by Lucia Ashta
Lake Creston wasn’t Norland Manor, and so Maggie had left us alone in accordance with Marcelo’s wishes. Mother would never have allowed me to be alone with a man, unattended by my lady’s maid. But Mother wasn’t here.
Magic had filled every crevice of time we carved out for ourselves in our partial seclusion. After my admissions, things went much better than I had anticipated. Marcelo showed me a side of himself I hadn’t even suspected existed. There had been no hint of this vitality and enthusiasm in all his previous dealings with me.
Once he resigned himself to how things were—that I had disobeyed his limiting instructions and discovered the ability to control two elements on my own, and that now he would have to teach me a broader scope of magic—his demeanor transformed, as if a shell had cracked and fallen away.
I barely recognized the Marcelo in front of me. I watched him, following his every word, not wanting to miss a single one.
“The most important point of The Magyke of the Elementes, and the reason I wanted you to read it first, is to understand that our ability to control the elements comes from within us. It’s because the four elements are part of us that we can do magic with them. It is, in fact, natural for us to work with the elements.
“I prefer to say that we work with the elements instead of ‘manipulate’ them as the book says. It’s very important to give the elements the respect they deserve, and saying that we manipulate or control them doesn’t do that. Each of the individual elements is immensely more powerful than us. We need to remember that and always show respect in our words and actions.
“We can work with the elements because they allow it. That’s the only reason. Should we command them to work with us when they don’t want to…” Marcelo stopped to shudder. “Well, I don’t know exactly what would happen as I’ve never done it before, but I’m certain that it would be ugly and, undoubtedly, it would be dark. And we never want to meddle with dark magic.” He stared deep into my eyes. “Never.”
“I understand.” I wanted to ask what would happen if I did try dark magic, but the look on his face was forbidding.
He turned to look at the lake, where he distracted himself with a thought or a memory. Then he turned back toward me. “Not only do the elements live within us, but they’re in our environment as well. That’s why the situation is already ideal for transitioning between the elemental in us to the elemental that surrounds us.”
“That makes a lot of sense.” I gathered enough courage to add, “It was easy for me to do the first exercise with water in the book. It was as if it were all set up for me, just waiting for me to complete the steps to do it.”
“Yes, well, what you did isn’t common. It’s not common at all.” The look on his face implied that this was not a good thing.
“What do you mean?”
“It usually takes novice pupils at least a year of study, sometimes several years, before they’re able to perform even one exercise. They must first understand all the concepts that are woven into the art of magic before they figure out how to relate to it. Somehow, you’ve been able to circumvent all this study. You understood fire and water without any instruction or fundamental knowledge about them. That’s very rare.”
“How long did it take you to be able to do magic?”
My question shut him down. The Marcelo I had enjoyed for hours withdrew again. “My past is not your concern. I’m here to teach you what I must to keep you safe, and then my responsibility to the Count of Norland will be complete. We’re finished for the day. I’ll fetch Maggie to help you inside.”
I watched him retreat, with indignant, heavy footsteps, to the lake house.
Instead of making me cower, his anger made me curious. What was there in his past that made him so defensive?
Surrender to Something Big
Marcelo didn’t bring me a new book the next morning as I expected he would, nor did he bring it to me the next day. He didn’t come to see me at all. Instead, he instructed Maggie to ensure my wounds were still healing well.
When he didn’t come the third day, a wave of my own anger surged. What had I done that was so wrong that he should ignore me like this?
He was in the house, locked in his chambers. He must eat and drink at some point. But if he came out for food or water, neither Maggie nor I noticed him.
All I had done was show a natural curiosity about that which he was most passionate. He should be happy to have such an eager pupil. But instead, he was punishing me. How terrible could his past possibly be that he would castigate me just for asking about his beginnings in magic?
And why was it so difficult for him to accept that he was going to have to teach me? Was it because I was a girl? My entire life, my parents had seen me as less because I was a girl. I hoped Marcelo would have more sense than that.
My anger mounted as I considered all the righteous reasons for it. But as agitated as I was becoming about what I interpreted as Marcelo’s unjust treatment, I forgot about it in an instant.
Something was happening. Something big.
I didn’t know what it was, and it scared me at first.
Then I surrendered to it. Since I didn’t understand it and there was little I could do anyway, I let curiosity win over my fear.
A flash of intense, searing heat that made me flush but didn’t burn me raced across my skin. It radiated across all points of my body at once. It was overpowering and made me feel faint. I leaned back against the pillows and clinched my eyes closed. I found it difficult to breathe.
I began to panic again and that made me hyperventilate. But hyperventilating forced me to calm down—I had no choice if I wanted to pull in the air my body desperately needed.
I was uncomfortable beyond belief, and I still had no explanation for what was happening or why it had begun without warning. I didn’t even remember why I’d been angry. All I wanted was for the sensation to pass.
The flashes of heat continued to radiate out from my center until they covered all parts of my body, ending with my extremities, where they finally dissipated.
But by then, a new wave was on its way.
Over and again, the searing heat pulsed from my center.
