by Alex C Vick
She traced it against my palm with her fingertip, into the shallow silver mist coming from my force field. I closed my eyes, committing it to memory.
Then I projected my Manipulation Spell until it surrounded the broach.
When the magic cleared, I closed my hand over it for a moment, nervous to show her in case I’d got the shape wrong. She peeled my fingers back.
“Gratias tibi ago, Galen. Perfectum est.”
Thank you. It’s perfect .
She couldn’t stop touching it, even when it was pinned onto her cloak. She grabbed my hand, wanting to share with me what it felt like.
Just as in the memory with the necklace, there was a jolt of something, some kind of magical bond whenever her force field connected with the symbol.
Claudia insisted on getting some food, even though I would have been happy to go straight to sleep. I checked my new pocket for the flat stone, having decided to keep the Signature Symbol with me at all times.
Fortunately the evening meal was good. We were served a hot stew, with thick gravy and fresh bread. To my relief, there was no garum, the horrible fish sauce served with everything in Pompeii.
Our friendly host was quite talkative, asking what our plans were and how long we’d be staying. Before I could answer, he immediately went on to tell us that Verulamium was still growing.
The rebuilding was apparently going well. It was a good place for a young couple to settle, he added with a grin.
Claudia questioned what he meant by rebuilding. Surprised we did not know, he explained that Boudicca had completely destroyed the town eighteen years before. She had killed everyone, old and young, Romans and Britons alike, before burning it to the ground.
We stared at him in shock. His cheerful round face, with its mop of curly blond hair, looked serious for a moment. It had been her last victory, he said, before being defeated by the Roman governor Paulinus.
Then he leaned closer and lowered his voice. It was said Boudicca went mad. The need for revenge consumed her. Even though Boudicca’s armies greatly outnumbered the Romans’, her solders feared her and they lost the final battle.
“Praecantatio malus,” he whispered. Bad magic.
Fortunately, he added, straightening up, she killed herself soon afterwards, and now this part of Britannia was peaceful again.
Whistling, he returned to the kitchen, and we stared at each other. I didn’t need the Communication Spell to guess what Claudia was thinking.
Boudicca had made the curse we’d found. She must have. Suddenly I understood Claudia’s misgivings a whole lot better.
“Non loqueris,” I said. “Intellego.”
Don’t say anything. I get it .
She nodded.
We continued eating in silence, and I tried not to think of an entire town going up in flames.
It was bad enough when the mountain had done it to Pompeii, but at least that had been involuntary. It seemed Terrans just loved using magic to kill each other.
Eventually the warmth of the room and the good food helped me to relax again. Terra isn’t so bad. I’m married to a Terran, aren’t I?
And I know what I’m doing. Of course I do. I’m known for making considered choices. Well done, Galen. Things are going to be fine. Yes. Just fine. Yes.
I poured another cup of the sweet mead and drank it down. Claudia looked at me strangely. I smiled at her.
“Te amo,” I said.
“Et te amo quoque…” And I love you too… “Galen?”
“Hmmm?”
“Ebrius es?”
Are you drunk ?
I blinked and looked down at the cup in my hand.
You’re kidding. This stuff is like wine? Oh, Androva help me. I’ve drunk loads of it. There’s going to be no dignified way out of this one.
The thought slithered away from me almost immediately.
I smiled at her again.
“You truly are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. I would live in this horrible place forever as long as you stay with me.
“I would wear sandals, and eat garum, and go to the Thermae… Well, maybe I wouldn’t do that. I’m not sure I could spend the afternoon wearing no clothes with a bunch of complete strangers, even for you. Some of those men really should keep their togas on. I do love you, though.”
“Non intellego,” she said, laughing and shaking her head.
“Da mihi basium,” I said. Kiss me.
She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling at the same time. Her lips tasted like honey. I tried to pull her towards me, but she shook her head.
“Dormire oportet. Citius in melius.” You need to go to sleep. The sooner the better.
I had to lean on her to make it up the stairs. My legs wouldn’t do what I asked them to. When I lay down and turned towards the Illumination Spell, I could see two birds.
How weird. I’m sure I only made one.
“Claudia,” I said, “my bird has got married, just like us. Isn’t that cute? I think everyone should get married. I think—”
I stopped talking when she put her fingers over my mouth.
“Dormi,” she said. Go to sleep.
I closed my eyes.
When I opened them again, daylight seemed to hit me in the face and stomach at the same time. I thought I was going to throw up. My head felt like a retiarius gladiator had speared it with his trident. I said a Roman swear word, hoping it would help. It didn’t.
I felt Claudia take my hand, which was damp with sweat. I tried to move away, but the movement made me feel worse, so I stopped.
“Galen…”
“No. Whatever it is, the answer is no. I can’t.”
I felt her amusement.
At least I hadn’t had a nightmare about Angelus. The only good news.
“Open the spell. All of it. Down to the last layer. Until your force field is completely connected to the rest of you.”
I tried to do as she was asking.
What was that drink made from? Even blinking was painful.
