“Gabriel, what is it?” Teresa had felt him grasp the Grace imprints.
“Has something happened?” Justine looked concerned. Apparently, she had also felt him take hold of the imprints. Leah and Liam looked up at Gabriel, worry filling their faces.
“Everything is fine.” Gabriel knelt down to Leah and Liam. “I need to talk to Justine about Elizabeth’s condition. It’ll only take a minute. Then we’ll get Elizabeth out of here and go find your parents.”
He turned to Teresa as he stood. “Keep an eye on them for a moment. Please.”
“Okay.” Teresa seemed unsure if she should be afraid of what had spooked Gabriel or jealous that he wanted to talk to Justine alone.
He glanced at Justine and stepped back toward the shadowed part of the cellar. “Let’s talk over here.”
“Okay.” Justine followed Gabriel, her lips curling slightly upward as she walked past Teresa.
As he walked to the back of the room, Justine at his side, Gabriel tried to calm the multitude of thoughts whirling and exploding in his mind like firecrackers. Two girls with the exact same blue eyes. A checkerboard in a dream. It could be coincidence. But other things came to his mind now. Things that had bothered him, but which he had ignored or forgotten.
Why had Kumaradevi not seemed to know how her husband had died? How had he been dreaming of that bizarre board game so often in Windsor Castle and in Chateau Gaillard and even in the rogue Apollyon’s alternate paradise world, but not one time since? Could that be a coincidence? Could it be merely coincidence the lesson he gleaned from the bizarre board game had shown him how to save Teresa’s life from an otherwise irrevocable death? Did he believe in coincidences that happened so frequently and seem so connected? Could he simply be lucky? Could anyone be that lucky?
Gabriel stepped into an alcove, out of sight from Teresa and the children. He turned to Justine as she joined him in the shadows. He looked in her eyes one last time. This could not be coincidence.
“Give it to me?” Gabriel held an avalanche of magic ready to release with a single thought.
“Gabriel, what are you talking about?” Justine’s voice quavered with apprehension.
“The notebook.” Gabriel’s breathing quickened as he tried to control the anger beginning to make his hands shake. He would not act foolishly upon his anger again.
“I don’t know what notebook you’re talking about.” Justine moved to step closer, and Gabriel backed away.
“Gabriel, what’s wrong?”
“Stop it.” Gabriel pointed at Justine, fighting down the urge to draw the Sword of Unmaking. “Stop pretending. I know it’s you. I know it’s been you the whole time. Now give me the notebook. And tell me what you’ve done with Justine.”
“Gabriel, I…” Justine paused, shoulders clenched, her blue eyes holding Gabriel’s gaze, tears welling at the edges of her lids. Then she exhaled, a wave of calm filling her as she straightened up. He eyes no longer seemed teary, but serene. “What gave me away?”
Gabriel clenched his fists, holding back from attacking. “The eyes. The checkers. The game. Too much coincidence. Too much luck. You’re too clever sometimes. Now where is Justine?”
“Asleep in the closet of her room. Probably the safest place for her, considering all that has transpired today.”
“And where is the notebook?” Gabriel asked.
Justine shimmered, the features of her face and body gradually shifting, revealing the true nature of the person wearing the young girl’s face. The transformation complete, deep brown eyes squinted at Gabriel.
“I don’t have the notebook.” Vicaquirao frowned. “And I wouldn’t try to keep it from you if I did. You need to know what it says about the Great Barrier. There isn’t much time to save it.”
“No, you have it.” Gabriel swallowed and stepped back, trying to order the bomb-like thoughts still detonating in his mind. “You have to have it. You took it from me.”
“I haven’t seen it to take it from you.” Vicaquirao spoke slowly and calmly, sensing Gabriel’s anxiety.
“You have it.” Gabriel pointed again at Vicaquirao, his anger beginning to cloud his thoughts. “You took it while you were pretending to be Kumaradevi in the rogue Apollyon’s world. You got the details of her husband’s death wrong. You’re getting sloppy. Then you kidnapped Teresa and left her to die in Sagalassos.”
“Teresa looked very alive a moment ago.” Vicaquirao seemed confused.
