Enchanter

by Joanne Wadsworth

  “Do you think Nicolas will be a problem? He knew we were mated, but we told him we were cousins.”

  “Physically and emotionally it goes against the grain for healers to bring any harm to another. Think of Belle. She’s compassionate, kind and understanding. Healers, and those with empathy, have the same qualities.”

  “Well, Guy’s gone.” And my heart was lodged like a stone in my chest. “Have you had any further forewarning?”

  “No. Perhaps he’s done all he needed to in assisting you. You’ve always been the key, not him.”

  I turned onto my side and winced. “I hate that I miss him.”

  Soothingly, she rubbed my arm. “I’m always with you.”

  I yawned. “I’m so tired, and sore.”

  “Then get some rest. I’ll watch over you.”

  “We stick together,” I mumbled as I tried to keep my eyes open, only, the dark took me.

  Sleep. I so needed sleep.

  * * * *

  “Silvie?”

  Faith’s voice rattled around in my head.

  “Yeah?”

  “Just checking on you.” She’d been with me for the past two days, but this morning I’d sent her to school.

  “I’ve showered, eaten, and now I’m back in bed. Are you taking notes for me?”

  “Yep. What do your bruises look like today?”

  I lifted my shirt and touched the dark marks across my chest, most of them in line with the injuries I’d sustained. “A touch better than yesterday.”

  “Then get some more sleep.”

  It was lunchtime, and Friday. At least I had the weekend ahead. I plumped my pillow and snuggled deeper. I dreamed of Guy, of his soft lips brushing across my forehead, only my dream flittered away before I could grab hold of him.

  The dark ensued.

  * * * *

  Hot.

  Why did it feel so hot?

  I lifted my heavy eyelids and blinked against the bright midday sunshine streaming into the room. Faith tied the golden folds of velvet back. “Did you have to open those?”

  “That’s not like you. You love the sunshine.”

  “Because I don’t feel like me. The one man I should be able to count on ditched me, and I have to soldier on. Again. My life sucks, and I still have to fix your problem.”

  “Don’t worry about my problem right now. You need to heal first. You’ll feel more like yourself once you get moving, and it’s time.” She tugged her blond ponytail as she crossed to me. “And before Saturday’s completely gone.”

  I wriggled my toes. The aches were gone, the bruising having mellowed more to a splotchy yellow.

  “Oh, and check out the flower someone brought you.”

  In a fluted glass vase, a single golden rose with a deep red center bloomed. Next to it was a note. I picked it up. Please let this rose be from— No. Soldier on.

  Dear Silvie,

  Vitaria says hello. She asked about you. I told her of your accident, that you’re not coming back. This rose is from her, and I asked Hope to pass it along.

  You’d better be taking care of yourself.

  Guy.

  Well, no words of I miss you there. My heart had certainly taken a beating, just like my body had.

  “The flower’s from Vitaria. Hope dropped it and Guy’s note off.” I passed her the sheet of crisp paper.

  “I’ve met Vitaria. It’s so sad about her mother’s illness.” She frowned as she read. “Hope hasn’t dropped by today. Silas and Davio snuck in while you slept this morning, but not Hope.”

  “You must have missed her.” I eased my legs over the side of the bed. “Okay, I agree. It’s time to get moving.”

  “And what are we going to do now we’re moving?” She held me steady, helping me find my feet.

  “Not we, me. I want to cook, and no, you don’t have to help.” My kitchen was the only place I longed to be, and right now I needed some space for what I had in mind. I was about to prepare Guy and his father a meal. I had to get closure, and cooking was the only way.

  I showered, and then changed into a pair of hip-hugging jeans and my favorite flame-red t-shirt. Okay, time to ’port, and to get it right this time. I brought the image of my kitchen into my mind, and from one second to the next, I was there. Oh yeah, so cool. At least for a moment, my heart lightened. I tapped the bright red countertop, and a small sense of peace stole through me. It would be enough to keep me going, or it better be.

  Time for that meal. I opened the fridge. The shelves were stocked, and I took out a cut of beef, one the perfect size for a small roast.

