They can't just let her escape, of course. The fire princess is a valuable hostage, and so they chop off her hands to quench her magic. Then they send a messenger to negotiate with the Hale family: their daughter's safe return in exchange for reparations for the damage done to their castle, and also for a disproportionate amount of psychological trauma.

While Mana suffers and bleeds, her captors wait with patience for their messenger's return.

The messenger returns naked, red-faced, and tied to the underside of her horse. A note in her saddlebag reads the following, in King Sylvester Hale's beautiful penmanship:

"I refuse all demands. My daughter will not breathe her last among the likes of you."