Onelle became frustrated as she dealt with a customer.  Five days had passed since Terance had begun to sleep and five days the Lion’s Eyes had not seen its owner.  She was worried about him but taking on his duties along with her own in Brook Village was becoming a bit much.  She had already tried to pull out some of her hair to refrain from screaming.  At home, in her empty kitchen, she had yelled; partly to let out her anger and partly hoping that her husband might wake at the noise.  He didn’t even stir. 
      Rumors had gotten out and worried patrons had returned and asked if they could do anything to help.  She flashed her cheery smile and shook her head.  Some old friends had come by as the rumors spread farther and farther out into the Land.  She took each visitor with hope that he or she might be able to help her love but none had the magick skill to aid. 
      On the sixth day Onelle had left the Lion’s Eyes to Velin’s care and was sitting at her kitchen table, a cup of hot tea in her tiny hands.  Her fiery hair was a loose jumble of tight spirals around her shoulders and back.  She brushed one back and sighed. 
      “I can’t get upset anymore.  There has to be a way for Terance to wake.  People said something about a man, but I see so many strangers . . . What am I going to do?”
      She jumped in her seat when the front door opened.  She leaned over in her chair to see around the kitchen doorway and saw the tall young man.  Her spirits lifted as she raised in her seat. 
      “Illin!  What are you doing here?” she asked as she opened her arms.  He embraced her, leaning over so that she could place her chin on his tall shoulders. 
      “I heard about Papa.” He slightly pulled away and she looked up into his eyes.  She saw worry that equaled her own. “Is it true? Is Papa under a magic spell?” She could only nod her head.  She didn’t like the way his eyes darkened. “Why would someone want to do that to Papa?  He has never harmed anyone.”
      She nodded her head and was going to reply when her eldest son let go of her and started for the bedroom down the small hallway.  She picked up the edge of her skirts and quickly followed him to her bedroom. 
      “Illin, what are you doing?” she called out.  He opened the door without replying and just stopped. She stopped her pace and stared at her son.  She knew what he was looking at Terance in a deep sleep.  Her husband didn’t look ill just in slumber.  She saw the way in which one of Illin’s eyebrows became crooked as he silently stared. 
      “Why . . .” He became silent again.  She held her breath when he turned to look back at her. “Who did this to him?!” he harshly demanded.  Onelle straightened herself and placed her hands on her hips.
      “Don’t take that tone with me!  If I knew don’t you think I would have done something about it?  All I know is that people saw a white-haired stranger talking to Terance a little bit before he became exhausted.” Illin’s hand went to his sword’s hilt.  Her eyes traveled to his silver pommel that was being tightly gripped. "I know what that means.  I’ve seen that look before."
      When he looked to her again she saw his wish in his expression. “I will find this stranger.  Just give me a clue . . .”
      She immediately shook her head and said, “No.”
      “Mother, why not?!” he cried. 
      She squarely stared at him. “Because I said so.”
      He rolled his eyes- something that she had never liked- before saying, “That isn’t a valid answer!  Tell me why!”
      “I’m your mother and my word should be enough. I want to find this man who did this to my husband.”
      “Mama, you?!  You never liked it when papa traveled and you don’t even like it when I adventure.  Why do you want to?”
      She didn’t answer him as she went to the doorway of her bedroom.  She stood besides her son in the doorway and looked in.  Her love was sleeping, a peaceful expression on his face.  His tranquil-look now bothered her, even as she remembered the countless times she had suggested for him to get some rest.  The sun danced through the window and caressed his cheeks to give the lightly hued skin a flushed glow.  His lips were in a smile. “A cruel thing for us.  He’s imprisoned yet he has the look of bliss.” Her anger raised as she had to look away from Terance or else tears would come to her eyes.  She turned out of the room, closing the door behind her. 
      “Mama . . .”
      She took a deep breath before looking up at Illin. “I want to find the man who did this.  I will find him and I will demand to know why.  I don’t do many things but this thing I desperately want from deep inside of me.”
     Illin looked like he was going to protest, but instead, he nodded his head. "Then let me go with you."
