“What? No!”
“And you, the prophet’s own apprentice...” She sniffed. “I thought you were awfully wonderful, you know.” She looked down at her plate as if she couldn’t manage another bite.
Wynn could scarcely believe Gwen had come to that conclusion. She had not endeavored to help anyone like this for years and now recognized it was fruitless to attempt it again. In fact, the situation had grown almost humiliating. She stood to go but turned back to try one last time.
“I’ve only said this for your benefit. I don’t have a whole lot of experience with romance, but I’ve seen a lot of what other women go through. Maybe you can’t see it now, but one day you will and you’ll regret giving Terrance, or any fellow like him, even a bit of your time and heart.”
- S E V E N -
The Wood Beguiling
PHILLIP RACED AFTER Wynn as she stomped her way from Nierwood. He had not eavesdropped on her conversation with Gwen, but it was safe to assume things had not gone as hoped.
“I don’t understand why I do that,” she groaned. “It used to be my weakness: sticking my head into business that isn’t mine to bother with and trying to aid people who have no desire to be helped. I made a vow to give it up years ago and I’ve rarely gone back on it. Now, here I’ve gone making a fool of myself once again.”
She breathed hard for a few moments in which he wished he knew how to respond. He rather admired her courage to step in where she saw something amiss. However, he felt for her now it had turned out poorly.
“I suppose I just thought things would be different now that…” She hesitated. “Well, now that I’ve come to live with the prophet and have said yes to this Great One. Ugh, I can be so thick.”
“I…” Phillip began a little hesitantly, “I really don’t think you can call yourself a fool for caring about people.”
“Yes, I can. I knew she wouldn’t want my advice. I know how girls are. Telling them they shouldn’t have something just makes them want it more; it’s a classic tale. Well, I’m done with it once and for all. I’m done helping people. I will keep to myself henceforth.”
A long silence commenced as they traveled through the forest. Phillip turned all this over in his mind. Finally, he said, “I think it’s better to have a heart for helping those who do not wish to be helped than to have a cold heart.”
Wynn peered up with a clearly involuntary smile. “Well… that is your opinion.”
Despite her words, he recognized his words had reached her and hoped she would not give up on her concern for others. Indeed, he had not realized she possessed the trait. Watching her speak with Gwen had made the hardness abandon her face and her eyes had appeared soft and shining, but perhaps it had been a trick of the lanterns. Still, there was something lovely about a person when they were being their truest self and Phillip valued having seen something of what he imagined was the real her—the one who had been smothered and hidden behind a mask and a dozen walls.
“Wait…” He halted.
“What is it?”
He searched for something familiar. “This isn’t right…” He turned about. “Somehow, we’ve lost the path to the cabin. I cannot imagine...”
Wynn chuckled. “Isn’t is just like a man to be loath to admit he’s lost his way.”
He shook his head. “It’s not like that. I know this wood like the back of my hand, yet I have no idea where we could be.”
“Well… let’s try backtracking, shall we? You’re bound to come upon something you know.”
They started back down the path, but as time passed, he realized they should have come upon the Nierwood village. Yet, he still knew nothing of their surroundings.
“All right, I admit it,” she groaned. “This is a curious business. I cannot pinpoint our position either and I usually have my bearings no matter where I am.”
He nodded. “We should have reached the village by now.”
“Should I mention… I don’t feel frightened?”
“What do you mean? Should you be? I mean, we won’t remain lost forever.”
“No, I mean, for some reason, the Enchanted Wood always makes me anxious, like I’m being watched. But I feel… strangely relaxed.”
Now she said it, Phillip did as well, despite his frustration at having lost his way. “Well, we have only to keep going. We will come upon something one of us recognizes sooner or later.”
Yet, quite against nature, they did not. Still, the longer they continued, the less disturbed either of them felt. The forest, it seemed, was leading them onward, making them welcome down its well-traversed footpaths. Deeper and deeper they continued as the wood began to transform. Its color was growing exceptionally vivid while the air was thick with an other-worldly quality—so much so, it was almost difficult to breathe.