Suddenly it was as if a bucket of icy water had been thrown over me. No, it was inside me. I was breathless from the cold, and making a pretty undignified choking noise.
“Wh-what on An-Androva are you doing to m-me?”
Then, as quickly as it had arrived, the cold was gone. I frowned. It didn’t hurt. I shook my head from side to side. That didn’t hurt either.
“It worked!” she said happily.
“What worked?”
“Well, we don’t really have remedies on Terra. No one knows how to mix magic with food or drink. So hangover cures have to be projected onto the outside, and they take ages to work. I thought if I did it this way, it might be quicker.”
“What’s a hangover?”
“The aftereffects of drinking too much mead.”
“Oh. Yes. About that…”
“It happens to everyone at least once, Galen. Count yourself lucky I was here to look after you, and that you were babbling in a language only you understand.”
“Babbling? Babbling?”
I was indignant.
“Oh, yeah,” she said, and grinned. “You were babbling alright. Don’t you remember?”
I hesitated.
“Not entirely. I think I was complimenting you though.”
She laughed.
“Good answer. I’ll take your word for it.”
After breakfast, and the best Cleaning Spell I’d had since the end of that first year History assignment, we paid our bill and went back to the woods.
Knowing what the spell was capable of this time, I treated it much more cautiously. There was magic in it that I couldn’t begin to identify, let alone understand.
But I recognised the Adoption Spell when I found it. And I could replicate it. It would be much quicker than trying to remember exactly what I’d felt at my Sygnus ceremony four years ago.
We moved to another part of the woods. Now that I wasn’t cold and tired, I could appreciate the beauty of t
he trees. Androva had nothing like this anymore.
“Paratus sum,” I said eventually. I’m ready.
Claudia was experimenting with the living magic, seeing if she could harvest it and take it in her hands as Jax had described.
It didn’t seem to be working. She was surrounded by magic, as if a silver sun were shining down on her, but she couldn’t hold onto any of it.
Admitting defeat she let it return to the trees, and came to join me.
I took her hand, and we knelt down.
“Put your broach on the ground. We need a physical representation of the symbol.”
As soon as it was there, glinting against the dark green moss, I began projecting the spells. If I hesitated, I would lose my nerve.
“Extraction Spell,” I said, creating a magical copy of the star in the air above it. “Endorsement.”
I didn’t know if I could endorse a Terran symbol, but as I was the only other magician here, it would have to do.
“Adoption Spell,” I added, and it shimmered slightly.
“I’m going to let go of your hand,” I went on. “Project your force field and I will make the cut. Three drops. You must combine them slowly. And for Androva’s sake, stop holding your breath. You can’t do the spell if you faint.”
She met my gaze, surprised, and then exhaled on a laugh.
Once her hands were glowing, I checked the symbol again. Then I moved my finger across her palm, until blood floated out of the tiny cut.
I waited for an endless moment as she brought it all together. The shock against my force field was sudden and intense. She scrambled backwards.
“Claudia, bene est,” I said. It’s OK.
Except, of course, I didn’t really know that. I looked at her anxiously, and then I saw it. The symbol appearing on her shoulder. To my relief, it looked just like a Sygnus.
“Galen, my magic has changed. It’s sharper, and stronger too.”
“What did you say?”
I tried to stay calm.
“I said my magic—”
“No, forget about your magic for a second, Claudia. Why are you speaking to me in Androvan?”
Chapter 23 - Island Interlude
“I’m not,” she protested. “I’m not, I… I am, aren’t I?”
“You are.”
“Well, that’s weird.”
“You think?” I joked, to cover my concern. I was actually finding it more than a little unnerving.
“Loquerisne Latine etiam?” I asked.
Can you still speak Latin ?
“Nescio.” I don’t know.
“Oh, I guess I can,” she corrected herself. “But there’s no need, is there? Not when I’m talking to you. Galen, it worked. I got my star. Isn’t that the most important thing?”
“Project your force field,” I said.
“Why?”
“I want to try something.”
I remembered what my father had told me about his magic changing when he got a different Sygnus. This wasn’t exactly the same, but I still wanted to check. Since the Communication Spell, I knew Claudia’s magic almost as well as I knew my own.
When I touched it, I understood. It was the endorsement. I’d endorsed her symbol, and somehow she had adopted part of Androva’s heritage along with her star. I was glad to have an explanation.
Now, all I had to do was get used to talking to my wife in the same language. I grinned. As problems go, it wasn’t so bad.
“What are you smiling about?”
I explained.
“Hmmm,” she said, smiling back. “Just don’t go thinking you can tell me what to say.”
“Tell you what to say?”
I laughed.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
“It’s an echo from my Endorsement Spell. Not a miracle maker.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it again.
“Galen,” she said, scowling, “I can’t reply to that because your language doesn’t seem to have any insults or swear words.”
I laughed even more.
“I know. Some things you just have to use Terran words for. I’d suggest some, but far be it from me to tell you what to say…”
“Galen!”
