MEMORY

Ki-ensha was the daughter of Lord Hurann and Lady Bo-kushu. They lived in Castle Genn, which was situated on the largest piece of land in the world. On Hemmtu, Ki-ensha's world, there were no kings or queens, that fashion faded out long ago. Now there were Lords and Ladies who own pieces of the planet, called realms. One of Ki-ensh's best friends lived on the islands of Vishra-dome and her parents owned most of the seawaters on the planet. Most were happy with their realms, and the people who lived in them had good lives.

But there was a man who wanted more than his fair share, and proceeded to attack and invade the realms about him. The others, of course, did not like this and pushed him back so far, that now it was the smallest land about. And Ki-ensha's great-grandparents were the ones who had been attacked the most and so they gained most of the realm.

The man, who owned that now small piece of land, had children, and though they weren't actually evil, they did have a lot of crazy hobbies. His son, for example, sat up a tree with the squirrels every second day of the week to discuss the goings on in the world. The children did get a little less crazy after that, the same with their hobbies, till there was almost no craziness left. But the one thing that still stayed the same was the determination to do whatever it is they wanted. They would do anything to get their ends. The present day owner had had a father who collected odd magical objects, sometimes illegally, and taught his son about magic from as young as he could read. Now, this was unheard of in Hemmtu. Children who possessed the gift were not to be taught until they turned eighteen. The father died recently from a powerful spell backfiring. No one knew much about the son.

Ki-ensha's parents were also sorcerers, so it was obvious she had the gift. And she was very impatient to use it. She was now seventeen and her patience had finally hit rock bottom. Her parents still wouldn't let her learn magic!

She grumbled about it indignantly as she crept down the stairs to the library. She hadn't found the books on magic yet, but she was sure to do so eventually.

The stairs creaked and she winced. They had to fix that. She continued down to the first floor and hurried towards the great library.

From high windows, moonlight filtered in, plunging the world about her into half-light. She did even dare to use a candle in case the guard saw her. Her bare feet made only a swish-swish sound on the thick red carpet. The stone walls held brackets, void of light for now it was much too late for anyone to be up except the night watch.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she reached the library doors. She opened them just enough to let her squeeze through into the room beyond.

The walls about the room were covered from ceiling to floor in shelves, with massive tombs upon them. Sliding ladders help you move about. There were also tall shelves that stood in rows across the room with yet more books on them. The wall where the door was to be found had no books, but many comfy armchairs beside desks with lanterns on them.

Ki-ensha sighed and began her work. She had been searching since she was fifteen, and only now knew that the books were not on any of the shelves on the floor or on the right wall of the library. Two more immense walls to search. She sighed again and pulled her red hair out of her golden eyes and picked up a lantern. She lit it and began walking back and forth across the far wall, searching for anything that might have something in it about magic.

Hours passed and her eyes kept blurring. Nothing, nothing, and more nothing! She was just about to give up, go to bed and wait till tomorrow night, when she saw it.

A musty old book with the words Thyta-Abadda-Chysteria scrawled across it's side. The words suggested that it was an ancient history about magic. Dull and boring to be sure, but it would be about magic.

Eagerly she grabbed it. But it wouldn't come off the shelf! She pulled and tugged, but nothing would move it. She sat down on the floor before it, dismayed at coming so close yet being unable to get it.

"You, my friend, will come off that shelf if it is the last thing I do!" She said to the book.

And she began to pull at it again. Nothing happened. The book did not come out. She sank to the floor again exhausted, and banged her fist on the book angrily.

Suddenly the book slid back into the shelf and part of the wall opened silently to reveal a secrete room.

"Yes! Yes! I've found them! I've found them! I'm gonna do magic!" She whispered in a sing song voice. She did a little jig.

She went through the door, which closed behind her, and stared at the books piled before her. Magic history, magic theory, magic lessons, everything she'd ever need was here! She stared for a long time and then picked up one of the books.

"Ehem," said a voice behind her. "Hello Ki-ensha." She turned slowly, her heart, which had been so light a few moments before, now plummeted down like a rock into the souls of her feet. There were her parents, standing in their night ware with the secrete door closing behind them, looking very mad indeed.

Ki-ensha sat on her bed, glaring at the locked door in front of her. Her parents had set a spell on the secrete door to tell them if it was opened. They slept on the ground floor and so they had gotten there very fast. Now she was grounded and not aloud to leave her room except for dinner. The maid knocked on the door and unlocked it.

"Supper's ready, miss," she said, curtsying low. "If you'll follow me."

