Off Track: A Romantic Magical Quest Series (The Madeline Journeys Book 1)

by P. A. Wilson

  “How did you know what size I needed?” Madeline asked as Elise started to brush out and braid her red brown curls.

  “The seamstress saw you when you arrived. She only needed to know your height and general build to give you this style of dress. I’m sorry the shoes don’t fit well; your feet are a little larger than expected.”

  Madeline didn’t bother to get upset at the foot size comment, the calming influence of having her hair dressed after a warm bath was making her purr internally.

  “There will be shoes here tomorrow made from a pattern of the ones you had with you. They do fit better than the slippers, I hope.”

  “Yes, those shoes were made for me.” Madeline felt a pat on her head as Elise finished tucking in the last braid. “Are you done? Can I meet Simon?”

  “Yes,” Elise handed her a small pot of red paste. “Rub this into your lips. It will help keep them smooth and will brighten your face.”

  “Wow, magic world lipstick.” Madeline used her pinkie to rub the paste into her lips. It tasted sweet and carried a faint scent of violets, or something like violets. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.” Elise gestured to the door. “John will carry the food to the bower. Enjoy your evening; I will be here when you return to help you change out of your dress.”

  “You don’t need to do that. I can undress myself.” Madeline patted Elise’s arm. “You should go home and get your rest.”

  “This is my home.” She pointed to a curtained off alcove next to the door. “I sleep here. You will not be alone.”

  “Oh, I’m used to sleeping by myself. Don’t you have a family to go home to?”

  “I have been assigned to wait on you. Are you unhappy with me? Did I distress you when I commented on your shoes?”

  “No, don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I’m not used to having a servant. It’s fine. I’ll see you after dinner.”

  Madeline opened the door and saw John walking in front of Simon holding a tray covered with a cloth. Simon was dressed in black leggings and a red tunic. The look flattered his lean body, and his expression showed he knew it.

  “Wow, Maddie that looks great on you.”

  “It’s Madeline,” she snapped and then regretted it. “Thanks, you too. I just hope I don’t have to get used to this. And, I’d better get my original clothes back so I can go home looking more normal. Especially those shoes.” This was addressed to Elise. “Will they survive the process of making my new ones?”

  “Yes, madam.” Elise curtsied and stepped back into the room.

  John led them down the stairs and around to a small door in the side of the great hall. The sun was almost down, but there were torches placed to give enough light to allow people to stroll before retiring. John showed them to a bench surrounded by a frame of vines carrying the same violet scent as the lip balm; the flowers looked more like roses than violets.

  “I will return in time to escort you to meet with my Lady.” John placed the tray on the bench and lifted the cloth. There were two mugs of red wine, an assortment of fruits and nuts, and slices of thick brown bread piled beside sausages. A pot of something that looked like butter sat in the middle. Two knives were the only cutlery in sight.

  As soon as John was out of sight, they dug into the food, sipping wine in between mouthfuls. “Okay, what did you want to talk about?” Simon asked around a bite of sausage.

  “We need to decide how we are going to approach this. I want to go home as soon as possible. If we agree not to cooperate, maybe we can get home tomorrow.”

  “Hold on, I don’t want to go home that fast, maybe not at all.”

  “What if you have to go so I can?” Madeline finished the last piece of dried fruit; it tasted of apple and had the consistency of an apricot, then sat back with her wine in her hand.

  “Well, from my side of it, what if you have to stay so I can stay?” He put the last bite of bread in his mouth.

  “I don’t want to look at it through your point of view. What is the big attraction here?”

  “It’s a new adventure that’s enough for me.”

  “What would it take for you to help me get home?” Madeline was determined not to get into a discussion about whose point of view was more valid.

  “I don’t know.” He sat back, crossed his legs, and straightened his tunic. “If I do help you, it might mean I can’t come back. I’d be stuck in the old world. That would be a big sacrifice.”

