The crimson witch

guaranteed.
        
        They brought the witch before him and bound her to the stake in the center of the throne room. He got out of his ornate throne, his white robes in a swirl, the orange crescent rippling across his breast, and approached her, smiling. “Ah, the Witch of Eye Mountain,” he said, rubbing his thin hands together, clicking his dirty nails like a lizard might click its claws. “I knew your mother quite well in the old days.”
        Cheryn spat on the floor at the old man's feet.
        He laughed. “You are a prideful one, aren't you?”
        She spat again.
        He laughed louder than before and rubbed his hands together energetically. “Yes, I remember now. Your mother was the same way. Ah, I wonder if I could ever have tamed her? She was such a witch!”
        “What do you want of me?” Cheryn hissed, wasting no rime in pleasantries.
        “And so pretty,” Lelar said, ignoring her question. He cupped her head in his hand and lifted her face to his. She tried to jerk free, but he held her rightly. “More beautiful than your mother, even.”
        “What do you want?” Each word was hard and brittle enough to crack.
        “I wonder if the rest of you-” He waved a hand, and her clothes were gone.
        She screamed.
        “Magnificent!” he said.
        The two manbats standing guard by the gold-leafed door snickered and nudged each other knowingly.
        Suddenly, the king was also naked. One moment he was dressed in the richest finery one might imagine, the next his skinny legs and swollen belly were there to be viewed.
        “You're a mess yourself,” Cheryn said and laughed.
        He yelped and quickly attired himself again, using his own magics to create golden robes trimmed in black velvet and studded about the collar with semiprecious green and amber stones. Then he turned on her and frowned. “I should have put a hand over your magics earlier. I was careless.”
        “You were funny,” she said. “But if you've had your thrill, would you mind clothing me again. I'm cold, and since you've clamped my Talent, I can't manage to stir up something myself.”
        He frowned, regained his good humor. One moment she was beautifully naked, the next she was clothed in beggar's rags. “That suits,” Lelar said, laughing once again.
        “Well, it keeps off the draft,” Cheryn agreed. “Now, what the hell do you want?”
        “What do I want?”
        “That was the question. And I certainly didn't address those two barbarians you have guarding the door.”
        “But, my dear,” he said gently, sarcastically, “was it not you who invaded my kingdom? Was it not you who killed a detail of my manbats? Was it not, indeed, you who destroyed one of my best Talenteds with your magics?”
        “And what were your lousy manbats doing that close to the gorge?”
        He smiled. “I don't have to answer that. It is I who is asking the questions here. But because I want to see your reaction, I'll tell you what they were doing that near the gorge.” He smiled again, licked his lips and paced off toward the throne. He whirled and faced her again. “Scouting!”
        “What for?”
        “For places to fortify. You see, I plan to take the land beyond the gorge. Then my kingdom will stretch from sea to sea.”
        “You'll be defeated!”
        “No. Once I would have been, yes. Once, the superior forces of the Talenteds on your shore would have overwhelmed me. But not so any longer. I have commanded all the Talenteds on this side to obey me, and they do so out of great fear. They know what would happen to them if they disagreed or refused to obey. With them at my back and with my vast squads of manbats ready to die for me, I have the power to take both sides of the gorge. And I will. Very shortly.”
        “I'll warn them!”
        He laughed. “You must get away first. And that you will not do.”
        “We'll see.”
        “Yes, your mother's spirit. But it will do you no good here. Now, suppose you answer my question. What are you doing here?”
        She remained silent.
        “What!”
        “I won't say.”
        He circled her, came back to her face. “If you are expecting your friend and his beast to come to your rescue, forget it my dear. The hag should have killed them. I have punished her for the oversight. And tonight another squad of manbats will kill them. They will not have your magics to