Ki-ensha followed the maid moodily down the stairs to the dinning room. Hurann sat at the head with Bo-kushu on his right. Ki-ensha sat on his left without looking at them and stared at her plate.

"Ki-sha, dear," Bo-kushu said. Ki-sha was her mother's nickname for her. Ki-ensha hated it. "It really is for your own good. If you had only waited a year…now we have had to move them to another house entirely. Why couldn't you have waited?"

The blood was pounding in her ears. Sure, they get to make all the rules! Stupid rules. Ki-ensha made an indistinct noise in her throat at her mother's question. She wanted to learn magic right now!

"Ki-ensha," her father started. He was going to lecture her again.

"I'd really rather not hear what you have to say, father," she snapped.

"Ki-sha!" Her mother looked shocked. "Don't speak that way to your father!"

"Why not?" Ki-sha yelled, loosing her temper completely. "Why shouldn't I learn magic now? Why should I listen to you telling me again and again that I'm not old enough? I'm seventeen! I see no reason why I shouldn't…"

"Well I do!" Her father roared, silencing her. "You are irresponsible, disobedient, and obviously out of control! Go to your room! No supper!"

Ki-ensha jumped up and stormed out of the room. Her maid hurried behind her as she pounded up the stairs and slammed her door. The maid locked it.

"That's it! I've had it!" Ki-ensha muttered angrily to herself. "I'm leaving!"

It was night again. The moon was hidden behind the clouds. All the better for sneaking.

She had packed herself a few changes of clothes in a leather satchel. She didn't have time to steal some food from the storerooms, but she did have some money. She wore a travelling dress, a sturdy pair of boots and a heavy cloak.

She was sure her parents hadn't placed any spells on her door because they didn't know she had learned to pick locks. A nearby village that Ki-ensha liked to visit held plenty of playmates for her. One of the boys had taught her the art of lock picking.

She grinned as she heard that satisfying click of the lock as it yielded to her. She swung her satchel over her shoulder and slipped silently downstairs, skipping the creaky one. She left through the back door in the kitchen, grabbing an apple along the way. She picked that lock too and disappeared into the night.

Up in her room, two masked men had made it to top of the trellis that hung outside Ki-ensha's window. They peeked in to make sure she was asleep then crept over to the bed.

The mound under the sheet did not stir. One readied himself with a gag while the other prepared to pull back the sheets. He did and the other man leapt to stifle their victim's scream. But there was no mouth to gag. The man sat confused on top of a bunch of pillows.

"Where is she?" He growled to his partner. "Is this a trap?" The other went to the door to check outside.

"It's unlocked! No one's out there!" He exclaimed.

"Darn! She must have run off! Curse her three ways! Well, come on. She can't be far."

They left, leaving the room as they had found it.

Overall, Ki-ensha was feeling pretty good about herself. Sure she was tired and hungry, but she was free! The question now was where to go?

She couldn't go to the villages. They'd hand her right back. She might even have to leave her realm! Though she didn't fancy that idea, it would ensure that she wasn't returned before she was ready to be.

She munched on her stolen apple and looked around. She was on a dirt path a few inches wide that sometimes disappeared completely into the underbrush. The tall thin trees made her nervous. As if, even though there were shoulder high bushes around her, that she was in the open. And she was, to the sky. But that wouldn't be a problem unless her parents sent out their hawks.

A twig snapped and she jumped. Just an animal. Like a raccoon. But she quickened her pace anyway.

Suddenly the hair on the back of her neck prickled. She had the feeling some unseen predator was watching her. In the dawn light, there seemed to be things moving all around her, she didn’t know what was real or not.

A masked man jumped out of the brush and Ki-ensha screamed. It was cut short, however, by the gag that was stuffed into her mouth. Hands grabbed her gruffly from behind as she kicked out against her captors. She was bound hand and foot by strong cords and her pack was picked up by the other man.

"Finally," the man holding her bag said. "Now we can finish this!"

"Nice of you to drop by," said the other, swinging her onto his shoulder. "And you packed for us too! How kind."

"MuphMrrMumph!" Said Ki-ensha.

They jogged for a long time. Ki-ensha was bumped, bruised and very pissed off. Who were these guys? She couldn't see their faces because of the masks. What did they want? Other than her. Ransom? That made sense.

They just kept jogging and jogging. They were very well built. They must have been to carry her all this way. She never saw a village the whole trip. Not one. They didn't stop at night, but kept on jogging with lanterns lit.