  “Oh yeah, big sacrifice.” She flicked her fingers at him. “Look I’ll double your salary. Or if you want to change jobs, I’ll give you whatever reference you need. I’ll do what I can to help you get what you want, as long as it is something back home.”

  “I get why you need to get back, but there are things you might like here. Well, not so much things as a person, I saw you react to Jode’s attention.”

  “What?”

  “You blush every time he looks in your direction.” Simon laughed. “Hey, even I can tell he’s hot. I get it.”

  “There’s nothing to get.” Madeline put down her wine mug with a thump of defiance. “You saw stress, nothing else.”

  “Okay, stress.” Simon shrugged. “Look, no guarantees, we see how it goes. If I decide to support you, then you pay up when we get home.” He put down his wine glass. “Heads up, here comes John, I guess it’s show time.”

  4

  John held open the door to a small room. There was a round table with five chairs in the center. Five candles augmented the fading light coming in through a series of long narrow windows cut into the wall.

  Simon walked to the window and stared out. “It looks like there’s a storm coming. Hard to tell in this light, but it’s kind of a darker dark on the horizon, know what I mean?”

  “Yes,” Arabela answered as she flowed into the room dressed in layers of white lace. “You are right, there will be a storm. Please, do not worry. It will pass quickly.” Behind her, Jode held the door for a small person dressed in yellow robes, a heavy veil pulled down to its chest. “Please, let me introduce my priest Blu. He will help me tell you why you are here. But first he must protect the room from listeners.”

  The priest unveiled, revealing a smooth faced man with bright green eyes. He smiled broadly at the newcomers and rubbed his shaven head as though it itched. “I am honored to meet you. It was my scrying that found you in your world. To meet you face to face is something stupendous for me; you are to play a vital role in the coming days.”

  “You’re welcome,” Simon replied returning to the table.

  “We didn’t have a choice,” Madeline muttered.

  “No, indeed, we rarely have a choice in the important things,” the priest answered Madeline while giving a nod to Simon. “Lady Arabela will tell you her story. I will help where I can. Ah, I believe the food has arrived, I hope you did not eat your fill while you talked.”

  “No,” Madeline answered. “I can’t believe how hungry I am.”

  Three servants with loaded trays in each hand stood in the doorway. They entered and started to place the contents of the trays on the table. One server, a teenage boy by appearance, moved clockwise around the table placing plates of patterned china. Another boy followed with cutlery; the third worked counterclockwise placing goblets and cloth napkins.

  When the table was set, they picked up the contents of the other trays and placed bread, hot meat, and steaming roasted vegetables in the center of the table, giving each platter a slight spin for effect. They bowed in unison, pointing to linen covered bowls that they had put on a sideboard. “Sweets to follow your meal,” one spoke and then they spun on their toes and trouped out through the door.

  “They like to show off,” Jode said as he fastened the door with a metal bar then pulled a curtain across it.

  “It cannot hurt to let them play,” Blu said. “Allow me to make some protections and we can start eating and talking.”

  He took a red ribbon from his robes and passed it over the table and sideboard, mut
tering quietly as he worked. Madeline opened her mouth to speak and Jode motioned her to keep quiet. Blu moved to the window, replacing the red ribbon with a black one. He started to sing, a high trilling that continued as he walked around the perimeter of the room, passing the ribbon in a complex pattern from top to bottom of the wall. When he completed the circle, he made three kissing sounds, and put away the ribbon.

  “You wished to ask a question,” he said to Madeline as he sat.

  “I was interested in the prayer.”

  “Ah, that was not a prayer as such.” He took a slice of bread and passed the platter to Madeline. “I checked the food for poisons because it is difficult to know who to trust these days.” He poured a goblet of wine and passed the carafe to her. “The second spell was to protect us against listeners.”

  Madeline waited patiently while the food made the rounds of the table, and they filled their plates and goblets, but she burned with curiosity for the story to start. She knew when she heard the details she would be able to find some loophole, some tiny detail, that would convince them to send her home.

