Tangled Magick

by Jennifer Carson

Thorain jumped from the wagon. “I will take care of the beasts, and the others can help you, Aletta. All right?”

  “Beasts?” Aletta asked.

  Thorain gestured to the unicorn, who pranced up to him and bowed to Aletta, and then the gryphon, who was coming in for a landing, and lastly to the tortoise in the wagon.

  Aletta’s hand fluttered against her bosom. “Oh, my.”

  The gryphon slid through the snow and somersaulted comically as he came to rest in front of the wizard.

  Aletta dipped her head and curtsied. “Velkominn, Forn Jofurr Fajall.”

  The gryphon chirruped, whistled, and shook his mane. “My thanks to you and your protégé, wizard. You have taught her well. May we rest and recover in your barn?”

  Mae’s jaw dropped. The gryphon could talk!

  “Of course, but you’ll have to ask Maewyn’s permission. She is the owner of this farm.”

  The gryphon turned to Mae. “What say you, little wizard?”

  “My…my father will have to give you his permission.” Mae looked at her dad, who had climbed down from the wagon.

  “Your father?” Aletta asked.

  “Glenn Bridgepost, nice to meet you.” Her father smiled and held out a hand for Aletta. The wizard took it in greeting, and Mae’s dad turned toward the gryphon and the unicorn that were now standing beside him. “Of course you may stay, Mountain King. As long as you would like.”

  Mae nudged her dad. “And the others too.”

  Her dad nodded to the unicorn and then the tortoise still in the wagon. “You both as well. For as long as you like.”

  The tortoise nodded in thanks, and the unicorn bleated. The happenies lowered the tortoise to the ground, and the animals followed Thorain to the barn, with the gryphon in the lead clearing a path through the snow.

  “Let’s get inside,” Aletta said. “It seems there is much to tell.”

  The wizard trekked through the deepening snow back into the house, and held the door open for the weary travelers who followed with Callum balanced on their shoulders like a floor plank. They laid him on the long table in the main room as Aletta instructed, and then huddled around the warm hearth. Mugs of hot cider floated out of the kitchen and into cold hands. Warm apple-cinnamon muffins followed.

  Leif handed his striped hat to Peck, who was watching the proceedings from the top of Callum’s chair. “Take this to my brother Reed. Bring him and my parents here.” Peck blinked and grabbed the hat in her beak. She flew out the door and Leif closed it behind her.

  Aletta was fussing over Callum, taking off his cold, stiff robe and replacing it with a warm blanket. Beau and Trina huddled close to him. His breathing was rough, but even.

  “Tell me how Callum came to be like this,” Aletta said.

  “Huldfrejya gave him a drink of blue liquid. I heard Geindride call it the forty winks elixir,” Mae said.

  Aletta patted Callum’s hand and pulled a book from a stack in the corner. She tapped her wand on the cover. “Forty winks elixir, if you please.”

  Mae wrung her hands. “Everyone else came out of the enchantments when I broke the spell on the queen. I don’t understand why he didn’t.”

  “No worries, Maewyn. We’ll figure this out together.” Aletta ran her fingers down the page she was reading and flipped to the next. “Go to the workroom. Find me a new red candle, a piece of twine, and a pinch of wood dust.”

  Mae fled down the hall to the workroom, repeating the list of ingredients aloud. Leif followed. He grabbed a red candle from the table.

  “No, not that one,” Mae said. “It must be unused.” She pointed to the chest of drawers against the wall.

  Leif opened the top drawer and rifled through it, pulling out a new candle and holding it up. “Why does it have to be unused?”

  “It can’t have been used for any magickal purpose before or the magick may be corrupted. It’s not always like that, but Callum’s life is in our hands.”

  Mae gathered a pinch of wood dust from near the hearth as Leif spotted a length of twine. They carried the ingredients back to the main room. The hapennies were all gathered around the table, watching Aletta with great interest.

  The wizard held a spray of dried lavender and sage in her hands. It was smoking, and Aletta was purifying each hapenny in the room. Leif and Mae were last to step through the smoke, and then Aletta brushed the air around Callum and shooed Beau and Trina off the table. She set remnants of the spray into the fire, and the room filled with the pungent scent.