Ki-ensha was very, very, hungry. Her stomach was constantly grumbling now. And still they didn't stop. Ki-ensha fell into a doze and then into a deep sleep.

"Thank you. Here's your pay," a cool voice woke her up. It was morning again.

She was lying in a bed in a very tall room hung with red velvet curtains that reached from ceiling to floor. She looked over at the door to see the two burly masked men receiving a pouch of coins each. The man who gave it to them had his back to her. He wore a dark blue cloak and his hair was a rich chocolate.

He closed the door and turned to her. In his hands he held a tray with steaming foods on it. Ki-ensha's mouth watered and she stared at the food.

"Good morning, Lady Ki-ensha," He said waling over to her. She continued to stare at the food. "Here, let me untie you."

Ki-ensha was still bound and gagged. The man put the tray beside her and spoke a few words. The cords disappeared. He untied the gag.

"I'm sorry, but the maids have somehow misplaced all the napkins in the house. Quite annoying. You can use this as your cloth," he said, holding up the gag.

Ki-ensha dove at the food, forgoing cutlery and eating with hands. She stuffed more food into her mouth before she finished eating the first bite.

"Hmmm. They didn't feed you then? Or are you always like this?" The man asked as she finished the last bite and lay back groaning happily.

"No food since yesterday morning," she sighed, clutching her stomach. Full at last.

"I see," he said.

Now that her veracious appetite was gone, she got a good look at the man. He was tall and not much older than herself. His chocolate bangs fell into his blue eyes. He wore a blue shirt like his cloak and black pants. He had obviously paid the masked men to capture her. But why? His food and the room said that he didn't need ransom.

He handed her the gag, which she used to wipe her face and hands clean. "Let me introduce myself. I am Takami, Lord of the Cagen Castle," he bowed his head.

Cagen Castle! But that was the small realm with the crazy people! Well, that explained why he had captured her. His new hobby? Perhaps he collected people like his father had collected magical objects. That or he wanted something other than money for a ransom. Too bad he was crazy. He was rather good looking. She was sure her island friend would have liked him. Ki-ensha had personally thought that the craziness had stopped with his father. Obviously not.

"Why am I here?" She asked but he shook a finger at her.

"No questions. Enjoy your stay," he turned on his heel to leave. She called out.

"Did you send the ransom note yet?"

"What ransom note?" He smiled and left, locking the door behind him. She was a prisoner.

No ransom? Why then? She wasn’t going to wait to find out. Ki-ensha chuckled to herself as she moved towards the door. Her bag was on a chair nearby and she grabbed it up. Good thing she had brought her lock picking tools with her.

She tried the knob experimentally and, of course, found it locked. So she got to work and after a few minutes the door was hers. She wondered if Takami, no that sounded wrong, Lord Takami, had put a spell on the door. Oh well. It's done now.

She pulled the door open. Spiders! Black widow spiders covered the floor, the ceiling, the walls! They surged and crept under and over their fellows. Constantly you could hear a clicking, skittering sound. They swelled and fell again. Now and them a spider would fall from the ceiling or walls to join the others on the ground. Not an inch of the hall could be seen except for the torches. Webs hung in masses like ghostly hands waiting to catch you.

Ki-ensha jumped back in alarm and had to clamp her hand to her mouth to keep from screaming. But the spiders never left the hall. Their scuttling stopped at the frame.

"Oh no," she moaned. "I'm not…I can't…I have to. An illusion! It's an illusion!"

Trying desperately to convince her self of this, she took a broom and carefully pocked the mass of creepy legs and bodies. The broom hit the floor and not one spider touched it. They went right through it, in fact.

K-ensha moaned again and gingerly put out a foot. Nothing happened. It felt like normal, solid stone. She stepped into the hall. They crawled around her, but never actually touched. She put her cloak's hood up because she didn't like the idea of black widows making a home on her head. Or a bite. Even if they were just an illusion.

She had to just concentrate on moving forwards. She couldn't look at her feet and she couldn't look at the ceiling. She made sure none of her touched the walls. The writhing mass of arachnids continued their endless journey. Looking for food, for Ki-ensha. She knew they weren't real, but it was so hard when they're right in front of you.

"Damn you!" She whispered. "Damn you Lord Takami to the roaring fires of the Netrah-gom-aski!" She hated spiders!

She had only gone about twenty steps when the area became normal again. She looked back but there were no spiders in the hall to her door. She shivered.

Suddenly she heard footsteps coming towards her. She hid in a niche behind a suit of armor. She held her breath as the servant passed.

She decided that it would be good to stick to the corridor with the niches and armor.

