Legend of the Sorcerer

by Donna Kauffman

He pulled her not so gently away from the door. “What in the hell have you done?”

  TWENTY-SIX

  Jordy yanked her arm from his grasp. “I knew there was something more to all this. And I was right.”

  Cai didn’t want to hear her excuses, he wanted to go in and make sure his grandfather wasn’t having a stroke. He heard Dily’s voice beyond the door, then things quieted down to a murmur once again. “So help me, if this makes him worse, I will never forgive you.”

  “Did you hear what I said? I was right. They know something, both of them.”

  “Move.” He reached for the door.

  She grabbed his arm and held on. “They know who the kidnapper is, dammit. Will you listen to me?” She was keeping her voice to a low, furious whisper, but her short nails dug into his skin. “We have to make them tell us.” Cai let go of the doorknob. “What are you saying?” Jordy pulled him a few feet down the hall. “I talked to Dilys tonight. I asked her if Alfred had said anything to her about this. It was too strange that he just clammed up like he did, when before we could barely restrain him.”

  “You promised.”

  “I promised I wouldn’t talk to Alfred. But if anyone knows what’s happening inside his head, it’s Dilys. I didn’t know she’d go straight to Alfred and upset him.” She stood taller. “But I’d do it again. They know this woman, Cai. Maybe she was a threat to Alfred in the past. Dilys all but said so. I think they know her from their days in Wales and she just now caught up with them.”

  “You must have misunderstood.”

  “I didn’t misunderstand. And now Dilys is in there talking to him. He was demanding she do something, I don’t know what, but she refused and told him it was best for everyone to stay here. That we’d all be safe here.”

  “Maybe she’s gone batty right along with him,” Cai muttered. His head throbbed.

  “Dilys is rock solid. And she’s worried, Cai. I saw it in her eyes. She’s afraid. Something is wrong here, far more so than we even imagined.” She let him go. “Go in there and talk to them. Get them to tell you what Margaron’s real name is. Call Kuhn and give it to him. It could be as simple as that. And this nightmare will be over.”

  “Jordy—” Was the whole world going insane around him? Just then the door opened and Dilys stepped out.

  She didn’t seem surprised to find them both there. She pulled the door shut behind her and stood guard. “He’ll want to rest now. Give him until morning.”

  “Jordy thinks you know something about all this. Do you know who the woman is?”

  “Yes. I believe I might.”

  Even though he’d been warned, the straightforward answer hit him like a harsh blow. Had he been so blind in wanting to keep Alfred from harm that he’d put them all in danger? He straightened his shoulders. “I want to go in and check on Grandfather, then I want us all to go to the living room and discuss this.”

  Dilys put her hand on the knob. “Ye’ll not be going in there tonight, Master Malacai.”

  “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

  This time her gaze held firm. “He needs to rest.”

  Other than bodily removing her from the door, there was little he could do but heed her indomitable will. He would come check on him later, after they were done talking. “Fine.” He waved his arm. “After you.”

  Dilys moved through the living room toward the kitchen. “I’ll get us some tea.”

  “It’s late. Let’s get on with this.”

  Dilys’ eyes narrowed. “You’ve never had need to take that tone of voice with me before, Master Malacai. You willna be startin’ tonight. You may not need fortification, but I do.” She left the room.

  Cai spun on his heel, swearing. He caught the barest hint of a satisfied look on Jordy’s face. It was all the goading he needed. “We have two women being tortured, my grandfather so ill he can’t leave his bed, and Dilys treating me like a snot-nosed child. Which part amuses you?”

  “I’m not remotely amused. Perhaps if you realized that we’re all adults and somewhat capable of taking care of ourselves, you wouldn’t find yourself treated like a snot-nosed child.”

  “I’m just trying to protect my family.”

  “Maybe there’s a line between protecting and controlling. You’re making decisions they might be capable of making themselves.” She crossed the room and softened her tone. “You were trying to protect him, when maybe the best thing you could have done was to include him.”