  I mixed it with herbs, set it into a deep dish then slid it into the oven to cook. Next, I prepped the vegetables, peeling sweet potatoes and pumpkin. I scattered them over another oven pan and popped it in too.

  While the roast cooked, I foraged in my garden. Mmm, fresh beans and mint. Those would be perfect. I sliced and steamed them. With the meat done, I skimmed off the juices and made a rich gravy, one bursting with all the right flavors.

  I plated two dishes then opened my link to Silas. “Hey, Faith said you dropped by.”

  “Yeah, but you clearly needed the rest so I didn’t wake you. Do you feel better now?”

  “A bit. I’m in my kitchen and I—”

  He shimmered into the room, sword dangling from his hand and his loose white shirt plastered to his sweaty skin. Davio blinked in beside him, heaving in deep breaths, his black jeans sticking as damply to him. Silas pulled me into a hug. “I hated seeing you down like that.”

  “Yuck, you’re all wet.” I pushed him away. “Training?”

  “Yep, just finished a session. That looks suspiciously like dinner.” Silas sheathed his sword. “You shouldn’t have done that. You should be taking it easy.”

  “I made this meal for Guy and his father, as a final farewell. They’ll be eating separately, but I need permission to take this second plate to the cells.”

  Davio squeezed my shoulder. “Of course you have permission. You’ve been there before. I’ll let the guards know you’re on your way.”

  “Thanks.”

  After another wet hug from each of them, they flashed away.

  I’d take Guy his meal first. Plates in hand, I brought the image of the stables into my mind. I made the jump, jolted down with a little wobble. Not bad. I’d get better.

  I searched the interior, but all was clear. The scents of hay and dust permeated the air. The last time I’d been in here, Guy had kissed me. It had been right after my training session with Zayn on the beach. Boy, I shouldn’t think about Guy’s kisses. It wasn’t like— Yeah, I shouldn’t think about them at all. Hopefully this heartache would lesson with time, or it better. I crossed to Guy’s workbench and set one of the foiled plates down next to an opened notebook. Guy’s. It was filled with an almost illegible scrawl. Spells probably.

  “Hey, Silvie.”

  Hope strode into the room, slapping her Stetson against her leg.

  “Hey.”

  “I didn’t know you were up. I was coming by tonight” She squeezed me, nice and gentle.

  “Thanks for visiting me while I was sick. I got the rose you dropped off from Vitaria. Well, that Guy had you drop off.”

  “What rose?”

  Hmm, maybe I hadn’t dreamt of Guy being there and kissing me in my sleep. Maybe he had dropped it off. Oh well, it didn’t matter if he had. It changed nothing. “Ah, never mind.”

  “If you’re sure.” She eyed the covered plate, and then me with a smile. “Mm-mmm, is that a roast I smell?”

  “Yes, but for Guy. Could you tell him it’s here? Let him know this is my way of leaving one last memory. Tell him to enjoy the meal, just as his father soon will.” I backed away, one of the dishes still in hand.

  “Hold on. What do you mean just as his father soon—”

  I ’ported before she could question me further. Best to get out of there, anyway.

  Within the bleakness of the cells, I arrived. The first
pull of air into my lungs was so rotten my stomach heaved. A single lantern on the wall cast a small glow over the passageway of gray bricks. Warrick stood on guard ahead, one of the protectors from within Davio’s inner circle. He was a giant of a man, his black hair plastered wetly to his scalp from the heat inside the dank chambers. The heat was good. I didn’t mind it at all.

  I walked toward him, and he swung to look at me. “Davio said you were on your way.”

  “I’ve brought a meal for Gerritt Moyer.”

  “At least he’s one of the more civil prisoners we have. I’ll take you through.” He led the way down a stairwell and deeper into the lower recesses.

  “Silvie?”

  Guy’s voice rebounded inside my head and I stumbled to a stop. I’d not expected to hear from him, not like this. “Is it really you?”

  “I’m staring at— Are you seriously giving my father the same?”

  “That’s what I told Hope. I’m on my way to him now.” I slogged on.

  “One last memory? Thank you.” His words sounded rough, as if he struggled to hold back his emotions.