Every muscle in my body was clenched against it. My body fought to repel the discomfort.
It couldn’t.
Then, it was over.
Just as the sensations had begun without warning, so they ended.
I lay limp against the bed as if I had no bones. The exertion had drained me of any thought I might have had.
I closed my eyes and focused on breathing. I savored my chest’s steady rise and fall as my breath normalized.
I wouldn’t realize what had happened to me until later.
The Incredible, the Unlikely, and the Nearly Impossible
I remained without moving, a leg draped off the side of the bed, for what seemed like forever. I may have fallen asleep. I didn’t know. I couldn’t think. I didn’t understand.
When I finally did open my eyes, I watched the leaves on the oak tree outside my window sparkle as they swayed in the breeze for so long that time stole away like an unnoticed stranger.
Eventually, Maggie entered the room to check on me. The moment her foot crossed the threshold she broke into a run.
“Clara! Clara! Are you all right?” she yelled at me, even though she was at my bedside.
I didn’t answer at first. Once my mind recovered from the experience, it remained elsewhere, firmly entrenched in a world of not knowing or caring.
“Clara. Oh no.” Maggie sounded like she was about to cry.
I mumbled. “I’ll be fine. I think. I don’t know.”
I didn’t convince Maggie, with good reason, and she spun on her heel and ran back out of the room. I heard her through the open doorway, running down hallways and then pounding at Marcelo’s door.
He said nothing, but I heard Maggie. “Come quick. Something isn’t right with Clara.”
Then two sets of footsteps thundered
down the halls, and I still didn’t understand anything about anything. The leaves continued to flutter in the wind that I imagined blew outside my closed window.
My eyes closed against my will, and I felt as if the wind were blowing on my skin after all. Every bit of me felt cool, completely recovered from the intense heat. The breeze blew another time, gently, and my skin exulted.
Maggie reached me again, this time with Marcelo in tow. He swept his gaze furiously across my prostrate form, my left leg still draped off the bed, dangling, as I guessed my whole body would if the bed weren’t supporting it.
As if I were very far away, I watched deep concern creep across Marcelo’s face.
Then his eyes narrowed.
He grabbed at my arm in a brutish movement. And in so doing, he substantiated the incredible, the unlikely, and the nearly impossible.
Hastily, he untied the ribbon that encircled the cuff of my sleeve. He pushed my sleeve up.
Maggie gasped.
Marcelo said and did nothing.
They both stared.
My skin was completely healed.
Curious, Exciting, and Frightening Things
By that same night, the fog had cleared from my mind, and I felt myself again. I answered every one of Marcelo’s questions—I could have refused to answer his questions as he’d ignored mine, but I didn’t. I told him everything I knew, which wasn’t much.
I felt as if I were reliving the days after my first experiences with fire all over again. Marcelo camped out in my room that night and the next day, pacing furiously, and then consulting his books with just as much fervor. This time he did talk to me, although not often and not much. Still, it was an improvement from the previous times.
At one point, he exited my room, and I heard him walk in his long strides toward his own chambers. Though my skin was now healed as if the burns had never happened, yesterday’s occurrence had exhausted me, and I had little energy to move from the bed. I relied on my hearing to satiate my curiosity.
Marcelo went into his rooms, was in them for maybe ten minutes, and then came out again. He gave Maggie a letter to dispatch to Father right away. I followed the sound of Maggie’s footsteps as she left the lake house and headed toward the stables, no doubt looking for Thomas. He could go into town and find the courier they had used before.
I was surprised to find that I didn’t really care what the letter said. A part of me realized how important any communication between Marcelo and Father was. There was still time, though not much—mere days—for Father to meet the Count of Chester’s deadline.
My life had become so different from anything I’d known before that I couldn’t even put myself in the right frame of mind to consider the effects of their missives. There were more pressing things happening in my life—much more curious, exciting, and frightening things.
In the world of limitless possibilities I’d discovered, my menacing fiancé seemed inconsequential. It was as if I’d laid a puzzle out within my mind, and Winston was an unimportant, extraneous piece that didn’t belong to the puzzle. This was the case with my parents and my sisters too, though not with Gertrude. I felt just as bonded to Gertrude as ever, and I knew she still played an important part in my life.
By the time Marcelo returned to my room, I was able to look at his tousled hair and distracted expression affectionately. There was much more to explore in the world of magic, and Marcelo was the one who would teach me.
Fate had aligned it so.
The searing heat on my skin hadn’t burned me this time. It had healed me. I was venturing into tendencies in magic that weren’t contained by Marcelo’s books or experience.
Fate’s Determinations
I was outside by myself. Finally. The sun shone extra brightly, and it seemed like all of nature cooperated to make my first venture outdoors alone in almost two months idyllic. Birds chirped and sang.
A day like today was not one to be wasted on fears or worries. I entertained no thoughts of Winston, my parents, Marcelo, or even magic. My mind was blissfully empty of distractions. I watched the sunlight sparkle across the lake’s surface. Occasional fish jumped out of the water, landing with a splash. I noticed the ripples that encircled their landing dissipate until they vanished.
