It's not quite the success Sylla needed

Sylla shuffled uncomfortably as she watched the enchantress being led into the Great Hall and up to the platform. This stupid dress, she thought. How she wished she was wearing her trusted leather armour! The frilly fabric of the purple dress felt ridiculous to her, although it was a requirement of her job in court and she knew from the admiring looks from the crowd how good she looked.

She avoided eye contact with Eilwy as the enchantress was pulled onto the platform. Captain Yakundo came and stood next to her, a little too close for Sylla's comfort.

Whilst Celia began talking to the crowd, Sylla shuffled sideways slightly. She was fairly sure the captain, subtly, moved sideways as well, staying in touching distance. Was it purposeful? Sylla felt suddenly nervous. But no, when Celia whipped Eilwy's bikini pants off, Captain Yakundo's sharp eyes were clearly drawn to the enchantress's bare ass. He wasn't watching Sylla. She tried to calm herself. No one knew about the plan!

She wondered if Primal Slurtis could see what was going on from behind the curtain at the far end of the room. There were two guards stood close to the curtains, and two more by the main doors. Too many for them to take out without Eilwy's help.

She saw Valett whisper something to Eilwy and then begin his preparation for the final transfer. She tensed. She had to hit him at exactly the right time to get Eilwy released. She'd studied this spell many times over night and knew exactly what to do.

It moved very quickly. Valett threw his dust into the air and began his chant, and Sylla kept forward quickly and shoved him from the platform. He went flying into the crowd, spell ruined, bowling some of them off their feet. Eilwy, who had momentarily gone faint as the spell was cast, snapped back into focus - her gag removed!

But then it all went wrong. Yakundo reacted faster than he had any right to, as if he had known of the plan in advance. Almost before Eilwy could take a breath, he lept forward and wrapped his hands around her, one hand firmly over her mouth. Her eyes boggled indignantly and she kicked and struggled, but the guard captain had effectively restrained her.

A great roar went up in the room. The Marquess was still frozen in astonishment, staring at Sylla in disbelief. Sylla, knowing the game was up, drew a dagger from under her dress and charged into the crowd, seeking to escape, but it was no good. There were too many guards at the door. She took one out with a kick to the balls, but they swarmed over her, disarming and restraining her.

The momentarily chaos was ended by a shrill command from Celia.

"Bring her to me!"

The crowd quietened down, muttering, unsure. The guards manhandled Sylla back to the platform. Valett had returned to his position and was gathering fallen dust from the floor. His spell was ruined, and he would need time to prepare it again. For the moment, at least, Eilwy was safe from bring turned into a living picture.

Sylla was dragged onto the platform and held in front of Celia. The Marquess glared at her former enforcer with cold fury. Sylla stared at her defiantly, trying to maintain eye contact.

"How dare you? How dare you?" Celia hissed.

Yakundo calmly gagged and bound Eilwy, and left her once more trussed up in front of the crowd. He came to stand next to Celia and gazed at Sylla with a cold smile.

"I could tell she was up to something, Marquess. I could see the bulge of her dagger under her dress."

Celia licked her lips, eyes still blazing. "You did well, captain. And you'll have your reward." She paused, collecting herself. The crowd were still muttering, and she was worried about the impact of the event on her credibility. Her own enforcer, betraying her!

"Let's see what else she's got under that dress," she announced loudly. "Strip her."