SAND TRAP

VII

Mainu followed Torval's footsteps, heading down the hall and stairs towards the back of the castle. As he passed by some less-frequented rooms, he heard voices in a small study that Ipris had ignored completely on her tour. He stopped to listen.

"You don't seriously believe what you're saying, do you, Ris?" It was Virgo. Mainu carefully crept to the door, his curiosity overpowering all sense of reason.

"He's about my age, and he's not disgusted by me," Ipris replied, more solemn than usual. "Don't you think I should keep trying?"

Virgo sighed. Mainu heard some dice roll across a table. "He's only stopped complaining because you've been so insistent. I imagine he feels very awkward about it now." The prince wasn't wrong.

"Come on, Vir, this could be my last shot! Hardly anyone bothers with me anymore."

"And whose fault is that?" Virgo chuckled. The dice were tossed again. "You cannot expect normal men to like you when you're not a normal woman."

Ipris retorted, "Mainu's not normal either. And I like him."

"Do you? Or do you just like the idea of finally taking the throne?"

"No, I'm serious! He's cute and thoughtful, and he knows so much about magic! He's incredible!" Mainu swallowed and studied the ground.

"Well, don't be surprised when he leaves." Ipris hmphed and there was a short silence as the dice were slid around. "All right, you win," he said. A chair scraped against the floor. "I'm heading up."

"Goodnight," she muttered.

Mainu quickly kept walking down the hallway, but the door opened faster than he anticipated. Virgo blinked and held up a small lantern, squinting into the dark. "Speak of the devil."

Mainu put on his best confused face. "What?"

Ipris came to the door and brightened almost immediately. "Mainu, we were just talking about you!" she cried.

"Why?" Mainu said, since that seemed like the most obvious response.

The princess clearly hadn't thought that far ahead. She glanced at Virgo, who only smiled. "Your staff," she eventually offered. "What's it for?"

Mainu looked his staff up and down. "It's mostly for show. But I can use more powerful spells with it if I need to. It's enchanted."

"What kinds of spells?" Her usual excitement was absent. She was desperate to keep the subject changed.

He shrugged. "Whichever ones I need. It just helps me to channel my magic."

"Oh, okay." Virgo pressed some dice into Ipris's hand and slipped away with a yawn. "What are you doing out so late?" she asked, rolling a wooden die in her fingers.

"I was just getting some air."

Ipris smiled. "Can I come with you?"

Hesykhia's words rang in Mainu's mind. Deciding Ipris would be better off with him than alone, he replied, "Sure."

The gardens were remarkably well-lit by the moon that night. The wide-leaved jungle trees swayed in a silent, damp breeze as they walked down the central path, and when Ipris took Mainu's hand, he didn't have the heart to reject her. As they neared the desert area, he slowed down, though he wasn't entirely sure what he was on the lookout for. There certainly weren't any other people around that he could see, only sleeping camels and scampering armadillos.

Ipris took a hint that he didn't mean to give and stopped, turning to face him. Her face glowed in the moonlight. "It's beautiful out here," she whispered.

Caught off-guard, Mainu replied, "It is."

She stared into his eyes, and he looked away, scanning the sand for anything unusual. The moon wasn't quite bright enough for that, so he summoned some silvery magic to light the way and walked off the path, leaving Ipris's hand behind. Her smile fell. "Where are you going?"

"Torval likes the desert," he murmured cryptically.

"Wait, are you still investigating?" She trotted to catch up with him, eyeing the magic with interest. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Mainu ignored her. He was focused on a set of fresh shoeprints in the sand. Ipris came up next to him and looked down, confused. "Torval's been here," Mainu said, starting to follow the tracks. He walked slowly and methodically to avoid kicking up any dust.

She followed close behind. "How do you know?"

"I saw him."

"Then what do you need his footprints for?" she asked.

"I want to know where he went." He stopped suddenly, staring at the last set of light prints.

Continuing to walk ahead, Ipris suggested, "Inside?" Until suddenly, he heard the sound of rushing sand, and she wasn't walking ahead anymore. She didn't seem to be there at all.

Mainu looked up and his mouth dropped open. "Ipris?" There was no reply. Wide-eyed, he took a cautious step forward and immediately drew his foot back when the ground gave way under it. It was quicksand.

The next few moments were reserved for Mainu cursing the fates in every way he knew how. They had prepared him for this, in their ridiculous, roundabout ways, and he was furious. He stuck his staff deep into the ground next to him and kept one hand on it, considering his options, all of which seemed to involve him going in after the princess he was supposed to protect. He couldn't target her with any sort of magic when he had no idea where in the quicksand she was, and lifting the sand with any sort of force and speed risked slicing her in two.

Knowing every second wasted risked Ipris's life, he dipped his foot back in with the air of a child testing the temperature of water. Then, snapping one last insult to Hesykhia in particular, he slid his hand down his staff and let himself sink. Except it felt more like falling. He held the bottom of his staff for dear life, barely keeping his head above the sand. "Ipris!" he shouted. "If you can hear me, grab on!"

He stretched his already traumatized foot deeper in and felt nothing but coarse, dry sand closing in on every inch of his body. It flowed over him, crept under his clothes and scraped his skin. He grimaced and adjusted his grip on his staff, and its previously firm hold of the ground wobbled. Mainu barely had an instant to claw at the solid ground that he'd chosen to leave before he was yanked under.