Wizard's First Rule

She pulled it out of the pocket where she kept her magic fire stick, to show him. He smiled and called her a good girl. No one had ever called her a good girl before, at least not for a long time. He picked her up again and walked fast down the hall and then down the dark, narrow servants' stairs. She could hardly ever hear his footsteps on the stone. His whiskers tickled her face. At the bottom he set her down again.

"Rachel," he said, squatting down close to her, "listen carefully, this is very important, this is no game. We must get out of the castle, or we will both get our heads chopped off, just like Sara told you. But we must be smart about it, or we will get caught. If we run away too quickly, without doing the right things first, we will be found out. And if we are too slow, well, we just better not be too slow."

She started to get tears in her eyes. "Giller, I'm afraid to get my head chopped off, people say it hurts terrible bad."

Giller hugged her tight. "I know, child. I'm afraid too." He put his hands on her shoulders, holding her up straight while he looked in her eyes. "But if you trust me, and do exactly as I say, and are brave enough, we will get away from here, and go to where no one ever chops off people's heads, or locks them in boxes, and where you can have your doll and people will let you, and they will never take Sara away from you or throw her in the fire. All right?"

Her tears started to go away. "That would be wonderful, Giller."

"But you must be brave, and do just as I tell you. Some of it will be hard."

"I will, I promise."

"And I promise, Rachel, that I will do whatever I must to protect you. We are in this together, you and me, but a lot of other people are depending on us too. If we do a good job, we will be able to fix it so a lot of other people, innocent people, won't get their heads chopped off anymore."

Her eyes got wide. "Oh, I would like that, Giller. I hate it when people get their heads chopped off. It scares me fierce."

"All right then, the first thing I need you to do is to go scold the cooks, just like you are supposed to, and while you are down in the kitchen, get a big loaf of bread, the biggest you can find. I don't care how you get it, steal it if you have to. Just get it. Then bring it up to the jewel room. Use the key and wait inside for me. I must tend to some other things. I'll tell you more then. Can you do that?" "Sure," she nodded. "Easy."

"Off with you then."

She went through the door into the big hall on the first floor while Giller disappeared up the steps without making a sound. The stairs to the kitchen were at the other end, on the other side of the grand stairs in the middle that the Queen used. Rachel liked going up the grand stairs with the Princess because they had carpets, and weren't cold like the stone steps she was supposed to use when she was on errands. The hall was open in the middle, where the grand stairs came down to a big room with black and white marble squares on the floor. They were very cold under her feet.

She was trying to think of a way she could get a big loaf of bread without stealing it, when she saw Princess Violet coming across the room to the grand stairs. The royal seamstress and two of her helpers were following behind, carrying bolts of pretty, pink cloth. Rachel looked quick for a place to hide, but the Princess had already seen her.

"Oh good, Rachel," the Princess said. "Come here."

Rachel went and curtsied. "Yes, Princess Violet?"

"What are you doing?"

"I was doing my errands. I was just going to the kitchen now."

"Well… don't bother."

"But Princess Violet, I have to!"

The Princess frowned. "Why? I just said you didn't."

Rachel bit her lip; the Princess's frown scared her. She tried to think of how Giller would answer. "Well, if you don't want me to, I won't," she said. "But your lunch was simply dreadful, and I would hate to see you eating another dreadful meal. You must be starving for something good. But if you don't want me to go tell them, I won't."

The Princess thought this over a minute. "On second thought, go ahead, it was dreadful. Just be sure to tell them how angry I am, too!"

"Yes, Princess Violet." She curtsied. She turned and started to leave.

"I'm going for a fitting." Rachel turned back to her. "Then I want to go to the jewel room, and try on some things, to go with my new dress. When you're finished with the cooks, go get the key and wait for me in the jewel room."

Rachel's mouth felt as if it were stuck together. "But Princess, wouldn't you rather wait until tomorrow, when the dress is finished, to see how pretty the jewelry will look with the dress?"

Princess Violet looked surprised. "Well, yes, that would be good, to see the jewels with the dress." She thought another minute, then started up the steps. "I'm glad I thought of that."

Rachel let out a breath, then headed off to the servants' stairs. The Princess called down to her.