  “The story begins many years ago.” Arabela started abruptly, her voice quiet. “I will start with the most recent part and then let you know what led to it.” She took a tiny bite of vegetable and a sip of wine.

  “My husband was murdered. I’m sorry to say it so starkly but it is the truth. Three weeks ago, I came home from a visit to the village, and found him lying in the center of the courtyard curled into a ball. He had been dead for only a few minutes. His body was still cooling.”

  “Are you sure he didn’t just die of a heart attack?” Madeline asked. “I’m sorry for your loss; I should have said that first.”

  “He showed signs of magical poison. His lips were blue, his fingers shriveled. It was not natural.”

  “I confirmed the cause was magical,” Blu added. “The spell came from a distance. It targeted my Lord like an arrow to a deer. This is a difficult thing even for a master, but it is a common way for the Scree to kill.”

  “What are the Scree?” Simon asked.

  “Another race of our world, we humans are not alone here.” Jode said.

  “So, you think one of these Scree killed your husband?” Madeline asked.

  “One in particular, Sayer Goddard,” Arabela spat out the name.

  “Did you bring me here to prosecute him?”

  “I don’t understand that word,” Arabela said. “What does prosecute mean?”

  “It means to argue that someone is guilty of a crime in a court of law,” Simon said. “Do you have courts where people who are accused of a crime go to be judged?”

  “Yes, but they speak for themselves, and witnesses speak against them, you come from an interesting world where someone has a job to speak against people.”

  “It’s not quite like that, but if you didn’t want me for my legal skills, I have no idea what you want me to do?”

  “It is to do with a prophecy.” Arabela poured more wine. “First let me finish the story. When Blu confirmed it was magic, I knew it was Sayer. The blood feud will not end.”

  “Christ, a blood feud!” Madeline spat her mouthful of wine back into the goblet. “You dragged us into the middle of a fight to the death?”

  “No, into the end of it. The feud started with my husband’s grandfather and Sayer’s father; Dayer. My husband’s grandfather sent his daughter to be fostered with a kinsman two days away from this castle. She was but five years old, and Sayer sent a unit of his armsmen to kidnap her. It did not go as planned. The child was killed, and my husband’s grandfather swore an oath that the bloodshed would continue until one bloodline was ended.”

  “Have you been at war since then?” Simon asked. “How on earth did your husband’s line survive to marry you?”

  “Both families employed priests and other magicians to cast protections. Accidents happened, and eventually the bloodlines came down to my husband and Sayer. If I am able to kill Sayer, then the feud will die. He has broken the rules by attacking my husband in my home.”

  “I understand you want to protect your children, but could you not just try to broker peace with this Sayer?” Madeline asked, still trying to find a way to make her expertise the reason she was here.

  Blu waved the idea away. “He will not discuss it, and Scree are untrustworthy when it comes to negotiation.”

  “I have personal reasons for this, and I admit, one of those reasons is revenge,” Arabela continued. “I loved my husband deeply, and his loss has left me with no anchor, and our people with no leader.”

  “We saw children playing by the lake when we rode in. Were yours among them,” Simon asked.

  “No, my Lady does not have children to carry on the bloodline,” Jode said. “It has been a great sadness in our realm that there was no heir. But, perhaps that is now a blessing. The blood feud has ended with the line of Summer Lands. When she has exacted revenge for my Lord’s murder, the Goddard line will also end. Such is often the way of blood feuds.”

  Arabela pushed her plate to the center of the table and placed her hands on the cleared space. “I have not shared this news with anyone, and I find I must bring myself to trust, not only my friend, but also two strangers. You must know, when Blu scryed for someone to assist me he searched both for someone who could complete the task and for someone who would not betray me. I will trust the scrying, and share that I am with child. I carry the heir to the Summer Lands, and will birth a boy in six months.”

