by Booth, John
"I see you have lost your chaperone," Esmeralda said tartly. Her face looked freshly washed and flushed. However, with a flash of wisdom I decided not to mention it.
"Esmeralda. I'm telling you this for your own good. We're never going to marry. You have to find a way to call off this wedding, or I will."
"Am I that ugly, Jake?"
I looked at Esmeralda and the honest truth is ... she was beautiful. Her piercing green eyes were captivating and even the freckles that went with her curly red hair and creamy complexion suited her face perfectly. Most men would be more than happy with her body. It was a little full for my taste, but there was no doubt she was fit in every sense of the word.
"I've always thought you beautiful, but I'm not in love with you and an arranged marriage isn't something I could live with. It just isn't going to happen."
Esmeralda's face fell as she looked into my eyes. I think this was the first time she admitted to herself I truly didn't love her.
"Thank you for letting me down so kindly. I will tell my father and mother and we will come up with a plan that saves all our faces, but not tonight, Jake. Will you dance with me?"
"I'd be delighted."
The music had started up again and Esmeralda and I found space on the ballroom floor and began to dance. It was, naturally, a waltz, and I discovered Esmeralda was a natural dancer. We spun around on the dance floor and I slowly became aware that the other dancers were leaving the floor to give us room. By the time the music came to a halt, the dance floor was as empty as it had been when Jenny and I took the first dance.
Rather than applause, the audience around us gasped. Then a single pair of hands clapped sardonically from the stage. I turned and saw a gruesome sight. A young man with a horribly disfigured face stood clapping us. To protect the red disfigured flesh of his face from further damage he wore a tight fitting glass mask. Only his eyes, nostrils and mouth were open to air from the room.
"I see you don't recognize your own handiwork, Jake Morrissey. I am Wizard Talder Plath and I've come to punish you for what you have done to me and to my brother."
"Is it possible to hold one of these balls without a mad wizard turning up? Are the wizards of Valhalla all as stupid as the Plath family? You keep losing, remember?"
I employed the only strategy I've developed for times of great stress; prevaricate until an idea occurs to me. Moreover, while I was at it, get the enemy as angry as possible in the hope he might make a mistake.
"But my plan is so simple, Jake. Take and destroy the one you love."
Talder Plath gestured and Esmeralda was torn from my grasp. She flew through the air to land by his side. Esmeralda struggled to escape. Whatever Plath was doing to her kept her arms locked down at her side and all she could do was wriggle futilely.
"Bye, bye Jake," Plath said and the grotesque thing that was his face tightened in an attempt to smile. I could see some of the skin of his face crack under the effort and begin to leak blood. He vanished, taking Esmeralda with him.
I stood on the dance floor stunned immobile. He was supposed to give me a chance to find a way to defeat him and now he was gone with Esmeralda.
"Jake. Get onto the stage and follow him before his path disappears."
I turned to see Jenny standing behind me.
"You heard me! Go Jake! Go now!"
The trance state vanished and I realized Jenny was right. I ran at the stage deciding that climbing up it would take too long. I dived onto it. I found myself sliding along its polished surface to where Plath had been standing. I hopped without thinking about where I was going, hoping I would follow his trail. I'd never tried this trick before and had no idea whether it would work.
I slid into hop space, literally and figuratively. The grey mist I experienced when being taken to Valhalla enveloped and overwhelmed me. It wasn't uniformly grey though. I could see a swirling in the mist of a lighter color and I followed that distortion without an act of conscious thought.
It was easier to go that way than not to, and it felt a little like following water down a plughole. I caught a glimpse of my target ahead. Like a kaleidoscope, Esmeralda's red hair showed distortedly against the grey some way ahead of me. In all my times of hopping between dimensions, I'd only seen the space in-between when I hopped a ride with the younger Plath. Now I was spending what seemed like minutes or possibly hours within this space, willing myself closer to Esmeralda and Talder Plath.
