by John Booth
I floated Dafydd’s coffin out of the mansion and over the procession’s heads, hoping none of them would look up. The coffin ended up floating a few inches above the hole I’d dug.
Everybody looked at me and I realized they were expecting me to say something. Like I had planned a eulogy.
“Dafydd Williams was my cousin, born to my Mam’s eldest sister. I only met him once outside of today and I was only a little kid back then. Apart from trying to kill me, he appears to have been a good man. Unfortunately, he killed a lot of innocent men, women and children in his efforts to kill me. They, and their families and friends deserved better from him. Still, I wish he had not died today.”
I let the coffin glide down into the grave.
Gillian stepped forward with Kipper assisting her and stared at the coffin.
“Thank you for saving me,” she whispered.
She picked up some loose earth and dropped it into the grave.
Nobody else came forward, so I lifted up the plug of earth I’d removed to create the hole and let it slide down on top of his coffin. I took off the turf on the top and rounded the earth so it looked like a hand filled grave. It seemed appropriate though I couldn’t have said why,
The gravestone had only his name on it, in English and in the local script.
I sighed. Dafydd hadn’t been an honorable enemy, but he had been loved. I hoped that if there was anything after death, his mother was there with him and had forgiven him.
The procession left the grave and made its way back to the house, Gillian sobbed into a handkerchief. Then it was just me and the birds. A couple of crows had landed on grave and pecked at the earth, looking for worms.
Eventually the silence got too much for me and I walked back to the mansion. As I stepped through the door Lana and Esta stepped towards me from either side and as they touched me they took us into hop space.
We reentered normal space in a dark, warm, and somehow intimate room. Purple drapes hung from the wall and the room was lit by the sort of large candles priests buy when they’ve just won the lottery. Incense filled the air and somewhere nearby, water trickled over stones.
“This was Jeram’s home,” Esta told me quietly. “We are here to give his wife what is left of him.” She was carrying a box, intricately carved and inset with precious stones that glittered in the candlelight. It was just about the right size for a head.
“Welcome. I am Fane Wist, wife to Jeram.”
I turned in the direction of the voice and saw a beautiful woman in flowing robes enter the room. She glided up to Esta and they exchanged kisses on the cheek. Then she turned to Lana.
“Wizard d’Fallon, Jeram has told me much about you, but he failed to convey your beauty.”
She then turned to me.
“Wizard Morrissey, it is an honor to meet you.”
I offered her my hand and to my surprise she kissed it.
She turned and walked back to the door. “Come with me. You are no doubt thirsty and I have prepared refreshments.”
“You know her?” I asked Esta.
Esta answered in a whisper as we followed our host.
“Jeram took me with him to get drinks a couple of times. I think once you have met her she knows more about you than you do.”
We entered a room with an ankle height circular table surrounded by velvet covered cushions. There were four mugs spaced around the table, filled with the same wonderful drink Jeram had brought us just a few days ago. The scent of the drinks blended perfectly with the incense to create a feeling of contentment. At least, that was what it did for me.
“You know why we have come?” I asked. Not wanting to share drinks before she knew the fate of her husband.
She smiled the way people smile remembering things lost. “Jeram is gone. I knew it would end this way. He cannot save everyone, I told him. He can only save two.”
“If there’s anything we can do?” Lana asked.
“Is his killer dead?” She caught my eye and held it. “Did you kill him?”
I shook my head and the corners of her mouth twitched as it that pleased her in some strange way.
“I saw to it myself,” Esta said and held out the box. “This is all we could recover of him.”
“Thank you for doing what was necessary.” Fane made a gesture and the box vanished.
I was still trying to work out earlier bits of what she had said. “What did you mean about me only saving two?”
“Your hands were only fast enough to catch two of your companions. One was always doomed.”
Well that helped. I don’t think. But I was beginning to recognize a certain style to this conversation. One I had some familiarity with.
“You have Norn blood?”
She laughed, but it wasn’t unkind laughter. More the kind of sound you make when a child does something unexpectedly clever.