Ki-ensha began her silent travel. The corridor led all through the castle, obviously it was the main hall. So she supposed that if she followed it she would get to the main door. Eventually.

Every once in a while she would have to hide from passing servants. Every time she worried it was Lord Takami. He was truly crazy.

She passed hundreds of doors. The hall was never-ending! What if she was going in circles? She couldn’t tell because everything looked the same. There were no paintings, only armor and torches. On and on, she trudged forward. She was getting hungry again. Surely it was almost lunchtime. Then Lord Takami would be delivering to her room and no one would be there. He would set off the alarm and then she’d never get out of this castle! But then...

Finally! The door to the outside world at last! She had reached the end of this blasted corridor! Ki-ensha started running towards the big double doors, only to hear footsteps other than her own. She jumped behind the last suit of armor before the door.

Across from her was the only piece of furniture she had seen, a large red armchair, big enough for two people. And that’s what Lord Takami lowered himself onto.

"Ah, Ki-ensha. You may come out now," he said coolly. She hoped he was bluffing and stayed put. He began to smile. Ooh! She hated him! "I can see your bag."

She looked down. Her satchel had fallen over from behind the base of the armored statue. She picked it up and came around the armor. Lord Takami looked very smug. For a guy only a couple years older than her, he sure knew how to look like her parents.

"Now, you need to come with me. Our lunch is ready in the dinning room," He said standing up and walking over to her. "By the way, how did you get out? Picked the lock?"

Ki-ensha glanced at the door. She had to get out! Lord Takami was standing over her with his elbow extended to guide her away from the door. She hit him right across his smooth cheek and dashed for the door. She yanked it open. Outside, a lawn stretched before her. Black trees could be seen over the wall at the end. A large iron-gate was on the path from the door. A large amount of uncut brush lay before of the walls.

She ran forward and collided with an invisible wall. She pressed her hands against it, but it wouldn’t give. No!

Lord Takami began to laugh. Ki-ensha spun on her heel. He was right behind her, his pale cheek still pink from her slap.

"Come on," he said smiling. "Let us have our lunch." He took her wrist.

Ki-ensha struck out. She hit every part of Lord Takami that she could reach. She kicked, punched, and even bit him. Though she was a whole head shorter than he was, he still couldn’t keep her in control. But that changed.

He grabbed her hair and pulled her against him. She kneed him where it counts. He bit her bottom lip with his teeth till it bled and placed his other hand about her neck. Cold tendrils escaped from his fingertips to surround her neck with a kind of bendable steel collar.

He let go of her, holding some kind of invisible chain. She tried to get at him again and the chain stiffened, pushing into her windpipe and stopping her with her arms out stretched. She couldn’t reach him.

He could hold her off him and drag her about the castle as he pleased. At the moment he was dragging her to the dinning room.

Of course, she had a new goal. She was going to escape, yes, but in the meantime she was going to make his life as miserable as she could.

The chain was attached to his left wrist. Dragging can be done both ways.

They sat a chair apart at lunch at a long wooden table. Obviously he was sure she would try to hit him. Too right!

Servants placed their food before them. She waited for the right moment. He reached for his glass with left hand. Yes. He took hold of it. Ki-ensha yanked. The glass went flying, spilling it’s contents all over him. She grinned evilly.

But he simply wiped his face and continued eating. As well as he could.

You cut your food with you right hand. You shouldn’t switch hands so you can then eat with your right hand. It's rude. So his left hand held his fork.

He went for his steak. Ki-ensha yanked. He couldn’t eat a bite of it. So he switched hands. Now he couldn’t cut the steak to eat it. Lord Takami glared at her. She smiled.

So he got his servants to cut it up and he ate with his right hand. But Ki-ensha wasn’t finished with him yet.

They left the dinning room t take her back to her room. She took a fancy for going around each of the armored statues and refusing to budge when he tugged at her to go back. So he had to follow her around each of the statues or risk rocking them over. She did this all the way to her room. He was sure to be regretting the chain spell now!

By the time they reached her room, Lord Takami was looking very annoyed. He actually dared to get near her so he could take away the collar. As soon as he did, she went at him with tooth and nail. He pushed her off and walk/ran to the door.

"Samel! Come here," he said, his voice ringing with anger. She could hear him through the locked door.

"Yes Lord?" Samel asked. "What is your bidding?"

"Bring me a knife," Lord Takami snapped.

"Yes Lord," Samel said.

She could hear Lord Takami muttering to himself.

"Here’s your knife, Lord," Samel had returned. Ki-ensha felt nervous all of the sudden.

