15. Infiltration

Spider’s Den

	“Today a strange turn of events in the palace has shocked the 
entire kingdom,” the news anchor said.  “Earlier this morning, 
prince Philip addressed publicly that he personally warned prince 
Ryan of the consequences should he choose to accept the challenge 
of the enemy of the state, Stardust.  This shocking bit of 
information reveals that prince Ryan chose to become his father’s 
enemy.  This afternoon, the King made his own proclamation.”
	The scene on the television switched from the newsroom to a 
recording of what had happened on the palace steps.  The King 
began speaking.  “Earlier today, it was made apparent that prince 
Philip tried to bring assistance to his brother at the time when 
he warned him about his choices.  This assistance, which will 
remain unspoken, was so treasonous that the crown prince has been 
imprisoned and will be hanged tomorrow afternoon.”  The King then 
turned and walked back into the palace.
	Ryan turned off the television in disgust.
	“What kind of help did he try to give you?” Spider asked from 
a large cushioned chair in the corner of the living area.
	“That’s just the thing,” Ryan said.  “The assistance he gave 
me was the warning.  That and nothing more.”
	“That’s not enough to throw him into prison,” Spider 
protested.
	“No, it is not,” Sandy agreed, finally speaking from her 
spot, reclined on the bed.  “Which is why the offense was 
‘unspoken’ instead of told to the public.  It was a very clever 
tactic on the King’s part to imply that there was something 
besides the warning to imprison Philip.”
	“You know what that means, don’t you?” Spider asked with a 
grin.
	“Yes Spider,” Ryan said, “you get to infiltrate the palace.”
	“Why is she going to do it?” Sandy asked, thinking Spider a 
normal, though somewhat witchy, heiress.
	“Because everything in this cavern is stolen,” Ryan told her.  
“Spider is a thief and this is her hoard.”  He turned and 
addressed Spider.  “Can you call the guys and tell them what’s 
going to happen?”
	“Of course,” Spider said.  “I wouldn’t dream of leaving Sean 
out of this.”
	“Ryan,” Sandy said, “what kind of people do you hang around 
with?”  To which Ryan merely grinned.

	In lass than a half hour, Sandy had made portals and brought 
in everyone they decided to include.  Spider, of course, who had 
already been there.  Scott and Jack had been at Jack’s, which 
Sandy knew from her attack, so they hadn’t had to go to a place 
Sandy already knew.  Sean, being the daredevil he was, went to 
Ryan and Sandy’s apartment, nearly getting himself killed by 
assassins, and caught his portal.  Lastly was Sandy’s pick, just 
so she would have someone there she was used to working with, 
Ayre, who went to his “office”.  Spider didn’t mind all of these 
people being brought in by portals, since none of them would know 
where they were or how to get there without Sandy’s help.
	“You all know what you are supposed to do, right?” Ryan 
asked.  
	All six of them gave him affirmative nods, and Sandy raised 
her staff, focusing.  She had only seen the place she was making 
the portal to once, so it took more concentration to connect to 
it.  If she had wanted to, she could have made a portal to a 
general area in the palace, as she had done when Spider brought 
them to southern France, but Ryan didn’t care to risk the chance 
that the portal would be seen and all of them imprisoned and 
executed.  Instead, she had to connect to a place that was 
secure, but outside of the palace to be safe.
	Sandy made the portal on the floor and Ryan jumped through.