  “When he went off after seeing that first e-mail, I didn’t even understand half of what he said. It took him two days to calm down, then he never brought it up again. I was happy to leave him out of it.”

  “Maybe it’s not about whether he could have helped. He’s a member of this family. If something is happening to you, then he’d want to know about it, even if he couldn’t do anything to help.” Cai turned away, but she moved in front of him again, stopping his pacing. “Ask yourself this: if the tables were turned and he was the one in trouble, wouldn’t you expect him to confide in you even if there was nothing you could do about it?”

  “Of course, but that’s different. I’m not in frail health. I’m the one taking care of him.”

  “For far more years it was the other way around. He’s still the man who raised you. Maybe he’s earned the right to expect confidence from you, no matter how old or feeble he might be.”

  Dilys chose that moment to enter the room.

  Cai took a deep breath when the older woman ignored him as she set about pouring tea. At any other time he would have smiled at the fact that she was stubbornly preparing three cups. “I was just trying to protect him, Dilys. Maybe that was wrong. Maybe I should have included him.”

  “Perhaps ye’d be better off delivering this speech to himself.”

  “Oh, I plan to. I didn’t want either of you to have the extra worry. I know Alfred hasn’t been doing well—”

  “Himself has done fine enough for many years and he’ll continue on for more. T’would be of more help for himself to be treated as such, rather than as if he were on his last legs. A man should be able to depend on his family to turn to him in a time of need no matter what.”

  Cai didn’t think he’d ever felt so abashed. “You’re right.” He sat on the couch, feeling unbearably weary. “So, what do we do now?”

  Jordy placed her hand over his. “We find Margaron and end this thing.” They both looked to Dilys for her input, but were forced to wait for her response until she finished serving the tea.

  Then, Dilys began. “Many years ago, when your grandfather’s first book on Arthur came out, there was a popular female critic who took great delight in savaging his work. He ignored her insults at first, but after she tore apart the second and third book, he fought back. He wrote letters to her editor, and at one point even took out ads to rebuke her. He was that angry with her, and he also knew that the public loved such an open battle between critic and author, so he gave them a good one. His book sales skyrocketed as a result of their publicly heated quarrels.”

  Cai placed his cup untouched on the coffee table and stood. “Dilys I know this story. Alfred has told the tale of Isolde Morgan many times. They feuded for more than two decades. What does this have to do with the kidnappings?”

  “You don’t understand. She is evil.”

  Cai swallowed a sigh of disappointment. Another fantasy. “Dilys, are you saying that you believe Isolde Morgan kidnapped these two women as some sort of ongoing vendetta against Alfred?”

  “It’s exactly what I’m sayin’.”

  “But that’s—”

  “Crazy,” she finished for him. “You may think so. She certainly is. Crazy like a fox. She is a wily one she is, waiting all these years to make her move. Waiting for the sign.” She sat her cup down and gave Cai a look so sharp it made him sit straighter. “You gave it to her, you know. You gave her the sign.”

  “All I did was write a book.”

  “Where did you come up w
ith the idea for your Dark Pearl?” Dilys prodded, still holding his gaze.

  “It’s fiction.” Cai faltered then, thinking back, remembering. “Alfred told me stories of the Dark Pearl as a child. I don’t even really remember them, just the magical Pearl. I used it, but only that element. The entire story surrounding it is completely mine. The characters are pure fantasy. I don’t see how—”

  “Of course you do not see!” Dilys stood, rattling the china as she bumped the table. “Isolde isn’t coming for you because of your fantastical tales. It is the Pearl itself that called her here. You made her aware you knew of its existence. It was all the sign she needed.” She moved past him at a surprising speed.

  He caught up with her at the door. “Wait a minute. If what you say is true, then why on earth would she do something so horrific? She is still in the public eye.”

  “She retired at the same time your grandfather did.”

  “But she’s just as much an icon as he is. Why would someone of her stature risk everything to do something like this? It makes no sense. So they had a long-running feud. It was a war of words, not one of flesh and blood. Certainly it was no cause to kidnap and torture innocent women. And a decade later for Christ sake!”

