Maple walked in front of them with her head lowered. 

She had come to the exact position her royal guards had indicated. 

Feeling the excitement of the magic that vibrated inside her, she flung her hands to the side and white and yellow beams erupted, which sizzled as they coiled around. She looked at her magic as her eyes turned purple with a yellow slit. With ecstasy she said, “And now you two are going to come with me.” She lifted her hands and her head together and threw the beams at the couple. 

As soon as the beams hit them, they got thrown twenty feet away. The beams spread over the two like a fishnet, and they struggled to get out of it. But every time they touched it, their skin burned. Anastasia began to scream with pain, and it was music to Maple’s ears. 

“What is going on?” Ileus shouted. 

“I am going to take you back to Vilinski!” Maple said and burst into a laugh. She ambled towards them. She flung her hand to the right. Gusts of winds blew wildly. They carried snow from the ground and whirled with white beams of sparkles crackling in it. The circle increased and formed a portal. 

“Do you see that, Anastasia?” Maple shouted as she watched the girl struggling inside. “I will take you back and whip you so badly that you will never even think of getting out of Vilinski!” She came and stopped a few feet away from them when her eyes popped out. She exclaimed, “Who are you?” when their faces revealed in the lights of the white beams. 

The struggling man and woman in front of her weren’t Anastasia and Ileus. 

“Who the fuck are you?” the man shouted at her, writhing in pain. “Are you a wizard? You can’t be a fae! They are mere shadows. So who are you?” He started screaming for help. 

Maple’s limbs froze and her magic receded. Seething with fury, she realized it was a ploy. “I know you are a master of disguise, Ileus. Reveal  your true self or I am going to tighten this fishnet over you in such a manner that you will be in excruciating pain till you die.” She berated herself for not taking a look at them from the front, but it was because she was afraid that Anastasia would recognize her. 

“Who the fuck is Ileus?” the man cried in pain. “And who is Anastasia?” 

Refusing to believe the situation in front of her, Maple felt dizzy. She had followed them all day to take them back to Vilinski. The girl looked like Anastasia from behind. The owner at the inn called her by her name. Then how was it possible that she followed the wrong people? She drew her head back and turned away from them. Her breaths became shaky and she looked around. Where were the royal guards? She shook her head in denial. Turning back to see them she said, “Do you think this ploy would work Anastasia? Show yourself!” 

“I am not Anastasia!” the girl cried as beams burnt her skin in the checkered pattern of the fishnet. “And he is not Ileus! We are the locals of Óraid.” 

“Stop speaking lies!” Maple lashed at them. “I saw you two at the inn.” 

“We had gone to meet our friends,” said the man in a shaky voice that was mixed with fear and irritation. 

“But the owner called you Anastasia!”

“The owner mistook us for someone else!” 

“What?” Maple said with an incredulous stare. 

The man continued, “Please remove this. If you are one of the bandits, then I swear, we don’t have many coins with us.” Somehow he managed to dig in his pockets and took out a handful of coins. He threw them in front of Maple and said in a breathy voice, “I have only twenty silver coins. You can take it, but release us.” He waited for her to say something. When she didn’t reply, he repeated, “Please Miss, remove this magic,” the girl whined. “It is hurting a lot!” She was crying and so was the man. 

Maple was disgusted when he threw those coins at her. He flung them as if he would throw them in front of a beggar. A tight expression appeared on her face and she kicked the coins, sneering at them. “Shut up!” she shouted. A headache was beginning to form. She pinched the middle of her forehead with her thumb and forefinger and closed her eyes. This was not what she had thought would happen. “Then where are Ileus and Anastasia?” she screamed and stomped her foot. “And where are my guards?” She gritted her teeth as she stomped her foot. How could she commit such a big mistake?

“Are you looking for us?” A voice came from behind.

She spun sharply and saw Anastasia and a man… 

“Ileus!” Maple was both shocked and… mesmerized. He was beyond handsome. Those golden eyes glowed in the darkness like warm pots of honey. She had been craving to see him. Her imagination and her sex drive were at it again. She could see him naked even as the man looked ferocious. And then her gaze fell on her arch nemesis… Anastasia. Suddenly, comprehension hit her. “You!” she shouted and magic burst from her hands. Did she walk in a trap? Where the fuck were her royal guards? 

“Why cousin? Were you thinking of me?” said Anastasia with a half smile. “Did you think that you were following us?” 

Maple brought her hands up. 

Ileus growled, “Don’t even try!” he said and burst into shadows. 

Shocked and amused, she looked at the dark wizard with awe—the most powerful bad boy of the Lore. The way he erupted into shadows was… fascinating. Her skin was lined with goose bumps. It was prophesied that he would rule the Lore along with Anastasia. No. She would change the prophecy. He was meant to rule the world with her. 

His shadows swirling ominously, Ileus warned, “If you do that, I am going to make sure that you die right here, but it is Anastasia’s wish that you be transported back to Vilinski properly.”