	Ryan found himself standing in a small silo, filled with 
grain of several kinds.  Sandy had inspected this place, just 
inside the outer walls of the palace grounds, one week to 
determine if it would be a good thing to sabotage and cause a 
battle right outside.  Sandy had deemed the plan to be stupid, 
but she remembered the place anyway.
	Ryan quickly stepped out from under the portal, which looked 
like a black smudge on the low ceiling, and looked around.  
Besides the grain which had served as a cushion for his landing, 
this nearly full silo was deserted.  Ryan reached up into the 
portal and gave the hand signal that the coast was clear.  One 
after the other, the others jumped down and moved out of the way 
until they were all there.
	This silo had a door at the top with a walkway that led to a 
platform between the silos, and that platform led to the third 
floor of the palace.  It was the royal walkway the king used to 
inspect how much food he had in reserve for his people...or at 
least he had used it years ago when he still seemed to care.
	Jack took his pistol out, which was custom made to be silent, 
and buried himself in the grain opposite the door.  His job was 
to keep their escape route secure, just in case something 
happened that kept Sandy from making another.  The other six left 
through the only door that was now accessible.
	Outside, the walkway was deserted.  The stone path was walled 
on both sides to keep anyone from being able to get more than one 
shot at the King.  After the first, the King would duck behind 
the walls and crawl into the palace with no one below knowing 
where he was.  It was clear though, from the virgin snow filling 
the path completely, that this path hadn’t been used or 
maintained for years.  They would never have been able to open 
the door had it not been made to swing inward.
	Ryan reached into the small pack he had brought and removed a 
small gift Jack had given him: Stingray.  Crouching low, Ryan 
aimed and channeled the smallest amount of electricity he could 
into the weapon.  The beam only reached a few feet, but it 
created a circular tunnel of ice nearly two feet in diameter.  
Ryan crawled along it, thankful for remembering gloves, making a 
path in the direction of the platform in the center of the silos.  
As he reached it, he turned the beam gently, making an arc, which 
ended up pointing down the walkway to the palace.  He continued 
on until he reached a door at the end and ceased giving Stingray 
power.  Placing the hair dryer shaped weapon back in his pack, he 
removed a set of lock picking tools and handed them to Sean.  
Sean squeezed past him and quickly got the door to swing inward, 
revealing a dark corridor.
	“We are in the crisis center of the palace,” Ryan told the 
others as they slid out of the smooth tunnel.  “This is where the 
King would go with his advisors if the need arose.  There are 
kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms - anything they would need for a 
long planning session, without the need to go downstairs.  This 
level is also fortified so that everyone in the palace could 
retreat here and stay relatively safe for a long period of time.”
	“Interesting design,” Sandy said, being the only one with a 
head for offensive and defensive strategies.  “Quite ingenious.”
	“If you two are done with your discussion of palace 
architecture,” Spider said, “I suggest we get on with what we 
came here for.”
	“By all means,” Ryan said, starting to walk down the 
corridor.  “Follow me.”
	After passing countless doors and alcoves, they came upon a 
stairway.  Ryan stopped them before they reached a point where 
they could be seen by anyone on the second floor.
	“Once we get down there,” he told them, “we will have to 
split up and work quickly.  Each team will be divided up as 
equally as I can make it.  Sandy will lead the team on the second 
floor, and I will take the one going to the dungeon.  That way 
there will be someone with magic, or something close to it, on 
both teams.  We will also need someone skilled with locks on both 
teams, so Sean will join me while Spider goes with Sandy.”
	“Let me guess,” Ayre said, “I am on the girls’ team.”  Spider 
glared at him.
	“The second floor is less dangerous,” Ryan said, “and Scott 
has proven to me that he can handle danger.  Besides, Sandy 
picked you for this mission, so she can have you on her team.”
	Ayre looked crestfallen at Ryan’s lack of faith in him, but 
Ryan couldn’t do anything about it.  He didn’t have time for 
diplomacy.
	Apparently, however, he would have to use some, but with 
Spider.  “If the second floor is less dangerous,” she said, “why 
am I assigned to it?”
	“A few reasons, actually,” Ryan told her.  “First, I think 
you would rather work with Sandy than me.”
	“That’s true,” Spider stated bluntly.
	“Second,” he continued.  “I am going to have to have several 
cells opened down there, and that is Sean’s specialty.  I’m going 
with experience on this one.”
	“Fair,” Spider admitted.
	“Third,” Ryan concluded, “I love Sandy and I want her to come 
out of this alive and uncaptured.  I know you will protect her 
for me if she becomes unable to protect herself.  And fourth, 
don’t question me, I am your prince and I know what I am doing.”
	Spider stifled any other objections she might have been able 
to come up with.  “I will protect Sandy with my life,” she said 
with as much nobility as she could muster.
	“Good, and thank you,” Ryan said, his voice softening to show 
heartfelt thanks.  “Are we all ready?”  The others nodded and 
they split into teams.  “Good.  Sandy, take the stairs and search 
for Philip’s room.  If he is only under house arrest, he will be 
there under guard.  The rest of us will take the elevator down to 
the basement and go on to the dungeon from there.”

