Azerick smiled at the girl’s forwardness. “Power is not always the answer. Some things can be accomplished easier just by being who you are. If you are done eating we can go get you some better clothes.”
Ellyssa hopped off the chair with a smile of anticipation and followed Azerick out of the inn. It was strange. Ellyssa had lived here all her life, but she felt like a tourist walking with Azerick. Probably because she was actually going to get to go shopping and not beg on a street corner. The clothier’s proprietors were an older couple. They remembered Azerick from the day before and greeted him warmly when he and Ellyssa entered the shop.
“Ah, Master Azerick, you are back already,” the man said as he got up from where he was cutting out a garment from a pattern. “I hope you are not here for your order yet. It will be at least a few days before they are ready. I have my son and daughter both working on them at this moment, but such things take time, and I don’t allow rushed work. I have a reputation to uphold.”
Azerick returned the smile and shook the older man’s hand. “No, I am content with what I bought from your shelves for now, but this young lady needs an entire wardrobe. If you can find a few things that will fit her now and measure her for the rest I would be grateful.”
“Of course, of course!” the old man crowed, ecstatic over the profits this new customer was bringing him. “Young miss, you go and follow my wife, Mildred, back to the fitting room, and I’ll find you a few things you can wear right away.”
Mildred smiled down at Ellyssa, took her small hand, and led her away to fit her for the clothes they would make for her.
“So what will it be, dresses, trousers, or both?”
“Both, there are activities she will be doing that is ill suited for dresses,” answered Azerick.
“Oh yes, I understand how kids are, even the girls, running about, climbing trees and such. I remember my Kathryn wanting to do everything the boys did and trying to outdo them at it as well. It’s a good thing we were tailors, or she wouldn’t have had a fit piece of clothing to her name.”
The old tailor carried on while he pulled articles of clothing off the shelves, sizing each of them with a professional eye born of decades of experience. Ellyssa and Mildred came back just as the tailor finished wrapping her new clothes up in a paper bundle secured with twine.
“Give me a week and I’ll be sure to have everything you requested finished,” the tailor said as Azerick paid him.
Azerick and his young ward went back to their room at the inn where he helped Ellyssa with the words she had committed to memory that she needed help with. Azerick spent the day teaching some of the subject matter out of the same books he had engrossed himself in when he was her age. Her father had not exaggerated when he had told Azerick that she was bright. In fact, she was downright brilliant.
She absorbed everything Azerick could teach her. He shuddered to think about what a waste it would have been had he not taken her in. As a commoner, a poor one at that, she could never have attended a prestigious school like The Academy or been able to afford a private tutor. Sure, she could have still developed a strong mind and a decent education on her own, but before she could have even come close to reaching her potential, she likely would have been married off to some laborer or perhaps a middleclass merchant, if she were very lucky.
Then again, with what Azerick had planned, would she even get that chance? What he proposed was very dangerous, and he had no idea if it would even work. He would take all of the precautions he could, but he could only mitigate the dangers so much.
He sighed and looked out the window at the setting sun. It did not matter; he had already made his decision when he took her in. Was he any different from Xornan? Was it hypocrisy to think that he was any better by using this girl for his own ends? Did he have a choice? He did of course, but the alternative left as sour a taste in his mouth as this one did. He was risking both of their lives, but hers was by far the one most at risk, and he had not even given her a choice in the matter. Which was the lesser of the two evils? Is there such a thing as a lesser evil? He could not very well tell her corpse that he was sorry but it had been the lesser of two evils.
Azerick turned away from the window and looked at the back of his apprentice’s head. “Ellyssa.”
She looked up from the book she was studying and turned to face him. “Yes, Master Azerick?”
“There is something I must do, and I need your help to do it,” he said heavily.
Her eyes sparkled and her face split into a wide grin. “Is it something magical?”
