“Wait a moment, you said your name was Ashen?” I nodded. “It wouldn’t happen to be Ashen Kestral, would it?” I nodded again, wondering how she knew. “What in the world are you doing here? How… no, I haven’t time for that. Did you know that your father is tearing the whole kingdom apart in search of you?”

The world suddenly stood still. “He… he what?”

“He’s put word out to ever mage, mercenary, politician, and thief,” she smiled wryly at that last, “that he’ll pay a small fortune for reliable news of you, and a large fortune for your safe return.”

“I…” I was speechless. A lump of emotion rose in my throat. He was looking for me? He wanted me back? “I didn’t know. I thought…. I thought he didn’t want me back.”

“Not want you?” The thief shook her head. “I don’t know where you got that idea, lad, but it’s dead wrong. I came here looking for certain books and Lucius’ staff, if he left it, but I’d get far better pay if I brought you away.”

“We’re both chained up,” I said, “and there’s a spell on the locks. Can you undo mage locks?”

The lady thief furrowed her brow. “Possibly. I came equipped for mage locks, but of the sort you put on doors, not prisoners. Let me have a look.” Our whispered conversation must have woken Amelia, for as the thief stepped into the little room Amelia sat up on her pallet and watched her with wary eyes. I stretched out my legs so the thief could get a good look at the chains. She closely examined the locks, waving a tiny rod she took from one pocket over them. Then she shook her head. “My detector isn’t showing much. I can’t tell what kind of spell it is. I have no idea if any of the things I brought will have any effect.”

“It’s etheric, and probably linked to my own energy,” I said. Maybe I couldn’t do magic, but I could certainly identify a spell cast on my own person.

“Etheric?” She frowned. “I didn’t come equipped for etheric magics. The fellow who hired me didn’t mention anything like that.”

My heart sank. Right then I’d had such hope of getting free. But… my father wanted me back! With that knowledge I could come up with some way out, I just knew it.

“What about the door,” said the thief, “What kind of spell lock does he have on that?”

“Pretty standard sympathetic magic. That’s Lord Morren’s specialty. There’s a nasty little trap if you just pick the lock, and an alarm. You’ll probably want to deal with the trap spell first, then the alarm, and then the lock itself.”

The thief gave Amelia and myself a long look. “I can deal with those. I’m sorry I can’t let you go right now, but I can so something for you. I’ll let your father know where you’re at lad, and I’m sure he’ll come running. He’ll have you out of here within the month. It’d be sooner, but it’s a long way from here to the Kestral house. Is there anything else I ought to know about that room before I go in?”

I remembered the staff. “Lord Morren took his real staff with him. He’s got a decoy leaning on his desk, black wood with a crystal on top. Don’t touch it. A couple of his spell books are trapped, other than that, you know as much as I do.”

She nodded and turned to the door. It was only a few minutes later when it opened without a sound. She was very good. Left in the darkness again I had time to think over the incredible news I’d just received. My father wanted me! More than that, he was looking for me, had offered a reward for news of me. How could I have been so mistaken? I thought back to the party, to that conversation. I’d played it over in my mind so often I knew it by heart. I replayed it again, and everything looked different. A dull anger kindled somewhere inside me as I pieced together what had happened. Lord Morren had arranged it all very neatly, I realized. He’d wanted an easily manageable slave, and what better way to get one than to completely destroy my hope? He’d begun some conversation on magic, and called me over at just the right moment to hear that seemingly damning statement, and my father’s agreement. But I recalled my father’s preoccupation. He’d said, “I’ve got more important things on my mind these days.” And then Lord Morren had dismissed me before I could hear what exactly it was that mattered so much. Could it have been that his more important thing was his search for me? That he’d perhaps even come to the party so that he’d be able to enlist the help of all those powerful people?

I recalled too how my father had looked, tired and worn, old even. Could it be that those extra lines of care were over me? I hardly dared to hope for such a thing, and yet I did hope for it, indeed the more I thought the more I believed that it was true. My father had not always been cold toward me, he had often shown caring, even love. The bitter disappointment of having all his dreams for me shattered had simply been too much. I had been such a fool to believe he would abandon me utterly.

My mind whirled with a thousand thoughts, but whatever the details, the central fact was, my father wanted me back! I had a reason to live again.

I hardly noticed the lady thief emerging from the room with a couple of heavy books under her arm. She gave me a grin and a wink and then vanished silently down the stairs. Amelia, who had remained silent all this time, spoke softly. “I heard everything you said. I had almost given up hope of ever getting out of here, but if your father comes for us… will he really stand a chance against Lord Morren?”

That question snapped me back to reality. “I… I think so. He’s a very good mage. But it would be really close. Lord Morren is very skilled.”

“Then we have to think of things we can do to help him when he comes,” said Amelia. “I’ve been here for almost three years now, and I don’t want my best, maybe my only chance of escape getting away from me.” There was a fierce light in her eyes as she said it. I heartily agreed. After a seeming eternity we had some real hope. We were up most of the night thinking of possibilities and making plans.