	Sandy’s team crouched near the top of the stairs and peered 
down, waiting for a window of opportunity where no one was coming 
down the hallway.  As soon as it came, Sandy led the way to the 
second floor and into a supply closet.
	“There has to be one here somewhere,” Sandy muttered, rifling 
through the whites on the shelf.
	“One what?” Ayre asked.
	“A maid’s uniform,” she replied.  “Help me look.”
	All of them began searching through the linens, but they only 
found one.  Sandy sighed and handed it to Spider.
	“I guess I am going to have to waste some of my magic on a 
disguise,” she said in resigned tones.  The sphere on the top of 
her staff began to glow and a ripple of light flowed out of it, 
down her body, changing her clothes into a maid’s uniform as it 
went.  “Put that uniform on, quickly,” she told Spider, who 
hadn’t moved.  “I am going out to get Ayre a disguise.  You two 
stay in here until I get back.”  With that, she left the supply 
closet.
	“I am not going to change with you in here,” Spider said. 
“Get out,” she ordered.
	“I can’t,” he replied.  “Sandy told us to stay in here.  I’d 
get caught out in the hallway.  Besides, you’re not my type,” he 
added with a grin.
	“Would you at least turn around?”
	“Trust me, I was planning on doing just that already.”
	In a much shorter time than Ayre had expected, Spider had 
changed and stashed her clothes behind some linens on the top 
shelf.  As her feet touched the floor and she and Ayre faced each 
other, they heard voices in the hallway and both of them froze so 
as not to make a sound.  The two women were gabbing about men and 
coming closer to the closet.  They stopped right at the door and 
the handle moved a bit.  Ayre thought quickly and did the first 
thing that came to mind - he grabbed Spider and started kissing 
her.
	“And you know I’ll never find someone as passionate as that 
man Jana found for herself,” one of the women said as she opened 
the door.  “Hello!” she exclaimed as she saw one of the maids 
making out with a boy in the closet.  “Excuse me, I’ll only be a 
second,” she said nervously, reaching in and pulling out a set of 
sheets.  As soon as she had them in hand, she retreated and shut 
the door so quickly she almost took her own hand off.  “Now 
that’s the kind of passion I was talking about...” the woman 
continued as she and the other maid walked off.
	Ayre began wiping his mouth calmly and Spider spat several 
times.
	“That was disgusting,” Spider said.  “A genius move, but 
disgusting.”
	“I’m used to it,” Ayre said, “acting is in my blood.”
	“Next time, warn me,” she growled.
	“You’re welcome,” he sniped back.  Spider decided that, under 
the circumstances, she would let it slide.
	The two of them waited in silence until Sandy returned, 
holding an outfit over each arm.
	“I lucked out,” she said.  “In one of the nobles’ rooms, I 
found these in a wardrobe.  They must have teenagers.  Dress 
quickly.  I will be right outside waiting.”
	In a few minutes, two teenage nobles walked out of the supply 
closet, even though one of them was really in her early twenties.
	“Very good,” Sandy told them.  She was now wearing a black 
dress that covered everything, including her neck, feet, and the 
backs of her hands.  Her hair was up in a bun, and her staff was 
a cane.  Her posture was incredibly stiff and erect and her face 
looked like it hadn’t smiled in centuries.  “Time to go to your 
lessons, children,” she said with a wink.
	“Why do you get to be the teacher?” Ayre whined.
	“Because I won’t fit into those short clothes,” she said 
sternly.  “Now eyes front and backs straight,” she ordered as she 
led them down the corridor.