“Jeram knew he was needed, even though the price was likely to be his life. No doubt he told you he wanted to become more skilled in magic, but Balmack teaches its students little we would want to learn.”
“Needed for what?”
Again she laughed, this time it was tinged with bitterness. “Not everything is about you, Wizard Morrissey.”
“Jeram was a good friend,” Esta said. Her eyes were locked on the floor.
“Then let us sit and drink to his memory,” Fane said somberly.
Some hours later we said our goodbyes. She kissed Esta on the cheek and I saw her whisper something. Lana was treated in exactly the same way; again I couldn’t hear what Fane told her. When it was my turn she took my hands in hers.
“You are so much more than was expected.” Her eyes twinkled with amusement.
“Is that good?”
She leaned forward to my ear and whispered.
“It all depends on which side you are on.”
45. Quest’s End
We had only been back on Balmack a few hours when we were summoned to the Chancellor’s Office. Manda rose from her desk to give Esta a long hug the moment we walked through the door.
“You had better go through. I must warn you, he is not in the best of moods.”
We traipsed through into the main office. The Chancellor stood with his back to us, his hands clasped behind his back. He turned and glared directly at me.
“I gather Student Daffith Smith is no longer among the living.”
It wasn’t a question so I didn’t bother to answer.
“And Student Jeram Wist is similarly deceased?”
“Killed by Dafydd,” Esta said, before I could open my mouth.
“And which of you killed Smith?”
“I did,” Lana and Esta said together.
“We were in a battle. He was shot twice,” I said quickly before further details could be got out of them.
The Chancellor rubbed his chin and his next words surprised me.
“All in all, a very satisfactory conclusion. We are sorry to lose Wizard Wist, but there is a high mortality rate among the students who choose to go into the field. This way, no damage has been inflicted on the University’s reputation or on Balmack. If people believed our mages were out acting like hedge wizards that could have become highly embarrassing.”
“Dead students tell no tales?” I suggested. He didn’t see the sarcasm.
“Exactly. The three of you are turning out to be excellent students. First term exams took place while you were away, but you have all been awarded the highest grades.”
We took that as a dismissal and turned to leave. The Chancellor spoke again before we reached the door.
“We know you have disabled the bracelets. Leave them with Manda on your way out. She knows how to remove them.”
“Will you issue new ones?” Lana asked.
“What would be the point? You have shown maturity and discretion so they are no longer necessary.”
Now that was certainly a dismissal.
Once we handed over the bracelets to Manda, we walked out into the corridor. We could
have hopped anywhere, but we had all got into the habit of walking.
“Will you leave the university?” Lana asked. Esta stepped closer to hear my answer.
“I’ve learnt a lot here. It might be worth staying.”
“But hopping home to your wives every night?” Esta asked.
I nodded. I had been away from home for far too long, and whether I stayed or went, it was time I devoted more time to my family.
“There are always the mornings, and it never takes you very long,” Lana said, linking her arm in mine.
“No to mention the afternoons,” Esta said grabbing hold of my other arm.
“Do I get any say in the matter?”
The girls led me down the corridor as if there was somewhere we had to get to in a hurry.
“Of course you don’t,” they said with disturbing synchronicity.
I consoled myself by considering the prospect of a threesome.
Epilogue
Issus arrived slowly in the room, Fane had her eyed closed in meditation and Issus made no sound as she became real.
“Welcome, Lady Issus,” Fane said without opening her eyes.
“I am sorry for the loss of your husband.”
“It was necessary. Wizard Morrissey is not a god and he has to experience his limits.” There was a long pause and then Fane opened her eyes.
She smiled. “Jeram would be glad it worked out so well. Even the Norn cannot predict everything and Wizard Morrissey has changed prophesy several times.”
“It is in his nature to defy everything he faces, even his fate” Issus said dryly.
“He showed mercy in the face of so many reasons to kill. What more can we ask of someone destined to destroy so much?”
Issus frowned. “It is not clear. He could have stopped the bullet that made healing impossible.”
Fane shook her head.
“He remains human. Do not deny him that. It will serve him well in the end times.”
The End of Wizards V
Jake Morrissey will return in Wizards VI