  Taking the twine from Leif, Aletta wound it around Callum’s wrists. She pointed to the loose knot. “Sprinkle the sawdust on the knot and then light the candle. Let it drip all around Callum, but onto the table, not his skin, and then stick it at his feet.”

  Mae sprinkled the wood dust over the knot. It hissed and bubbled like boiling water. “Is it supposed to do that?” she asked, worry sticking in her throat like apple butter.

  “Light the candle, quickly now!” Aletta cried.

  Mae stuck the wick into the fire, and when it caught, she cupped the tiny flame with her hand. She walked around Callum, tipping the candle every few moments and letting the wax drip around him. Then she let the candle drip longer at his feet and stuck it upright into the pool of wax.

  “Grab your wand, Mae; it might take both of us.” Aletta drew her wand from her dress sleeve. She laid the tip of it on the knot and Mae followed suit.

  “Through strength of earth, force of water, current of air, and heat of fire. Return to wife, return to life, return his spirit to its sire.”

  Mae and Aletta repeated the spell together. “Through strength of earth, force of water, current of air, and heat of fire. Return to wife, return to life, return his spirit to its sire.”

  The air in the room grew hot, but Callum did not budge.

  “It’s not working,” Aletta sobbed.

  Mae’s head whipped toward the door as it flew open and bounced off the wall. Thorain entered the room. He held a scale in his shaking hand. “She told me to bring it.”

  “Who told you to bring it?” Aletta asked.

  “The tortoise,” he said as he walked forward. He pried Callum’s mouth open and set the scale on his tongue.

  “Let’s try again,” Mae said.

  Aletta nodded and placed her wand point on the knot again. Mae joined her, and then Leif stepped forward, placing the end of his wand next to hers. Aletta looked up, surprise coloring her face, and then smiled.

  They all spoke the spell together. “Through strength of earth, force of water, current of air, and heat of fire. Return to wife, return to life, return his spirit to its sire.”

  The air sparkled and shimmered with a golden hue. Then, in a flash of light, the wood dust burst into flame, and the twine burned away. The candle grew as bright as the unicorn’s horn in the dungeon. The hapennies gasped and shielded their eyes.

  As the brightness faded, Callum shifted and coughed. Aletta grabbed his hands as his eyes fluttered open. “Aletta?”

  “Yes,” Aletta said. Tears were streaming down her face.

  “Why are you crying?” the wizard asked.

  The door flew open again as Reed and his parents burst through. Peck soared above their heads, circling the room before perching on the mantel.

  “Leif!” Faria Burrbridge cried.

  Leif smiled sheepishly and tried to hide his wand behind his back. “I’m in trouble now,” he mumbled.

  Mae told their story to Aletta, Callum, and Leif’s parents, with others pitching in details when they could. Leif didn’t mention Aletta helping him sneak out of the Wedge, but he did tell the part about discovering his magick. The room became loud and hot with everyone talking and acting out the battle between the soldiers and the trolls. Bailey flew around the room pretending to be the dragon. As Mae finished the tale, Faria’s eyes shone with tears. She bundled Leif and Mae close to her chest. “I’m so proud of you two,” she bawled. “And Leif, thanks for getting Aletta to rid us of those
pesty piskies.”

  Mae and Leif rolled their eyes at each other but hugged her back.

  “You’re welcome, Ma,” Leif mumbled against her shoulder.

  Mae’s father approached and smiled at Farmer Burrbridge and his wife. Mr. Burrbridge’s hand went to his heart. “By all the corn in the fields,” he murmured. He pulled Glenn close and enfolded him into a big bear hug. “We thought we’d never see you again.”

  Mae wiggled loose from Mrs. Burrbridge and crossed the room. Callum had been moved to his chair by the fire, and he was happily sipping tea and letting Aletta fuss over him. Mae grabbed his hand. “I really thought we’d lost you, Callum.”

  “Well, I’m glad you didn’t give up on me too quickly,” he chuckled. “Though I feel ten years older than when we left.”

  “I’m sure you’ll be your old self again soon,” Mae said.

  “Old self…yes.” Callum sipped his tea.

  Mae’s nose twitched. “You have another wizard to train, you know. No growing old on us yet.”

