by Booth, John
Tillen burst into tears and I looked to my women to go and comfort her, but they were looking to me and Jenny made shooing motions. I stepped forward and took Tillen in my arms.
“I would not have asked Wilhelm to sacrifice his life to save me.”
“He… he said you were the best thing to happen to the kingdom,” she said between gulping for air. “That you always end up doing the right thing, as often by accident as design.” Then she burst into tears again and I hugged her for a long time, trying to pretend I wasn’t crying.
It was the soft cries of a baby inside the house that brought her back to the world. “That’s our daughter, not a year old yet. Her name is Jackie. I must go.”
I let her go and she turned back to the house, her son still clinging to her skirts as though they would protect him from the world. The street around us had filled with people, just standing and watching me. I took a deep breath and began to speak.
“Captain Cari gave his life to save mine and Princess Esmeralda. I wish I had the power to bring him back to us, but not even a wizard is that powerful. His death will not be in vain as you will all come to see.”
Nobody applauded. The older men nodded and the women and children stared. Esmeralda made a low coughing sound and one by one they drifted away until we were the only people there.
“You must tell me what happened after you left me,” Esmeralda said curtly. I pulled the house door shut and then took my wives hands to return us to the Palace.
24. Nothing Changes
It felt so good I didn’t want to wake up. Clean sheets, a warm bed, Esmeralda by my side and no demands for sex after we got into bed the night before; bliss. But sunlight was streaming through the window onto my face and denying me the sleep I craved. It was a perfect autumn morning.
I reviewed the previous day as I tried to avoid opening my eyes. Speaking to the Palace guards, lined up in the courtyard in formal rows, had been almost as tough as talking to Tillen. I didn’t recognize many of them. One man in a uniform looks much like another. But they weren’t interchangeable, mores’ the pity. Wilhelm Cari was gone for good.
Captain Cari’s replacement was a young man with an old face. He looked as though he’d seen the world and found it wanting. I knew the feeling. His name was Treva Assad and I made a mental note not to forget it. I’d seen him in charge when Wilhelm was off-duty, but we hadn’t spoken at any of the balls where officers were regarded as equal to nobles.
Esmeralda told me I must cheer the men up, remind them of how noble Wilhelm’s sacrifice was and how important. To me, his death was nothing but a waste. Yet these men were expected to do the same if occasion warranted it, sacrificing themselves to protect the Royal Family and idiots like me.
I don’t remember the speech I gave them. They seemed to like it though, and there was a big cheer at the end. Jenny hugged me and Esmeralda kissed my cheek in that way royalty do.
Shortly after, during the evening meal, I got into conversation with the King and explained that I would be going after the Elves as soon as my magic reserves were replenished. He managed to avoid saying whether he approved of my plan or not, only choosing to remind me that my wives were now eleven weeks from full term.
After the meal, I took Jenny back to Wales and visited my parents to let them know how things had changed after my encounter with the Fedre. They weren’t happy that I was going to take on the Elves, but then, who would be? Now that was a dismal thought.
The sigh that left my lips was enough to wake Esmeralda. She turned and cuddled up to me. I felt our baby kick when our tummies pressed against each other.
Esmeralda giggled. “I wonder which of us she is urging to get up.”
“Both of us, if she takes after you.”
Despite her poor position, Esmeralda managed to thump me hard enough for it to hurt.
“Are you suggesting I am in any way a bossy woman, my Lord Wizard?”
Lots of brilliant come-back lines occurred to me, but common sense and a strong survival instinct stopped me from saying any of them.
“Of course not. Our baby is merely as determined and forthright as her mother.”
She eyed me suspiciously, sitting up on an elbow to look me over.
“Are you determined to continue with this insanity of attacking the Elves?”
“Sooner or later one of their proxies will get lucky, and I must admit I’m tired of killing innocents on their behalf. What choice do I have?”
“You could take up the Valhallan offer. I would feel much safer knowing a world of wizards who benefit from your survival would be guarding you.”
I shook my head. She wasn’t getting it.
“The Elves would find a way to kill me anyway. Look at the pattern of the attacks.”
It was Esmeralda’s turn to shake her head. “I do not see a pattern.”
“The Knights dispose of the bad wizards in their culture, so that was the quick and easy attack. When it failed, they tried attacking me emotionally, using a woman who could make men lust after her.”
“The Elves do seem to understand your weaknesses intimately,” Esmeralda said sweetly. I ignored her.
“Then they tried sheer magic power against me with the Braton Stars. When that failed they sent a technological culture against me, a culture possessing almost infinite resources. I think the Fedre could destroy Valhalla with just a few of their ships and there is nothing their wizards would be able to do, but flee. The next people the Elves send against me will be even more powerful. I have to stop this before whole worlds get wiped out as collateral damage.”
Esmeralda sat up and looked thoughtful.
“It is always instructive to see your mind at work, it happens so rarely.”
I wondered if Esmeralda was capable of giving any type of compliment without throwing in a gratuitous insult. She never has with me.
“And there is some merit in your argument,” she continued, “but as always you ignore all the inconvenient truths along the way.”
“Such as?”