"Good. Now stand right here. That’s right. Hold out your wrist." She heard a man’s gasp. Samel! He had cut Samel’s wrist! The monster!

"Thank you, Samel. Oh, bind it up, man. It’s just a scratch. You’ll live," Lord Takami said calmly. "Ki-ensha, please open the door. It’s unlocked."

Suspicious, Ki-ensha slowly opened it. The spider illusion was gone and she could see him well enough. She put her hand up. There was the invisible wall just like the front door.

Lord Takami smiled. "You won’t escape this time, Ki-ensha."

"Watch me!" Snarled Ki-ensha. "@*%&#!"

"Mind your manners," he shook that finger at her. She sorely wished she could bite it off.

"When I find someone worthy of them!" She slammed the door in his face.

"There must be a way out of here!" She muttered to herself. She looked about.

She was still thinking when a servant came in with her dinner that night. Hah! He didn't dare to come in. She served breakfast, lunch and supper the next day too. Ki-ensha ate mechanically.

The room was getting dimmer. It was evening. She needed a lantern. Suddenly an idea came to her. The light had to come from somewhere! She pulled back a curtain. The window was large, but very, very high up. She tugged on the cloth. It was sturdy. She swung her satchel over her shoulder and began to climb. There were no handholds so she had to just wrap her hands and feet in it.

Moving at a painstakingly slow rate, she climbed up the curtain. Her arms ached from holding her weight up and more than a few times she almost fell. But she kept going.

"I have no luck when it comes to escaping," she said to herself. "Hopefully I can get away this time."

She reached the top and sat gratefully on the ledge. Then she began heaving the curtain through the window so she could climb down again. It was very heavy!

She finished getting it through and started climbing down again. She congratulated herself for the brilliant plan.

At the bottom, she raced for the bushes and dove in. The sky was overhung with rain clouds. The black trees locked menacing.

She looked about for a way over the wall and saw a gardener’s door covered in brambles. She couldn’t believe her luck! Carefully she pulled away the brambles, still getting very scratched, and picked the lock. Lock picking was a very handy skill to have!

The ground was covered in dead leaves. They crunched underneath her fleeing feet.

She had been running for about ten minutes when she heard something coming up behind her. Not again! She didn’t even glance behind her but quickened her pace. It got closer.

Claws grabbed her satchel, pulling her back. It wasn’t from the castle. The dragon, like a very large and toothy lizard, was orange with bright red eyes. It flicked it’s red tongue at her and picked her up. Ki-ensha froze with fear.

"Mmm! Huuumannn!" It spoke slowly. "Gooood fooood!" It turned and carried her off.

Ki-ensha had no idea where she was. Though she did know that wherever it was, it had an awfully large sandpit. The dragon was pushing her towards it.

"Why are you throwing me in there? You won’t be able to eat me then," Ki-ensha said shakily.

"Hoooome in piiit. Dragonnn folloooow fooood," it grinned and gave her an extra nudge.

She started sinking into the ground. The sand rose up to her knees and then to her hips. It climbed slowly to her chest. She looked back. The dragon was preparing to come in after her. It looked very happy.

"Well at least one of us is," Ki-ensha said. So she was going to die from suffocation. She never should have left her home. She was up to her chin now.

The dragon had decided that she was in enough that she wouldn’t be getting out. It slithered into the sandpit.

Instantly Ki-ensha heard hoof beats and saw a beautiful black stallion leap over her head. A hand reached down, grabbed her bag and hauled her out of the pit.

Lord Takami pulled her in front of him on the horse and wheeled about. They were racing back through the black treed forest. Back to Cagen Castle. Oh, well. It’s better than dying!

She felt his icy breath on the back of her neck as he whispered to her. "Maybe, you should have stopped trying to escape? But I guess not. I’ll have to find something to change your mind. Hmm?" She didn’t like the sound of that.

Ki-ensha had had a bath and was in another of her dresses. It was nice to get the sand off. Lord Takami had needed one as well after she had poured the sand from her bag over his head.

Now they were sitting in the library. He was looking through his books. Unlike her own library, his books were nearly all about magic. She had stopped beating him up to read.

It was a magic spell book. She was looking at the chapter on memory charms. It was great! Finally she could get her hands on some spells! It was saying that powerful memory spells should be done in the light of the moon. It also said that powerful magic needed to have some sort of back up power. She didn’t really understand that part.

Lord Takami was searching madly through the books. She had no idea what he was looking for and didn’t care. As long as she could read this one. He was pulling books out all over the place only to put them back, swearing occasionally.