“Yes, that was clever.” Gabriel could barely contain the desire to attack Vicaquirao for what he had done to Teresa. His hand ached for the Sword of Unmaking. “The dreams every night. Little lessons on how to change time. Did you intend the game as a test? Or was it some cunning joke to you, showing me how to save her after she had died?”
“Ah.” Vicaquirao sighed, a look of weariness coming over him. “I hate paradox.”
“Paradox isn’t as bad as seeing someone you love die again and again.” Gabriel felt the tears on his cheeks and hated himself for showing Vicaquirao any sign of weakness.
“No.” Vicaquirao’s voice became gentle. “I mean paradox for me. There’s a very good reason I don’t have the notebook to hand to you.”
Gabriel eyes widened in surprise at the import of Vicaquirao’s words. Could that be possible?
“You haven’t done any of those things yet.” Gabriel’s tone wavered between statement and question.
“As I said, I hate paradoxes.” Vicaquirao shrugged his shoulders. “However, there’s nothing to be done about it. One has to play one’s part, or bifurcations arise like worms after a summer rain.”
Gabriel stared at Vicaquirao in silence, trying to figure out how this could all be possible and what this paradox meant.
As if reading his thoughts, Vicaquirao spoke. “If you want the notebook back, you’re going to need to let me go.”
“I don’t trust you.”
“You’re finally learning.”
“How do I know you will come back? How do I know you’re not pretending?”
“You could read my mind, but I might change my mind about coming back.”
“So… I need to trust you.”
“Another kind of paradox, no?” Vicaquirao seemed amused as much as annoyed by the bizarre circumstances.
Gabriel considered Vicaquirao’s demand. It would be a gamble to allow the Dark Mage to escape, and there could be no assurance he’d return with the notebook. And if he didn’t? Would that change anything? It seemed Vicaquirao would obtain the notebook at some point in the future of his personal timeline. Unless Gabriel had mistaken all the signs and Kumaradevi really did possess the notebook.
Gabriel rubbed his temples with the heels of his hands. The confusion of it all strained his mind. Even his anger had faded. Vicaquirao had not left Teresa to die. Not yet. Had it been an accident, or had he done so because Gabriel had told him he would? Too many questions. Too many possibilities. Gabriel thought of the game. He would be setting Vicaquirao in motion like a game piece, attempting to predict the outcome of the move several turns in the future. Before he could do so, he needed to know a few things.
“What is the game called?” Gabriel lowered his hands.
“It has no name.” Vicaquirao seemed to relax. “I created it to help me understand time.”
“How long have you been pretending to be Justine?”
“Two days. I make sure she eats between naps.”
“How did you follow me through so many time jumps?”
“I haven’t yet. However, I find that the person who discovers an aspect of magic or time travel and who applies himself to really understanding how it works tends to be the best at accomplishing it.”
Gabriel allowed the knowledge accompanying that statement to settle in his mind. It made his stomach tighten in response. Vicaquirao had been the one to discover how to secretly follow a Time Mage’s path through time.
“Did you know about the attack on the castle?”
“No. It
surprised me. Until I realized he was after the notebook. I expected Elizabeth to have it on her. When she didn’t, I’d hoped you would have it.”
“If you harmed her…” Gabriel’s fingers twitched at the thought.
“You have so much history to learn.” Vicaquirao seemed sad. “I would never harm Elizabeth. I don’t know what curse those twinned Apollyons put on her mind, but I assure you, no one at this castle will be able to break it. I tried, but it’s beyond even me.”
“Go.” In a decision more instinctual than logical, Gabriel released the space-time seal.
“I’ll be right back.” Vicaquirao’s lips curled. “From your perspective.”
Gabriel sensed Vicaquirao reach out to the dark imprints of a concatenate crystal hidden in the pocket of his tunic and bend space-time around himself. An instant later, he vanished.
Chapter 24: Trust and Lies
Gabriel waited. Had he made a mistake? Would Vicaquirao return? Did the Dark Mage want Gabriel to have the notebook? Did Vicaquirao want to stop the Apollyons from destroying the Great Barrier of Probability?
Gabriel peeked around the corner of the alcove. He could see Teresa distracting Leah and Liam with Fire Magic tricks. She looked up, tilting her head in silent question. He gave her a thumbs-up sign and stepped back out of sight as she glared at him. He had no idea what she thought he might be doing with “Justine” and had no desire to know.