Most people, especially commoners with little experience with things beyond their simple farms or labors, viewed magic and those who practiced it with a great deal of nervousness, superstition, and fear. But not Ellyssa. She had been a little nervous at his first display of magic, but as soon as she began reading about it and became more comfortable with Azerick’s presence, she relished the idea of using magic. In fact, she was so excited and anxious with the idea of learning to wield it herself that it made him more than a bit nervous.
“I hope that I will not have to use much magic, but it is possible. There could be a great deal of danger involved, especially to you. I will protect you as best I can, but there is still a risk.”
Ellyssa furrowed her brow and chewed her lower lip, which she always did when there was some heavy thinking involved. “Okay, what do I need to do?”
Azerick arched his eyebrows. “Don’t you want to know what it is first?”
She shook her head, sending her long blond hair whipping about. “Nope, I trust you. Besides, I belong to you, so I have to do what you say, right?”
Azerick’s face turned red, partially in shame and partially in anger at himself. “Absolutely not. You are not my property, you are my apprentice and a free person to make your own decisions and decide your own fate. You are not a slave. I will advise you and try to teach you things, as is my responsibility as an adult and your guardian, but you are not a slave.”
“I still trust you. What do I need to do?”
“Honestly, just be as cute as you can be. And be very brave.”
“No problem, cute I can do,” she replied and batted her long lashes at him.
Azerick smiled at the precocious child and picked out one of the dresses he’d bought at the clothier’s just for this purpose. The cuffs were lace and the bottom flared out in a frilly design that had been around for ages but had never truly gone out of style. He also took out a colorful silk neckerchief that he used to tie back her long hair. Ellyssa cooed over the dress and silk ribbon. It was a dress she never thought she would ever get to wear much less own.
“If our mission hinges on me being cute, this is gonna be a piece of cake!” she said as she admired herself in the mirror.
Azerick had to smile again at the little girl’s assuredness but sobered as they prepared to leave. Peck brought Horse around and blushed deeply when he saw Ellyssa. Azerick double-checked the bridle and saddle, tightened up the cinch strap, then lifted Ellyssa onto Horse’s broad rump to ride sidesaddle. Azerick mounted, and the unlikely pair rode through the city and out the gates.
The path leading off the trade road up to the tower had once been cobbled, but now weeds and grass grew so thick between the stones that it was barely visible. They arrived at the same place Azerick had tied Horse up the other night when he had visited the ruins. He slid out of the saddle, helped Ellyssa down, and tied Horse up to the same branch with the same instructions to stay put. Horse did not need to be ordered to stay; the grass was long and green here, and so long as it was here, this was where he would stay.
The moon had waxed to just over half full, when it was visible at all through the dark, scattered clouds. Azerick held Ellyssa’s hand as they walked up the hill toward the keep. She squeezed Azerick’s hand tighter as a chill sent goose bumps crawling all over her skin. She wanted to turn and run away, but she had promised Azerick that she would be brave, and that was what she was going
to do.
Azerick stopped and turned to look at her. “I am going to cast a few spells to help protect you even though I hope you don’t need them, all right?”
She nodded and Azerick cast his spells. She could not see anything different, but her skin tingled for a moment with each spell he cast.
“The other spell I am going to cast will keep all sound from reaching your ears, but I am not casting it on you. I am going to cast it on the staff so we can walk in or out of its area of influence. If something goes wrong, you grab the staff and run away as fast as you can. Do you understand? Grab the staff and run away.”
Ellyssa swallowed hard. “I understand, grab the staff and run away. I got it. This is the haunted place, isn’t it?”
“Yes it is, but I hope to make it not haunted.”
“Are we going to see a ghost?”
“Most likely.”
“Have you seen the ghost before?”
“Yes, a couple nights ago.”
“Were you scared?”
“I guess you could say that. I ran, but mostly because I did not want to kill the ghost.”
“How can you kill a ghost? It’s already dead,” she stated with her childlike logic.