Then he stopped. She looked up curiously. He was staring at the book in her hands. He strode over and wrenched it from her grasp and looked at the chapter she had been reading.

"Yes," he whispered, ignoring her indignant cry. "This is it!"

He threw the book aside and grabbed her wrist. He pulled her out of the library and down the hall. She would have hit him but he was walking so fast it was all she could do to keep herself on her own two feet.

"Where are you taking me?" She cried.

"To my tower."

"But, why? It’s night! I…I want to go to bed!" She said desperately.

"No. No time. It should be done tonight, while you’re still in the castle."

"I promise I won’t run away!" She was scared now. What was he doing?

"Too late," he threw a door open and began climbing up the winding stairs.

She stumbled behind him. He was still holding her wrist in an iron grip. They had reached the top. He opened the door there and threw her inside.

The room was black. She couldn’t see a thing. The door closed behind her. She felt his hand grab her shoulder and hold her there. She felt the cold, curved edge of the back of a sickle cut away the strings that held her dress together. It fell away, leaving her wearing only her under-dress.

She panicked and pushed his hand away. She ran into the blackness only to slam her head and knee into a wooden post. She crumpled to the floor near to unconsciousness.

Black drapes were pulled away and the window was flung open. Lord Takami picked up Ki-ensha and placed her on the canopied bed. He placed a hand on her forehead and knee. Cold magic healed her, but the need for sleep came instantly. He leaned over her. His lips and fingers sought out her flesh. She couldn’t stop him. Her eyes closed.

She woke. Her head rested on Takami’s chest. Why had she ever thought of leaving him? She couldn’t remember.

She looked down at her left arm. There was a pretty little mark on it. It shifted and turned. How’d it get there? Oh, yes.

She had been half-asleep. He had picked her up and carried her to the window. He had set her on the ledge. The moon shone directly on her. He had taken the sickle and made the mark, muttering all the time. Then he had closed the window and taken her back to the bed.

She looked up at his face. It was a lot nicer when he slept. No problems like her bothering him there. He was at peace.

She brushed his bangs out of the way and he woke up. He actually smiled down at her.

"You won’t be running away today, right?" She shook her head. He laughed. "Good. It worked. I could have tortured you instead, you know. The back up power would have been the same. But…I think that this was the better choice." Ki-ensha nodded, he must have put a memory spell on her. She didn’t seem to care.

"I’ll send breakfast up to you," he said, getting up and pulling on his shirt. He grabbed his cloak off a chair and walked towards the door. He paused. He turned back and kissed her first. There was a funny gleam in his eye. In her old state, she would have thought it was a crazy gleam. But now she wasn’t so sure. She didn’t know what he was thinking now.

"I’ll see you at dinner. I’ll bring that up too," he said and left.

After he left, Ki-ensha had to try to keep herself busy. But the fact was that the tower really didn’t have anything to do.

There was a chair, a bed, a dresser (a very messy one!), a desk with paper ink and pen, and a window. That was it.

So she busied herself with organizing the dresser. By the end, the stuff fit in almost half of the drawers and she could put her few things in there too.

By that time, lunch had arrived. Now she had to find something to do for the rest of the day. If only she had a book. The maid cleared away the lunch dishes.

Then she noticed the sickle sitting on the desk. It looked very sharp. It was very sharp. She looked over at her ruined dress on the floor. She should get the maid to take that away too. Good thing it wasn’t her favorite.

She heard the door at the bottom of the stairs slam and jumped. The sickle cut her left arm. Right through the pretty design.

"Bummer," she muttered as the blood began to ooze out. Suddenly forgotten memories came flooding back to her. She remembered why she wanted to leave. But did she? Takami!

The blood was still flowing steadily. She ripped off a strip of her dress and tied it around her arm. Then she grabbed one of her long sleeved dresses and had just finished tying it up when Lord Takami came in.

"Hello. I wanted to bring you something to do," he said. Why was he being so nice?

"Thank you!" She said, taking the book in his hands. She made her voice drip honey.

"I’ll see you later than!" He practically skipped out the door. Definitely touched in the head. He spoke before he closed the door. "Aren’t you hot in that heavy dress? Better change it."

The book wasn’t magic, but it was interesting. It was the history of Cagen Castle. Fascinating bunch of loonies.

But she couldn’t spend all reading. She had to escape. But how? She couldn’t climb out of the window and it didn’t sound like he wanted her out of the room. Might get suspicious if she started walking about the castle. And besides, how was she supposed to get past monsters like the dragon?