***

	Ryan, Sean, and Scott stepped out of the elevator into the 
quiet basement.  Scott hadn’t thought anything could have been as 
gloomy as the crisis center, but this basement made it seem like 
a grassy knoll on a summer’s day in comparison.
	The sudden sound of footsteps sent them scurrying.  They 
quickly dove behind a stack of boxes, crouching, as three of the 
King’s guard walked past.
	“Which way,” Sean asked quietly once the guards were out of 
earshot.
	“The way they came from,” Ryan whispered back.  “They were 
guarding the dungeon, but their shift is over.”  He stood up 
fully and stretched his legs back out.  “The next shift change 
isn’t for two more hours,” Ryan told them, still speaking softly.  
“We can come almost right up to the guards without them 
noticing.”
	Ryan led the brothers through the maze of boxes and 
appliances and anything else the palace wasn’t using at the 
moment as if he had spent a lot of his time down there.  He led 
them to a spot behind some boxes and gave them a silent hand 
signal to wait.  He pointed to a crack, through which Sean and 
Scott could both see the two guards sitting at a table, playing 
chess.  Ryan held up three fingers and pointed to the dungeon 
entrance, signifying that the third guard was patrolling inside.
	Ryan told them in hand gestures that they were to make no 
noise whatsoever, pointing once again to the dungeon door, which 
meant that the one inside would be a problem if he knew about the 
intruders.  Ryan made the signal that the two of them should 
stay, while he went around to a place on the other side of the 
guards.
	In moments they could see his face behind another set of 
boxes across from them.  He put his hand over his mouth and 
pretended to cuff the side of his head.  Scott nodded and Ryan 
held up three fingers, then two, then one, then...
	Scott and Ryan each silently but swiftly stepped out from 
their hiding places and placed their hands over a guard’s mouth.  
Sean used the heel of his palm to deliver a blow to the temple of 
the guard Scott was holding, knocking him out.  The one Ryan was 
holding, however, pushed back with more strength than Ryan was 
ready for, and sent the two of them crashing into a stack of 
boxes, creating a horrible clatter.
	“What was that?” the guard inside the dungeon yelled out.
	“Stupid boxes,” Sean yelled, making his voice a bit lower.  
“They sure don’t give us any room to stretch out down here, do 
they?”
	The guard on the other side of the door laughed.  “No, they 
sure don’t,” he agreed.
	Scott quickly went and cuffed the guard Ryan was holding and 
helped Ryan out of the mess as quietly as he could.
	“That was close,” Ryan mumbled.
	“Good thinking, Sean,” Scott said just as quietly.
	“Thanks,” Sean replied, “but how do we take care of the 
third?”
	“Leave that to me,” Scott said.  He had them set the two 
unconscious guards back up on the chairs, and Sean and Ryan 
crouched behind them to keep them sitting.
	“Checkmate,” Scott said in nearly the identical voice Sean 
had used for the guard.  He gave it a higher register and said, 
“ok buddy, it’s your turn.  I’ll take your watch if you whoop him 
for me.”
	“You’re on,” the guard in the dungeon answered. The door 
opened and soon the guard was as unconscious as his fellows.
	“So far, so good,” Ryan told them as they entered the 
dungeon.
	“Philip,” Ryan called in a loud whisper, “are you down here?”  
He walked down the line of cells, repeating his brother’s name, 
but there was no answer.
	“Ryan?” said a stunned voice from one of the cells at the end 
of the row.  The voice was definitely no Philip’s, but it was 
vaguely familiar.
	“Sean, come here.  I need to get in this one,” Ryan beckoned.
	Sean nodded and began fiddling with the lock.  In seconds, 
the door swung open, revealing a haggard old man.
	“They don’t make locks like that any more,” Sean said.  “Too 
bad, they are simple to pick.  I’m surprised there are any 
prisoners left in these cells.”
	Ryan, not paying attention to Sean’s lock appraisal, 
scrutinized the old man, trying to figure out why he looked so 
familiar.  Suddenly, he was stunned with the realization of who 
he was facing.
	“Sir Trevor?” he said.  “But you are harmless, a teacher for 
the young nobles.  Why are you down here.”
	“I don’t know,” Sir Trevor said.  “One minute I was teaching 
the children how to read, and the next guards were breaking the 
door down and dragging me in here.”
	“This makes no sense,” Ryan said.
	Sir Trevor’s eyes showed immense sadness.  “I was only the 
first of many.  Over half of these cells were palace staff, 
having done nothing wrong.  The guards took others, but they were 
brought into the interrogation chamber and never came out.  Those 
of us in the cells are the old, sick, or weak.”
	“Is my brother down here?”
	“No,” Sir Trevor said, “he isn’t.  If they took him, I can 
only assume he’s in the interrogation chamber.”
	“I don’t think they would kill him in stealth,” Ryan told 
him.  “They have him slated for a public execution tomorrow.”
	“What was his crime?”
	“He is accused of treason.”
	“I take it from your tone that you do not agree with the 
accusation.”
	“I know what Philip did, and it wasn’t treason.  In fact, it 
was compassionate, a new style for him,” Ryan mused.
	“Is that why you’re here,” Sir Trevor asked, “to rescue 
Philip?”
	“Yes,” was the answer, “but there are two groups of us.  The 
others are already upstairs searching.  My two friends here are 
going to help me get all the people who shouldn’t be in here out 
to safety.”
	“How can you do that?”
	“It is too long to explain.  Just help us get our people out 
of the cells, and I will take care of the escape.
	Less than ten minutes later, Sean opened the last door Sir 
Trevor indicated and pushed out a young woman in a wheelchair.  
Ryan took the handles and led the way to the elevator.  Those who 
were well enough to walk helped those who weren’t, and the first 
car full of escapees were on their way to the third floor with 
Scott to show them where to go.
	Once they were all up, they made their slow progress to the 
door of the tunnel, where they had to slide each person through 
individually.  This, along with the portal on the ceiling, was 
going to take a while.

