"Darien! Please. Just calm down. We can talk about this rationally," Serena said

as she tried to pull away from his hard grip. Suddenly, she felt his hands tightened on her

shoulders as he drew her closer to him. Exasperated, Serena glared at him before

realizing how dangerously close her face was to his, their noses were almost touching.

Noticing this, she shrunk back a little, but her position would not permit her to go back

too much.

            "Rational, eh?" he sneered as he shook her. "How would you expect someone to

treat you rationally after this inane display of yours? How can you violate the sorcerer's

code AGAIN?"

            "Darien, you take things too seriously," Serena laughed. Looking at him

sympathetically, she added, "Is Raye not doing anything to loosen you up?"

            Serena didn't think it was possible for Darien's face to get angrier, but it just did.

"Why, you infuriating…." he shouted, before he scooped her up and put her, belly down,

on his right shoulder, his arms holding tight onto her thighs.

            Try as she may, Serena could not get herself down from Darien's shoulder. "Put

me down!" she screamed as she punched his back. "This is inhumane! Put me down!"

            "You're one to talk about inhumane," Darien scoffed as she struggled. "We'll see

what the council has to say about this."

            Darien walked on, as Serena hung there, face red with embarrassment. She could

make out people's shocked looks as Darien carried her. So preoccupied was she in her

degrading position that she didn't realize where she was until Darien put her down.

            Looking up, she nodded sheepishly towards the seven sorcery judges on the panel.

            "No need to tell us why you are here, Darien," the main judge said gravely. "The

board went to rectify the situation. Nothing major was damaged, and we altered the

memory of the townsfolk so that they believed it was merely a storm that caused the

turmoil."

            "I see you brought the perpetrator," the judge noted as he looked in Serena's

direction. "Do you have anything to say for yourself, young lady? You're supposed use

magic to protect the civilians. This is the second time you violated the code."

            Faced with the accusation, Serena twisted her face until it reflected one of pain

and remorse, all the while mentally congratulating herself for putting up such a realistic

act. "I'm sorry," she said as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "It won't happen again. I

was watching the villagers, trying to protect them, but I guess I got carried away. I'm

sorry!"

With that, she buried her face in her hands as her body shook with her intense

sobbing. Wiping her tears away, she looked down with shame, secretly doing a little

dance in her head as she waited for her freedom sentence to be pronounced.

Unfortunately, it was thwarted by Darien's protest. "Please, don't be fooled by

her act!" he pleaded with the judges. "She was not a bit sorrowful when I caught her!"

            Serena continued to look down, hoping the judges do not seriously consider what

that bastard Darien said. After what seemed to be an eternity where the judges were

talking amongst themselves, the main judge finally spoke up.

            "We've all arrived at a decision," he declared. "Serena, while your plea seemed

genuine and heartfelt, we cannot neglect what Darien has said," he explained. "However,

we do not want to deal harshly with you; therefore, it is only fitting that you be under the

watchful eye of Darien from now on. You are to move into his home and he is to prevent

you from breaking the code should you get 'carried away' again."

            Serena froze when she heard the judges' sentence. Move into Darien's house?

Live with Darien? This is torture! Ironically, the judges had felt the sentence wasn't a

harsh one.

            She snuck a peak at Darien and he looked equally displeased. Groaning, she

braced herself for another one of his sanctimonious anger fits next time they were alone.

            Darien was not only displeased. He was furious! He had done the world a huge

favor by stopping Serena from her misdeeds. He dragged her to the council. And what

was his reward? They're making the hellcat stay under his roof. He also knew Raye

would not be too happy with the arrangement. His life had gone out the frying pan and

into the fire. What had he done to deserve this, he thought miserably.