“Well, I like the young Rick better,” Orrick complained, thinking about kissing Hope. “Believe me, he was having a lot more fun than Orrick ever had.”
“Read me the book,” said Noah, holding out the Eternal Flame book, crawling up and settling himself on the bed. “I want to know what it says.”
“Nay, not now. Besides, that book is of no interest to you. It is only for people with magic.”
“Then why did Lady Hope have it?” asked the boy.
“That’s what I’m wondering,” mumbled Orrick. “I am starting to think she has magic, and I intend to find out for sure.” Orrick wandered over to his shelves loaded down with books about herbs, potions, ancient secrets, and magic of all kinds. He was looking for his book on shapeshifting, or perhaps one about spells. He needed something to help him stabilize his image so he could stay in his young form and not turn back into the old man. Orrick started to wonder if being in the form of the old man for so long had taken its toll on him. As far as he knew, he shouldn’t be shifting back from his young self unless he made it happen. And he didn’t make it happen. Or at least, he didn’t think so. Right now, he was so confused he didn’t know what to believe.
“Lady Hope is nice,” said Noah as Orrick searched his shelves with his back to the boy.
“Aye, Lady Hope is really nice. She is also a good kisser,” he said to himself.
“Orrick? Orrick, is that you? You’ve returned!” came a female voice from behind him that Orrick knew only too well. He cringed, because now that Hope had seen him, he could do nothing to hide. Slowly, he turned around to face her.
“Lady Hope,” he said in his low voice – accidentally using the voice of his younger self, seeing the girl standing in the doorway. He really needed to get that key back from her sister so he could lock the damned door and keep the nosey wench from entering whenever she felt like it. Either that, or he should put a spell on the door so it wouldn’t open.
“The door was open so I didn’t knock,” she told him, entering the room. She cocked her head and looked at him oddly. “Is there something wrong with your voice?”
“Lady Hope. How are you?” said Orrick, making sure to use the crackly, old voice of his old sorcerer self. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing. I came to see Sir Rick. Is he here?” Her eyes darted around the room. Orrick realized he still wore the clothes of Sir Rick, as well as the bandages. When she boldly walked further into the room and turned her head, Orrick grabbed his long cloak from a hook on the wall and threw it over his shoulders, pulling it closed in the front.
“He’s here,” said Noah, talking to Lady Hope, but flipping through the pages of the red leather book.
“Oh, you found my book,” she said, walking over and taking it from the boy.
“Whose book?” asked Orrick, trying to conceal anything that looked like Sir Rick.
“What do you mean he’s here, Noah? Were is Sir Rick?” She turned around to face Orrick.
“What the boy means is that he was here. Earlier, that is,” said Orrick. “But he left.”
“Left? Where did he go? I thought he was injured . . . or so he led me to believe.”
“I’m not sure where to find him.”
“I know where he is,” said Noah.
“Noah, I think you need to find Lord Corbett. I’m sure you have chores to do,” said Orrick, trying to get rid of the boy before he spilled all Orrick’s secrets.
“I’ll take my things and go too since Sir Rick isn’t here. Mayhap he went down to the great hall, so I’ll look for him there.” Hope picked up her bag and stuck the book into it. Orrick couldn’t let her leave with it. Now that she could read it, who knew what she’d do with the information. He had to get the book back without her knowing he took it.
“Lady Hope, won’t you join me for a cup of brewed peppermint leaves and honey?”
“Oh, nay, but thank you,” she said, taking the bag and following the boy to the door. “I have a lot to do.”
“What a shame. I thought I’d show you a little magic. But if you’re not interested, I understand.”
She stopped in her tracks and spun around on her heel. “Magic? Oh, I’d like to see you do magic.”
Noah came back into the room. “Orrick, show her how you can make things fly around the room or how you can turn water into ale.”
“You can really do those things?” asked the girl, sounding very excited.