  We stopped outside a cell completely enclosed within steel. Such absolute construction was the only way we could contain our enemy, to prevent them from ’porting, ’pathing and anything else in between. “I’m going to lose this connection with you when I join him. Do you have any words you want me to pass along?”

  “Yes, tell him you’re my mate, and that he’s not to harm you. Show him the ring otherwise he might. Tell him I love him, and that I’ll see him freed. Tell him—”

  “Okay, I think I get it.”

  “I want to hear how he is.”

  “You ready?” Warrick eyed me as he slid the key into the lock then removed a set of handcuffs from his side belt.

  “Yes.” To Guy, I said, “I wish we could keep chatting, but I’ve gotta go.”

  “Just show him the ring.”

  Warrick turned the key, and with a loud snick it unlocked. He pushed the door open and disappeared within.

  “Did you hear me, Silvie? Show him the ring.”

  “I heard. I will, but he can’t hurt me.”

  “We’re enchanters, so don’t look into his eyes until he’s seen the ring.”

  “Okay, I get it. Relax.” He couldn’t help himself. He’d always want to see to my care, not that the opportunity would arise anymore.

  Low tones came from within then Warrick returned. “We keep then underfed, so he’s weak, but I’ve still restrained him for your protection. Keep your eyes averted from his at all times. Knock on the door once you’re done.”

  “Okay.” My heart thumped as Warrick passed me a lantern. I stepped into the cell, and Warrick closed the heavy metal door with a clunk.

  I lifted my lantern, adding its glow to the barely lit candle flickering on the floor. I edged forward, my gaze moving over the man propped against the top rail of a metal pallet. A ratty gray blanket covered his legs, and his arms were outstretched, each of his thin wrists restrained with cuffs and pulled back against hooks.

  His face was gaunt, his coal-black hair long and shaggy, and his eyes—

  I ducked my head, but not before I’d seen they were the same shade as Guy’s with that beautiful rim of silver. “You look just like him,” I murmured.

  “Like who?” His voice was raspy, deeper than Guy’s and full of cynicism.

  “Your son.” I should have expected the likeness since we didn’t physically age.

  “Guy better look a lot healthier than me. How do you know my son?”

  “I’m Silvie.” I shuffled closer. “Guy and I are soul-bound, although since I’m a Peacian, it didn’t work out.”

  He let out a snort of breath. “Unbelievable. You’re truly his mate?”

  “Yes. I brought you a meal, that’s if you’ll accept it.”

  “We don’t get fed any more than the scraps in here. Of course I’ll accept it. Come closer.”

  I crossed and sat as close as needed.

  “Is that—” He jerked on his iron bindings. “—my wife’s ring? You spoke the truth?”

  From my finger, it glinted in the candlelight.

  “Yes.” I removed the plate’s foil covering. “Guy said to tell you not to harm me, to show you the ring as proof.” I picked up the knife and fork I’d set beside the slab of beef and cut a small slice of meat.

  “I can’t harm anyone trussed up like this.” He jiggled his legs under the blanket and his chains scraped together.

  “Take this slowly, okay?” I slid the fork between his opened lips. Oh my, his eyes were so piercing, like Guy’s. I missed looking into Guy’s eyes.

  “You don’t appear afraid of me.” His stomach rumbled as he ate.

  “Honestly? I haven’t seen Guy for a bit, and it’s kind of nice seeing you. The similarities and all. I made the same meal for Guy. He wants to know how you are.”

  “Hungry for more.” He jerked his head toward the plate. “Please.”

  I speared a cube of roasted potato and pumpkin and fed it to him next.

  He chewed, mumbling around his mouthful. “He would love this. It tastes just like the roasts his mother used to make.”

  I cut another piece of beef and swirled it through the gravy then popped it into his mouth. “He misses her, and you, badly.”

  “You sound as if you’ve gotten to know him.”

  “I have. He has a heart of gold. I’ll miss him.”

  “Tell him I love him. That the moment these buffoons slip up, even once, I’ll come to him.”

  “Buffoons?” I fed him some of the beans.

  “Hey, not the greens, the meat. I need to build my strength.”

  I forked even more of the beans and slipped it between his lips. “Take back the buffoons comment and I will.”