She decided to take a look at her surroundings. The window ledge stuck out and there was an edge she could grab a hold of on the tower roof.

She pulled herself up and looked about her. The black trees went on for a while before rolling plains and mountains in the distance. She watched a pigeon land on the roof beside her and got an idea. She got her bearings and went back inside.

In the writing desk she found many blank sheets of paper. She wrote this message:

It was rather weak and silly, but then it was the best she could do on a moment’s notice. She rewrote it again on nine more pieces of paper, tied them with a bit of thread from her ruined dress, it was handier than it looked, and went back to the roof to wait for pigeons.

She was very good at catching birds by hand. Sometimes the village chickens would get out and she liked to help get them back.

She had tied the message to them all and chucked them in the direction of her castle. Hopefully one of them might get through.

She had changed into a lighter dress, though she made sure it had long sleeves. She believed that the symbol was definitely part of the memory charm.

Now she waited for her dinner. She read the rest of her book while she waited.

It came soon. Lord Takami came in with two plates of roast bird with spring potatoes on the side. It was delicious!

Ki-ensha had been hoping he would just go to sleep, but he had pulled her to him as soon as he had gotten into bed. She lay awake, fuming. How dare he touch her!

The window was still open and she could see the moon through it. She felt him stir beside her. He had gotten up. He came over to her side of the bed.

"Open you’re eyes, Ki-ensha," he said in a soft voice. "I know you’re awake."

She didn't move. He sighed and picked her up. He carried her to the window again. She was getting nervous. He had already preformed the charm hadn’t he?

"Did you enjoy your supper?" He said, his voice was icy now. "I can bring you more tomorrow. My huntsmen bagged ten pigeons today. All of them were flying in the same direction. Odd, isn't that?"

Now her eyes popped open. He knew!

"Did you get a scratch on your arm?" He smiled and started unwrapping her bandages. She had completely forgotten about them!

She began to cry. It was so frustrating! He was going to do it again. And this time he wouldn’t leave anything sharp for her.

He placed his hand over her cuts and they disappeared completely. He brought up the sickle. She tried to pull her arm away.

"Stay still. You might fall," he said. He put his arm around her and took her wrist to keep her in place. He made the cuts. Chanting words fell from his lips, too quiet to hear. She felt the spell work it’s way into her mind. She struggled harder, but it was no use.

"There!" He said. A new mark was on her arm. She gazed at it dimly. He placed his hand to her cheek. She turned to him, blank of any personal feeling.

He said; "This time was more powerful. But it will be back to normal potency by tomorrow. But you won’t be able to even think of picking up sharp objects. Sleep." She did.

Something must be wrong. Ki-ensha had been here three days and had been very good, yet Takami still ignored her. Why? He was so nice before, considering her attempted escapes, but he seemed to wince whenever he looked at her. He avoided her as much as he could. She was aloud to walk about the castle now, yet he was never there. She only saw him at dinner. He liked it before when she was like this.

Ki-ensha resolved to bring up the matter during dinner. Which wasn't far away. She went down to the dinning room early to wait.

He arrived silently and sat down without looking at her. She cleared her throat. There! He winced again! What was going on?

"Takami," she said. "When you spelled me before you seemed quite happy. What is different about this time that makes you so…so…fidgety?"

He looked rather startled. She waited patiently while servants cut her food for her. She couldn't hold a knife for the spell.

"Whatever do you mean?" He asked.

"Before, you seemed to think it was safe to act freely, so it seemed," Ki-ensha said slowly. "I am sure now that you were acting haughty because I expected it. Right?"

"How…" he started but she interrupted.

"When you wiped my mind of the reason I wanted to run away, it let me see you in a different light. Stop beating around the bush and tell me."

"Um. Enjoying your dinner?" He was actually nervous!

"Yes. Also, why did you kidnap me?" She asked.

"Oh, that," Takami waved a hand. "You see, my father was a collector of certain magical items. There were only a few things he needed for his collection to be complete. He asked me to finish it as his last wish. The items needed happen to reside in you realm. I needed a distraction so that your parents would be looking for you and not keeping a close watch on old, magical temples. I'm pretty sure they didn't know about the items, just knew that the temples were dangerous. So, anyway, I had you kidnapped. I worked great at first, they didn't watch the temples at all. But you were keeping me busy with all you running away and I couldn't finish my work. So when I first spelled you, I thought I could finally get this stuff taken care of so I could lead a normal life, and study the artifacts. They're really fascinating. But I…I didn't really like having to force you to obey my will."