“He’s a sorcerer. He can do anything,” said Noah excitedly. “He can even turn his enemies into toads or –”
“That’s enough, Noah,” Orrick stopped him. “You need to leave now before I tell Lord Corbett you have been sneaking off again when you should be doing your chores. He’ll never make you a page if he hears that.”
“I don’t care about being a page,” whined the boy. “I want to be a powerful wizard like you.”
“Sorcerer. I’m a sorcerer, not a wizard,” said Orrick, crossing the room and pushing the boy out the door. “Go on, now. I’ll show you some magic later.”
“All right,” said the boy, hurrying down the stairs, humming.
“Sit down, Lady Hope. Please.” Orrick extended his arm, pointing to a chair. When she went to sit, he closed the door, but that seemed to make her very uncomfortable.
“You’re closing the door?” she asked. “Why?”
“It wouldn’t fare well for any passersby to see me doing magic. Lord Corbett doesn’t like me to use it, because he says it scares the servants and even some of the knights and ladies. He says magic has no place in his castle.”
“He says that and yet he lets you stay?”
“I have known Corbett since he was a boy when he lost both his parents at a young age. I more or less raised him. We’ve become good friends over the years.”
“Oh, I see. So, it’s like your relationship with that orphan boy, Noah.”
“Noah,” he said with a chuckle, sitting on a chair across from her. “Nay, he’s just a pesky child who tends to be on the lazy side. He’s harmless, but also hopeless. Lord Corbett took him in because of his wife’s good-heartedness. But honestly, the boy should be in the kitchen with the servants.”
“Orrick, I’ve been looking for you because I wanted to ask you about the Eternal Flame.”
“What about it?”
“Well, you said you’d help me find it.”
“Did I?”
“I saw your grandson, Sir Rick. He is your grandson, right? Or is he your great-grandson?” She was fishing for information but he wasn’t about to give it.
“I’ve never had any children,” said Orrick, already almost kicking himself for saying that.
“Then what is your relationship to Sir Rick then? He looks an awful lot like you. Are you close to him?”
“Closer than you think. Let’s just say Sir Rick and I are two of the same.”
“Oh, so then he knows all about the Eternal Flame, too?”
“What is it you want to know about it? And why, exactly, are you looking for it?”
“I found this book on your shelf,” she said, eagerly pulling the book from her bag and holding it in two hands, staring at the cover. “I haven’t had the chance to read it yet, but I am guessing this can tell me all about the Eternal Flame and everything I need to know.” When she was about to open it, he snatched it away from her. With a wave of his other hand he quickly put the spell back on the book so the words would be unreadable to mortals. Even if she had magic, mayhap she wouldn’t read the title out loud again and then the spell would hold.
“This book can only be read by those with magic,” he said.
“Really?” she asked. “Well, I was able to read it and I don’t have magic.”
“You don’t?” He cocked his head and perused her, trying to decipher if she was telling the truth or not. “Then how could you read it?”
“Anyone can read it. Let me show you.” She took the book back and flipped it open. Staring down at a page, she made
a face. Then she flipped page after page, looking discouraged, before closing the book and placing it back down on the table. “I don’t understand it. I was able to read the words inside before, but now I can’t.”
“It’s not important,” said Orrick, sliding the book across the table to him and resting his elbow atop it. “I can tell you anything you want to know.”
“Then tell me where to find the flame.”
“That, I cannot tell you.”
“But you just said you could tell me anything about it.”
“The Eternal Flame is guarded by the Keeper of the Flame.”
“Yes, I saw that in the book. Who is the Keeper?”
“The Keeper changes, every fifty years.”
“Really? Why?”
“Because the flame is too powerful. It is passed on from one Keeper to another so that no one stays immortal forever.”
“Immortality,” she said, her eyes lighting up. “So the stories I’ve heard about it are true. And the one who protects the flame cannot be hurt and cannot die?”
“That’s right.”
