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hands raised, and shot a spell at her.
    She knew this was a pincer move. She’d have to respond, and the sorcerer beside William would hit her a moment after she’d defended, when she was at her most vulnerable.
    But she had no choice.
    She chose to reflect, bouncing the young sorcerer’s spell straight back at him, and threw herself sideways, creating a magical shield as she did.
    It almost covered her, but one part of her rival’s spell was fast enough to hit her foot, and the pain of a thousand knives sliced at her, getting a lock-jawed grip on her and biting down.
    She screamed, her hand coming up to the silver pear. She couldn’t let him have it. No matter what. She thought of her father’s tunnel, hidden in the walls, the way out for her and Soren, and sent the silver pear there with the last bright threads of her consciousness.
    Then her world faded to black.

Chapter Five
    S he was a sorcerer .
    Soren tried to temper the rage he felt at what had been done to her with the knowledge of what she was, but as she was lifted from the ground, her face absolutely white in the moonlight, he had to breathe deep to keep from attacking the guards who surrounded her.
    She could have left him.
    He understood that the moment he’d come to himself and seen the door was closed and sensed her to his right, hiding in the shadows.
    She had stayed.
    He even understood that when she’d bespelled him, it had been to get him out, to save him, and not for any dark reason of her own, no matter how much he’d hated the sudden loss of his own will.
    “Where is the man? The man who was here with her?” William of Nesta turned in his direction, a frown deepening on his forehead, and Soren stood absolutely still, the moonstone clutched tight in his fist, just in case his shoes made a noise on the cobbles.
    He’d remembered he had the moonstone, could become invisible, moments before the second sorcerer had attacked, and as every eye had been on Mirabelle, it had been the perfect moment to disappear.
    He could wait for them to take her away, gather his courage and face the dark of the secret passage, or even simply walk out the front gate the next time it was opened. He could leave Miri and her rival to fight it out, but he knew even before the guard carrying her left the courtyard that he wouldn’t.
    William’s men treated her gently. He would give them that.
    And William himself seemed strangely conflicted by her defeat.
    He’d cried out when she’d screamed, reaching a hand to her, and then had turned on the sorcerer, arm raised as if to strike, before he remembered he had instigated the attack himself.
    He and his new sorcerer had stared at each other for a long moment, then William had turned to look at the ball of wild magic that hovered nearby.
    It had taken Soren and Rane a while to work out what wild magic was. How they were coming across it more and more often in the Great Forest, and it was only when they’d seen Jasper’s brother Nuen cast a spell they’d realized the truth. When a sorcerer called down sky magic for a very powerful spell, they seldom drew exactly what they needed. Any power left over became wild magic, as dangerous to the sorcerers as it was to everyone else. And so they magicked it away.
    The Great Forest had become their rubbish tip.
    The sorcerer followed William’s gaze, and Soren thought he swayed a little with exhaustion as he lifted his hand and the wild magic disappeared in a flash of blue.
    With a grunt, William turned away, calling to his guards to take Mirabelle to the dungeon and to look for Soren.
    “He must have slipped out of the courtyard while we were distracted. Check the grounds. He can’t get out. Make sure everyone leaving the stronghold is identified.”
    William gave the instructions as he followed behind the guard carrying Mirabelle, and Soren fell into step behind him and the sorcerer, walking to the right of them, and far enough back there was no danger of brushing against