The Legacy of Merlin

by Eloise Flood

  “On the Oxford Road,” Niall replied. “With a friend.”

  “And how long do you plan to be here?” Prue put in.

  He shrugged. “A few days. Until my business is done.”

  “Okay. Are you satisfied now?” Phoebe asked Prue wryly. She set down her glass and got to her feet. “Niall, please forgive my sister for giving you the third degree. Since our mom died, she’s kind of gone into maternal overdrive. She can’t help herself.”

  Niall laughed. “I didn’t mind at all. I like sisters who look out for one another. But I am a bit hungry.” He offered Prue a friendly, amused look. “All that questioning wore me out.”

  Prue smiled stiffly, embarrassed.

  “Let’s go,” Phoebe said, taking Niall’s arm. She glanced at Prue and Piper. “Don’t wait up for me!”

  After the door closed behind them, Prue turned to Piper. “I don’t like this. I have a bad feeling about him.”

  “Prue,” Piper said. She put a gentle hand on her sister’s arm. “I know you’re just looking out for Phoebe, but I have to say I think you’re overreacting. I mean, you heard what Phoebe said about her vision. She felt love in it. Her visions may be kind of cryptic sometimes, but they don’t lie.”

  “I know. But what if she’s misinterpreting it?” Prue argued. “What if the love she felt was for the baby and not for Niall at all? It could easily have been a vision of him stealing her baby. That would explain why she had that feeling of loss.”

  Piper took another sip of wine. “You might be right. But, first of all, Phoebe didn’t mention any sense of menace or threat in her vision. You’d think she would have felt that if Niall was stealing her baby.”

  “That’s true,” Prue conceded. “But—”

  “And second,” Piper went on, holding up a finger for silence, “whatever Phoebe’s vision means, it’s way in the future. I mean, I’m pretty sure she’s not planning on having kids anytime soon. So we have a little time to see where things are going, don’t you think?”

  Prue crossed her arms over her chest. What Piper said made sense. Maybe she was overreacting.

  “I hope you’re right,” she said at last. “Because I really don’t want to have to battle any demons this week!”

  “I don’t believe it,” Phoebe said. She stared at Niall in shock. “I just figured out your deep, dark secret.”

  “You did?” Niall looked taken aback. “What is it?”

  Phoebe leaned across the table and aimed an accusing finger at him. “You’ve never eaten Indian food before, have you? Come on, admit it!”

  Niall burst out laughing. “I’m sorry to say, it’s true,” he said, spooning the last piece of tandoori lamb onto his plate. “I am a terrible country bumpkin. I was hoping I could fool you, but you are obviously a woman of the world.” He popped the lamb into his mouth and chewed it with gusto. “Will it help my cause at all if I tell you that, now that I’ve tried it, I love it?”

  Phoebe pretended to consider. “Well, at least it shows that you have natural good taste,” she told him.

  A waiter came to clear away their dishes. Propping her elbows on the table, Phoebe cupped her chin in her hands and studied Niall in the candlelight.

  He was a strange bundle of contradictions, she thought. So knowledgeable about some things, and so ignorant about others. For example, how could you live in England all your life and never have eaten Indian food? It was like living in San Francisco and never having been to Chinatown.

  And then there was television. Niall didn’t get any of her TV references. While it was true that the British did have their own programs, Phoebe had just assumed that everyone knew about certain cultural landmarks, like Star Trek. But when she’d mentioned that one of the waiters looked like Mr. Spock, Niall had just stared blankly at her. “Sorry,” he’d said when she explained about the show. “I must have missed that one.”

  It’s because he’s one of those scholarly types, Phoebe decided. He’s always reading. He probably never even turns his TV on.

  He sat back in his chair and stretched. Phoebe tried unsuccessfully to keep her eyes off his broad chest. Then again, she mused, he obviously finds time to work out!

  Niall laid down his napkin. “It’s a beautiful night,” he said. “Will you walk by the river with me?”

  Phoebe’s heartbeat sped up. “I’d love to.”

  They paid the check and headed out. The restaurant was only a short walk away from the broad, meandering River Wye. Moonlight made little silver crescents on its placid waters.

