Cerise swallowed hard. She was no match for the Sorceress, and she knew it. “Okay.”
“Okay?” said the Sorceress.
“I — do you — do you promise you won’t hurt me if I agree to your terms? And you’ll let me go?”
The Sorceress grinned darkly. “Of course, my dear. You’re of no use to anyone dead or injured. To think you’d survived the destruction of your village just to be killed by me? Heaven forbid! No, I just want to try a little spell that I’ve been *dying* to try, but it’s *so* very hard to find volunteers, you know, and it doesn’t work as well if you — shall we say — if you don’t *cooperate*. And this will help you, I’m sure. You came here looking for power, and — this *will* give you power you don’t presently have.”
“You said a spell, and an order,” said Cerise. “What’s the ‘order’ part?”
“Oh, you’ll see. You’ll be fine. You’ve nothing at all to worry about. It’s just a little thing, a trifle, really, a simple request of you after I’ve cast the spell. It will only take a moment of your time.”
Cerise frowned. She didn’t like this, but she didn’t really have a choice. The Sorceress was obviously powerful, and the drawbridge was closed. She could try to run for the spiral stairs on the far walls, but up would likely just trap her atop the tower, and down would likely just trap her in the dungeon.
She gritted her teeth and held her arms wide. “All right. Do it and get it over with. Just — please — don’t hurt me.”
The Sorceress took a step back, her grin growing to a wide smile. “Oh, this won’t hurt — much.” She raised her arms high from under her cloak and uncurled her fingers. A glowing magic circle illuminated in the stone floor under Cerise, inlaid with lines and diagrams and symbols that she couldn’t hope to understand. The light from the circle grew brighter and brighter and began to surround her.