“The kidnapped boy on your world. How does he fit in to this grand scheme?”
She had me there. “Maybe that was an attack not organized by the Elves?”
Esmeralda nodded, “You see, you can think if you try, but I suspect we have not seen the end of that story yet. You should remain on your guard in your homeland when doing anything connected with that attack.”
That made sense. Not that anything vaguely connected to it had happened since.
“However, the major flaw in your logic is this. Is it likely that any of these worlds that have attacked you are more powerful than the Elf Worlds?”
I knew the answer to that. “The Elves wouldn’t risk using anyone more powerful than them. Both the Braton Stars and the Fedre know they were duped, but they are also aware they can’t do anything about it.”
Esmeralda clapped her hands, giving me a round of applause. “So nothing they send against you will be more powerful than the Elves, and yet you still plan to attack them. Despite the Elves pledge that they will not directly attack you.”
She was right, but she was also wrong.
“I killed millions of the Braton. I nearly killed millions of the Fedre. How many more millions will I end up killing if I sit and wait for their pawns to come at me? I have to deal with this at the source and put an end to it.”
Esmeralda looked as though she was going to cry.
“This is their plan. They will be able to claim that your blood is not on their hands. That you attacked them without cause after they pledged not to attack you. You will be the villain and they your reluctant executioners.”
I sighed. “I don’t have a choice.”
“They will kill you, and my child and Jenny’s will be born fatherless.”
“I don’t have a choice.”
“There are always choices, my Lord Wizard husband. But only if you are wise enough to see them.”
She turned her back on me and pretended to go
to sleep.
“Princess Esmeralda? Lord Wizard?”
The girl who poked her head round the door couldn’t have been older than sixteen. She was exceptionally pretty, as so many girls in Salice are, and terrified.
“Come in, I don’t bite.” The girl sidled into the room, not happy about it. She was dressed as a maid; all the servants wore distinctive clothes fitting their station. Esmeralda once told me it was so no one insulted a Duchess by asking her to go and fetch some firewood.
I pointed at Esmeralda. “She bites all the time, but she’s pretending to be asleep at the moment, so you’re safe.”
The girl gave me a bemused look.
“And you came to tell us?” I prompted.
The girl pulled herself together with a considerable effort. “The Wizard Urda asks if you can join her and her sister for breakfast… In the dining room, sir, er Lord Wizard.” She turned to escape.
“Stop. Come over here, young lady.”
The girl went rigid. I thought she might have been going into shock when she turned and walked hesitantly up to my side of the bed.
“What is your name, girl?” This was going to be fun.
“Ella, Ella Bradson, Lord Wizard.”
“I haven’t seen you around here before, Ella.”
“I started work in the Palace yesterday morning, Lord Wizard.”
How far could I go before Esmeralda pretended to wake up? My bet was that it wouldn’t take much more conversation.
“And what is it that you do, Ella?”
The girl blushed as she fidgeted under my intense gaze.
“I am to serve the Lord Wizard and meet his needs.”
The next set was going to do it. It was hard to keep a straight face.
“That’s a lot to ask, though you do look very suitable. You see, my wives are getting heavily pregnant and I do have some needs that perhaps you…”
“That is enough.” Esmeralda sat up and Ella flinched away. Esmeralda glared at me. “If you have quite finished teasing the girl?”
I spread my arms wide in a gesture of innocence.
Esmeralda waved the girl away in dismissal. “Tell Urda that we will join her shortly.” Ella fled the room as if chased by tigers.
“What?” I asked innocently. “I thought you were asleep.”
“If I believed for a moment that was true, Jake Morrissey, you would be a least one dangly bit shorter by now.”
Anna smiled happily as we entered the dining room. Urda looked up, saw me and nodded in a serious manner.
“What brings you two lovely ladies here this fine morning?” I asked.
“Urda does work at the Palace, Jake,” Esmeralda pointed out, but I ignored her.
“We visited our parents,” Urda said abruptly. Anna’s face fell and took on a haunted look. Anna had been abused by her parents, but being abused doesn’t mean you don’t love your abuser.
I remembered our last visit to Urda’s parents, when we had rescued Anna from their clutches. I went back to pry some important information from them and ended up thinking them more to be pitied than hated. They let fear rule their lives.
“Was that wise?”
“I wanted to know what is going on there and Anna needs to learn to hop to such places.”
“Anna has learnt to hop? That’s wonderful.” Hopping was one of the most important skills a wizard can learn. It took me ages to learn how to do it without a hopscotch court, but Urda had figured it out in weeks. I took a bet with myself that Anna didn’t need a court to hop.
Urda spoke seriously. “Jake, you need to take notice of what is happening there. A cult around Bronwyn is forming.”
I laughed. “Let them worship Bronwyn all they want. I have bigger problems than them right now. I’m about to take on the Elves.”
Urda didn’t join me in laughing. “You cannot fight the Elves. The books all say they are invincible.”
“I have already explained that to him,” Esmeralda said wearily. “But you may have noticed that my husband pays little attention to logic.”
Urda sighed. “Then I will join you in your fight.” She turned to Esmeralda, “Can you look after Anna for me?”