  Madeline watched Jode’s reaction. She found herself watching him more and more as events unfolded. He smiled, and heat rose through her body. Then he realized the repercussions of the news. His face turned a sickly shade and he rubbed his temples.

  “The feud continues,” he said. “You must protect the child. I beg of you do not throw your life away on vengeance.”

  “Sir Jode, please believe me, I have no desire to sacrifice myself on my husband’s funeral pyre. I cannot leave this child vulnerable to Sayer Goddard. This blood feud must end. Goddard has no heirs. If he dies, then the feud is over and my child can live to rule the Summer Lands in peace.”

  “He can also live protected by spells. You do not have to embark on this dangerous folly.” Jode stood and walked to the window, the darkness punctuated by lightning flashes. “Why have you decided to do this now?”

  “Sir Jode, I know you speak from love of me and my people, as is proper, but it is not folly. Spells are not foolproof. If I do not do this, my child will not survive.”

  “We invoked a prophecy,” Blu said, cutting across the building argument. “The prophet said it was time. There were conditions to be met, and if they could be met, we would succeed.”

  Madeline fought dizziness that had gripped her when Arabela said Jode loved her. What the hell did that mean? She knew she felt vibes coming from Jode, so what was going on?

  “What were the conditions?” She heard Simon’s voice through her dizziness. “Are you sure they have been met? In our world prophecies tend to be vague and easily misconstrued.”

  Blu shook his head. “Our prophecies are not a set of instructions but rarely are they misleading. Your prophets must not as talented as ours. Be that as it may, the prophecy called for the loyal armsman, Jode, I assume that is you, to lead a small retainer of fighting men. And two strangers would be brought to ensure success. It was clear that Lady Arabela must attempt the quest before the next full moon. We should start out in the next two days.”

  Madeline saw her opportunity to make them send her back. If Jode loved Arabela, why should she think of staying? Damn, where had that thought come from? “What do Simon and I have to contribute that could not be served by someone else?”

  “Ah, the heart of the matter for you,” Blu said. “I know you are impatient, and do not wish to be here. I hope my explanation will help you to accept your role in saving our land. That is the purpose of the quest. To end the blood feud, of course, but also to prevent the Summer Lands from
becoming part of a Scree holding. Sayer would urge his warriors to rape and enslave our women, to torture and kill our men, and geld our children before making them the lowest of slaves.”

  “I get that this is important to you, I just don’t see why it’s important to me? I know how incredibly selfish that sounds, but until today I had no idea this world existed. You ripped me from a familiar and comfortable existence to this medieval fantasy world where magic is a mundane tool. What on earth could I do to help you?”

  “The prophecy said we would bring two people to this world. They would be the ones who made the quest a success. One would fight the deciding battle. The other would solve a problem. When I searched the known universes, the only people who rose in the glass were you and Sir Simon.” Blu took a sip of the wine in front of him. “As you can see, our prophecy is clear about your importance. Only the details are not clear to us, yet.”

  “Oh, that’s all. You got a lawyer and her executive assistant. I could sue him and Simon could refuse to give him an appointment. Woo hoo.” Madeline slapped her hand on the table. “I know you think you got the right people, but I haven’t a clue what you need.”

  Jode spoke again from his place by the window, “I suspect you were brought here not because of your normal employment, but because of a talent you may not think is important. I think that will be true for both of you. If we needed only a scribe and an adjunct, we could have found them here, and they would have been more willing.”

  Madeline felt the rebuke in his words and realized she was teetering on the edge of an explosion. She was tired, she was not in control of anything, and for some reason the fact that Jode loved Arabela just made it all worse. She looked at Simon. He was looking back at her expectantly and she recalled he wasn’t at all in a hurry to return to the life they had left just that morning. She drew in another slow breath and spoke, “I need to sleep. I cannot make a decision under this pressure. Please, unseal the door and let me go back to my room.”