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“Oh.” His voice dropped.

“Oh? What?”

Enzo’s face fell. “I think the dark Queen did something to your horse.”

I grabbed his arm, spinning him around. “What do you mean? Did she…” I couldn’t say the words.

“No. No. No. I think she shrunk him.”

“Shrunk him?” I asked, confused.

“Into a pony.”

“Oh, my.” I looked around, hoping to find him, but he wasn’t here. “I need to find a mage too, so I can learn magic. I feel so useless and if, or rather when, the dark Queen comes back, I need to be able to defend myself.”

“We can stop at Ruby’s Tavern to see if she can help.”

I smiled. “Yes!”

“But…” he hesitated.

“What?”

“Probably don’t tell the boys I took you there.”

“Why not?”

“You’ll see…”

We decided to go to Ruby’s before we picked up the groceries because we didn’t want to have them at Ruby’s while we were talking.

We walked up to the outside of the old house and, for some reason, I had pictured it differently. After walking in, I immediately figured out why he didn’t want me saying anything to the boys. I watched a few girls wearing almost nothing lead men upstairs and down from the main foyer.

I admired their confidence and couldn’t help but straighten my back just a bit.

We passed through the beaded curtains and walked into the main hall, where we found a woman standing behind a bar. She was wearing a black corset with her chest spilling over and a black sequin head band with a white feather in the cap.

“Ruby.” Enzo said as we got closer.

“Enzo darling.” She looked at her watch. “A little early in the day for you.” Her gaze landed on me. “And who do we have here?”

“Sn- Scarlet.”

“Scarlet?” Something in the way she said my name told me she knew that wasn’t my name, but she also wasn’t going to push.

“Nice to meet you.”

She opened her arms wide. “Everyone that comes in gives me a hug.” She leaned forward as her breast swept across the counter.

I gave her a hug and noticed she smelled sweet, like some sort of flower.

“What can I do for you two today? Are we looking for a couple's room or your own?”

Before I could correct her, Enzo jumped in. “Oh no. We aren’t… we’re here on a different kind of business.”

She smiled, intrigued. “Go on.”

“My friend here,” he said, placing his hand on my shoulder and regrettably, emphasizing the word friend. “Is in need of a mage.”