I took two steps backwards. She stepped forwards. A second later I turned to run, and I felt the edge of her force field brush my hand. I was fast, but she was smart. Pretty soon, she worked out a short-cut and appeared on the path in front of me. I had to use Solo Transference to escape.
“That’s cheating,” she complained.
I was sitting on a tree branch, out of her reach.
“It’s not cheating. You’re a magician too.”
“But I don’t… I can’t…”
I stopped swinging my feet and looked at her.
“You can. You just told me your magic was stronger. You push your force field to the ends of your fingers and toes, and it moves the rest of you. Wherever you want to go. It only takes practice.”
“Wherever…? Wherever I want to go?”
I nodded. Then I rose up to the top of the tree, until I was balanced on the uppermost leaves, using the spell to take most of my weight.
Without warning, I threw myself downwards in a dive, and she exclaimed in surprise.
Before I reached the ground, I did a somersault, so I landed the right way up. I’d forgotten how much fun the basic spells could be. It was like being back at the Seminary.
I took her hand and lifted myself off the ground again.
“Try it,” I encouraged.
Claudia picked it up faster than I expected. She fell the first time, like most magicians do, but managed to save herself before she hit the ground.
After that, there was no stopping her. Rather than scaring her into caution, the fall only spurred her on to take greater and greater risks. She was diving by the time she finished.
“Not bad,” I said.
I had my back to a large tree, and was sitting on my folded cloak with my knees drawn up. I reached under the layers of material to check that the Signature Symbol stone was where I’d left it.
She sat down next to me and gave a tired but happy sigh.
“That was awesome. I don’t know why you bother walking anywhere.”
I wrinkled my nose.
“It’s a bit pretentious, that’s why. Showing off your force field like it’s a purse of Roman gold or something. It’s not done.”
She giggled.
“It’s flying, Galen. It’s the best thing ever. Who cares if it’s the done thing or not?”
She rested her head on my shoulder.
“Talking of gold… We don’t have any left, do we?”
“No. But I only need to project a Manipulation Spell. I know this gold pretty well now. I could create it from another material.”
“What? You can make gold?”
She lifted her head and stared at me.
“Well, it would be advanced magic, but I think so. We changed things at the Foundation all the time. And the coins are tiny. It’s not like rebuilding a wall.”
I didn’t understand her shock. It was magic, and magic could carry out far more impressive feats than turning light grey rock into heavy yellow rock. Yellow wasn’t even a particularly nice colour, in my opinion.
“Galen, they said in Pompeii that Roma only invaded Britannia to find its gold. It is prized above all else. I just… I guess I thought it was unique. Not something you could copy.”
I thought for a moment.
“The gold itself is nothing special. However, without the right spell, it would be very hard to come by. Presumably this makes it more desirable.”
I frowned. “Not to the point that killing to obtain it becomes justified though.”
“They don’t kill to obtain the gold,” Claudia said. “It’s what the gold buys for them. Power. An empire. And slaves like me.”
I wrapped my arms around her.
“I hate them,” she said. Her voice was slightly muffled,
but her body was tense with anger. “I hate them for what they did to my family.”
“Why don’t we leave Roma?” I suggested. “We can go somewhere else while we figure out the spell for Shannon. Anywhere else on Terra that you want. I know some great places.”
She leaned back and gave me a faint smile.
“I would love to.”
We stood up. I drew the portal symbols against the tree, the magical energy glowing silver against the brown bark.
I chose an island as our destination. Somewhere with no people, but enough natural resources that, combined with magic, we would be able to live there comfortably for as long as we wanted.
It was nothing like that first island of grey rock Nico and I had discovered, where monsters breathed fire, and magic was used for a purpose even blacker than the sky.
This island was one I had found by myself. Nico didn’t even know the coordinates. I had dismissed it for research purposes because it was uninhabited.
It was just as I remembered. I heard Claudia gasp.
“Galen, it’s so beautiful.”
I hoped she would like that there was so much blue. It stretched before us, the sky and the endless ocean, and the sun made the surface of the water glitter as if it were made from magical energy.
We were standing on sand, in the shade of the strange looking trees along the water’s edge. There were no branches until the very top, where the tree exploded outwards to form a leafy green star. The air was warm and soft like Roman silk.
Behind us, everything was green, interspersed with splashes of brilliant colour from the flowers and birds. The sound of the waves was repeated over and over in a continuous, reassuring murmur against the shore.
“It’s like being in a dream,” said Claudia. “Are you sure this is real? It’s not a spell?”
“It’s real. We are far from Roma, but it’s a real place.”
“Far from Roma is good. I know we still have an impossible spell to invent, but there’s no rule stopping us from living somewhere amazing while we work on it, is there?”
“Definitely not,” I agreed, grinning.
Before I realised what she was doing, she had taken off her shoes, her cloak, and the trousers under her tunic. Her skin was luminous. I knew I was staring. She giggled at my expression.
“Anyone would think you’ve never seen my arms and legs before. I wore a dress in Pompeii too, Galen.”