Prologue~Ch. 1~Ch. 2~Ch. 3~Ch. 4~Ch. 5~Ch. 6~Ch. 7~Ch. 8~Ch. 9~Ch. 10~Ch. 11~Ch. 12~Ch. 13~
Ch. 14~Ch. 15~Ch. 16~Ch. 17~Ch. 18~Ch. 19~Ch. 20~Ch. 21~Ch. 22~Ch. 23~Ch. 24~~Ch. 25~Ch. 26~
Ch. 27~Ch. 28~Ch. 29~Ch. 30~Ch. 31~Ch. 32~Ch. 33~Ch. 34~Ch. 35~Ch. 36~
Jessica waited until Wendel vanished through the doorway leading to the wine cellar and then pulled out her amulet.
“Howard? Are you there?”
“I’m here, Jessica.”
“Did you happen to catch Wendel’s story?”
“Yeah, I did. Sounds to me like this Braxton set Wendel up to take a fall.”
“You mean you believe his story?” Jessica took a cautious sip of her tea. Wendel had sweetened it generously with honey, but she could still taste the tangy flavour of rose hips.
“I can sense that he has very limited power. And he’s right in saying that it would take a great deal of power to work a spell of this caliber.”
“So what can we do about it?”
“Well, the best solution would be to have Braxton break the spell, but I suspect he’s in the next kingdom by now.”
“What are the chances of the spell just fading away?”
“Doubtful, with that Well of power so close,” Howard told her.
“So, what can we do?”
“I have to tell you, I’m not used to magic on this scale, Jess. I’m going to have to think about it.”
Jessica sighed. “Okay, Howard. Just don’t take too long. The sooner we can get Ewan back in his castle, the sooner we can focus on getting me home again.”
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
By the time Wendel returned with not one but two dusty bottles of wine, Howard had gone again and Jessica had finished her tea. She’d found a pair of pewter goblets and had them sitting on the table. Together they raised a cup of the king’s finest vintage.
“Outstanding!” Jessica took another sip and let the taste roll around on her tongue.
“It’s been one of the few advantages of being trapped in here,” Wendel admitted. “The king has a most excellent wine cellar.”
“So tell me, Wendel, what kind of magic does a hedge wizard usually do?” Jessica had never heard of a hedge wizard before. Did it have something to do with gardening?
He shifted in his seat. “The usual things I suppose, love potions, wards against the evil eye, good luck charms . . . I have an amazing spell for getting rid of vermin.”
“I take it you’re not from around here – I know the king isn’t overly fond of magic workers.”
“Oh, my no. He most definitely is not. Still, there are a few of us hidden away. There’s still a good many who turn to a magic worker for help.”
“And what did Braxton promise you if you helped him?”
“A ten-weight of gold and the spell-books from the wizard’s tower,” he answered promptly. “The spell-books alone would have been worth it. The wizard Thackery was very powerful.”
“He’s the wizard that disappeared the same time as the king’s first born son, isn’t he?”
“That’s him all right.” Wendel nodded until his hat slipped down again. “A bad business that. Gave all us magic workers a bad name.”
Jessica suddenly realized here was an opportunity to help Alexandre. “Did they ever find out what happened to Thackery or the king’s son?”
“The most popular rumour is that Thackery lured the king’s son away and used him in a sacrifice to work blood magic.”
“And what do you believe?” she asked, making a mental note to ask Howard about blood magic, the next time she was talking to him.
The little man hesitated. “I knew Thackery,” he admitted. “Nice enough fellow, something a little sad about him though. We often shared a pint at the Pig’s Snout. He was very fond of the prince, thought of him almost like a son. Then one day the lad up and disappeared without a trace. Thackery knew where the blame would be laid and thought it best to make himself scarce.”
“If they were that close I’m surprised Thackery didn’t try to find the prince himself.”
“He did. He spent two nights up in his tower casting tracking spells. The trail led to the Mythric Ocean and as you know it’s very difficult to track over water.”
Jessica refilled their goblets. “So why didn’t he tell the king?”
Wendel snorted. “You don’t tell the king things he doesn’t want to hear, and the king definitely didn’t want to hear that his least favourite son had run away. He put the blame on Thackery, who barely escaped with the clothes on his back. Last I heard he was headed for the southern lands.”
“So I wonder what happened to the king’s son.”
“Who knows? Wherever he is, I’m sure he’s better off than he would have been had he stayed in Ghren.”
“What do you mean?” Jessica asked, surprised.
“He was never as mean spirited or cruel as the king. And he wasn’t arrogant or vicious like that brother of his.”
“You mean Ewan?”
“Aye. A true son of the king if ever there was one.”
“What do you mean?” Jessica asked, ready to leap to Ewan’s defense.
“There was a young lad, friends with the older prince, who had a bard-like gift of music. The younger prince couldn’t carry a tune if it was in a bucket and was jealous of the lad’s talent. So he starts telling the king about these choirs of lads who’ve had their manhood stripped away . . .”
“You mean castration, don’t you?” She was starting to feel sick to her stomach.
Wendel nodded. “Next thing you know they’ve got the poor lad tied down and they’ve gelded him like a horse.”
“How old was this boy?”
“About sixteen or seventeen.”
“Oh my God! That’s too old for it to make any difference. Didn’t they know that?”
He looked at her sadly. “Of course they did. But they’d run out of ways to hurt the older prince, so they hurt his friend instead.”
2 comments:
“I can sense that he has very limited power.
HOW???
Together they raised a cup of the king’s finest vintage.
Even if Wendel has less powers than Braxton ... how could Jessica be sure, that he's not still devoted to him? Or fears his reaction when he's too friendly to Jessica. As for my taste she shows too much confidentiality. She's inside the enemy's castle, how could she drink something without even wondering if it's poisoned or not? What if she's made unconscious and imprisoned? She would be no more help for Ewan!!!
What can I say? Jessica is very trusting . . . and very lucky apparently. :-)
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