A dot of light flashed and they were gone. As I followed that flash into the real world, I felt another, closer flash and knew instinctively Plath had hopped back out again.
I re-entered the universe at the top of a crumbling pile of smoking rock. Lava cascaded from a volcano below me. The air would probably have burnt my lungs to carbon dust had I breathed any of it in, but I never fully entered that place. It was more as if I bounced off it like a ping-pong ball, only touching its surface.
The space between the universes was distorted with echoes of mine and Plath's previous journeys swirling back and forth. They made the mist look a bit like paints being mixed in a pot. It took either a second or an eternity for me to figure out which of the many swirls around me was Plath's most recent trail. In the end, it was the distinct orange and red of Esmeralda's passage that gave it away. I shot forward after them, slighter further away than I was when I almost entered the lava world, but closer than I'd been when I first entered the mist. Plath was losing this game whether he was aware of it or not.
Plath bounced off another two worlds, one so deep below water the only light was from the fins of enormous bioluminescent fish, the second felt like the surface of the moon, empty, barren and airless. As they say, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. My mind had found the trick of avoiding any physical contact with these worlds while observing their reality from the misty space we travelled through. By the time Plath materialized in the world he was aiming for, I had learnt to perceive its dangers even as I chose to follow him.
I emerged on the same foot-wide path that Plath was standing on about ten feet further along it. We were on a trail cut into the side of a mountain. I didn't need to look down to see the thousand foot drop to my right. Stones crumbled under my right foot and I subtly shifted my weight onto my left so I wouldn't fall.
Plath held Esmeralda in front of him and the girl looked terrified. She was making no attempt to escape and given their precarious position on the cliff face I didn't blame her.
If Esmeralda wasn't looking the most calm and collected I'd ever seen her, she still had the edge on Talder Plath. He was breathing heavily and the cracks in his face were seeping a lot of blood, which formed little red pools against his mask. His eyes had the look of a cornered wild animal.
Since he didn't look like the one who was going to start the conversation I thought I'd better try. I wasn't feeling all that calm myself. I collected my thoughts despite the adrenaline coursing through me. It was making my fingers twitch uncontrollably.
"Hi Talder, guess who?” Okay, I admit it, I'll never match Spiderman for repartee with villains, but his writers have ages to come up with good opening lines.
"You cannot be here. Even the best magician in the universe would have fallen into the traps I laid along the way."
"Of course, I'm an illusion, Talder. You can release Esmeralda and let her walk to me. After all, she's nowhere to go and I'm not real, am I?"
For a second I thought he was going to fall for it. I saw his hands release their death grip on Esmeralda's shoulders. Then they tightened again and I saw the pain in her eyes as he squeezed his fingers into her.
"I'm here to kill her, not release her. She can fall to her death. It's a long way down, long enough for her to suffer and know the full measure of my revenge."
"You got the wrong girl, Talder. I don't even like Esmeralda. Why don't you let her go? This is between you and me, not her."
I may have blown it because Talder twitched like a puppet whose controller has sneezed. H
e pulled Esmeralda closer to his body.
"I saw how you two were dancing together. Even a blind man could see the love between you. She is your betrothed!"
This was getting us nowhere and I suddenly felt very angry with this idiot. How dare he suggest Esmeralda and I were in love? I gestured and Talder found invisible hands gripping his throat, squeezing at his windpipe. He gurgled and coughed, his head pushed backwards at the strength of the magic I was using. I meant to strangle him there and now. I'd protect Esmeralda if I had to snap his neck and hold his limp body up on the path with magical hands.
Talder found magical strength from somewhere deep within.
"I win," he croaked and he pushed Esmeralda over the edge. She screamed as she disappeared down the face of the mountain.
The last time I felt such anger was when I crushed Jenny's kidnapper inches deep into solid concrete. I snapped my fingers and Plath's neck snapped in perfect unison with them. Then I dived off the cliff after Esmeralda.