Azerick chuckled. “Just be brave, do what I say, and everything will be just fine.”
They walked through the large opening where the main gate once stood, and Azerick stopped and planted his staff. He cast a globe of silence upon it and all sound ceased. Not even the wind blowing his cloak about made as much as a whisper. Azerick took Ellyssa by her small hand again and walked forward until they could hear once more.
“I want you to take a step back so you are within the area of silence, and I want you to stay there. I expect the ghost will come out any moment now, and I want you to be brave and just stand still unless something happens to me. Then you know what to do right?”
“Grab the staff and run,” she answered with more courage than she felt.
Azerick took several steps forward as soon as Ellyssa stepped back. “Lady, I wish to speak with you.”
For a moment, all he could hear was the howling of the wind blowing through the open windows and crenellations along the top of the central tower and walls. A flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He watched as the spirit rose out of the ground just before the tower. It was where she had appeared the last time as well. He wondered if that was where she and her children had met their deaths.
“Where are my children?” the spirit cried.
“Here, spirit, one is here, although she is not yours. Your children are gone, Lady, but I will bring the voice and laughter of a child back to these halls if you will depart and allow us to live here.”
The banshee looked past Azerick and directly at Ellyssa. Azerick motioned for her to be brave and stay where she was.
“The children, where are my children?” the Lady wailed.
“My Lady, please understand that your children are gone. They have been gone for over three hundred years. I cannot bring them back, but I will bring this child to live here, if you will permit it,” Azerick pressed.
The spirit glided across the dark flagstone without disturbing the long blades of grass and weeds sprouting between the stones and stopped just in front of Ellyssa. Azerick stepped closer to the frightened girl to reassure her. She shook from fear, but she did not run and met the ghost’s stare. The Lady reached out a tentative hand, and Azerick almost snatched Ellyssa away, but he hesitated. The ghostly hand touched a wisp of Ellyssa’s golden hair as it fluttered in the evening breeze.
The lock of hair turned pure white at the banshee’s touch as an ethereal tear crept down her luminous face. The Lady smiled first at Ellyssa, who also had tears sliding down her face, and then at Azerick before gliding back and sinking into the ground. Almost immediately, the bumps on their flesh and the prevailing aura of fear disappeared.
Azerick turned toward Ellyssa and dispelled the globe of silence. “Are you all right?”
“She was so sad,” Ellyssa said with a sniffle and wiped away her tears with her sleeve. “She said she would like it if we lived here.”
Azerick looked puzzled. “You could hear her? I did not hear her say anything except to ask where her children were.”
“I heard her in my head and my heart, not with my ears.”
“Well, welcome to your new home,” Azerick said with a wave of his arm.
“You’re going to live in this dump?” a voice asked from behind him.
Azerick and Ellyssa both spun toward the direction the voice had come from. Perched upon the top of the wall was Wolf, and sitting at its base just below him was his huge wolf, Ghost.
“Wolf, what are you doing here?” Azerick demanded.
“I wanted to see if you were going to run from the ghost again. That was hilarious. I’ve never seen a human run so fast!”
“I thought that was you back where those bandits attacked.”
“Yep, so did you marry the princess or what? Isn’t that what’s supposed to happen when you rescue one?”
“She is a duchess not a princess and no, we are not getting married.”
“She wouldn’t take ya, huh? She was too pretty for you anyway.” Wolf grinned. “So, you’re really going to live in this dump?”
“Eventually; it is a fixer upper,” Azerick defended.
“Pfft, looks more like a faller downer to me.”
Ellyssa was unable to contain herself at the exchange, and the courtyard rang with her pleasant laughter.
“What do you know, you sleep under a tree!” Azerick shot back.
“I sleep under the nicest tree around, not some rotten piece of deadfall.”
“All sorts of animals choose the nicest tree around—for a privy.”
