Promise me that if you get a chance to escape without me, you will do it. He won't kill me. Go find your men and come back for me.' His eyelids and brows lowered. ' You don't know me very well or you wouldn't say such a thing. I won't leave you.

She whispered, 'Even with a broken hand, you are the knight I'd most want and trust to rescue me-and I know you can do it. You are the boldest, bravest, most noble knight in the Holy Empire.

His hands wrapped around her upper arms, holding her gently. 'You are even more beautiful when you dance.

Ruexner will pay dearly for this,' Valten promised, speaking to no one in particular, but imagining he had the fiend's neck between his hands. If he dared hurt Gisela...

At the same time, the thought of Gisela suffering at Ruexner's hands sent ice water through his veins, along with a stab of guilt. If Gisela should suffer pain or distress at Ruexner's hands, it would be his fault. Ruexner had only taken her because of his hatred for Valten. ' God, I must save her. I must not fail.

Gerbert, by the window, shuddered; his mouth contorted. The witch began to twist faster and faster while her twin was talking to Gisela, mumbling to her, marching old holy words straight through the child’s ear into her skull, where they entered the bloodstream and looked for the enemy. The monk’s fingers twitched in the same rhythm and he found himself falling into a trance. He knew it would be dangerous to witness the witches brewing and dancing but there was an energy in it that he’d missed badly since he’d been asked to educate the young princess. Gerbert didn’t even notice when the hags stopped, tucked the girl in, rubbed the concoction on her lips and left for the unseen place from which they had come. Gisela healed quickly thereafter: The fever fell that same night and she asked for solid food the next morning. She had no memory of what had happened, but when she bounced on one leg across the meadow in the castle yard, she chanted a little melody that had not been heard in church, an odd melody that made Gerbert’s ears prick up because he sensed the uncanny in it.

Ruexner chuckled and put away his knife. Gisela kept her eyes on Valten. Even though her bottom lip trembled, she still looked like the bravest woman he had ever seen.

Using something real does not destroy the fantastical.