Carl wiped his hands on his apron, and then his brow with his sleeve. The bread he''d just take out of the large oven looked and smelled as good as ever. He nodded, a craftsman''s nod of quiet satisfaction. ;

    The bell from the shop front tinkled, signifying a customer. "Be there in a moment," he shouted, closing the oven door. ;

    There was another noise, one that wasn''t familiar. He frowned and looked around.

    The noise came again. A scratching noise. Puzzled, he scanned the room, and then looked back. There it was again, and it was coming from inside the oven!

    "Can''t be," Carl muttered. Even though it was now off, the inside of the oven was still hot enough to kill anything fairly quickly.

    Still, there was the noise again. A scratching. Like a rat or something. ;

    Putting on his glove, he opened the door. ;

    Behind it, sitting in the oven like it wasn''t hot enough to blister skin, was something so hideous that, even if it hadn''t leaped onto him and forced its way down his throat, he wouldn''t have been able to describe. ;

    As the invader filled his mind, he wondered what would happen to his bakery. ;

    "A professional to the last," came an unfamiliar voice in his head. "I like that. Thanks for the body."

    Carl''s existence was snuffed out.

    ~ * ~

    "She''s chasing me, I''m telling you," Reginald said. ;

    "Why would my sister be running after you?" Urt asked, only paying partial attention to the were-sheep. ;

    "I don''t know." Reginald peered over Urt''s shoulder, at the Lexicon Tormentus and the sheaf of notes that the necromancer was making on parchment supplied by Reckless, or at least her clerk. "Maybe she''s decided to carry on with the torture. You do remember that she tried to torture me don''t you?"

    "I think she did more than try," Urt said, scribbling a note down. "As I recall you were being cut into sections when I rescued you."

    "It wasn''t that bad," Reginald frowned, wandering off and slumping into a nearby chair. "A few slices, painful ones mind."

    "Look, I''m sure that if she wanted to cut you into bits she''d have done so already." Urt put a finger on the passage he was reading and looked at his friend slash minion. "She''s probably just teasing you. Why don''t you stop running away and see what she wants?"

    "She might want something painful," Reginald said. ;

    "You can handle it," Urt replied. "I have every faith in you."

    "How long are we going to be here anyway?" ;

    Urt sighed. "I don''t know. This detection spell is harder than I thought. This Devil blade," he gestured at the sword on the desk, "is so powerful that using magic on it is very difficult. I''m making progress, although I''d be a lot faster without the interruptions." He gave Reginald a meaningful glance. ;

    "Fine, fine. I can take a hint when it''s mashed into my face." The were-sheep stood up and sauntered to the door. "But I want you to avenge my death if she dices me into cubes."

    "She''s more likely to burn you with magical fire I''d think," Urt said, looking back at his book. "And she''s my sister, and, apparently, just as powerful as I am. I may have to kill one of her minions instead. Will that do?"

    "Very well. But make it painful." Reginald sniffed and departed the chamber Urt had taken over to do his work in. He stepped out into the corridor beyond and closed the door behind him. ;

    He had to admit, he thought as he wandered along the well decorated hallway, that Reckless''s manor house, or mini castle as it really was, was a great improvement on the lodgings he''d had in his life thus far, and that was when he had lodgings. Plus, there was plenty of food, which was also a first in his life. Overall, other than the fact that Urt''s maniac sister looked at him with those crazy - although undoubtedly attractive - eyes of hers like he was food, he was as comfortable as he''d ever imagined he could be. Far more so in fact. ;

    He turned the corner and approached the room he''d been given. Another first. A room of his own. It had a bed, with covers and everything, which was larger by itself than the shack he''d grown up in. And it had a door that locked.

    He was just entering said room when he sensed movement behind him. Turning, he gasped, and tried to slide inside, but a foot wedged the door immobile. ;

    "You''ve been avoiding me." Eyes of crazy blue glared at him. Up close they were even more intense than ever. Like the sky on a clear summer''s day. ;

    "I... I..." Reginald said, trying to push his way through the door''s solid wood. "I..." he repeated.

    Reckless pushed up against him. Her body, he couldn''t help but notice, was remarkably soft and...

    "Ohh," he said, unsure as to what emotion he should be feeling. There was certainly a large conflict. ;

    "You said I have pretty eyes," she said, running her hand (very soft!!) through his hair. "Do you really think so?"

    Reginald had lived his life so far by avoiding, wherever possible, dangerous things. And despite the fact that she was much smaller and slighter than Reginald, the girl currently causing him so much trauma was probably the most dangerous person, with the exception of her brother, for many leagues around. She could snuff him out with a blink, a literal blink, of her eyes.

    "I... I..." he maintained. "I... do," he managed to finally get out. ;

    "You do!" ;

    Suddenly Reginald was being ?ssaulted in a manner that he''d never been before, and, frankly, in a manner he''d never realistically expected to be, at least by someone as attractive as Reckless. ;

    Her mouth was soft on his, and her hands roamed his body, causing him feelings and reactions that were, whilst new, not at all unpleasant. ;

    Coming up for air, Reckless grinned evilly at him. "I think I''m going to enjoy you."

    "Oh my!" exclaimed Reginald, as she pushed him into his room. ;

    A few moments later a long, loud, sheep-like bleat echoed through the castle.

    ;Please read Author''s thoughts, below.