He considered the paradox of Vicaquirao’s situation and what he hoped the Dark Mage would be doing next. Vicaquirao would need to travel back several minutes in time to find Gabriel in the Middle Ward of the castle, spying on the rogue Apollyon and then…
He would then need to ghost Gabriel and Teresa’s trail through time even as Gabriel ghosted the rogue Apollyon’s trail and then…
He would have to follow them to Chateau Gaillard, the medieval castle under siege in 1203, changing his appearance and pretending to be the village girl Agrace, hiding in the castle and planting another dream of the mysterious board game in Gabriel’s mind while he slept and then…
Vicaquirao would wait until Gabriel and Teresa’s capture, and once more follow Gabriel’s trail through time as Gabriel used the small stone statue of Semele to find the rogue Apollyon’s private island hideaway in an alternate reality and then...
At some point while Gabriel slept, Vicaquirao would steal a relic from the rogue Apollyon’s hut, something small that would remain unnoticed, so he could return to the alternate world as he needed and then...
Later that night, he would give Gabriel the final dream of the board game and in the morning he would witness Gabriel steal the notebook and eventually destroy it the in the hands of the rogue Apollyon on the beach and then...
Vicaquirao would once more follow Gabriel and Teresa’s trail through time to the Japanese village and wait for them to create the fake notebook before following them back again to the rogue Apollyon’s private world and then…
He would kidnap Teresa and knock her unconscious, carrying her far enough away so that Gabriel would not be able to sense the magic used to take her to Sagalassos and then...
Abandoning Teresa in the Roman town, Vicaquirao would take a piece of the statue of Marcus Aurelius from the bathhouse back with him and return to the rogue Apollyon’s alternate reality using the relic he stole from the hut and then...
Vicaquirao would magically pretend to be Kumaradevi pretending to be Teresa and plant the awful kiss on the younger version of Gabriel while the older version of Gabriel switched the fake notebook in his previous self’s pocket and then...
Vicaquirao would confront Gabriel, pretending to be Kumaradevi, and give him the chunk of stone that would take him to find Teresa in Sagalassos in exchange for the notebook and then...
Vicaquirao would hopefully return to cellars of Windsor Castle and give the notebook to Gabriel.
Gabriel’s only solace as he waited came in knowing that because it had been Vicaquirao pretending to be Kumaradevi pretending to be Teresa who had kissed him in the jungle, at least he finally understood why their first kiss had felt so wrong.
Gabriel sensed sweat running down his sides as he began to panic, considering how gullible and foolish he had been to trust Vicaquirao, how much he had damaged his own hopes of defeating the Apollyons, how desperately he needed to know the contents of the notebook that he would likely never hold again, how he had possibly passed up the only chance for revenge for Teresa’s near-death, how…
Vicaquirao appeared beside him, still wearing the simple white tunic. Startled, Gabriel fell back against the wall, his hand nearly creating a defensive spell out of reflex. Instead, he replaced the space-time seal.
“That was considerably more interesting than I had expected.” Vicaquirao raised his hand to reveal the small, red leather notebook. He handed it to Gabriel.
Gabriel’s hand shook slightly as he accepted the notebook. He looked up at Vicaquirao. “Thank you.”
“You should thank Teresa.” Vicaquirao flashed a wide grin. “As I’ve always said, love is a better motivator than fear.”
“If you ever try to kill her again…” Gabriel’s voice broke before he could finish the thought.
“I tried no such thing. Why would I? What would I gain?” Vicaquirao seemed offended. “Every time I think you understand me, you reveal your ignorance of my true intentions. I cannot decide if I am a poor communicator or you are simply too dense to grasp my meaning. I knew she would die because you told me so. The same way I knew you would save her.”
“But you showed me the game to save her.” Gabriel tried to ignore Vicqauirao’s taunts.
“No. Think. I showed you the game before I ever knew about our little paradox.” Vicaquirao sighed. “I showed you the game because I believe you will need to heed its lessons in the coming days. Saving Teresa was merely paradoxical serendipity.”