After a while, Phillip realized he did not really care if they ever found their way. He was with Wynn and the sun was shining bright. Just as he had concluded this, she halted beside him.
“We’re not in the Enchanted Wood,” she stated. “Look at the trees.”
Indeed, not only were many of them different from those found in the prophet’s wood, but the sound was quite unusual. In a word, it was silent—no squirrel’s chittering nor birdsong of any kind. There were signs of wildlife, but he conjectured the air’s thickness acted as a blanket, suffocating all noise and straining the atmosphere.
“But it is a pleasant wood,” he replied.
She looked to him with a queer expression. “Yes… but we should really be getting back to the prophet, don’t you think?”
He shrugged. “I suppose. But I am having a fine time with you. We should do this again some time. Your hair is pinkish in this sunlight. I like it.”
Wynn squinted at him again, then waved her hand in front of his face to which he found himself chuckling.
She slapped him.
“Ahow!” he exclaimed, rubbing his cheek. “What did you do that for?” But it came to him as the reality of their situation came rushing back.
“Sorry…” she replied, “you weren’t yourself.”
He nodded, looking about and no longer seeing the colors as bright and beautiful but dizzying. “Thanks.”
“Well, you were awfully self-assured and you stopped tripping over those gawky feet. That’s something.”
Phillip looked down at his elongated extremities and felt himself blushing. It only deepened as he stumbled over a fallen branch.
Upon Wynn’s suggestion they turn back again, their surroundings instantly darkened and their path was altered. It was clear that somewhere along the line, they had fallen under an enchantment that was leading them in circles, slowly drawing them further and further from home. It would certainly explain the nauseating colors and the seeming viscosity of the atmosphere. This hypothesis was only reinforced when they were suddenly surrounded with thorny thicket on every side. This was easily remedied with the use of Wynn’s sword.
Stepping from the scrub, she flung herself upon the ground and sat cross-legged, glaring up to the treetops. Phillip shivered as the dense magic snickered and swirled around them.
“I will have no more of this!” she declared. “We are not your game pieces. We wish to return home!”
The two stared in disbelief as the grove before them silently parted, their branches whirling to direct their gazes to the course they were expected to traverse.
“I knew something strange was going on,” she said, “but this is against nature.”
A large, old mansion was revealed down the way, austerely beckoning them forward.
“That’s better,” she said with a nod.
Phillip was surprised that, rather than being intimidated by the spectacle, she viewed this as the forest’s obedience to her demand.
“Whoever lives in this dwelling will surely point us in the right direction,” she added.
He doubted this and wondered if it was his turn to slap her, but he could not bring himself to do it. Therefore, they mov
ed onward and he caught her glaring up at the trees they passed. She was clearly angry at the forest for the way it had abducted them. He could not help wondering why she was not fearful of it as she was the Enchanted Wood. This furthered his qualms that she was under the forest’s spell.
Finally, they were before the manor. But rather than standing regally, it was quite run down, appearing abandoned. He was glad of this, for he had been loath to accept any aid from someone living in this mess of forest. But as he thought this, the deep, throaty voice of a woman’s song rang from within. It was a beautiful, sophisticated sound, but it was without any real feeling.
Promptly, Wynn tapped upon the door and they waited for the music to cease as the one inside made her way to answer. Instead, the song continued and as Phillip listened, his perception of the singer’s feeling altered from cold to comforting. Before long, he heard the lady move through the house until she had come to the door. Her appearance startled him from the enchantment. While her face was youthful and fair, her hair fell in gray, brittle wisps, appearing as course straw. It was a startling contrast.
“Oh!” the woman cried in her deep, melodic voice. “I had not realized anyone was about!”
Phillip noted her complete lack of surprise.