  Dilys turned in the doorway. “Believe what you will, Master Malacai. Himself has done all he could to protect you, has sacrificed more than you’ll ever know to keep you safe. Maybe he was injudicious in telling you tales as a boy, tales he perhaps thought you’d forget. Perhaps we’d both become too complacent. I told him to get you to change the Dark Pearl book.” The ferocity drained from her tone and her face. She seemed to slump in on herself. Suddenly, she looked every bit as old and frail as Alfred. “But the sign has been given. She will not stop now until she has it.” She was talking to herself now. “And then it will all be for naught. Centuries of work, of sacrifice, gone.”

  Cai took her arm as gently as he could without letting her pass. “If this is really true, we can stop her, Dilys. There are law enforcement agencies already working on this case. She won’t get away with it.”

  Dilys laughed. It was an eerie, hollow sound that sent a cold chill sliding down his spine. “They will not be able to stop her. Her power is too strong. Evil’s always is.” With that she broke loose and left.

  Cai debated going after her, but it wouldn’t do any good. It was late and he needed to regroup.

  “Cai, do you think she was telling the truth? I mean, it’s pretty unbelievable.”

  He slumped down on the couch. “You’re the one who thought they knew the truth.”

  Jordy shrugged off the barb. “But Isolde Morgan?”

  “It’s all unbelievable, Jordy. The kidnappings, the tattooed flesh, all of it. She sounded just like Alfred,” he said quietly. “Talking of centuries of time, of magical pearls, evil powers. Maybe they’re both loons. Maybe we are, too, for even wanting to believe them.”

  “She seemed very certain.” Jordy shook her head. “You’re right, though. If Isolde is really this insane, then why wait ten years to do something like this? And what does she hope to gain by torturing your readers? Why you and not Alfred? It’s all too weird.”

  “She wants this mythological Dark Pearl. And because I wrote about one, she thinks I’m the only one that can give it to her.”

  Jordy rubbed her arms. “What were the stories Alfred told you about it? Can you remember any of them?”

  Cai shook his head. “No. I’m not even sure why I remembered the Pearl at all. I was developing my next trilogy idea and I knew I wanted it to be a quest series. I didn’t want the object to be anything ordinary. I wanted something magical, something mystical. For some reason the Dark Pearl came to mind and it was perfect. But that’s all. The rest is purely made up.”

  “If you can’t remember the stories, then how can you be sure? Maybe there are some elements in there that came from your subconscious.”

  “Even if they did, how could I have known it would trigger something like this? Alfred talked about Isolde, but not about anything like this. She was an acid-tongued bitch who liked to pick on his work and he enjoyed battling right back. They both prospered from the public battles, so none of the rest of this makes any sense. I was a kid when they were fighting. It had pretty much burned out by the time I was a teenager and ended altogether when Alfred stopped publishing. I had just begun my career and we never really talked about her after that.”

  “Did Alfred read your book before it was published? Did he say anything about the Pearl? Dilys said she tried to get him to make you change that.”

  “I know.” He shook his head. “He read it, but he never said anything. If they really believe all this, then maybe he left it alone precisely because it was a tale of pure fantasy.” He dipped his chin and massaged his temples. “Magic pearls, evil powers, it’s all nuts.”

  “Are you going to tell Kuhn?”

  “I don’t know. If I do, he’ll want to talk to Alfred. I know I promised to involve him, to give him the chance, but to subject him to one of Kuhn’s interrogations … I don’t know.”

  “Maybe you could talk to Alfred instead. Record the conversation or something. The tape would be proof enough.”

  “It’s possible.” He blew out a deep breath. “We can figure out what to do in the morning.”

  Jordy walked over to him and he tugged her down onto his lap. “None of this is your fault, Cai.” She pressed a kiss along his jaw. “It’s a chain of events no one could have predicted or prevented. I don’t know what the truth is any more than you do, but I do know that you’ll feel better once you’ve had a talk with your grandfather.”