      She gave a small laugh. "To protect your old mom?!  I think I can do more with my hands than you can with that sword." She reached up and pinched his left cheek. "Humor me.  I can do this." She gave his cheek a small shake, let go, then laughed as she watched him rub his cheek.
      "Mama, why do you have to do that?!" he demanded, a small smile on his lips. 
      "Because you don’t like it dear." She turned on her heel and started to think of what she would need for her journey. 

     Onelle left the next day with Illin’s promise to help at the Lion’s Eyes. The faerie had just left Brook Village when she dismounted from her horse and bent to the ground.  She placed her right hand on the ground and started to whisper the magic words. 
     "Ground, hear me.  Give me a path to this stranger who disrupted my peace.  Lean blades of grass and flowers.  Lean into his direction."
     Her inner strength was soon felt as she became warm on the insides and felt the familiar use of power.  With one last word, the energy was released from within her and spread through the ground.  She instantly felt weak, as she became cold.  She took a deep breath and looked to see if her spell worked.  She smiled in relief as all the flowers slightly tilted towards the north.  She looked around and saw that every blade of grass pointed in that direction.  She sighed and used her strength to pull herself up to a standing position.  She remounted and followed the trail.

     It took her a day but she was led to an old cottage.  It was rundown; there were holes in the roof where the dried mud and thatching was bare.  The walls had cracks running up and down them like veins.  She didn’t believe that anyone lived in here but nature still pointed her in this direction. 
She straightened her skirts after she dismounted and headed towards the door.  She knocked on the door but didn’t receive an answer.  She was about to knock again when there was a brief tingling at the back of her neck. “Magic,” she whispered as she closed her eyes.  She tried to feel more and recognize how much was being used.  She stomped her foot when she couldn’t feel anything more. "I’m just too tired.  This mage better be tired too.  I don’t know if I could fight him.  I will just talk to him and rationalize this out with him.  If he doesn’t comply, then I’ll . . . I’ll see."  Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and walked in.
      She almost stumbled, as she wasn’t prepared for stepping on smooth stone floors.
      "What in the Land?" she wondered as she stared at the shiny black and white floor tiles.  It brought her to the walls where she saw regal tapestries hanging.  She stared at the picture.  It was of a battle and showed a glorious warrior with his sword raised and all the combatants kneeling before him.  She turned her gaze and another tapestry showed a youth in the middle of a town.  He held his hands apart, crude small silver and gray sparks showed the presence of magic.  Admiration was in every face that looked at him.  Yet another tapestry showed a handsome man surrounded by gorgeous women, some half-naked.  There was no mistaking the same face on the central man in each tapestry.  They were all about him.  Her eyes raked over gold pillars and silver mirror frames.
      "Where am I?" she asked as she turned herself around to look at all the splendor.  "Am I in some lord's palace?" She became silent when she heard footsteps.  She stood still and was thinking of a magic spell to protect herself when a young woman, dressed in a blue skirt and black shirt stopped in front of her.  The youth made a curtsy then said,
      "My master is expecting you.  If you would follow me?" Onelle could only silently nod her head and follow. 
      It was a short distance to the master.  As Onelle walked she wondered about the room. “From the outside it looks to be a one room shack. How can there be so much room in here? Magic, but where does it end?" 
      The master was a man in his later years of life.  He had a tall frame that was leaning over a table, a magnifying glass in one hand, a yellowed piece of parchment in the other.  The young girl bowed her head and left, closing the door behind her.  Onelle, for once in her life, was speechless as she stared at him.  He didn't look like much- just a plain man.  Her silence was shortly lived though.
      With her hands on her hips she demanded, "Are you the man who is torturing my husband?!"
      The man, without looking at her, coolly answered, "That depends.  Are you Terance's wife?"
      "Yes.  You are him!" She took a few steps towards him but stopped when he looked up at her.  She didn't like the look in his eyes. 
      "Do you know who I am?" he calmly asked.  She placed her hands on her hips and shook her head. 
      "Why should I?  All I know is that you will be hearing a word or two from me right now!" The man gave a lofty sigh and looked away from her.  He rose to his feet and began to calmly walk away from her. 