All I could see was a small smudge in the distance falling away from me as I fell. I hopped in mid-air and she was closer, but still going much faster than I was. Her arms and legs flailed as she missed the sharp edges of the cliff by inches. I hopped again and she fell away from my grasp. She was in free fall and I hadn't been falling for long enough to build up the same speed. The cliff below us was no longer sheer and she would soon hit with enough force to crush every bone in her body.
I jumped into the mist between the universe and I stayed there for a timeless period, matching my speed and direction with that of Esmeralda. In the void, I could see her body approaching the rocks below. I could taste the sharpness of their edges, their bloodthirsty nature. I hopped in and out of reality, scooping Esmeralda into my arms before shooting us back into grey mist and the long voyage home.
I felt Esmeralda trembling against me. Felt the warmth of her skin against me, breathed in the scent of her hair as her head pressed against my shoulder.
We landed onto my bed in Salice. Esmeralda's wonderful living body pushed into mine. We trembled with adrenaline and reaction. Esmeralda lifted her head so she could stare at me and I put my hands on her and pulled her lips to mine.
Esmeralda resisted me for a timeless second and then she kissed me fiercely as she wriggled out of her dress as if shedding an unnecessary skin. I kissed her breasts and rolled us over so I was on top and she below. Fireworks exploded in my head and I felt more sexually aroused than at any time in my life. I don't know how we ended up naked, but I do remember the excitement I felt as I penetrated her and the look of ecstasy on her face as we climaxed together.
The world swam back into focus some time later. Esmeralda was lying in my arms, snuggled up close to me. Everything felt very good and then it all felt very wrong.
"This is terrible!" I sat up and Esmeralda's head fell hard against her pillow. "What the hell was I thinking?"
"It was reaction to the danger, Jake. But it was also the truth between us. You love me every bit as much as I love you."
"I love Jenny with all my heart!" I fell onto the floor in my eagerness to get off the bed. In the dim light of the oil lamp, I searched frantically for my clothes.
"Yes, you do." Esmeralda sat up and I was startled by the fullness of her bared breasts. It would be a lie if I said they didn't call out to me. "Jake, you love both of us. It happens more often than you would think and in your case, it is acceptable. Wizards are expected to have more than one wife. It is written into the laws of the world."
"Try explaining that to Jenny," I shouted. "Shit, don't you even dare mention this to Jenny. This never happened, Esmeralda. Do you understand? I saved your life and that's all."
I had found one sock, but the other had disappeared without trace. I felt tears sting my eyes as I searched everywhere for it. How could I reappear in front of Jenny with only one sock?
"Calm down Jake. We need to get dressed and then you can bring me back to the palace in triumph. It's probably been less than an hour since Plath kidnapped me and my father and mother must be sick with worry." Esmeralda was as calm as I was panicked. "We also need to change the sheets. There will be some in that chest over there. I don't think you could easily explain the fresh blood on them to Jenny."
I hit me like a brick that I had taken Esmeralda's virginity. I just stopped and stared, half in and out of my boxers as Esmeralda laughed and got up from the bed to kiss me lightly on the cheek.
"I will not tell Jenny. That is for you to do, if you so choose. You saved me from certain death and made me a woman in the space of a few scant minutes. I know you were not in control of yourself. I know I was not in control of myself either. Let us leave the consequences of this for another day and cover things up for now. Is that satisfactory?"
I nodded, speechless. I'll never understand women. Esmeralda was as good as her word. We found clean sheets and remade the bed. Esmeralda found my missing sock and we searched the room carefully to be sure things were the same as when we entered. Lastly, Esmeralda looked me over critically and checked herself out in the mirror.
"No one will know, Jake. Tell me, will we have more trouble from the Wizard Plath?"
"No. I broke his neck after he pushed you off the cliff. I can assure you he's quite dead."
"That is a considerable relief. I think I will have nightmares about him, but the knowledge he is dead will keep me in good stead. Shall we go?"