  “Will you come with me?”

  He’d surprised her with that one. “Are you sure?”

  “He likes having you here. Maybe it will make it easier. On all of us.” He tilted her chin and kissed her deeply. It was damnably easy to get lost in her, even now, when his world was falling apart. Maybe especially now. “I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”

  “Neither will I.”

  “Then why don’t we not sleep together.”

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  Jordy followed Cai into Alfred’s room the following morning. She should be thinking only of the conversation they were about to have, but she couldn’t get her mind off last night. Cai’s lovemaking had been slow and thorough, devastating any defenses she had left. Lovemaking. That’s exactly what it had been. She felt different.

  She felt loved.

  There had been no declarations or words of commitment. Not that she’d expected any. But, in the truthful light of morning, when she’d awoken first to lightly stroke her hands over his chest and face … could she deny she’d wanted to hear them?

  “Is that you, Jordalyn?”

  Alfred’s voice, thready and rough, pulled her from her reverie.

  “Yes, yes it’s me.” She moved past Cai and went to his side. Taking up his hand, she was dismayed to find it cool, his skin papery and dry. “How are you this morning?”

  He didn’t answer. Instead he shifted his attention to Cai. “Malacai, I’m glad you’ve both come. The time has come to talk.”

  “Yes, Grandfather, we must.” Cai perched on the edge of the mattress while Jordy took the chair next to the bed. “I should have come to you sooner. I didn’t want to upset you. But I should have told you what was going on.”

  “We all make mistakes,” Alfred answered. “Those made in the name of love are the easiest to forgive.” He shifted on his pillows. “I, too, have made mistakes. While mine are also of the heart, I fear they are far more dire in the consequences they have created.”

  “Dilys says you think the kidnapper is Isolde Morgan,” Cai said bluntly. “Do you honestly believe she’d go to these great lengths for a feud that ended more than ten years ago? What could she hope to gain from it? Where does the Dark Pearl fit in to all this? It doesn’t make sense.”

  Alfred’s blue eyes were as sharp as his voice was weak. “Oh, the feud reaches much farther
back than you can know. That Isolde is responsible for this, I am certain. But then, so am I to blame.” He looked away and his shoulders seemed to sink into the thick bedding.

  “Nonsense,” Jordy responded. “There is no way anyone could have predicted that Cai’s book would have triggered this kind of insanity.”

  Alfred thumped the bed with surprising vigor. “I knew! Or should have known. I was well aware that the Dark Pearl was the focus of Malacai’s latest work and yet I said nothing. The book was fantasy and this was his finest story yet. I was smug in my assurance that I’d kept the secret safe for so long that I could stave off any threat it might provoke. How wrong I was, and now we all will pay.”

  “Alfred, we have people working on this,” Cai said. “The State Department is on it, both here and in Wales. Once we supply them with her name, if she really did kidnap those women, then it will only be a matter of time until the truth comes out.”

  “They will never find her or anything resembling the truth. She is far too skilled for that. No, this is a battle that only I can take on.”

  Cai went still. “You can’t get involved, not directly.” He gentled his tone. “With all due respect, you can barely leave your bed.”

  Alfred started to speak, then stopped. He held their gazes, then took a deep breath and released it slowly. “Perhaps you are right, Malacai. My power has weakened. I have spent these past days doing my best, but I no longer have the strength to hold her off.”

  He looked so defeated it broke Jordy’s heart. “Alfred, we can wait for the task force to—”

  “No more waiting! I have perhaps ruined what chance I had by wasting these last days. No, I fear I must tell you everything. Joining our forces is the only way to stop her. I had hoped that this would never be necessary, certainly not until you’d had a child of your own. Then the truth would have presented itself.”

  Cai looked at Jordy. She knew what he was thinking. If Alfred went off on another one of his rants, getting useful information about Isolde to pass on to Kuhn would be difficult, if not downright impossible. And could they trust any information he gave them anyway when he was like this?