  They strolled slowly along the footpath. “So tell me the scoop on King Arthur,” Phoebe said. “Was he real?”

  “Oh, he was real, all right,” Niall said. “And he really did have a round table and a castle—well, really more of a fortress—called Camelot. But otherwise, there’s not much in the popular stories that’s true. All that nonsense about knights and jousting and chivalry—it’s just silly. That sort of thing didn’t even exist during Arthur’s time. It came hundreds of years later. Arthur was no knight in shining armor. He didn’t even know how to ride a horse.”

  Phoebe felt a little crestfallen. “Oh. Well, what about Merlin?” she asked. “Did he really exist, or is he made up, too?”

  “He existed,” Niall said firmly. “Definitely. He was Arthur’s most trusted adviser in the early years.”

  “And do you think he was really a . . . you know . . . a magician?” Phoebe asked. She held her breath a little. Niall’s answer might give her an idea what he thought of the whole concept of magic.

  Niall gave a short laugh. “You mean, did he dress up in a pointed hat and turn people into frogs with his wand? No. Merlin was something much more serious than that. He was a Druid— someone who practiced the old magic, the magic of oak, ash, and thorn. The magic of the standing stones. Merlin was the greatest of the Druids. His power was unrivaled.”

  Phoebe felt a thrill of excitement run through her. He believes, she thought. He really believes what he’s saying. He accepts magic as real.

  Niall suddenly grinned down at her, his teeth flashing white in the moonlight. “That’s what I think, anyway. But it’s hard to be sure. After all, this was fifteen hundred years ago.”

  “Right.” They walked in silence for a moment. Then Phoebe’s hand accidentally brushed against Niall’s fingers.

  The contact was electric. Her hand felt as if it were on fire. Phoebe stopped in her tracks, her pulse hammering. She raised her eyes to his. Does he feel it, too? she wondered. Does he want to touch me as badly as I want to touch him?

  Her unspoken questions were answered in the next instant, as Niall slowly reached out to her. Cupping her face in both hands, he bent his head and began to kiss her.

  Phoebe felt as if she were drowning. Her pulse roared in her ears. Every inch of her skin tingled, so that she shivered as if chilled. In response, his arms came around her waist and he pressed her into the warmth of his body. His hands roamed up and down, stroking her hair, caressing her back.

  The kiss went on and on. She was the one who finally broke away, her breathing ragged. She stared at him. I’ve never been kissed like that before, she thought. Never. And I don’t think he has, either. He looks pretty dazed.

  Am I falling in love with him?

  Suddenly everything was moving too fast for her. “I—I think I’d better go now,” she said.

  “Ah, no, Phoebe, don’t go. I—” Niall broke off. Then he nodded. “All right. But—can I see you again? Tomorrow night?”

  “Tomorrow night,” Phoebe agreed.

  She turned and fled back to her hotel.

  CHAPTER

  3

  Piper spread some marmalade on her last piece of toast and bit into it. “Mmm,” she said happily. Prue nodded. “The English do a good breakfast. So, what do you two have planned for today?”

  Piper swallowed her toast. “Well, there’s a tour of Hay Castle at eleven. Want to go, Phebes?”

  No answer. Phoebe was staring
out the window of the hotel restaurant, crumbling a piece of dry toast with her fingers. Her cappuccino sat untouched in front of her. The foam was gone, and a skin had formed on top.

  Piper waved her hand in front of her younger sister’s face. “Phebes?”

  Phoebe gave a start of surprise. “Huh? What?”

  “I was asking if you wanted to take the castle tour,” Piper said. She smiled. “You’re quiet this morning.”

  “Was the date that bad?” Prue added. Phoebe had come in after Prue and Piper were asleep the night before, so they hadn’t heard the details yet.

  Phoebe’s cheeks turned slightly pink. “Actually,” she said, “it was that good. I’m seeing him again tonight.” She looked down at her plate, then back up again. “I think . . . I think I could be falling in love with him.”

  “Wow!” Piper said, taken aback. She glanced at Prue and winced at the gathering frown she saw. “After one date? He must really be something.”

  “He is,” Phoebe agreed. “He’s incredible. Are you ready for this?” She leaned forward. “He actually believes in magic!”