So that was it. He wasn't a crazy bad guy after all. He was fulfilling a promise he made to his father when he died. Those kinds of things couldn't be taken for granted on Hemmtu. She understood completely. Kind of.

He looked relived to have gotten that out. He smiled and finished his meal. She ate but something was nagging her at the back of her mind. It seemed like there was more to his last words then it looked but she couldn't quite figure it out.

It was late when he knocked on the tower door. She woke to him standing over her holding something in his hand.

"If you'll come over here…" he gestured to the window.

Slightly confused, she got up and sat on the ledge. He rolled up her left sleeve and put his hand over the cut. It vanished and she was back to normal. But why had he done it. She knew now he wasn't crazy, kidnapping her was wrong yes, but a deathbed promise can't be taken lightly. Did he think that now she knew she wouldn't run away? She knew she'd still try.

"See this?" He said, showing what was in his palm. It was an emerald set on a silver circlet. The circlet was engraved with strange words. "It's the last item I needed to get. It is also for memory modifications. Easier to use and it's spell can only be broken by it. I don't need to keep you here anymore. You can go home, but I can't have you telling your parents on me."

"I'll keep my mouth shut!" She suddenly realized she didn't want to forget Takami.

He smiled sadly. "You come out of the woods, with no memory of where you have been? No. They would think of a memory charm and drag the information out of you. This ensures that doesn't happen."

"But I don't think I want to forget you," she whispered the confession quietly. She saw tears in his eyes.

"Me either," he whispered back. That was the meaning beneath those words at dinner. "Good bye, Ki-ensha of Castle Genn." He leaned in and kissed her one last time, placing the circlet on her head.

Ah, it was good to finally be learning magic! She leaned back in the chair with a new magic book.

When Ki-ensha had come stumbling back to Castle Genn, with no memory of where she had been, her parents went frantic. She had been watched from dawn till dawn the next day until the turned eighteen later that month. On the very minute of her eighteenth birthday, they started teaching her all the defense magic they could get their hands on. Then offense magic. Only now was she learning anything else. Her parents weren't worried at all now, thank goodness. If she was followed everywhere by a maid for one more day, she might consider suicide.

"Ki-shi!" Her mother called. "I have a letter for you!"

Ki-ensha sighed and got out of the comfy armchair. She went into the great hall. Her mother was standing there, holding an open letter in her hands.

"You have been invited to spend the week at Cagen Castle. Lord Takami has been studying the artifacts his father collected and thought you might want to learn a bit about them. It would be good for your lessons in history. I think you should go."

"Cagen Castle? Isn't that the crazy place?" Ki-ensha asked.

"Ki-shi! Lord Takami's father showed the last signs of that. Don't be so disrespectful."

"Fine, I'll go. Let me get my things," Ki-ensha sighed again. The book would have to wait. She walked off.

A day later she was knocking on the door to Cagen Castle. Lord Takami himself opened it. Ki-ensha was surprised. He could only be two years older than her. For some reason she had thought him much older. To be running a realm at twenty!

He smiled a dazzling smile and helped her in. She waved at the leaving carriage. A servant took her bag.

"I have prepared a special room for you," he said. "Follow me."

He led her down a very long hall to a door with a lot of steps behind it.

"What kind of host makes his guest sleep in a tower and have to climb up all these steps?" She muttered to herself.

The servant, who was rather red in the face after the climbing with her things, placed them inside the door.

"You missed dinner, but I had a late snack prepared for you," Lord Takami showed her a dish with fruits and tarts. She ate them gladly.

"Have a good night," he smiled and closed the door.

Ki-ensha settled down and drifted off to sleep.

Loud banging woke her. She pulled on her robe sleepily and opened the door.

"Hello. I wanted to show you something," it was Lord Takami. Her mother must have been wrong. Only a crazy would wake someone in the middle of the night to show them something.

"Can't it wait till tomorrow, sir? I'm very tired," She tried to stifle a yawn.

"Nope," he pulled her to the window and made her sit down. He pulled something from his pocket. It and an engraved, silver circlet with a large emerald on it.

"It's very pretty, sir. May I go back to sleep now?"

He ignored her and placed the circlet on her head. "Restore," he whispered.

Memories came rushing back. Filling the blank area where her time spent with him had been. She was wide-awake now.

Takami removed the circlet. He looked a bit unsure. "So, then."

She threw her arms around him. His lips found hers. He picked her up and carried her back to their bed.

They had a wonderful week. Oops, did I say week? I meant life.