  “Ah, yes. I knew Leif would come around soon. His magick was stirring just under the surface, like a pot of water a moment before it begins to boil.” Callum skimmed the crowd of hapennies in the room. His gaze paused at Horace with his arm draped over Meadow’s shoulder and then traveled to Tory and Poppy, who were holding hands. “It seems that we will have a few handfastings to celebrate come Winter’s Gluttony.”

  Leif sidled next to Mae and grabbed her hand. “Don’t go worrying about betrothals now, Callum. There is plenty of time for that after you are well.”

  Mae smiled at Leif. “It should be a great holiday this year. The princess has been returned to her father, my dad has been returned to me, and we are all together.”

  Her father held up his glass and toasted. “The greatest blessings on all who gather here!”

  “Here, here,” the crowd answered, raising their mugs.

  “Blessing is as blessing does. And so it will be.” Callum flicked his wand, and the table filled with enough food and drink to tempt even the fullest hapenny.

  Leif pulled Mae away from the crowd. The snow fell lightly past the window as night settled over the Wedge. “I want to add our names to the list of handfastings and promises on the holiday, Mae.”

  Mae opened her mouth to answer, but Leif’s finger fell across it, trapping any words that she might utter.

  “I know we aren’t old enough yet to marry, but I want everyone to know that when we are, you will be mine. You will be mine, won’t you?”

  “Yes. And you will be mine.” Mae smiled, closed her eyes, and let her lips brush his. “I wouldn’t want anyone else.”

  The End

  Epilogue

  The candles were blazing on the Winter’s Gluttony table. The roasted turkey’s crispy brown skin glistened. The jellied cranberries shone brightly against the white serving bowl. Fresh evergreen branches twined between the plates, and the silverware gleamed in the firelight. Mae had even tied a red velvet ribbon around the neck of the stone gargoyle that she’d placed on the mantel. Callum’s recovery had been slow, but he’d recently taken on the task of mentoring Leif and testing his magickal strengths. The wizard’s cheeks were rosy, but there were still dark hollows under his eyes from his ordeal at the hands of Geindride and Huldfrejya.

  The handfasting ceremony had taken place in the town square that morning, and Tory and Poppy were properly engaged now. And Mae and Leif had exchanged their promise to handfast in the future. Mae’s dad sat at the head of the table and struck his fork against his raised glass of wedgeberry rum.

  “On this day of feasting, I’d like to dedicate this meal to friends, family, and new sons and daughters!” he toasted.

  Cheers and glasses were raised. Everyone drank and then set their mugs down on the table to grasp their neighbors’ hands and bow their heads.

  “Bless this food and the kitchen from which it was prepared,” Reed began.

  A knock sounded on the door. Everyone looked up. Callum began to slide out from the table, but Mae’s dad stopped him.

  “No, no. You stay put, I’ll get it.” Glenn dropped his linen square in his chair and bustled out of the room.

  Mae heard the door creak open and an excited whoop. Her father came bustling back in the room. “You’ll never guess who it is!”

  A man ducked into the room and pushed the hood of his deep green cloak from his face.

  Aletta gasped. “My son!”

  “Brynjar,” Callum whispered.

  “Hello, Dad,” Brynjar said.

  Acknowledgements

  A book is never written by just one person, so I’d like to thank the many people who helped me bring Tangled Magick into the world.

  First of all, thank you to my husband Chris, for the 3 AM chat about the Tangled Magick plot on a snowy ride home from Michigan.

  I’d like to thank my friend Jody Sharrow who was my first reader and is always my biggest cheerleader.

  I’d also like to thank all the little readers whose eyes shone when they asked me when there was going to be a second book. This is for you.

  And a big thank you to my Spencer Hill team—fabulous editor Trisha, copy editors extraordinaire Laura and Joselle, my marketing maven Jenn A.P., Rich for the last look, Jess for the encouragement, and Kate for the opportunity to bring my stories into the world.

  About the Author

  Jennifer Carson lives in New Hampshire with her husband, four sons and many furred and feathered friends. She grew up on a steady diet of Muppet movies and Renaissance faires and would occasionally be caught reading under the blankets with a flashlight. Besides telling tales, Jennifer likes to create fantasy creatures and characters and publishes her own sewing patterns. Her artwork and patterns can be seen online at:

  www.thedragoncharmer.com