***

	Sandy was getting tired of searching for the imprisoned 
prince, and decided to take a risk.
	“Excuse me,” she said in haughty tones behind one of the 
maids.  The maid jumped up in surprise and was about to say 
something, but Sandy cut her short.  “My pupils and I are new 
here.  We were told that there was a room being set up for 
classes three doors down from Prince Philip’s room, but they 
declined to tell us where that was.
	“Two halls down, take a right.  After three more hallways, 
head left.  The room with all of the guards in front of it is the 
prince’s,” the maid without the slightest hint of pleasantness.
	Without bothering to thank the woman, Sandy led her “pupils” 
in the indicated direction.  They turned left and were in what 
seemed to be a main passage, being larger than the others.  When 
they reached the third hall, there were four guards by a door 
near the end: two with their backs against the wall on either 
side of the door, and two facing them on the other side of the 
doorway.  Sandy chose a room in the main hallway and led Ayre and 
Spider in.
	“What now?” Spider asked.
	“Now we wait,” Sandy replied.

***

	Ryan waited for Sean to give the “all clear” call from the 
other end of the tunnel, signifying that the woman he was sliding 
through the smooth ice-tunnel was through and out of the way.
	“Can I go first?” Scott asked.
	“Go ahead,” Ryan said, not wanting to be the first one to 
test Scott’s idea.
	Scott backed up a few steps, ran at the tunnel, and dove in 
head first.  Ryan ducked down to watch him continue sliding 
around the corner and out of sight.  “Damn,” he heard Scott say 
from the end.
	“What happened?”
	“Nothing,” Scott replied with something less than enthusiasm.  
“I just didn’t get enough speed to go all the way.”
	“So it is safe?”
	“It’s a smooth tunnel with a silo full of grain to land in.  
Of course it’s safe,” Scott called back.  “Your turn.”
	Ryan turned around and walked down the hallway.  The door was 
at the end of a long passage, long enough for him to get a 
running start.
	Two of his father’s private guards came out of a door with a 
box of weapons.  They saw Ryan and all three of them froze.  Ryan 
was the first to break the stillness.  He took off and sprinted 
at the hole, going about three times as fast as Scott had gone 
with his three steps, and dove.  The speed Ryan shot through the 
tunnel was phenomenal.  Before he knew it, he was rising up the 
wall of the right-turning curve so high he reached the top and 
came down on the left side.  He saw the opening approaching 
quickly and braced himself for a landing, which was much softer 
than he had anticipated.
	“Man, Ryan,” Sean exclaimed, “you shot out like a human 
cannonball.”
	Ryan spat the raw grain out of his mouth.  “Close the door, 
quickly, and hold it shut.”
	Scott, Sean, and Jack slammed the door and put all of their 
weight against it.  Almost immediately, there was a loud CLANG 
and the three at the door were jarred.  A minute later, the 
second guard began yelling at them.  “I don’t know what you were 
doing here, but now you can add murder to it.”
	Ryan, glad that they had at least loaded the prisoners up 
through the portal as they brought them through, now tried to 
figure out how they were going to escape without bringing guards 
with them.