Now that was not going to happen if I had anything to do with it.
“Not a chance, Urda. You have to stay to defend Salice while I’m away. It won’t be long. I expect we will finish this today.”
Urda recognized the determination in my voice and dropped her head. This was the second time I’d made her stay out of my battles and I knew it frustrated the hell out of her. If I could only find one that wouldn’t get her killed, I’d love her to join me.
“We?” That was Esmeralda. She never missed anything.
“Fluffy is coming with me. We are going to knock the stuffing out of Farolan and his elvish friends and will probably be home in time for tea.”
25. Farewells
There was no way I could avoid it any longer. My reserves were full and if I was going to take on the Elves, I should do it now before they sent any more fools against me.
“I have to go.”
“Are you sure?” Esmeralda looked as though she might cry. “You could wait a little longer.”
“What good would putting it off do?”
She came closer and we hugged. “It might keep you alive for a few minutes longer.”
“Ever the optimist. I don’t plan to die.”
“But if you do, you must go out looking your best. I don’t want to have to tell your child you died in scruffy jeans and a tee-shirt.”
Was I of a suspicious nature I would conclude she wanted me in the awful wizards costume just because Jenny had made me wear it yesterday. Oh, that’s right, I am a suspicious man.
“The feather on the hat tickles my nose.” It was a weak level of defiance and Esmeralda pounced on it.
“It is settled then. You will wear the proper clothes and I will cut the feather off the hat.”
I was halfway through changing before it occurred to me that I’d been cleverly conned. With Esmeralda acting so emotionally I couldn’t back out of it now, but when I got over to the BatCave I would change back into something sensible.
“You look very smart.” Esmeralda placed the hat on my head and then tilted it slightly. “Perfect.” Then, before I could stop her she got out a handkerchief, licked it, and rubbed something off my face.
“Even more perfect.” She stood back to admire the effect. “I should call the royal portrait painter. Perhaps he could make a few sketches before you go?”
“I’m going now, Esmeralda. I can’t put it off any longer.”
Esmeralda bit her lip. She came and hugged me, her hand sliding down to my groin. “One last time, just so Jenny and I are even?”
It would take more than that, but I wasn’t going to tell her. I gently pushed her away from me. “I have to go. I’ll probably be back before tomorrow.”
“I shall hold you to that, Jake Morrissey. You come right back. Captain Cari’s funeral is in two days’ time and you cannot miss it. Or you could just wait until after the funeral?”
This was getting silly. I needed to go before she talked me out of it. With a wizard, thought and deed can be much the same thing. A moment later I arrived in the BatCave.
[Going to your final battle properly dressed I see. Though something in maroon would cover up your blood more effectively.]
“Why is it that everyone thinks I’m going to get killed?”
Fluffy gave me his serious look. [I have talked with the Dragons about your plan. They see only a small chance of survival.]
“They think I shouldn’t go?” If the Dragons were against it, perhaps it was an insane idea and I should give it up.
[They honor your bravery. It is the right thing to do. More than that, it is the Dragon thing to do. However, they do not believe you have a high probability of succeeding.]
Fair enough, but that brought up another issue.
“Then you should stay here. There’s no se
nse in both of us dying.”
My dragon gave me a hard push with his nose, sending me reeling across the cave.
[That is my choice, not yours. The Dragons believe your chances are much improved with me by your side. The Elves and the Dragons have a relationship going back over half a million years and the Elves will know what the consequences of my death will be.]
“Okay, there’s no need to get stroppy. It was only a suggestion.” I got to my feet and brushed the seat of my pants. Black material shows every mark. It took me a bit longer to find the hat, which had fallen behind a chair. I never had problems like this with jeans and a tee shirt.
[There is also the prophecy to take into account.]
He was talking about the prophecy that connected me to the Dragons. Something to do with a big battle, with them fighting at my side. Fluffy refused to give me any details as he said it might change things.
“If I get killed, your prophecy goes right out of the window.”
Fluffy shook his great snake-like head. [Prophecies are not so simple, nor so easily dismissed. You may not be the one. It may be a child of yours.]
“Well, I’m ready to go. I was going to change into something more suitable, but since you and Esmeralda think this costume is appropriate, I’ll keep it on.”
[You should visit Jenny and your parents first, to say goodbye.]
Talk about a positive attitude. I was surprised he hadn’t had me measured for a coffin. But I suppose it wouldn’t be fair to say goodbye to Esmeralda and not to Jenny.
I raised my hands in surrender. “Okay, I’ll go. Be back in five.”
While I would normally hop to outside Jenny’s parents’ front door, that was when I wasn’t wearing fancy dress. No way was I going to be seen by the neighbors in the wizard outfit. Instead, I hopped directly into her room. The bed was neatly made and there was no sign of her handbag.
There were no sounds of occupancy and I felt like a thief. I found myself creeping down the stairs, ready to hop out at the slightest sound. When I reached the ground floor, I heard the sounds of voices in the lounge. Peering round the door I saw Jenny and her mother. I knocked on the lounge door, which was stupid since I was already halfway in.