I felt more myself than before the fever. It was a happy day. I just wished Gertrude were here to share it with me.
I leaned back against the blanket Maggie had spread out for me. It was soft and warm. Although it would horrify her if she saw me, I sat up to unlace my shoes. I took them off, rolled down my half hose, and put my feet on the grass.
Almost without thinking, my hands shot to my back. They fumbled with the intricate lacing of my bodice. It was hard to breathe with this thing on.
Now that I had fully healed from the fever and my skin had recovered from its burns, Maggie insisted I wear a bodice. Like Mother, she said that a lady had to. The leniency she gave my hair didn’t extend to my corset.
Finally, I loosened it. I breathed fully, tasting crisp, fresh air. I leaned back onto the blanket again.
The sun dipped behind a cloud. The lake ceased its glittering, just for a few moments, making what would happen next all the more apparent.
Marcelo watched me from the bay window in his chambers, though he didn’t tell me that until later. It was thanks to this silent vigil that he finally decided to teach me as much as I was capable of learning.
Fate determined my life for me, and it took me far away from everything I knew during my first sixteen years at Norland Manor.
An All-Consuming Commitment
There were only four days left before the Count of Chester’s deadline. Since my parents hadn’t requested my return to Norland Manor (at least not that I was aware of), I happily concluded that they still believed me too ill to marry. I desperately clung to that assumption.
Marcelo was the only one in direct communication with my parents. I’d asked him for details of his arrangement with them as many times as I dared, but he shut me down on every occasion.
When the direct approach didn’t work, I attempted discrete fishing expeditions that probably weren’t as discrete as I thought and yielded no success regardless. Finally, I resorted to assigning Maggie the difficult—and eventually fruitless task—of wrangling information out of Marcelo. We quickly learned that the brooding wizard was not one easily wrangled. I gave up soon thereafter.
I resigned myself to accept the unspoken agreement that he obviously believed we had. He would take care of things as he saw fit, and I just had to trust him.
I understand now that he intended it to be one of my first lessons in the study of magic. In order to explore my full capacity, I had to trust my teacher.
So as Marcelo and I walked the lakeshore, the soles of my feet happily allowing it, I forced myself to put Winston and my parents far from my thoughts and focused on what the man next to me was saying.
“The study of magic requires a lot of effort.”
I was already nodding vigorously, trying to convey my enthusiastic readiness to learn magic.
“Don’t be so quick to agree. This is a very serious matter,” he said. Then he laughed.
“You went from looking excited to somber in a second. It was humorous,” he said, smiling out at the lake. When he turned back toward me, he was all business again.
“If you agree to study magic with me, it’ll be a very big commitment. I’ll require that magic and our studies become your complete focus. There can be no distractions.”
I waited to express my agreement now. I knew there was still more.
“It’ll be intense. The practice of magic will bring things up in you. You’ll have to deal with these healing and growing issues on your own. That’ll be your responsibility, and you must do this inner work or you’ll be incapable of becoming the magician you could be. Interacting with elemental magic as profoundly as you will is a perilous venture if you aren’t a stable individual. Do you understand how important this factor is
?”
I nodded solemnly.
“I won’t be your counselor or your friend. I’m your teacher. You deal with your emotions on your own. I won’t lend an ear for your feelings. We’re perfectly clear on this?”
“Yes.”
“The magic I teach you will be all-consuming. It’s the only proper way to learn magic. It’s how I learned, and it’s how my teacher learned, and it’s the same way his teacher did as well.”
I waited to see if he would reveal more about his beginnings in magic, but it was futile.
“If you don’t put in the effort I require of you—no, that magic requires of you—I’ll quit you.”
Marcelo revisited the brusqueness of our past interactions, and I stiffened.
“I’m doing what I feel led to do. I’ve come to believe that you were put in my path purposefully and that it’s my responsibility to teach you to harness your natural gifts and to use them responsibly. But if you don’t do your part, I’ll consider myself freed of this contract.”
“I understand. I’m ready to do what you ask of me.”
“Are you sure you know what you’re getting into?”
“Of course I don’t know what I’m getting into. How could I? But, like you, likely more than you, I don’t feel as if I have a real choice. This is my path. I may be young, but I know my own mind. This is what has lined up for me, and there’s a good reason for it. I’m ready, for whatever it is. And I promise that I’ll always do my best and give my greatest effort.”
Marcelo’s gaze was startlingly intense. His blue eyes blazed. “Yes, I suppose that’s all you can do. Very well. Let’s begin then.”
“When do we start?”
“Now. I’ve already planned out your first lesson.”
However, Marcelo hadn’t quite closed the front door to the lake house behind us when he opened it again.
The Threat of a Life of Unpleasantness
The thundering sound of galloping hooves barreled our way. My heart pumped in my chest. What could it be? The rider showed no signs of slowing as he raced down the drive.
The rider still hadn’t slowed when I saw that it was a she and not a he after all. The realization made my heart beat even faster. Why would Maggie be riding a horse like a man? And whose horse was she riding?