“So that’s what that smell was? And I was always blaming it on Ghost!” Wolf laughed so hard he almost tumbled off the wall. Ghost looked up at him, and Azerick would swear, rolled his golden eyes at the half-elf.
“So, am I going to be graced with your sharp witticisms from now on?” Azerick asked the half-wild boy.
He shrugged. “If you’re lucky. I like to stay where the food is, and you still owe me.”
“I owe you for what?”
“For saving your life, remember?” Wolf replied as if he were talking to an imbecile.
“I saved your life first!”
Now Wolf looked indignant. “Giving a boy a biscuit and shooting a man in the neck with an arrow who is about to kill you does not balance out!”
“It was stew and a blanket, which you stole, and a chunk of meat for Ghost.”
“It was two men, and I live under a tree not a fancy castle, so I deserve the blanket, and I guess Ghost could have just eaten your mangy old horse. It probably would have been a mercy killing anyway after having to haul you and all your stuff around.”
“I thought it was a pile of junk not a fancy castle?”
“You said you were going to fix it up. Who’s the girl?” Wolf asked as if noticing Ellyssa for the first time.
Azerick had almost forgotten that Ellyssa was standing there. “This is my apprentice, Ellyssa.”
“Good, you need help. Watch his back. He gets himself into trouble a lot and needs sharp-eyed kids to bail him out.”
“I do not get myself into trouble all the time, and I definitely do not need a child to help me out,” Azerick insisted.
“So what is she doing here in such a dangerous place in the middle of the night?”
Azerick refused to answer and glared at the boy perched upon the wall, but Ellyssa answered for him. “He needed my help.”
“I thought so. I knew him for two days before he got in a fight with about twenty bandits.”
“That was not my fault, they attacked me!”
“You were on a horse, they weren’t. You could have just run away,” Wolf pointed out.
“I do not run away,” Azerick growled.
Wolf smiled…wolfishly. “O
h, so you were actually charging the ghost the other night. I guess you were just going the long way around.”
Ellyssa was laughing so hard that tears streamed down her face. Azerick looked fit to explode as the grubby boy with the wolf pet repeatedly scored in their verbal jousting match.
“Did you want something, or are you just here to annoy me?”
“I’m hungry. Got any food?” Wolf asked unashamed.
“What? You come here and give me a hard time and then you expect me to feed you out of simple kindness?”
“Of course,” Wolf answered without even blinking. “You wouldn’t let a poor, innocent, defenseless child who is barely able to survive on his own starve to death, would you?”
Azerick was not going to fall for Wolf’s helpless child ploy. “Why is it that half the things that come out of your mouth are lies and exaggerations?”
“Because I’m only half human, otherwise everything would be lies!” Wolf shouted, pounding the top of the wall with his hand and laughing.
Azerick buried his face in his hand and shook his head realizing that Wolf had set him up once again. “If you want something to eat you will have to come into town with me.”
Wolf made a face as if he had just eaten something rotten. “Go into the city? No thanks, Ghost and I will just find something out here. I snared a couple of rabbits earlier. I wouldn’t mind some cheese or something next time you come out though.”
“I will put something together tomorrow,” Azerick promised.
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
“Do my ears deceive me or did words of appreciation actually come out of your mouth?”
Wolf jumped from the fifteen-foot high wall, tumbled to break his fall, and rolled nimbly to his feet. He and Ghost loped over to where the sorcerer and his apprentice stood.
“Can I pet him?” Ellyssa asked as they came near.
“I wouldn’t, he probably bites,” Azerick cautioned, “but Ghost probably won’t mind.”
“Hey that was almost funny. You keep trying and you might find a sense of humor yet,” Wolf quipped. “You can pet him. He won’t bite as long as he knows we’re friends.”
As Wolf and Ghost drew near, Ellyssa could see that the boy was covered in dirt and bits of leaves, and detritus was tangled in his long hair. “Why are you so filthy?”
The Sorcerer's Path Box Set: Book 1-4 Page 68
