Page 49 of A Fable of Riddles and Redemption

He laughed, the sound coming out a bit unhinged. “Oh Zorina, Zorina, how you amuse me. You have yet to even see how powerful black magic through song can be! You cannot judge it until you see. Yes, you must see first before you play the moral high ground. Shall I demonstrate?”

Though she shook her head again with a defiant, “No,” he shushed her with a finger to her lips and began to sing. Dulcet tones erupted from his mouth, and light gray power crackled with black filled his palm, enveloping both of them. Zorina winced as the magic sizzled around her, though the singing distracted her.

His voice when he sang was even more spellbinding than the notes he’d played on his flute. He sang with the clearest, purest tones that she had ever heard.

“Magic black as night.

Music: do not fight.

Reach for the darkness,

Grasp for its starkness.

The power you will hold

Will make you ever bold.

I will take you there

Your soul for me to bear.

In the end, you will be

Forever bound to me.”

Zorina felt her eyes glaze over and everything grew hazy again. The power of his song held her in place, caressing her with its soft and gentle melody even as he circled around her. His hands brushed against her as he moved, each touch a light stroke across her arms, her hands, her waist, her shoulders, her hair, and her face.

With each touch, she felt less and less able to stand. More and more dizzy. Less and less herself, and more and more…his.

At last, she closed her eyes and succumbed to whatever power he held over her. Everything felt dark and quiet, except for Caliban’s tantalizing voice, urging her to lower her defenses indefinitely and give in to dark magic.

Zorina

When Zorina awoke again, she felt even more drained—if such a thing were possible. Her eyelids felt too heavy to even open, and every muscle in her body seemed to have a magnetic pull to the bed she was lying on. A groan escaped her, despite her inability to move.

After several minutes, she finally managed to pry her eyes open. Slowly, she took in the room from where she lay, her searching gaze reassuring her that she was alone.

Unfortunately, she was still in whatever lair Caliban had dragged her to, though he, thankfully, was nowhere to be seen.

The distant sounds of a flute reached her ears. Part of her wanted to lie back and listen. Another part hoped to jump up soon and find an escape. And yet, another part of her yearned to follow the lyrical tune, wherever it led.

Even if it led to Caliban—which it certainly did, considering where she was.

Zorina tried to shake that thought away. Approaching the crazed mage who’d abducted her did not seem like a wise choice. So why did she feel a pull toward him despite his actions? Not to mention his use of black magic.

It made no sense.

Who was the man beneath the mask? The Maestro. Caliban. Those were simply names. Labels, though his song called to her in ways she couldn’t explain. But who was he really?

Unwittingly, a particular grumpy guard’s face swam before her eyes, though she knew for certain that her captor wasn’t Herrick.

No! She refused to let him worm his way into her heart, either.

At her mother’s insistence, she had once chased after a man who hadn’t wanted her—though in all honesty, she hadn’t truly wanted that ridiculous prince, either. From her interactions with Prince Lander, he’d seemed immature, childish, and foppish in all the worst ways—and he had never shown any inclination toward her, despite all her efforts.

But to be that vulnerable again? To open herself up to that kind of pain? To actually allow her heart to warm to a man, only to be rejected again? No. Never. Not to some unfathomable Maestro, nor to the guard who kept popping up in her space.

No. Zorina would keep her heart closed off as always. It was the only way to preserve what little of it remained.