The Summoner's Sigil

by Renee Sebastian

  She took my hand in her own and asked, “Is he really so terrible?”

  “No, no! You don’t understand,” I said before I started sobbing. I managed to spit out between bouts, “If he is there and I am here…” Wendy smiled and listened patiently to what I said next. “What if he loathes the idea of coming here? What if President Newton won’t grant him a passport?” I stared into her eyes, shedding all the unspent tears I had bottled up within me.

  “I’m afraid that I’ve lost my heart to him Wendy! What if he doesn’t return my favor? What if he has to always be at my side, but can never return my feelings! It would be worse than the fourth dimension! And believe me, that place was maddening.”

  Wendy laid a hand against my cheek and asked, “Whoever said he doesn’t love you Basil?”

  Dorian chose that moment to walk in, evaluated the situation, and almost made it back out the door before Wendy could stop him. She asked, “Do you have it?”

  “Um, yes. I do.”

  “How long?”

  “She can only dally here another ten minutes. They will only hold it for so long, even for me.”

  “Excellent,” she replied. “You can leave us now. I know Parliament is waiting on you. I’ll make sure she makes it on time. Be a dear and bring out team A on your way out, would you please?”

  “They are already being hitched.”

  “You always think of everything,” she said. Then she turned to me with equal adoration in her face and told me, “You are to go back to the Republic this instant. All will be well, I promise.”

  “Wendy.”

  “Go. No one can resist you. He must love you. I know it. I love you, don’t I?” I smiled wanly and then she added, “Go on with you now since you have a man to save. Do be a dear and bring him back here for the formal marriage though, as I know your mother will forbid one stateside when she finds out what he is. I’ll make sure his papers are in order from Alice.”

  I scrubbed away my tears and hugged her. We both stood and then she rushed me out of her London townhouse so I could choose my own fate.

  ···•Ͽ Ѡ Ͼ•···

  When I arrived in D.C., there was no wait in customs this time. The President’s elite guards swooped in and ushered me directly to a sleek dirigible that would allow me to bypass the local evening traffic.

  We landed on an airstrip outside of Abraham Whipple Infirmary, the Republic’s official government hospital in D.C. I was escorted off the dirigible and a red carpet extended from the plane into the building. At the end of the carpet, waiting just before the entrance was President Newton, her red hair pulled into a French twist and her emerald green gown fluttering in the light breeze.

  I walked with as much poise as I could muster, having travelled across the seas twice in a few days’ time. Although I had only two sets of clothing, the shirt and pant set I wore was freshly laundered, making me at least not a complete savage. I certainly had changed over the last six months.

  “Welcome Basil, may I call you Basil?”

  “Yes, President Newton, you may.”

  “Please call me Alice. Now, we haven’t much time, so if you would please follow me. I have some papers you’ll need to sign, but first I need to know that you understand the levity of the situation.”

  “Yes, President Newton, Wendy has explained it to me.”

  “Alice, remember.”

  I blushed and said, “Yes Alice.”

  As we walked into the infirmary, I asked her quietly, “You must have read the report I gave the Captain when I was recovering, but I wanted to make sure you were aware that we thought the debacle back there had to have someone working it from the inside here in D.C.”

  She whispered back at me, “We’re working on it, no need to worry about that now.”

  Satisfied that I had done my duty, we walked into the infirmary’s emergency room. People gawked at us as we walked by, but I was surprised when she said, “Now, now, people. No need to rubberneck, this is Basil Beckenbauer, the world famous Summoner, and no, she does not have horns or a tail. But what she does deserve is a hero’s welcome.”

  Everyone must have been waiting for her to say this, because they all started applauding for me. A few even attempted to approach us, but the President’s guard squashed those dreams.

  A doctor came out of a door and he briskly walked right up to us. “Is this her?” he asked President Newton while looking at me.

  “If you ever bothered to open a penny press over the past two weeks, you would know who she was. Her popularity rankings are higher than mine are right now Bart.”

  “Does she understand his requirements?”

  “I think so, but I’ll need a few minutes with her in the waiting room to be sure.”

  “Hurry.”

  “Alice, there is no need. I think I understand what will happen when I am reunited with him.”

  She drew close to me and said quietly, “There must be genetic testing done in utero, if you conceive a child with him.”

  “There are a lot of ifs before that will happen.”

  She smiled and said, “You could do far worse.”

  “He can travel with me to London?”

  “You my dear have just been named the Republic’s ambassador to Britannia. There will be extra responsibilities in addition to those of serving on the Agora.” That was a bit of a surprise. I guessed that she didn’t want me revoking my citizenship.

  “Spouses are expected to travel with ambassadors. All questions you might have need to be directly sent to me. His own people will have nothing to do with him.”

  I smiled and said, “Show him to me.”

  ···•Ͽ Ѡ Ͼ•···

  He was in a small private room, and there were four people in uniform who stood at attention at the four corners of his bed. He wasn’t hooked up to any machines, but it didn’t look like anyone was doing anything to hurry him along either. Why weren’t they sending for a Rasputin or any of the medical grade microbots that were available.

  I grew angry and said, “Everyone, out!”

  President Newton raised an eyebrow, but said, “As she says boys. You can wait outside if things don’t work out.”

