ARWIN

  Forcing himself to be brave, he slipped the spoon into his mouth. Amidst what was actually an impressively tasty — and spicy — soup, the fly made a wet crunch. Refusing to let his stomach clench more than once, Arwin took another spoonful. "It's surprisingly good.” It might have been a trick of the light, but he thought she might have smiled a little.

  When she finished her soup, the Enchantress returned to the kitchen. The main course soon sailed out. This time, Arwin could detect a touch of uncertainty in her voice when she regained her seat and gestured at the dishes that she magically pced before her guest. A trifle defensively, she spoke, “It's meat. You do eat roast meat, don't you?"

  He ughed. "Do I want to know what kind?"

  A challenging and mocking grin took over her plush lips. "I don't know. Do you?"

  He picked up his fork and knife and hurriedly replied, ignoring her question and no longer wanting an answer to his own, “Nope! It looks wonderful. I can't wait.” Arwin noticed her watching him. Refusing to contempte what kind of meat a spider or gremlin might have dragged back for his mistress, he cut a chunk off and chewed it. Trying not to taste it much, he swallowed. Again, it wasn't bad. "It's actually pretty nice." It reminded him slightly of Korean barbecue. He ate another bit. Yes, it was actually really good! He smiled.

  As if her posture wasn't always already perfect, she straightened a little more in her chair and seemed happy with herself.

  Feeling proud of himself for having the courage to eat strange food, he thought the dinner with her was going about as swimmingly as that fly had been in his soup. Arwin looked down to cut another piece of meat and stiffened. Was that a tentacle sticking out of — no, don’t look, just eat. Eat and don't think. You’re travelling; you’re trying new things. This is a good thing, he told himself. This was a new world to him, and of course people here were going to eat things that he’d never experienced before. Suck it up and be brave. Even if it looked super gross, it broadened his horizons.

  With only the crackle of fire and tinkle of cutlery on ptes, silence loomed again in the dining hall as they ate. Arwin felt that he should say something. But what to talk about? Why was his mind so bnk around her all of a sudden? He sat back in the high-backed chair and gnced up towards the ceiling for inspiration.

  And stared right into the eight giant, malevolent eyes and the gleaming, working teeth of a massive spider.

  “Ahh!” Arwin threw himself towards the floor and away from the chair. He spun, scrambling away backwards.

  The spider, the monstrous beast from the throne room earlier, had been half perched on the back of his chair, somehow unnoticed. How could something so rge and with so many legs move silently? It descended from the back of the chair. Unhurried, it came towards him, multiple eyes boring down on its human prey, mandibles working eagerly, ready to stuff torn pieces of Arwin into its gruesome mouth.

  Barely looking up from her meal, the Enchantress calmly chided the creature, “Drathgar. Enough. He is my guest.”

  But the spider didn’t pause. It rose up on its back legs in a battle pose over Arwin; front legs extended to strike.

  Arwin tried not to cower, but he anticipated the needle-like appendages spearing through his chest and grew even more anxious. He was about to be eaten alive!

  She scolded much more sharply, “Drathgar!”

  The spider paused. It slowly lowered itself out of its striking pose.

  Arwin breathed a sigh of relief.

  Then the spider shot forward.

  Arwin ducked, lying ft on his back with his arms protectively over his face. But no impact came. He cracked open his eyes.

  Drathgar was already past, having walked right over Arwin. He now casually wandered off towards the nearest exit, legs audibly tapping away.

  Arwin felt his heart hammering in his chest. The Enchantress might have seemed hospitable enough so far, but her arachnid prince obviously did not care for him at all.

  She apologized, “Sorry. We don’t get many guests, and he’s a bit over-protective.”

  “Does he always try to eat visitors like that?”

  “No. Not usually. Unless it seems warranted.”

  “So what’s he got against me?”

  She shrugged. “Perhaps he’s jealous.”

  Arwin gulped. The pn might be to win over her trust so as to escape, but there was obviously no hope of doing the same with Drathgar. If Arwin gave it any reason at all, the instant the spider got the chance, it might very well pounce on Arwin and then suck all his blood out. Arwin had thought the Enchantress would be the biggest danger and that he’d be safe from her host of minions as long as she wished it. Apparently, he did not have as much security as he’d thought. Every moment he spent in this pce would only become more dangerous. He and Yaz had to escape soon!

  Her voice interrupted his thoughts, “Are you going to finish your dinner or sit on the floor all night?”

  “Right.” He hastily stood and resumed his seat. Should he just come out and ask her about the princess? No. Too soon. Say something interesting to her, obviously. Get her talking about herself. People liked that. "So...um...enchanting. What's that like?"

