Intermission

The dark room was shrouded in odorous mists that seemed to whisper of alchemical secrets and potent effects. Only a sensitive and trained nose would have identified the pain relievers in the fumes. Still, the man's face was a grimace of pain as he bent over the cauldron of swirling liquid. Clenching his teeth he mumbled the incantations and drew the runes. Only reluctantly it seemed, did the link respond and swirls begin to clear.
His right eye was covered with a thick patch of crushed herbs held in place with scraps of cloth wound around his head. Even after days the occasional streak of red would shimmer through the mixture. He stood with difficulty - this also only a very sensitive eye would preceive - and one hand would unconsciously wander up to hold his chest.
As the image in the cauldron cleared he drew himself up straight, winced and immediately slumped back to his hunched posture.
The image studied him impassively.
"You have news to report?" The voice seemed to fill the room. The bald man suppressed a grimace even though he knew not a whisper would be audible outside.
"We had her cornered but she is becoming increasingly powerful." He added quickly: "Too powerful."
"She has eluded you again", the figure growled menacingly.

The bald man sputtered: "She had help from the Savages again. The king's son was there with armed men. And this time she simply broke through my enchantments. With only a word!" The thought made him shiver.
The figure's voice betrayed no emotion. It was the tone of a schoolmaster lecturing a pupil.
"You continue to underestimate her. She has the power of Speech. That means the power to entice and control or to break that control."

"The Speech, that is just it", the bald man exclaimed, "she uses it all the time now. She speaks no other language any more! She wraps it around herself like a cloak, shields herself with it... I have never seen anything like it before."
The figure considered this in silence while the bald man on this side of the link waited uneasily.
"The girl progresses more rapidly than we had anticipated. Yet you attribute your observations to control while what you saw was merely due to primitive instincts. Getting hold of her will require ingenuity instead of brute force now."
The words hung in the air awaiting agreement.
"Ingenious though your scheme may be-" The bald man was choosing his words with care. "-but this girl is unpredictable, uncontrollable - like the Savages she surrounds herself with. I fear she will be of no more use to us." He hesitated before adding: "Moreover, she may turn out to be a risk to our designs.""She may pose a risk to your designs, sorcerer, but not to mine." Each word was like a hammer banging the cauldron. "I was a fool to heed your counsel the first time. From now on you will follow my command."
The man drew back from the cauldron hastily as if he feared the image would reach out to him.
"I hear and I obey", he replied in a small voice.
"Press your attacks on the Savages. Destroy them. She will come to me."
With that the swirls consumed the image and the link was severed.