  Everyone left, and then I went to the single window in the room and opened it. A warm breeze that smelled of cherry blossoms filled the room. I could see the soft shower of blossoms blowing in the distance, making it look like snow. I pulled up one of the chairs and sat down beside him. I looked at his smooth face which must have been recently shaved by someone.

  “Oh, you silly man. We could have avoided all of this, but what are we to do now?” I stroked the hair off of his moist forehead. He was breathing, but it was raspy. He didn’t even know I was here. Was he in a coma? I should have asked that before I sent everyone away.

  I stared at him and decided that propriety be damned. I climbed up on his bed and laid down next to him, on top of the blanket. I wrapped an arm around him and put my head upon his chest. I listened to his strained and erratic breathing pattern, willing my own, more even paced one, to become his.

  We stayed like this for a long time.

  ···•Ͽ Ѡ Ͼ•···

  I must have dozed, because when I woke, his breathing had evened out. I also felt groggy. I was then overcome with such an impulsive desire, that I couldn’t have stopped myself even if I had wanted to.

  I lifted my head, brought my lips to his ear, and said, “I love you Colin Townshend, so you better not die on me. I need you to stay with me. Knowing my life and the bad decisions I make, if you were to leave me now, I’m sure to be dead before the year is out.”

  He turned his head, and I felt his hair tickle my nose. He looked in my eyes deeply and said, “I’ve loved you ever since I saw you eat rice pudding.” Then he kissed me silly.

  Wendy was right. Everything was going to be all right.

  Epilogue

  Wendy and I watched Dorian and Colin play cricket with some of the other Agora members on Grey Manor’s West La
wn. It was the middle of summer, and Wendy told me that the summer picnic was going to become part of a new tradition at the Royal Agora.

  “We need to establish some new routines,” she told me.

  “To define your rule?” I asked as I watched Colin hit the ball and attempt a run. Dorian was the other team’s fielding captain. He moved to retrieve the ball and caught it without a bounce. It looked as if Colin didn’t mind being caught out as he took the time to return to our table and enjoy a glass of lemonade and a peck on my cheek before returning to the game.

  “It’s only a week away. Are you ready?”

  I twirled my parasol above my head, allowing myself the luxury of wearing a white organza dress with an emperor waistline. Of course, my tiny umbrella matched it. I still wore the riding pants as part of my daily regime, but Wendy had gifted me this for the picnic, so I how could I say no.

  The wedding was scheduled for Midsummer’s Eve and even my parents were coming, partly because almost no one knew them here and partly because President Newton would be available to discuss the official renaming ceremony for the parish.

  The wedding will to be held here, at Grey Manor. Dorian and Wendy had just finished all the renovations to it since Peter’s occupation, and they insisted that we use it for the wedding and following reception.

  After the wedding, we were going off to a small beach house near the Dover’s cliffs that Dorian had found for us. We were going to be a few miles from where Hook was supposed to be, and Colin found that immensely amusing.

  I had enrolled in night classes at King Charles College and Colin had been tutoring me as well. Our first research project together was to find the lost sigils of the fourth dimension.

  While Wendy had been easing me into my new position, President Newton had not. I received daily communications from her, filled with requests.

  I missed Calidum fiercely, but I would honor his request and not summon him unless I really needed him. I had only been recently informed of the planned fireworks for the reception. I decided that we might need some help lighting all of them. I just hoped that he wouldn’t mind too much when I summoned him again.

  I hope you have enjoyed reading The Summoner’s Sigil. If you enjoyed this book, I hope you will leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads.

  The following books are now available in the Argon Adventures Series:

  Tesla’s Revenge

  The Cthulhu Crisis

  The Fall of Neverland

  The First Law

  Palladium

  Connect with Renee Sebastian on Facebook

  https://www.facebook.com/ReneeSebastianAdventures

  and her website at:

  http://reneesebastian.wix.com/argon-adventures

  Grandfather’s Rules

  Rule number one: Know yourself.

  Rule number two: Know your foe.

  Rule number three: Listen with your left ear to what your foe tells you, but listen to what your inner voice is telling you with your right ear.

  Rule number four: Trap rather than chat.

  Rule number five: Triple the ring, makes you king.

  Rule number six: Seven ochre sticks are better than six.

  Rule number seven: Three athames are better than one long sword.

  Rule number eight: Never read sigils in the dark.

  Rule number nine: Never write sigils in the dark.

  Rule number ten: Giving a little blood now, saves your heart later.

  Rule number eleven: Travel is the heart of the Summoner’s art.

  Rule Number twelve: If you ignore the people in their moment in need, they will forget you and your services indeed.

  Rule number thirteen: Service before family.

  Rule number fourteen: Never waste a demon’s time, because time is on their side.

  Rule number fifteen: Answer all questions with the least amount of information possible.

  Rule number sixteen: Don’t worry about what others say about you, worry only about what they think about you, which is always far worse.

  Rule number seventeen: Flight is always an option, or never an option, dependent upon the situation.

  Rule number eighteen: Read the Sigils daily.

  Rule number nineteen: A machine has never been made that could hold a demon.

  Rule number twenty: You should only circle one demon at a time.

  Rule number twenty-one: From violent beginnings come violent endings.

  Rule number twenty-two: Intent is ninety percent of the law.

  Rule number twenty-three: To see clearly what lies behind you, one must first turn around.