  Piper put a hand to her forehead. Oh, no!

  “He what?” Prue’s blue eyes blazed. “Phoebe, don’t tell me you talked to him about magic. I can’t believe you would do something so dumb!”

  “Would you relax? Of course I didn’t say anything about us or our powers,” Phoebe said impatiently. “I was asking him about Merlin, and he said Merlin was the greatest of the Druids. Something about the magic of the standing stones.” Her eyes softened. “It wasn’t what he said, so much as the way he said it. I could tell he really believed.”

  “Or that he knew it was what you wanted to hear,” Prue shot back. “Phoebe, the guy is playing you! Can’t you see that?”

  “I don’t think—” Piper began.

  “No, he isn’t!” Phoebe snapped, cutting her off. “Prue, don’t do this to me!”

  “Guys—” Piper tried again.

  “Do what?” Prue’s voice rose. “Try to stop you from doing something incredibly stupid?”

  The other breakfasters were starting to turn and look at them. “Hey!” Piper slapped both her hands down on the table. “You both need to calm down. Now!

  “You’re both being stupid,” she went on in a quieter voice as they turned to her in surprise. “Phoebe, you’ve got to be more careful. Even if he seems totally clueless about who and what we are, you can’t take any chances. You’re putting us all in danger-—if not from him, then from someone else. You know how evil has a way of finding us.”

  “Right!” Prue began. “That’s what I—”

  Piper reached over and put a hand over her mouth. “And, Prue, you have to stop jumping the gun,” she went on. “So far we have no reason to believe that Niall is anything but what he says he is. And there is the evidence of Phoebe’s vision. I say we give him the benefit of the doubt. For now, anyway.”

  She folded her arms and gave each of her sisters her sternest look. “Okay. So do we have a truce here?”

  Phoebe pursed her lips. Prue rolled her eyes.

  “Truce,” Prue said after a moment.

  “Truce,” Phoebe echoed.

  “Okay, good.” Piper stood up and brushed crumbs from her lap. “Come on, Phoebe. Let’s go be tourists. This is supposed to be a vacation, remember?”

  Prue strode briskly down the steps of the hotel. She glanced at the list of bookshops in her hand. First stop, Milton Barnett, Inc., on a street called . . . she frowned at her own handwriting. “Heol y Dwr”? Could that possibly be right?

  She stopped on the sidewalk and pulled out her map. Checking it, she found Heol y Dwr right there, a few blocks away. “I’ll never understand Welsh,” she muttered to herself, setting off at a brisk walk. “How can they have a word without any vowels in it?”

  Her route took her past Mrs. Jeffries’s produce stand. As she drew near, Prue caught sight of a couple picking over the strawberries. The woman was striking, with long, curling auburn hair and pale, creamy skin. She wore a calf-length dress of some silky pale green fabric and a muted plum-colored chiffon scarf around her neck. Another scarf, this one the same shade as her dress, bound her hair back from her face.

  And the man . . . Prue felt a start of surprise as she recognized him. It was Niall.

  As she watched, the woman leaned in to Niall and said something in his ear. At the same time, she put her hand on his arm. It was a casual move, but there was something possessive, something intimate about it.

  Those two are more than just friends, Prue thought. Her eyes narrowed. And that jerk is making a move on Phoebe! I knew I was right about him!

  Should I confront him? she wondered. Or should I just play it cool? But before she could make up her mind what to do, Niall and the woman walked away.

  Prue stepped up to the table. “Good morning,” she said to Mrs. Jeffries.

  “Oh, good morning, dear,” Mrs. Jeffries said. But her smile was distracted. There was an anxious look in her brown eyes.

  “How are the strawberries today?” Prue asked.

  Mrs. Jeffries seemed to rouse herself with an effort. “As good as ever. Try one,” she said, and held a carton of plump berries out to Prue. But her hand shook so badly that the berries spilled all over the tabletop. “There, look what I’ve gone and done!”

  Mrs. Jeffries set down the carton and began picking up strawberries, shaking her head. “Are you all right?” Prue asked, concerned.

  The old lady glanced up at Prue. “To tell you true, no, I am not,” she said. “It’s silly, but I’m that rattled.”

  Prue frowned. “Rattled? Why?”