***

	It was nearly an hour before Sandy saw the four guards 
approaching down the empty passage.  For a palace, this place was 
sure deserted.  She decided she would ask Ryan about it later 
when their mission was over.
	She stepped out of her room and walked right for the guards, 
making as if to walk right through them.  The four of them, in a 
square formation, parted to let her pass, but she had no 
intention of just going by.  She raised her staff and four bolts 
of light shot out to his the guards in their heads.  They froze 
momentarily, long enough for Spider and Ayre to rush out of the 
room and catch two of them.  Sandy caught the third in her arms 
and the fourth in a beam of light.  They brought them into their 
room and quickly donned the guards’ uniforms.  This time, none of 
them acted shy about changing in front of the others.
	Once they had changed, there was still the problem of the 
fourth guard.  If they went with three, the others at the door 
would be suspicious.  Sandy kneeled by one of the guards’ bodies 
and placed her hands on the sides of his head, concentrating.  
The guard’s eyes opened, but it was clear that the guard’s mind 
wasn’t there.
	“You two will have to lead,” Sandy said.  “It will take most 
of my concentration to walk and bring this man along like a 
magical marionette.”
	They responded by standing and walking out of the room.  Ayre 
and Spider, as Sandy had instructed, stood side by side, and 
Sandy brought the guard and stood behind them.  Their formation 
as they went, wasn’t particularly graceful, but it was passable.
	“You’re late,” one of the guards reprimanded them.
	“Someone,” Ayre said, turning to cast a nasty gaze at Spider, 
“had to use the bathroom, so we all had to wait.”
	“Don’t let it happen again,” the guard said and the four that 
had been in front of the door marched off in unison as Sandy and 
the others took their places.
	As soon as they were out of hearing range, Sandy let the 
fourth guard slip to the floor.  “Gods, he is heavy.”
	Spider opened the door and led the way into the prince’s 
antechamber.
	“Wait,” the prince protested, “it is not time yet.”
	Sandy raised her staff and transformed into Stardust.  She 
opened a portal which Ayre and Spider walked through.  “We are 
the ones saving your life,” she said.  “Are you coming?”
	Philip didn’t waste any time deciding.  He followed the two 
through the portal and was tailed by Stardust, who closed the 
portal when she was through.
	She was greeted by about fifty sick and elderly people.  
Looking at Spider and seeing the same shock on her face which she 
herself felt, she knew that this was Spider’s Den.  What were all 
of these people doing here?
	She waded through the crowd and found her original portal.  
She jumped down into it and was tailed by Spider, who spoke 
first.  “What the Hell is going on?” she demanded.
	Stardust noticed that Sean, Scott, and Jack were pressed up 
against the silo door, holding something back that kept jarring 
them.  She raised her staff once again and fired a stream of sap 
from one of the trees of her homeland.  The three who were 
holding the door moved out of the way and she finished the job.
	“I asked a question,” Spider said loudly.
	“We had some prisoners to break free,” Sean said to her.  
“Don’t worry, you, Ryan, and Sandy are still the only ones who 
know where it is.”
	Stardust floated back up through the portal and lowered a 
rope.  Jack and Ryan followed while Sean placated Spider.  “Hey 
you two,” Sandy yelled down, “got up here!  That sap will not 