"What do we tell them?" I asked as I took her hand.
"The truth, of course." Esmeralda said and laughed at me. "The only difference is that you hopped us here for a few minutes to catch our breath after the fall down the cliff. That will explain the smell of my scent in this room." Esmeralda walked over to the window and opened the shutters. "If Jenny asks, say we were sweating when we arrived and you opened this window to clear the air. The night will soon mask any other scents in the room."
"How can you be so calm?"
"I am a princess and my knight in shining armor has come. He brought me along with him as I remember. It was a wonderful moment and I shall never forget it."
I took Esmeralda's hand and we hopped into the center of the ballroom. Everybody in the room broke out into applause as soon as they saw us. Esmeralda pulled her hand out of mine as we arrived and ran over to her parents. Jenny ran over to me and she buried her face in my chest.
"Phew, you smell a bit high. Did you have to chase Plath?"
"He pushed Esmeralda off a cliff. I broke his neck and dived after her. It was a close call."
Jenny hugged closer to me. "I can imagine. But you looked so calm and collected when you arrived."
"My instincts brought us back to our room in the palace. We spent a couple of minutes there calming down." I was surprised how easily that lie came to me, though in at least some senses I was telling the truth.
"Esmeralda looks different somehow," Jenny told me as she turned and looked in her direction. Esmeralda was laughing, surrounded by her family and friends. Bronwyn was among them, hugging close to her side.
"Being pushed off a cliff will do that to you."
Jenny turned back to me and looked me in the eyes.
"Are you alright Jake? You sound a little different too."
"I'm just exhausted. And I've realized I'm a killer. I killed your kidnapper months ago, two men just the other day and Wizard Plath tonight. None of those deaths bothers me in the slightest. Is there something wrong with me?"
"You're a hero, Jake. The normal rules don't apply to you."
I smiled back at Jenny and kissed her on the lips. Our kiss lingered on for a time and it felt as good as it always did. I loved this girl with all my heart. I looked up while we were kissing and saw Esmeralda looking at us. There was a genuine smile of pleasure on her face. I really don't understand women at all.
Chapter Thirteen
: Homecoming
I hopped Jenny back to her bedroom at just gone eight the next morning. We were both tired out from the events of the night b
efore and Jenny planned to go straight to bed as soon as I left.
We strived to create the illusion that Jenny came home late at night and Jenny's parents became accustomed to her apparent skill of being able to get into the house without making any noise.
"Despite the small problem with the late Wizard Plath, that was a fun night out." Jenny carefully put her father's ghetto blaster down on the floor. We nearly forgot it and I had to rescue it from the cleaners working in the ballroom.
"A little too much fun for me," I said, though I wasn't referring to Wizard Plath. "There's still the problem of dealing with Bronwyn. She told me she's left home for good."
"Can't say I blame her," Jenny mused as she started to get out of her dress. "She was being locked up like a prisoner. On the other hand, she's only eleven years old. You'll have to convince her to go home, Jake."
"I've already got the police stationed round my house. Her disappearing again isn't going to make my life any easier."
Jenny put her arms around my neck and pressed her warm, beautiful body close to mine. "You can handle a few Welsh policemen, Jake, and they'll soon get bored. After all, you never go out."
After we kissed for a good twenty minutes I hopped back to my bedroom.
I was wide awake by this time and sunlight streamed through my bedroom window so I decided to go downstairs and make a pot of tea. I sensed something was wrong about the house before I got all the way down the stairs. When I walked into the kitchen I found my parents sitting at the table with Sergeant Jones.
"Where have you been, Jake?" Mum asked anxiously. "We've been worried sick."
"In my bedroom. Why is Sergeant Jones here?"
Sergeant Jones started whispering into his radio the moment he saw me and I heard the sound of the front door being opened followed by urgent male voices and the sound of boots echoing in the hall.
"We checked your bedroom first thing," Dad said. "The police have been here since seven o'clock this morning."