“I apologize for intruding,” Wynn spoke in a more cordial tone than he had ever heard from her. “We seem to be lost. I wonder, could you put us to rights? This forest is quite a puzzle, you know.”
Phillip released a humorless chuckle.
The strange woman locked eyes with Wynn and offered a startling, apologetic smile. “Yes, it is rather. Won’t you come in and rest a moment while I draw up a map?”
Wynn nodded gratefully and stepped inside before Phillip could stop her. Grasping for her arm, he worked to pull her from the threshold. “You cannot really be thinking of going in there?”
She responded with a dainty giggle. “Don’t be silly, you dear man. I’m going to get us out of here.” Her arm was wrenched from his grasp so harshly, he found himself rubbing at the abandoned hand.
Following the women down a passage lined with mismatched doors, Phillip noted the inside of the house was as lacking in care as the outside, with dust bunnies in wispy piles and the decorative ridges of the doors caked with months to years of dust and grime, appearing almost sticky with grease. Yet, the doorknobs gleamed with regular use. Why should the woman pass so often through each and every one?
“She must be very ill,” Wynn whispered back to him, “to have not been able to keep up with the tidying. And her poor hair. It is a pity, for she is so lovely.” She appeared quite affected by the thought.
Phillip smiled encouragingly and prayed this “ill” woman intended them no harm. Yet, he knew she intended something, else they would not be there. He wished it was he under the spell rather than Wynn, for she was so much more capable.
At last, they entered a surprisingly large, well-kept kitchen.
“Please, take a seat and rest those weary legs,” said the lady to Wynn, gesturing to a stool near the fireplace. “Just how far have you come, dear girl?”
“Er, well, I cannot be certain. I am meant to be in the Enchanted Wood beside Nierwood.”
“My, you have come far, though not so far as you may fear. Indeed, this forest and that are separated merely by a small stretch of meadow.”
“Truly?” Wynn questioned. “Why, I cannot recall ever coming upon a meadow on our journey here, let alone crossing it.” She looked to Phillip as if confirming with him.
“Can’t you?” asked the woman as if Wynn was a silly girl.
A cup of water from an indoor well was offered to Wynn, but as she took hold of it, Phillip noted how her eyes fell upon the hand that held it. He had noted it was severely speckled with age spots, veins bulging unnaturally. Obviously astonished to find such aged hands upon the stranger, she inadvertently gasped and released her hold on the cup just as it was relinquished to her. “Oh, I am so sorry!” she cried as it splattered across the floor.
The woman cringed but recovered with a gracious smile. “Do not you worry. There is plenty more where that came from.” When Phillip moved in search of something to dry the mess, the stranger clucked at him, forcing him back. “Do not trouble yourself,” she said almost coldly, yet he sensed there was something about him she very nearly feared. This was more surprising than almost anything, for what about him had ever intimidated anyone?
After swiftly mopping the mess, she fetched a new cup and filled it to brimming once more. This time, Phillip watched as Wynn willed her eyes not to glance at the stranger’s hands. Yet, another discomfiting moment transpired as the strange lady peered penetratingly into the apprentice’s eyes. It was all Wynn could do not to squirm under her gaze and it was all Phillip could do to watch it.
When at last he was prepared to wrench the stranger away from Wynn, she turned to begin rummaging through a tall food cupboard. “What interesting eyes you have,” she muttered lightly. “The yellow eyes of a cat—very pretty.” Wynn began to thank her for the compliment when she added, “Not green, of course… but very pretty.”
Phillip narrowed his own eyes. Did this rather bewildering person somehow know who Wynn was—even to the extent that her eyes were meant to have been green? What business was it of hers?
He moved to stand closer to Wynn.
“Now then, we’ll see about getting you two home in time for evening meal. But where did I put it?”
“Put what, exactly?” Phillip inquired. He couldn’t imagine she was rifling through a food store in search of a map.
“Ah! Here we are.” Smiling largely, she retrieved a small white cake from the top shelf.
