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leaving me, yet again, in tears.
    I lay on the ground near the fire and fell asleep. I came partly awake when Anazian returned. When his footsteps came near, I closed my eyes, not wanting him to know I was awake. To my great surprise, he lay a thin blanket over me. I almost thanked him but cut off the words. More sure now than ever that he didn’t intend to kill me, I fell back to sleep.
    But it wasn’t a restful night. Although only my hands were tied, I still couldn’t move naturally or get comfortable. My joints were stiff from having spent several days in that cage, and my flesh felt battered from the single day’s rough journey.
    And to make matters worse, my arms began to itch. Not severely, the way they would if I’d broken out in a rash, but here and there in tiny bursts, as if bugs were crawling on me. The bothersome sensation woke me up several times and even penetrated my dreams. It spread to the rest of my body: my legs, my back, my neck. But something kept me from being able to scratch. It was like a dream where you need to run away only to find your feet won’t move. A presence was there, threatening and watching and preventing me from moving. Slowly, something crept like a snake all around my body. I writhed around, thin tendrils tickling my skin and getting up my nose and into my mouth.
    I finally forced myself awake, only to find that much of my dream was reality. I couldn’t move. Something covered my face, preventing me from seeing anything. I could still breathe, but barely. Unable to help myself, I screamed.
    Anazian laughed in reply.
    “My, my. What do we have here?”
    He moved aside that which obstructed my vision, and I saw that morning had arrived. I also saw that I was encased, head to foot, in vines. They’d grown from the ones he’d used to bind my wrists. Overnight, they’d completely covered me.
    Anazian helped me to a sitting position but didn’t remove the vines. For some reason, the whole thing amused him, and he kept looking at me and laughing. Each time, my face burned hotter with embarrassment and rage.
    He cooked porridge for his breakfast, watching me while he ate. Then he took his candles off for morning meditation, leaving me to sit, unable to move as the growing vines covered my face again.

    I try to concentrate on the danse, but it’s impossible. How can everyone just sit around as if nothing is wrong? It’s making me crazy. Lini says not to worry, but she doesn’t know Donavah like I do. She’s out there somewhere, alone, without any of us to help her. I just wish I knew what happened to her and Grey, why she was taken and he was stabbed and left behind.
    Oh, how I wish I could speak to the dragons. I’m sure I could convince one to fly away with me to find her. But as it is, I’m stuck here with nothing to do but practice danse.
    Well, all right, let’s be fair. That’s pretty good and I shouldn’t complain. Already I can feel the power grow in me when I move. It’s also pretty great to learn all about Etos. I still can’t believe my staff was made of wood from his tree!
    But when I’m not studying danse, all there is to do is work. And not easy work, either, trying to build houses and stuff. I’d rather work in the kitchens, but they say there are too many other things I can do that the real cooks can’t.
    And the thing I do most is worry about Donavah.

I knew Anazian would be back before long, but my anger boiled all the same. He would just laugh at me again. Well, perhaps I could turn the tables on him and kill his precious plant.
    Closing my eyes, I turned my thoughts deep inside myself and summoned my maejic, determined to free myself, at least this once, at least for a little while.
    As had happened last time I tried, pain ripped through my head. I drew up my knees and rested my forehead on them. I tried to take slow breaths, hoping that calming myself down would help. Eventually the pain subsided, and I sat exactly as I was, wondering what was