All three, Your Majesty," Lana replied. "I play the lute and a harp, in fact."

That brought a smile to Hans's face. "I knew somebody who played the harp beautifully," he said. The smile lowered into a frown, and Merlin had to conceal the interest in his eyes. The look of confusion that Hans had must have been related to the missing Elisa. Merlin sent the equivalent of a psychic poke into Hans's mind, hoping to bring the memory of Elisa back to him.

It didn't work, unfortunately. It would have been too easy, Merlin thought sourly. Hans turned his wandering mind back to Lana. "We would be delighted to have you perform tonight," he said decisively. "Would dinner suffice?"

"As long as I get a little, certainly," Lana replied with a cheeky wink. Merlin quickly looked away to conceal his surprise at her audacity. Surely the King wouldn't ignore the insult!

But to Merlin's surprise, the King threw back his head and laughed. "You certainly shall!" he told her with a grin. "And if your performance is as entertaining as your attempts to be allowed to play, it shall be quite the adventure tonight!"

Lana grinned in reply. "It shall be indeed!" she agreed. "Until then, Your Majesty."

As Lana led Merlin down the hall towards the doors to leave the throne room, he marveled at her easy manner and downright shocking behavior. If Merlin or even any of the other children had dared to speak to Hans in that manner, they would have been cast into the dungeon without a second thought. But the way Lana said it, with a mix of audacity and innocence, somehow made it alright. Not only had she not been punished for it, she had been rewarded for it! Allowed to perform before the court and the King himself!

Perhaps it was just because the King was under a spell. Or it was Lana's manner. She was extremely personable and sweet, if not a little childish. Whatever the case, they were now in the perfect position to find and rescue Elisa. The other children were Merlin's back-up in case something went wrong—which it usually did. He was confident that he and Lana together could handle whatever Nimueh or the stepmother of the swans could throw at them.

Had Merlin known that he wouldn't just have to rescue Elisa now, he probably wouldn't have been as confident.

. . . . . . . . . .

"Hold on to my hair!" Rampion ordered. She and Emrys were attempting to climb into a window in the castle. It was unfortunately two stories up, but with the inherent ability to control her hair given to her by her mother, it shouldn't have been so difficult. Well, it wouldn't have been so difficult if she hadn't had to drag Emrys with her as well. The sorcerer simply couldn't climb to save his life, which made her job even harder. Normally, she could have made her hair tie around the window sill above them and simply used it for support. However, with Emrys-the-unable along, she had to do something different. She chose to climb without the aid and wrapped her hair around Emrys. Alright, maybe she could have just wrapped it around his waist, but she secured his arms to his sides as well. No need to have him flailing around and making a mess of everything.

With Emrys secured, Rampion put her hands on her hips and considered the climb. It was nothing she hadn't done before. She'd climbed the tower that had been her mother's home previously many times. But that had vegetation and bad craftsmanship to help her. The castle tower had few jutting bricks and stones to help her along, which would make it difficult. She stuck out her lower lip as she thought. "Well?" Emrys said, shifting and trying to pull his arms free from the hair.

"Stop fussing," Rampion replied, not really paying attention to him. Then she put her hands on the wall and breathed slowly. "And if you say a word, I'm going to gag you with my hair as well." Oh, this is going to hurt. She started to climb.

. . . . . . . . . .

Merlin had left Lana to prepare in her room and had begun to explore. If he could question one of the guards, he could cast a memory spell and the man would forget that he'd ever been cross-examined by the sorcerer. Narrowing his eyes a little, he heard a German servant complaining bitterly. He wouldn't even have listened if he hadn't heard her say something about a "sassy raven-haired wench". Pressing himself against the wall, he listened to the woman speaking to her superior. "The girl, she ran up the forbidden tower stairs!" the woman said in German. "I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen."

Forbidden tower stairs, hmm? That could be a hint ... The woman's superior sounded doubtful. "I think you are making excuses," he told her.

"I'm not!" the woman insisted. "I'd recognize that girl anywhere. Those clear-blue eyes were impossible to mistake!"

Clear-blue eyes? Merlin felt a heavy feeling settle in his stomach. Why had Eve gone up the stairs? Even better, why hadn't she come to find him?

The superior's next words froze Merlin's blood. "Well, if she is in the tower, she won't be getting out. Lady Nimueh's traps will ensure that," he said. "We'd best go and fetch her."

Merlin had heard enough. His good mood was gone as he ran back to the room he'd left Lana in. How could he have been so stupid? Why had he let Eve and Gwaine go off on their own? Because of him, Rachel Andric's only child was in the hands of his worst enemy. God protect her.