SAND TRAP

IX

They sipped their tea in complete silence, Torval from his seat at the table, and Mainu and Ipris from the couch, or bed, or whatever it was. Ipris shifted to sit on her knees, still staring at the floor with a blank expression, and more fine sand fell to join the dusty puddle on the yellowed bed sheets.

Long after he finished his tea, Torval set down his cup with thoughtful slowness and flexed his fingers, a sign of his magic straining. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way," he said.

Ipris took a shaky breath. "No, it's- It's okay."

"Still. I imagine you are quite confused."

She shook her head slightly. "It makes sense." The bubble of magic around them faded as Torval released the spell with a flick of his wrist. Mainu tensed, and Ipris finally looked up. "I don't know why I didn't realize sooner," she murmured. "Even after Mainu warned me." She wiped her cheek with her sleeve.

"No, princess, don't think about it like that," Torval said, holding up a hand. Mainu flinched on instinct, but as he met Torval's gaze, he had to admit that at this point, the manservant was unlikely to be a threat. "It's not your fault, it just is what it is. All we can do now is assess the situation and determine the best course of action. Since I cannot wield magic in the castle, it's up to Mainu to keep you safe, just as he promised."

"Yes," Mainu groaned, "the fates made that quite clear."

"Ah, that's right! Is it really true that a fate sent you here?" Torval asked, lighting up.

"To Ruptia, and to your hideout."

Torval grinned. "I can only dream of being visited by beings as majestic as the fates themselves."

"I wouldn't look forward to it," Mainu scoffed. "Hesykhia is a pain. Just tonight, it surprised me from behind and ordered me to follow you because it was 'my opportunity' and I 'would not receive another' or something like that."

Torval's face fell. "I come here nearly every night. Why would it have said that?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

There was a long pause as they all thought. Something dripped to the floor in typical cave fashion, but otherwise, it was eerily quiet. After a second drip, Ipris whispered, "Maybe he hasn't given up yet."

Mainu swallowed. "The king?" he asked, and she nodded, hugging her knees to her chest.

Torval got up to sit on Ipris's other side and put an arm around her. "He doesn't have other plans that I know of," he said with cautious slowness, "but it would be like him to do something more rash since his original plan failed. I would offer to keep you here, but..." He trailed off. "You cannot stay."

"Then I'll protect her tonight," Mainu said before he could stop himself.

Ipris looked up at him, and her eyes glistened, reflecting the flickering torchlight and magic around them. Then, she erupted into tears and collapsed against him, hugging his arms to his sides. "Thank you," she sobbed, repeating those two words until they lost meaning. Mainu went very still, and she suddenly pulled away and rubbed her eyes. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have hugged you without asking. Virgo told me you probably feel awkward about how I've been acting, and you've just been trying to do your job all this time, and I keep getting in the way, and it's my fault you're here at all, and you must hate me by now-"

Seeing that she wasn't going to be stopping anytime soon, Mainu hugged her again, and she buried her sandy face in his shoulder. "I know," he said in a vague attempt to be consoling. "It's okay. I don't hate you."

"You don't?" she whimpered.

Mainu felt something unfamiliar stirring in his chest as he looked over the somehow still graceful figure of the princess. "Of course not," he replied gently, surprising even himself.

Torval cleared his throat and said, "It's settled, then?"

"Yes. I'll go back with her." Mainu helped Ipris to her feet, but as he looked around, he realized that was easier said than done. She leaned into him.

"All right. Good luck tonight." Torval started to cross the room, but before Mainu could ask how they were expected to leave, the manservant brushed his foot across the ground a few times to reveal a complex, angular rune etched into the floor. "Stand here," he instructed, pointing with his toes and looking back at them. His expression suddenly shifted. "You're still covered in sand."

Mainu's only response was to continue to stand stiffly with his arms as far away from his body as possible without looking too awkward. Torval murmured a spell, and the sand still attached to Mainu and Ipris came away in long, winding streams and rushed down the hall, presumably back to the quicksand pit it had come from. Ipris just barely smiled, and Mainu gasped loudly enough that one would have thought he had just gotten back out of said quicksand, which made the princess smile a little more. "What was that?" he said, staring at himself in bewilderment as Ipris led him onto the rune on the ground.

"A benefit of enchanted sand," Torval replied simply. "Hareket Kohtar." The rune's edges flashed with silver light, and the manservant's lair gave way to flat desert sands again.