hold much longer.”
	Reluctantly, the two of them stopped their argument and 
shinnied up the rope.  Stardust watched as the silo door broke 
open and guards began flooding in.  She smiled and waved to them 
from Spider’s Den as she closed the portal, cutting off the 
various shouts of the guards.
	She reverted back to Sandy and turned to Spider, who was 
still furious.  “Worry not,” she said.  “I will get them out of 
here.”
	Sandy raised her staff for what she hoped was the last time 
that day and opened a portal to the apartment she had briefly 
rented in Tyre when she had first arrived on the planet.  “All 
right,” she yelled over the low din, catching everyone’s 
attention.  “Everyone who was set free today, not including 
prince Philip, step through this portal.  You will be in Tyre and 
safe.”
	In an orderly manner, the crowd funneled through the portal, 
finally leaving the eight who were supposed to be there.
	“My brother,” Philip said to Ryan, “I am extremely grateful 
to you for coming to my rescue.  What can I do to repay you?”
	“Repay me?” Ryan said incredulously.  “I am your brother.  I 
have to keep you out of trouble.  Family is the most important 
thing we can have in our lives.  Why can you not understand 
that?”
	“Let’s not have this conversation again,” Philip said.  “We 
discussed it enough at that massage place where you were working.  
You know my position.”
	“I had rather hoped that your position would have changed by 
now,” Ryan retorted.
	“I still insist that the needs of the Kingdom come before our 
own needs.  In saving me, the Kingdom owes you a great debt.”
	“The Kingdom wants you dead.”
	“Our father wants both of us dead.  I no longer consider him 
the voice of the Kingdom, as he has clearly lost his senses.”
	“At least we agree on something,” Ryan said.  “Let us just 
leave it at that.”
	“I concur,” Philip said, then turned and walked to the bed, 
occupying it as his own.
	“Tell me again, why did we save him?” Scott asked softly, 
standing close enough that only Ryan could hear.
	“What an irritating little man,” Spider said, not checking 
her volume.  Philip either didn’t hear or chose to ignore it.
	“Can we send him somewhere?” Ayre asked Sandy.
	Sandy was on the verge of collapse.  “I can’t send anyone 
anywhere tonight,” she groaned.  “I used all of my magic today, 
including my reserves.  There’s nothing left.”
	“Move,” Spider told Philip.
	“Excuse me?” he asked in an offended tone.
	“Get up,” she demanded.  “The bed is needed.”
	“I am the Crown Prince,” he said.  “The bed is mine now.”
	Spider grabbed the mattress and tipped it, knocking the 
prince to the floor with surprising strength for someone so 
small.
	“How DARE you!” Philip raged, standing up.
	“Begone little man,” Spider said, looking up defiantly into 
his eyes, “before I get angry and stop being nice.”
	“People have been hung for less.”
	“Look, you sorry excuse for a male, get a clue,” Spider 
began, “Sandy has run herself ragged for you.  She ran all over a 
palace she didn’t know, risking her life, and used up every ounce 
of strength she had.  She busted her ass to save yours, and now 
you think you have more right to the bed than her?  If you even 
think about trying to take this bed from her, I will personally 
tie you down and gag you.”
	Philip opened his mouth to berate Spider, but a sharp growl 
from her silenced him.
	Sandy remembered an intense feeling of gratitude and 
sisterhood for Spider before she passed out.

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