“Who decides who the next Keeper of the Flame is?”
“Only the present Keeper knows who the flame will be passed to next. And when it is passed, the new Keeper gets the knowledge of the guardians who will hold the flame in the future, as it is revealed to him through time.”
“I see. So who is the Keeper of the Flame now? Mayhap I can talk to him.”
“It doesn’t work that way, Lady Hope. The guardian’s identity is kept secret. Therefore, I cannot tell you.”
“Please, I need to know.”
“Why?” he asked. “The flame is of no use to you if you don’t have magic as you say.”
“Then teach me magic. Show me how to do something – teach me how to say spells.”
“Why?” he asked again.
“Because I want to learn to be a sorceress.”
“Nay, that is not something that can be learned.” Orrick stood up, taking the book with him. He felt odd all of a sudden, and didn’t know why. Then he glanced over to the standing mirror and realized his beard was shrinking and becoming darker. His heart jumped. Without even realizing it, his body was starting to shift back into the form of Sir Rick. “You must leave now,” he told her, pulling his hood up over his head. His voice was getting lower again and he would have to strain to make it sound higher.
“Leave? But you promised to show me some magic. I’m not going anywhere until you do.” She leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms over her chest, stubbornly refusing to move.
Orrick looked down at his hands and saw the wrinkles disappearing. Then he heard the sound of his bones stretching and straightening beneath his cloak. It would only be a matter of minutes and he’d be back in the form of Sir Rick. He had to do something fast to get Lady Hope to leave or she was going to know his secret.
Picking up his crystal wand from inside a closed wooden box, he lifted it into the air, spouting a lot of nonsense that to her, he was sure, would sound like magic. If she wanted a show, he’d give her one. And one hell of a show it was going to be.
Sparks flew from the wand and white smoke filled the air, making her cough.
“What is that? What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m doing magic, just like you required.” He made sure to keep hidden in the smoke. He thought it would scare her. But when it didn’t, he decided he needed to step it up. He felt his chin. His beard was almost gone now. He hoped she wouldn’t notice.
Next, with a flick of his wrist, her chair rose up into the air, and started spinning in circles.
“Nay!” she cried out, holding on to the sides, sounding very frightened. He hated to do this to her, but he had no choice. He needed her gone and he needed it to happen right now. He set the chair down with a nod of his head. It clunked to the ground, jerking her body around. She bolted from the chair and ran to the door, leaving the room in such a hurry, she once again forgot her pouch.
When Orrick walked over to close the door, he met Lord Corbett coming into the room, looking back over his shoulder, down the stairs.
“Was that Lady Hope that just ran past me?” he asked.
“It was,” admitted Orrick.
“What was her hurry? She seemed frightened about something.”
Orrick dropped his hood, and Corbett’s eyes focused on his face.
“Are those white whiskers and wrinkles?” Corbett cocked his head and narrowed his eyes in confusion. Then his eyes opened wide as all traces of the old Orrick disappeared and, once again, the young Sir Rick stood before him. “Orrick, what’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” admitted Orrick. “I am shifting back and forth to my old and younger self and I don’t seem to have any control over it at all.”
“I’m confused.” Corbett scratched his head. “So, does my ward think you are Orrick now instead of Sir Rick?”
“She does, and almost saw my transformation. That is why I needed to scare her away.”
“I don’t like this,” said Corbett. “I don’t want to lie to Lady Hope. I’ve promised her father that I’d be her guardian. If word of odd things like this happening gets back to him, our alliance will be broken. I might have a battle on my hands if he thinks I’ve let her fall into any kind of danger.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure Lady Hope is not going to mention this to her father.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because she is too interested in finding the Eternal Flame. Unfortunately, I think she has bad intentions for it. I highly doubt she’d want her father to know she was up to no good.”
“Nay, I’m sure you’re right.”
“Unless her father is behind this and has sent her here himself to find the flame. Have you ever considered that as a possibility?” asked Orrick.