“Why would I need to know how to change the Primary Continuum?” Gabriel fought back the impulse to try and physically shake coherent answers from Vicaquirao.
“Hopefully, that will become clear to you. Maybe after you read the notebook.”
Gabriel glanced down at the book in his hand. “Have you read it?”
Vicaquirao chuckled. “Who do you think taught Elizabeth to speak the dead language of Indus in the first place? Although her private alphabet gave me pause for a bit. However, she’s always been so good about leaving clues. And she calls me the clever one.”
“Now what?” Gabriel realized Vicaquirao’s return had taken him by surprise.
“Considering you are holding most of the free light and dark imprints in the castle, I suspect that depends on you.” Vicaquirao crossed his arms. “You might want to take into consideration that, while I may have misdirected you on occasion, I have been completely honest with you. And I brought you the notebook.”
“What will you do if I let you leave?”
“The same as I’ve been doing, I imagine. Keep an eye on you from a distance. Keep you safe when I can. Influence your decisions when possible. Help you save the Primary Continuum from destruction.”
Gabriel looked into Vicaquirao’s eyes, tempted to use Soul Magic to determine the truth of the Dark Mage’s words. “Give me your relic to the castle.”
“You really are learning.” Vicaquirao handed Gabriel a small insect encased in amber.
“Not fast enough.” Gabriel released the space-time seal for the second time, again plagued by the idea he had made yet another tragic mistake.
“Take care of yourself. There won’t always be a lucky bullet to save you at the last moment.” Vicaquirao winked. “And get Elizabeth to Nefferati. She’s the only one who might be able to heal her.”
Before Gabriel could respond, Vicaquirao disappeared into a vortex of space-time. Gabriel clasped the notebook in both hands and pondered Vicaquirao’s final words. Could that be possible? Could Vicaquirao have been at the Battle the Somme? Gabriel’s mind whirled, considering the implications. He shook his he
ad, trying to calm the welter of confusing thoughts, a slightly different realization arising in the process.
Justine.
He couldn’t simply leave her asleep in her closet. Who knew when she might wake up?
Gabriel slid the notebook into the pocket of his pants and warped space around himself, arriving a moment later in the second floor corridor of the old visitor apartments. While he could teleport to any place he could see directly or had been personally even without a relic, he had never been in or seen Justine’s room. He did, however, know which floor of the old visitor apartments she resided on.
As he walked down the corridor, he reached out with Heart-Tree Magic, scanning the rooms for any sign of life. Near the end of the hallway, he passed a door that prickled his magic-sense. He tried the knob of the door, but it held fast. A small bit of Stone Magic altered the composition of the metal locking mechanism, and the door swung inward at his touch.
Inside the small dormitory quarters, Gabriel found Justine exactly as Vicaquirao had said, curled up in a pile of blankets, dozing peacefully in the back of her closet. He reached out with Soul Magic and studied the sleeping spell clouding her mind. She seemed fine. Dreaming deeply, but otherwise unharmed. He could wake her easily.
Gabriel squatted before the open door of the closet and stared at Justine as he considered his options. It might not be best if she woke up surrounded by her shoes and dirty laundry. And how would he explain her being asleep in the closest in the first place?
Sighing as he made his decision, he stood up, wrapping Justine’s sleeping form in a cradle of Wind Magic, gently lifting her from the closet floor and guiding her to the lone, narrow bed by the window. Apparently, Justine had not yet been assigned a roommate. No doubt that had been one of the primary reasons Vicaquirao had selected the unfortunate girl to imitate for his infiltration of the castle.
As Gabriel laid Justine down on the bed with Wind Magic, he began using his Soul Magic to slowly rouse her into awareness. Her eyes fluttered briefly, and she stretched her arms above her head as she yawned. She looked very sweet and lovely, and Gabriel realized that had it not been for Teresa, he might have been swayed by her charms. Assuming she had ever really been interested in him. It dawned on him that the Justine who had flirted with him the barbecue party had actually been Vicaquirao in disguise. Had that been a plan to make Teresa jealous? Gabriel pushed the thought from his mind as Justine’s eyes locked on him. She gasped and sat up in bed.
The Wizard of Time Trilogy (A Fantasy Time Travel Series) Page 55