  Her eyes rolled up from her meal and ftly looked at him, which was flexible of them, given how round the orbs were.

  Arwin defensively held up his hands. "Uh, Drearian, remember? No idea about Heartstone or magic. Or how it works. But you seem to be very powerful. You have your own castle, a title, evidently a widespread and feared, uh, respected, reputation. Lots of, um, interesting friends." He gnced nervously at the tarantu above the firepce again. "So you must be pretty special, right?"

  Though immensely awkward in deliverance, the words seemed to have their desired effect. The woman appeared to thaw a little and spoke with pride, "I'm probably one of the most accomplished magic users in Heartstone. And one of the foremost magicists.”

  "So were you born knowing how to do magic, or...?"

  "Born with it?" She scorned his suggestion and continued hotly. "I worked for it! Sved for it. Sacrificed everything for it. All this," she gestured around, "is the result of hundreds of years of hard work, study, and so, so much sacrifice!"

  "So that’s a no on the born with it then." Touchy subject.

  She calmed down before continuing, saying, "There are many magical creatures in Heartstone, such as centaurs and dragons and mermaids. The nd itself is magical, producing things like beer bears or cheesecloth, which is used in the edible fashion industry. But most humans in Heartstone are not born knowing how to use magic. Not the kind I have. Some are born with maybe a small, innate talent because the magic of the nd has seeped into their genes, passed along from parent to child, and manifests itself in some token manner. Like the ability to turn water into wine or bake bread without an oven. These are actually no more than minor genetic mutations, and it makes them no different from the centaurs and mermaids.”

  “But you’re not like that.”

  “Correct. Unlike Drearians, Heartfolk have an additional organ in the brain and nervous system that allows us to manipute magicons and nearby energy and matter. With training, we can see magical structures and manipute them. I can command the essence of the universe itself and shape it to my every will. It’s rather complicated. We’re not born with an innate understanding of how to do magic, only with biological potential. And, like any skill, it takes a great deal of practice to develop it.”

  To prove her point, the Enchantress gestured to the side of the room. A coil of hard, white light shot out of her hand and coalesced into the form of a wrathful, murderous, and very male-looking demon half again as tall as a man. It had a snarling mouth full of fangs and razor-sharp cws. It seemed to be made of pure diamond.

  Arwin stared at the statue, honestly impressed but gd this piece of art wasn't moving. "Wow. That's incredible.” He had to admit, she had dark tastes, but in its own right, despite being terrifying, the demon statue was pretty impressive. Beautiful even. It took real skill and artistry to create something like that. He gnced over at her. There might be more to this evil woman than people thought. “How did you sculpt this?”

  “It’s a matter of shaping the image in your mind first, then mentally maniputing local matter and energy to adapt and become the elements and molecules needed and then arranging them in the desired physical structure. Of course, you have to learn all about how things work, how they fit together, and how to go about fitting them together. There are formus and equations. It’s very, very complex, depending on what you’re trying to accomplish.”

  With a hurried wave of her hand, the statue vaporized into dust and disappeared in a fsh of cold. She bitterly spoke. “Hmph. At least you didn't scream at the sight of my power. More than I can say for some people."

  He ventured tactfully, ”You...do have unique tastes. But your magic is really something.” He smiled, partly at her to reassure her and partly because he’d finished the mysterious meat completely now and could finally put that trial behind him. May he never, ever find out what kind of creature it had come from.

  The woman sullenly stared at her pte, lost in her own thoughts. "My skills have never been appreciated. Or all my hard work or the things I’ve accomplished. Or who I am—“ She cut herself off and sharply looked up, seemingly amazed at what she was sharing, and even blushed.

  He empathized. “Sounds like you’ve had some difficult experiences. I’m sorry. People can be awful.”

  She scoffed, “As if you actually care.”

  “I do!”

  “You don’t know me. You know nothing about me.”

  “We can change that. Isn’t that what this dinner is about? Getting to know each other better?”

  Her eyes filled with mistrust. She slowly rose from her chair, growing hostile. Sounding defensive, she growled, “Enough! This farce is at an end. Don't you think I know what you're doing? Pying me for a fool? Just pretending to be nice to me so that you can escape?"

  That was exactly what he'd been doing! But, to her, he swore up and down otherwise, desperately pleading, “No! I'm just making conversation. Honestly!” he dishonestly told her.

  "Lies!" she spat and stalked forward, full of menace. Her fingers twitched, long nails like talons, her eyes burning into his own. Surely a nasty spell filled her mind, ready to transform Arwin into slime. Or worse.

  He gulped. This was not the best first date ever.