"Ok, so the rosemary is here, but where's the hyssop?" Taeyeon waved a hand and a jar of herbs floated down from her top shelf. "Oh, here it is!" A snap of her fingers and the top popped off.

Another wave of her hand and the jar moved to spill a bit of its contents into a black cauldron. Taeyeon pointed at the wood under the cauldron and it burst into flames, quickly heating up the water to a boil.

She looked at a long wooden stirring spoon and it flew over to start stirring the mixture. Taeyeon sighed and collapsed in her chair. Protection spells were hard work.

A knock at the door interrupted her break and she let out a long groan. "Who is it?" she snapped.

"I'm a courier here on behalf of King Jaewon III of Saebyeok. I have matters to discuss with you from his Majesty."

Taeyeon quirked an eyebrow and sighed. "Come in." she waved a hand and the door flew open. A thin, gangly man shuffled in nervously, suspiciously eyeing the hanging plants dangling from the ceiling. “What does his Majesty need?”

The man gave her a once over. “Mage Taeyeon?” Taeyeon stood up from her chair and gave the castle official a hard glare. The man flinched slightly and Taeyeon smirked. He shook his head nervously and pulled out a scroll from his bag. "Mage Taeyeon, I must ask that you divulge the whereabouts of your co-mage, Leeteuk."

Taeyeon smiled apologetically. "I cannot give what I do not have."

The servant sighed and put the scroll back in his bag. "I really wish it didn't have to come to this..." In one swift motion, the servant drew his sword and lunged forward. Taeyeon moved to dodge, but she wasn't fast enough and he pushed her to the floor, his sword pointed right above her heart.

Taeyeon felt the air get knocked out of her and she gasped desperately for breath. The man tutted to himself and smirked at the woman. “Really, did you really think a woman like you could overpower a man like me?” he sneered. “Leave the fighting to the men and go back to the kitchen.”

Immediately Taeyeon went still. The servant stared in bewilderment as she lifted one slender hand and pointed her finger right at his throat. “Jigu!” she snarled.

The windows slammed open and an unearthly scream rang out, sending shivers down their spines. The servant stared at the window, watching in horror as a low rumbling came from the ground. In a blink of an eye, thick vines burst through the open windows and wrapped themselves around the man's neck, hauling him off of Taeyeon and lifting him high above the floor.

Taeyeon rolled to her feet and grabbed her staff leaning on the table. Her eyes blazed furiously as she raised her staff level with his jugular. “There are a few things you don’t ever mention in my presence. One, you don’t talk bad about Kim Heechul. Two, you don’t threaten the safety of my girls. And three-” she jabbed him harshly in the stomach. “Don’t ever tell me to go back to the kitchen as if my rightful place is there.”

“Now tell me this-” her staff began to glow a bright red and the servant started to sweat as it began to heat up. “Who sent you?”

He shook his head. “I’ll never tell!”

The mage sighed and pursed her lips. “That’s a shame, because I would’ve let you go if you had told me then.” he cried out when the warm heat suddenly turned into a burning fire that felt like it was about to burn a hole in his stomach.

Taeyeon looked down innocently at him. “Feel like talking now?”

“Your Majesty, there is a call from Ileun.” Jaewon looked up from his reading and waved the castle mage over. The woman nervously shuffled closer and moved her hand over her staff. An image of Taeyeon shot out of the gem tipped staff and the Ileun mage glared fiercely at the nobleman.

Jaewon smiled at her and spread his arms out regally. “Mage Taeyeon, what a pleasure to speak with you! May I ask what is wrong?”

Taeyeon pressed her lips together tightly and she pointed somewhere out of sight. The image panned and Jaewon’s eyes flew open when he saw the courier he had sent to question her wrapped tightly in vines, only his eyes, nose, and lips visible. Everything else was tied in thick vines holding him high above the floor.

“Perhaps that’s a question that I should ask!” Taeyeon snapped. “I can give no information about Leeteuk’s whereabouts, as I know nothing! The conversation should have ended with that, but evidently that was not the case.”

“Now, I’m sure there must have been some misunderstanding-”

“Is drawing a sword on a high-ranking mage and knocking her to the floor a misunderstanding?!” Taeyeon shouted. “I have never experienced such disrespect in all my thousands of years!”

Jaewon could practically feel the heat of her rage through the mirage. He raised his hands defensively, hoping that she couldn’t see the beads of sweat forming on his forehead. “Please, calm down, I’m sure there is an explanation for his behavior.”

“Oh, I have an explanation, I had to get it out of him through force!” Jaewon looked closer and was shocked to see a charred hole in the servant’s tunic, right over the middle of his stomach, his skin slightly red and burned. Taeyeon glared at him and motioned furiously at the wound she had inflicted. “Do you know what he confessed?!”

Jaewon blanched and immediately stammered, "Wait, wait, wait, hang on-!"

"He said you told him to get Leeteuk's location from me no matter what it took!" she roared. Unconsciously, she caused wind magic to blow through her hair, a terrifying pink glow tipping the ends.

"He must have heard me wrong, I said not to use force!" Jaewon defended. He could see the edges of her eyes begin to turn pink and he knew that he had to be careful.

But it was too late for caution. "Such disrespect from a mere mortal!" she howled. "I've had enough of you!"

Taeyeon pointed at Jaewon, a fierce scowl on her lips. "You've disrespected me and my town too many times, Nam Jaewon!" Jaewon paled and he started to protest, but it was too late. "Don't expect the next group of merchants to make it to the capital, because they will be stopped at the gates and sent away."

Jaewon stared in horrified silence at the mage as her words registered in his mind. Taeyeon breathed heavily and an almost triumphant grin spread across her face. "From this moment on, the three sisters will no longer allow any trade to pass into the capital."

The nobleman couldn't speak. Being on good terms with the three sisters was essential for life in the capital, as the road to the capital went through each of the sisters. If they turned away the merchants, then the capital-!

"But what about the citizens living in the capital?" he asked smugly. "Aren't you worried about them?"

His smile slipped off his face when Taeyeon didn't even blink. "Did you really think I would make such a threat without thinking things through?"