Ophelia struggled to open her eyes; her eyelids felt as though they weighed a ton each, and she felt as though she’d been drugged. Her normally nimble mind struggled to comprehend the situation she was in.

Maybe, it was a dream? she thought.

Groggily, she struggled to rise, but fell back into a sitting position. Something was weighing her down. With some effort, she looked down at herself, seeking an answer. Much to her confusion, she was wearing an elegant white ball gown. Immediately, Ophelia sensed that something was very wrong with this.

“Oh, good, I see that you’re finally awake. I‘m afraid I had to drug you a bit after I brought you here, just to make sure you wouldn‘t wake up early,” a voice remarked. Dunstan strode over and helped Ophelia to her feet. “You look beautiful.”

“Why… am I… wearing this?” Ophelia asked, with some difficulty.

Dunstan smiled and stroked her hair. “My judgment was sound. You truly have done well, coming all this distance without losing your noble heart,” he said to her. “But you are not meant for fighting and entering battles of the wits; you are meant to be a princess instead. From this day forward, I will protect you.”

“And what happens then?” Ophelia asked, frowning. She struggled not to be bewitched by his words.

“You’ll be happy,” Dunstan replied. “You will receive eternity, and we will love each other forever.”

“And what about my friends?” Ophelia spoke up, slowly regaining her strength and mental capacity.

“They’ll continue to be punished for their insolence, forever. A rather generous thing for me to do, I think, seeing as how they’ve hurt you so. If I were less generous, I might just outright kill them.”

“Generous? What have you ever done that’s generous?”

“Everything. Everything that you wanted, I have done,” Dunstan shot back. You asked that your friends be taken away and taught to see how hurtful they are, and I did it. I… uh… um… I did it for you…”

“Is that all you’ve done?” Ophelia snorted. “Because, personally, that doesn’t strike me as very generous. If you really were generous and really did care about me, then you’d listen to me and let my friends go. All of them.”

“You are so unappreciative,” Dunstan growled. “Everything I’ve done--”

“--You’ve done for me,” Ophelia interrupted. “Yeah, yeah, how many times have I heard that? You men are all alike.”

“You said it,” a voice called out from behind them. Ophelia and Dunstan turned to see who had spoken.

“Angela,” Dunstan said curtly, “what are you doing in here? I told you to man the control center.”

“She’s passed the tests, Dunstan,” Angela said, “and as much as I’d hate to admit it, that means that you’ll have to uphold your end of the deal.”

“She’s learned nothing from this,” Dunstan snarled. “Nothing. She’s the same as she’s ever been. Same as her little friends. Am I right? Are they still so ungrateful to have such a good friend?”

“I think they’ve dealt with enough, regardless of whether or not they‘ve learned anything. They were tortured,” Angela snapped, stepping closer. “But it seems that you’ve grown rather intoxicated with your power. I feel guilty about my part in this, but you… you just seem to be addicted to making others suffer.”

“What do you mean?” Dunstan asked. Angela smiled mysteriously and beckoned him closer. Dunstan raised an eyebrow, confused, and stepped over to her. Instantly, Angela grabbed the back of his head with one hand, and , holding it firmly, shoved her other hand, clutching a chloroform-soaked rag, over his mouth and nose. Just as Dunstan lost consciousness, Angela leaned in close and whispered, “I want to play a game…”


“Hey, where’s Mom?” Angela asked.

Jill looked up from her book, surprised. She quickly shut the book and hurried over. “She’s in the kitchen. How are you feeling?” she asked, genuinely concerned. “Are you feeling any better?”

“Yeah,” Angela replied. “I had some really weird dreams though. Then again, I always do when I’m sick.”

“Would you like something to eat? You haven’t eaten all day.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Angela said, nodding. “I need to get back my energy, because I have stuff I need to do.”