A commotion in the yard and a rhythmic series of deep thumps on the front door startled Tina and stopped the Baron in mid-lecture. She climbed back onto the bearskin and peered down to where villagers were starting to beat their way through the front door, using a good-size tree-trunk as their battering ram. The torches winding up the road below were still some time away.
“An advance party, by Az’sroc! They’re trickier than I thought,” exclaimed the Baron, looking through the window beside hers. “If this is your boy’s doing, Tina, he’ll be one hell of a leader.”
She was now shivering slightly and covered with goosebumps. With a slight motion of the Baron’s hand, a small vial materialized between his finger and thumb. “Now we must hurry, dear. Drink this,” he ordered her.
Tina clumsily backed away inside the cage, arms still bound, more afraid than ever. The Baron walked through the bars. She coughed and sputtered as he forced the vial’s contents down her throat and then continued to explain his plan for her.
“As I was saying, my dear, you’ll be a witch. I’ll show you the way before we leave here. But you won’t have your power for a year, maybe two. You must first have our child and have your man declare himself its father.
“This potion is a complex drug. It is an event-timed amnesiac; most of this night’s events will disappear from your memory until you’ve given birth. Then the memories will start to return, including the Gift, the key to my power. The potion will also help you to seduce your hero into believing himself the father of our son. In fact, as you change, growing into witchhood and beginning your meteoric rise to fame, he’ll leave and take the boy safely away.”
“He will learn his heritage, but not from you. You will be a bright star in witchhood, but he will not follow your path.”
Tina was becoming quite dazed. She couldn’t tell if it was the shock of the revelation or the drug, but her world was starting to spin.
Suddenly there was a wrenching crack from the front door below and the rhythmic beat of the ram ceased.
“Now that they’ve broken in, there’ll be a few surprises,” the Baron told her. “One does not violate a wizard’s house without hazard. Even with intelligence and bravery, it’ll be some time before they pass the ground floor.”
Below, the shouts of men advancing together were punctuated by sudden explosions, unnatural crackles, nasty hisses, and a few screams.
With a wave of the Baron’s hand the cage vanished. With another wave, the nomad’s tent and the evening’s toys in it vanished, along with their discarded clothing. The Baron hauled Tina to the sacrificial post on the temple’s altar and tied her to it by the neck and waist. Her breathing became labored.
“Good, good,” chuckled the Baron. “The drug is taking full effect. Now I’ll show you some first-class conjuring.”
The wizard’s complex chanting and motions were interrupted by a loud rhythmic booming, coming from the first floor below their feet. He stopped, a look of concern on his face, then made slightly different motions. An image of the carved door into the first floor floated in the air.
Tina’s heart rose. There were half a dozen resolute men on the stairs using the ram, and one of them was Jak Turkov, her real lover. He would indeed be her rescuer!
The Baron scowled. “It’s a good thing I always put some slack in these plans.” He motioned again, and she saw the six devil faces on the door come to life, screaming and spitting at the men, who paused in surprise. When the spittle burst into flames, the men panicked, dropped the log, and ran back down the stairs.