“Nay. I don’t think so,” answered Corbett. “Lord Threston is known to be a fair and honest man. I’m sure he isn’t behind anything deceitful.”
“Then if not, there is only one answer to all this.”
“And what would that be?”
“Like I thought earlier, Lady Hope must be a witch. She is looking for the Eternal Flame to use it for herself. And something tells me her betrothed, Lord Irwin, is part of this deceitful plan as well.”
“I hope you’re wrong, Orrick,” said Corbett with a frown. “But if not, we need to do something about it right away. You need to find out if Lady Hope has bad intentions.”
“I intend to do just that,” he said. “Now that I am back in my younger form, I will do anything that it takes to find out what Lady Hope is up to. And I promise you that I will stop her before anything bad happens.”
Chapter 9
Hope headed down the stairs to the great hall. She’d been happy to see Orrick again, but his magic had scared her. She couldn’t wait to get away from him, even if she had forgotten her bag and the book in the tower chamber again.
“Sister, there you are.” Grace hurried over, glancing over her shoulder. “Lord Irwin has been asking for you. I didn’t want to tell him you’d gone to Sir Rick’s chamber.”
“I was in the tower, but it wasn’t Sir Rick I saw.” She pulled her sister into the shadows.
“Well, who was it?” asked Grace curiously.
“Orrick is back.”
“Orrick?” A puzzled look showed on her face. “Do you mean the old sorcerer?”
“Aye.”
“Oh, good. He should be able to help you find the Eternal Flame.”
“I thought so, too. But now I’m thinking he is doing things to keep me from it.”
“I don’t understand. What do you mean?” asked Grace.
“The book for instance.”
“What book?”
“The book I stole from the tower room about the Eternal Flame.”
“Oh, yes. I remember. What did it say?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t have a chance to read it. And yesterday when I went to see
Sir Rick, I forgot it there. This morning, I think the sorcerer did something to it. I think he must have put a spell on it, to keep me from being able to read it.”
“Then you’ve got to find another way. Do you think Sir Rick would help you?”
“Mayhap. But I don’t even know where he is. Have you seen him?”
Grace’s eyes lifted and she stared at someone coming down the stairs. “Here he is, now.”
“Oh, good. Grace, I didn’t have a chance to tell you, but Sir Rick’s wounds from the practice field are all gone.”
“Gone?” Grace giggled. “Surely you jest with me, Sister. He had some pretty deep wounds.”
“I know and it confuses me as well. But there is only one thing I can conclude if they are gone.”
“What would that be?”
“That either Orrick healed him, or Sir Rick is a sorcerer, too.”
“A sorcerer? Sir Rick?” Grace made a face. “Nay, I don’t think so. He’s a warrior.”
“Mayhap that is only what he wants us to think.”
“But why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you ask Orrick about him?”
“Orrick doesn’t seem to want to tell me much. I am going to have to find out more on my own.”
“Hush now, he approaches.”
“Ladies,” said Sir Rick with a half-bow and a nod of his head. “May I escort you into the great hall for a bite to eat?”
“Aye,” Grace said at the same time Hope said, “Nay.”
“Well, which is it?” he asked with a low chuckle. “Are we eating today or not?”
“Grace is eating, but I am going for a walk to clear my head,” Hope told him. “Would you like to accompany me?”
“A walk? Now?” Sir Rick looked from one girl to the next. “Is something the matter, Lady Hope?”
“She has something she wants to ask you,” blurted out Grace, getting a nasty scowl from Hope.
“I see. Well, mayhap later,” said Sir Rick. “I am famished. Grace, shall we?” He held out his arm to Hope’s sister. Of course Grace took it, only managing to make Hope upset since she didn’t want Sir Rick with her flirty sister. Hope liked Sir Rick and this action didn’t sit right with her.
Keeper of the Flame: Second in Command Series - Orrick Page 8