  He let out a spurt of laughter, one which caught him by surprise by the look in his eyes. “Sure, but I’ll only take it back if you promise me the meat.”

  “I promise.”

  “Lots of gravy too.” He licked his lips. “And they’re not buffoons. They’re angels, and always granting me my every wish.”

  I laughed. “Angels? You really must want the meat.” I cut a large slab and fed him.

  He half finished his mouthful before he mumbled his response. “Enchanters are wise, clever and very sneaky. Have you not learned that from Guy yet?”

  “I agree to the wise and clever, but sneaky?” I continued feeding him, until not a smear of food remained on the plate.

  “Guy’s mother and I could never keep him pinned to one place. As a child, he was as mischievous as ten children put together.”

  Oh, I could listen to tales about Guy all day. “I’m glad to have met him, and you, no matter the circumstances. I want to come again, although, I need to ask a favor. I want you to accept something else from me.”

  “That depends.”

  “Guy won’t take his mother’s ring back, but it’s not truly mine. I don’t think I can move on while I’m still holding onto it. And, well, you’re the only person I can safely give this to, in the hope that one day it’ll get back to him. It should stay with your family.” I slid the ring from my finger. “Guy said to say he loved you too, and that he would see you freed, although don’t count on that last part, not considering where you are.”

  “I can’t take the ring.” A tear formed in the corner of his eye. “As much as I long to.”

  “Why not?”

  “Silvie who? What last name did Guy give you?”

  “How did you—”

  “It was foretold, by his mother. Did Guy give you his last name?”

  “Um, yeah, but only under duress. I don’t hold it anymore.”

  He pulled on his shackles, jarring them against his wrists. “Put the ring back on. It’s enchanted, Silvie. Before his mother gave it to him she had me cast a spell over it, one which would ensure it would find its way to the woman he would name as his. The spell would draw you together. She had the all-seeing
eye, and the spell she had me create was strong. It was bound by the endless circle of love within it.”

  Crap. “Are you serious?”

  “I’ll never forget the spell. Where love and destiny meet, where two hearts beat, so shall the giver adore. Where sacrifice is made, where fire and magic are laid, only one shall be restored. Her name shall be Moyer, with golden fingers and a heart so pure. Her man will bow down, and shall never go hungry before her.” He grabbed in a deep breath. “His mother said you’re the key. You must always hold the ring, now he’s named you as his.”

  “Why would she—” Crap. Crap. Crap. The whole universe was aligning against me. I still had Faith’s problem to fix, and now I had a spelled ring I couldn’t give— “Hold on. How do you know I have the fire skill, the golden fingers? What did your wife mean by ‘I’m the key?’” Faith’s words rebounded in my head, her insistence I was the key. Yeah, I’d really heard enough of that lately.

  “I’ve always kept my wife’s skill quiet. Although, somewhere in her history, one of her ancestors had to have been fathered by a Wincrest. The skill only runs through the two ruling families of Magio. Anyway, before her death, she spoke of a forewarning, and she had me enchant the ring to ensure Guy’s destiny was set on the right path. He doesn’t know about the spell. He never needed to, not since she didn’t wish any further interference than what was cast.”

  “Holy moly.” No wonder Guy and I had met even though he’d tried to steer clear of me. Our destiny had been set all right. “This is crazy.” Yet it made more sense than I liked.

  “Wear the ring. The magic within it is strong.”

  I shoved the ring back on.

  “Not your right hand, your left.” His jerked his head toward it. “The other hand. Now. The magic will be stronger still if you accept your destiny is with Guy.”

  “You know, I can see where Guy gets his stubbornness from. Truly, he won’t want this, and how on earth can you want your son’s destiny to be with me? We’re enemies you and I.”

  “My son’s happiness will always come first, and his mother was never wrong. Because of the war and the dome my father enchanted over Dralion, so few of our people are finding their mated one. Our skills continue within our family lines, but they don’t return to full strength unless we’re born of the mated bond. How many centuries has it been since the fire skill was seen? And why must Guy be one of the few left to enchant? We are losing the battle, and it is with ourselves more than any other.”