      "You don't know either. What happened? My name should be on each faerie's lips in the Land."
      "Who are ya?!" she screeched.  He looked over his shoulder at her.
      "Guess."
      "Guess?!  Why would I want to guess?  I don't care!  All I want to know is why you did this to Terance!"
      He gave another tired sigh, rolled his eyes, and looked away from her again.
      "Because he couldn't tell me my name." 
      Onelle couldn't contain herself.  She gave an insane laugh and wondered why the gods were strange in their ways. "Your name?!  Why should my husband know your name?"
      The man immediately stopped and turned his body to face her.  His bored expression was gone and replaced by an angry one.  "Because he humiliated me."
      She frowned. "My husband?  My Terance?!  He would never do something like that."
      The man's eyebrows raised in a snooty glance and he said, "Well he did.  You bother me, good day." He headed towards the door.
      "NO!  I am not done!” She stamped her right foot on the hard stone floor.  “I will not leave until you free my husband from your spell."
      "Then you will be waiting for eternity."
      Anger bubbled from deep within her and she felt her heat rise.  Just him leaving caused her to scream, releasing her anger.  The walls shimmered, the tapestries swirling away to reveal a dark brown wall.  The splendor left leaving a small one roomed shack.   The man walked straight into a wall that had just been a doorway.  She heard him cry as she lowered to one knee, her entire body weak.  With strength she didn't think she had, she raised her head to see the man pounding his fists against the walls. 
      "No!  That was mine!  That took so much effort to create!  I don't want to spend the many years trying to recreate it."  He turned and faced her. "You destroyed my joy."
      "It was an illusion," she bit back. "Illusions aren't real, like you in those tapestries.  Why did you create that whole world?  Is it because you can't stand this one?  Why is the Land so mean to you?"
      "Just ask you husband!  He, who once mocked me, couldn't remember his injustice now.  I deserve to be remembered."
      She gave a cold laugh. "You will be remembered, remembered as an evil man who was cornered by an angry wife."
      "Perhaps I should do to you what I did to your husband."
      She rose to her feet, all of her fatigue gone. "Do it and you will regret it.  I am too strong for you.  I have children who would tear up the Land if I asked it of them.  You would be no match for them.  Release my husband." 
      "No." She raised her hand and began to chant again.  The man cried as his appearance changed.  Instead of the semi-youthful look, he was old and thin.  His eyes were dark rimmed and his wrists looked bony.  His hair became gray and wrinkles appeared on his face.
      "No!  Stop!" 
She felt his magic try to oppose her, but she was too angry to be stopped.  She completed her task and breathed heavily as she watched him. 
      "Please, please stop," he cried. 
      "Release my husband and I won't shatter all of your illusions."
      "Granted!"
      "And promise to never harm anyone else!"
      "Done!"
      She let out a sigh as the magic leave her.  Her body went slack and she had to support herself with her hands to keep her from tipping over.  The man was in a worse condition. 
      "My beautiful face.  My palace," he moaned. 
She rose to her feet. "You've been spoiled all your life, I bet. Is that why you can't be friendly and demand admiration from every person you meet? That's not how you should respond to people. You should be friendly to them. You should be polite and courteous and not demand it from everyone else when you are hardly pleasant. I hope you never harm another creature. If you do, I will come back, with Terance and my children and every magic creature in the Land." She turned and took a step towards the door and felt a pang of guilt. 
     "Perhaps I've done too much. Maybe, I've been too strict." An idea popped in her head. 
      "After all this, I still don't know your name," she kindly said.  She didn't look at him but she could feel a smile on her back. 
      "Smiv."

      Her heart skipped a beat when she came into her kitchen to find it full with the smells of cooking food and people.  Both her son and husband were up, Terance spooning up stew.  She gave a wide smile as he dropped his spoon and rose to his feet. 
      "Well, it's about time you woke up.  One would think you were a teenager, sleeping so much," she greeted. She was swept up in a hug and she breathed in every smell and feel of her husband like she did every time her held her.  She felt his beard tickle the back of her neck and his strong arms held her tight.  She only smiled, thinking she could get used to being hugged like this every moment of every day.