  “It was that girl. The one who was just here. Maybe you saw her,” Mrs. Jeffries said. “Very pretty, she was. But there was just something—I don’t know how to describe it. And she did ask so many questions.”

  “Questions about what?”

  “Oh, where I live, when my husband passed away, did I have any children or grandchildren. Did I go to the local church. Simple enough questions. There was just something in her eyes that made me feel . . . cold.” Mrs. Jeffries sighed. “I expect I’m being a silly old biddy. She was only trying to be friendly.” She gave a sudden, convulsive shiver. “They do say there always have been witches in these parts, ever since the days of the Druids. I always laughed at the tall tales, but that girl made me wonder if maybe they could be true.”

  “I don’t think you’re being silly at all,” Prue said. Alarm bells were ringing in her mind. Witches . . . Druids . . . “I think you should definitely trust your instincts about people.” She hesitated. “What about the man who was with this woman? What was he like?”

  Mrs. Jeffries shrugged. “I hardly noticed him. He seemed a nice enough young man.”

  “Hmmm. Well, take care of yourself. And if you see them coming again, duck,” Prue advised.

  Mrs. Jeffries laughed. “You make me feel better, dearie. You really do.”

  Prue bought a peach and continued on her way. It’s all very well to tell Mrs. Jeffries to trust her instincts, she mused. But Phoebe’s instincts and mine seem to be totally at war. I think she’s wrong, but I don’t know how to convince her.

  And it could be a matter of life and death.

  When Phoebe came back from dinner that night, Prue and Piper were both waiting up for her. She groaned when she saw them. “What is this, the Spanish Inquisition?”

  Prue suppressed a twinge of irritation. She reminded herself how much she disliked being interrogated about her own love life. “We just wanted to hear how the evening went.”

  “You mean you want to know what story he told me about the mysterious Other Woman,” Phoebe said.

  Over tea in a cozy little shop, Prue had told Phoebe and Piper what she’d seen at the fruit stand that morning. Phoebe had reluctantly agreed to ask Niall who the other woman was.

  Now she sauntered across the room, peeling off her silk cardigan as she walked. “As a matter of fact, I did ask him.” />
  “And?” Piper prompted.

  “And everything is fine. The woman’s name is Diana Jones, and she’s a colleague of his. He’s staying at her flat while he’s in town. That’s all. There’s nothing going on between them.” Phoebe sank down into a chair. A dreamy smile played across her lips.

  You believed that? Prue wanted to demand. But she held her tongue. Antagonizing Phoebe wouldn’t help anything.

  “Um, Phoebe,” Piper said, “I don’t want to seem overly suspicious or anything, but . . . “

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Phoebe said. “You’re thinking I’m an idiot for falling for that line. But get this—Niall actually took me over to Diana’s flat for coffee. I met her! He held my hand in front of her!” Her smile faded a bit. “Granted, she was kind of, well, aloof. But she was perfectly civil. She even said Niall had told her all about me. So unless there’s something really kinky going on, I think he was telling me the truth.” Her eyes shone. “Please stop worrying, Prue. I know you’re trying to look out for me, and I love you for it, but I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.” She hugged herself. “Mmmm—he just makes me feel so alive!”

  Prue couldn’t bring herself to argue about Niall anymore. What good would it do? And anyway, Phoebe looked so radiant. Prue didn’t have the heart to bring her down.

  For once, she thought, I just hope I’m wrong.

  Piper glanced at her watch one more time. Should she wake Phoebe up?

  For some reason, Piper had woken at seven that morning, feeling totally refreshed. She’d had breakfast with Prue. Then Prue went off to a morning meeting, and Piper had gone back to their room. While she waited for Phoebe to wake up, she read her book about Victorian wildflowers.

  But now it was ten o’clock, and she was starting to get restless. Hey, maybe I’ll go out to look for flowers for my love posy, she decided. I’ll let Phoebe sleep.

  Piper pulled out a local map and studied it for a moment. If she went out along the river path, she should come to some open land less than a mile out of town. That sounded good. She scribbled a note to Phoebe, then tossed the map and the flower book into her leather minibackpack, along with a bottle of water from the minibar. Then she set out.