Parry saw her slipping away despite his best effort. He could not let it happen. He realized he would have to do what he had sought to avoid. He would have to enchant her.

"What do you fear of me?" he asked.

"I cannot tell you that! The uttering of it might make it come true."

"Do you fear that I will ravish you and cast you out despoiled, so that your father will beat you for being of lesser value on the marriage market?"

She nodded, agreeing without uttering.

"Do you not wonder why I have not done it long since, instead of talking with you?"

"I have been asking you that!"

"Can you not accept that what I am telling you is true?"

"I cannot."

"Then let me show you the nature of my power."

She tried to shrink back against the hearthstones. "I believe it already!"

"Look at me, Jolie. Gaze into my eyes and do not flinch."

She nerved herself for the inevitable and obeyed.

Parry invoked the magic of mesmerism. He accessed her mind through her eyes and made it responsive to his verbal commands. She would now obey any reasonable directive, and any unreasonable directive if it were suitably couched to seem reasonable. Almost anything could be done with a mesmerized person, if the sorcerer was sufficiently skilled.

"Listen to me," he said. "Believe what I say. Do not question it."

She nodded, her eyes fixed on his.

"I am about to teach you to fly," he said. "Follow my instructions, and you will fly. Are you ready to fly?"

She hesitated, obviously wishing to question this, but constrained by his injunction against that. She nodded, ill at ease despite the power of the spell.

"Spread your arms," he said. She did so. Now the holes in her dress were revealed; she had held her arms close to her body before, hiding the condition of the dress. Stitching had made up much of the damage, but it was not enough; he could see a portion of her right breast through the stitching. The breast was small, because she was young and because she was ill nourished; still, it threatened to distract him from this demonstration, so he forced his gaze away from it.

"You are now poised for flight," he said. "When you flap your arms you will rise into the air. Be careful, because the space is limited here; you do not want to bang into the roof. Do it slowly, and remain in control."

Still she looked doubtful.

"Flap your arms," he said.

She lifted and dropped her arms, imitating the motion of the wings of a bird, awkwardly.

"You are now rising from the floor," he said. "Look down. What do you see?"

She remained on the floor, moving her arms. But her face as she looked down changed. Sheer wonder showed.

"I-I am hovering in the air!" she exclaimed.