The Wizard at Mecq

by Rick Shelley

  Am I now a god? he wondered. The idea was incredible but inescapable.

  Silvas sat up. He rested only a moment before he got to his feet—shakily, with considerable help from Maria. She was at his side, half behind him. Silvas felt her hands on his arm and back, he felt her mind tied to his. He took a deep breath and turned. Her hands fell away as she realized, as quickly as he did, that he was now strong enough to stand on his own—almost completely restored.

  The church fell silent. The people seemed to freeze into a silent tableau, aware that something momentous had happened but unable to guess what it was. Silvas and Maria stared at each other, their eyes locked together, twin tunnels that let them travel into each other's minds and souls. Silvas could see the frantic play of emotions chasing each other through Maria's mind—knowledge, desire, and even fear—colliding and rebounding insanely, only slowly coming together, finding common ground.

  Silvas nodded then. When he spoke, the words traveled no farther than her ears. "You get your wish after all. I think we are linked together beyond all measure and time now."

  Maria nodded slowly. There was an entirely new universe within her, demanding her attention, enticing her with unexpected vistas. She could scarcely keep from diving headlong into the novelty, to explore, to try to understand what had happened. I will need forever to come to terms with this, she thought. And she had doubts that she would ever manage to be comfortable with this newness she felt.

  "It is our fate," she managed after a long moment of silence.

  EPILOGUE

  "My work here is over," Silvas said when he noticed that Bishop Egbert and Brother Paul had come to him. He looked around the church at the seriously injured and the dead. "I cannot raise the dead," Silvas said. His eyes returned to Carillia's body. "But I can help those who are still living." He spoke an ancient chant of healing, one that he had never known as merely a wizard, and Maria's voice was right with his through the words.

  "Give me your injured hand," Silvas told Brother Paul. Silvas held the hand between both of his and spoke another spell. The vicar's hand grew hot and seemed to pulse, but when Silvas uncovered it, there was no visible change.

  "Before the bishop leaves Mecq, you will be able to show him a whole hand," Silvas promised. "Perhaps I should say, 'Before you leave Mecq with the bishop?' " He turned to Egbert, who nodded.

  "Brother Paul will return to St. Ives with me," the bishop said. "He is bound for the Greater Mysteries."

  "Where will you go now?" Brother Paul asked.

  "For the moment I will go home. Beyond that I cannot say." Silvas glanced at Maria. "This world had changed beyond all reckoning. We all need time to find our places again."

  Maria walked over to where her stepmother and halfbrother stood over the body of Sir Eustace. She knelt next to the boy, held his shoulders, and kissed him on the forehead, and hugged him tightly. "I will always do what I can to help you, Will," she whispered.

  Maria got up and returned to Silvas. They joined hands and walked toward the main door. Silvas stopped, turned, and gestured to the figures at the other door. "Bosc," he said, and the groom trotted across to his master. "Bay, we will meet you outside." The horse nodded and pulled his head back from the side door.

  The crowd around the main entrance parted. A light rain was falling on Mecq again, gentle, cleansing, renewing the land.

  Silvas and Maria stood at the door of the church for several minutes, until people started coming out of the smoke—Braf Goleg and a half dozen of his soldiers, Koshka and an equal number of his people. Some went into St. Katrinka's and brought Carillia's body out on a stretcher. A few gathered the horses that had carried the monks up to Mecq's castle earlier. The rest flanked them as a guard of honor.

  Silvas and Maria descended the steps hand in hand and walked toward the tower of smoke. Carillia's body was borne before them. Bosc and Bay followed. Silvas and Maria stopped for a moment at the edge of the smoke. Bosc and Bay passed on through. Maria waved. Silvas raised a hand as if in benediction. Then they went inside. The pillar of smoke disappeared from the ground up, withdrawing toward heaven. The only evidence that it had ever stood in the center of the village was a circle of lush, beautifully green grass—just the size of the column of smoke.