The Insane Mage

"If we bind his hands so that he can't make any gestures, and gag him, then I don't think that he will be able to perform any magic. With any luck there will be some rope in the saddle-bag of Wilkes' horse, and we can easily improvise a gag."

But before they had a chance to do this, Bert's eyes suddenly shot open and he stared at Fred. "Lord Frederigo!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing with this sorceress? Has she bewitched you?"

"What nonsense is this?" Fred asked angrily. "This is no sorceress, but Princess Astra of Aqualaria. We are betrothed. Why did you kill Wilkes, and then try to teleport away with Astra?"

"That wasn't really Wilkes, but a foul creature in his likeness. No doubt the sorceress made it look like Wilkes to deceive you."

That made no sense, Fred thought. After all, Wilkes had fetched horses for himself and Astra, not the action of some evil doppelganger. And even if Bert for some reason thought that Astra was a sorceress, why should he want to teleport away with her? It seemed that he must have gone insane. (Another possibility, that there truly was an evil doppelganger in the vicinity, but that it was for some reason impersonating Bert, did not occur to him.)

Turning his back so that the mage could not see what he did, Fred made the universal gesture that indicated that someone was mad. Astra nodded her agreement.

At that moment, whilst they were slightly off their guard, Bert tried another spell.

1. With no more success than before.
2. This one worked.

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