“Oh, you must not waste your supply on us,” Wynn insisted. “We wish only to be safe at home again.”
“Of course, you do, my girl, but a bite to see you there will not harm anyone and, truly, I’ve no need for it… However—and perhaps I am a silly woman—but I did wonder if... you might not consider staying on here with me. I am gaining in years and it would be lovely to have the company of a sweet girl like you. There is much I could teach you… woman to woman, that is.”
Phillip was prepared to step in, but Wynn was finally taken aback, her eyes growing wide. “Oh, I appreciate your flattering offer, but I am afraid I really must return home. But I would be happy to visit again some time to see that all is well with you.”
Phillip was beginning to regret encouraging her about her helpful nature.
Fury passed through the woman’s expressive eyes, but it was smoothed over as instantly as it had appeared. “That would be lovely. Perhaps we can arrange something of an extended stay.”
Not on Phillip’s life.
“You are too kind,” Wynn replied, “but I’ve my dear prophet to worry over, you see. Now I’ve come to stay with him, I couldn’t possibly leave him for long.”
Phillip was surprised to hear her speak this way. He had not been with the two of them enough to realize she felt so about his best friend. He liked her all the better for it.
“Very well,” said the woman, holding out the plate. “Have your cake then.”
The woman’s tone was pleasant and terse at once, but Phillip was more concerned by the little dessert upon the plate now in Wynn’s hand. It was shrouded in dust and touched with mold, appearing dry and simply inedible.
“Oh,” Wynn muttered, staring down at the offering. Not even an enchantment could make that cake look delicious.
“Do not you wish to return home to your beloved prophet, my dear?” the stranger cooed.
Wynn nodded.
“Then you must have your pudding and be on your way,” she pressed.
Wynn gazed down at it and Phillip sensed she was beginning to question the woman’s sanity. Certainly, anyone could see the cake should have been tossed out long ago.
“Truly, I am not hungry,” she insisted.
But the lady continued to meet her with an oversized, expectant smile. Clearly, they would no
t be on their way until Wynn had at least taken a bite... but that was not something Phillip was going to stand for.
“She said she wasn’t hungry,” he said more sternly than he was accustomed. “We’ll just make our own way home.” He reached to take the plate from Wynn.
Before he knew it, she had stolen the cake into her opposite hand and with a relenting gaze, partook of a conservative bite. In the next moment, she was gone, the remainder of the dessert falling into crumbles upon the floor.
“What did you do with her!” Phillip thundered, enraged and ready to strike the woman, though he had never done such a thing in his life.
“Oh, do not play the hero now,” she drawled. “You stood by and watched all that time I played with her mind.”
“Where is she?” he hissed.
“Tut-tut. Only have a bite and you may follow her.”
Not wasting a moment to question what this might mean, he took up a handful of the crumbles and threw them onto his tongue. The moment they passed his lips, the world began to spin and the final words of the woman echoed loudly through his mind.
“Tell Wynn I will be in contact soon enough.”
As suddenly as the frenzy had begun, it ceased and he was standing before the prophet’s cabin. Blinking, he could scarcely believe where he was as a wave of utter relief washed over him. It was like waking from a nightmare. Then, he looked up. Where was Wynn?
“Ugh! How my head does ache,” she moaned. “What a wretched woman!”
He turned to find her on the ground behind him, well and whole. But attempting to stand, she merely fell back again.
“You’re all right! Er, are you all right? Here, let me help you.”
He attempted to aid her, but she swatted him away and sat back again, head in hands. “Give me a moment. I must get this head to stop spinning.”
Phillip worried the spell must have had a great hold over her mind for her to be reeling so. Knowing what she needed most, he raced inside.
“Prophet!” he called. “Prophet, are you in?”
“Yes, yes, dear boy. I am here,” muttered the man as he came waddling down the stairs.
The Prophet's Apprentice (Chronicles of the Chosen) Page 10