Powerful Magic (55 page)

          
As the weeks turned into months and he learned more, absorbed more knowledge, Kenric's magical powers grew, but his hope began to fade.
 

          
"I am worried about you."
 
Rhiannon came to him one eve, as he sat in his usual place in the Hall of Legends, scanning through yet another ancient manuscript, hoping to find some clue, some hint of the magic that would help him.

          
He blinked in the dimming light.
 
"There is something I am missing here, I can feel it.
 
God's teeth, if only the spell would reveal itself."

          
She shook her head sadly.
 
"You no longer eat, you have lost weight. And your hair..."
 
She reached out and touched one long and tangled strand.
 
"Looks like that of a wild-man who has been living alone in a cave. My brother, I would give much to see you smile again."

          
"Half of me is missing."
 
He spoke grimly, knowing she would understand.
 
"I cannot rest until I find her."

          
"There is something...
 
It haunts me at night."
 
Rhiannon sank to the ground next to him, her lovely expression disturbed.
 
"Sometimes I hear her voice in my dreams."

          
This was new.
 
Laying the manuscript carefully down, Kenric felt hope for the first time in weeks.
 
Rhiannon's dreams were always prophetic.
 
'Twas part of the blood of Queens.
 
"What does she say?"

          
"I cannot make out the words."
 

          
The hope that had flared within him flickered, but Kenric refused to let it die.
 
"Try."
 
He laid his hand on his sister's shoulder, hoping she did not see how it trembled.
 
"Please."

          
They sat is silence as the shadows lengthened.
 
At one point an attendant came and lit a wall torch, the flames sending an eerie sort of glow over the place.
 
The air smelled sweet, the scents of a fading summer, when autumn hovers just beyond the next hill.
 

          
With the part of himself that was still human, He noticed these things and thought of how Megan would have rejoiced in them.
 
He wondered how much time had gone by in the world of humans - had the months in Rune become a year outside? Did time pass the same wherever Megan was?
 
In his studies he had come to believe that time was like a river, flowing continuously throughout the eons.
 
All he did now was search for a way to make a boat to travel the river to her.
 

          
"She holds out her hand to me."
 
Rhiannon murmured, reminding him that she tried to bring back her dream for him.
 
"The way she did when we all joined to fight Myrddin."

          
Moodily, he shifted.
 
Well he remembered that feeling of power, the way they had seemed one entity, human and faerie, united in...
 

          
Love
.

          
Something nagged at him, something that hovered at the edges of his mind, just out of reach.
 
Something he needed to know.

          
"She loves you," she continued, her voice taking on the monotone cadence of a prophetic trance.
 
"This I sense strongly.
 
And there are words - words she keeps repeating over and over - words she wants me to tell you."

          
What could Megan be trying to say?
 
Kenric concentrated, remembering.
 

          
Love is the most powerful magic
.
 

          
"Did you hear that?"
 
Heart pounding, he stared at his sister.
 
"It sounded like Megan's voice."

          
"Kenric,"
 
Rhiannon shook her head, breaking the trance."Do you love Megan?"

          
Affronted that she even needed to ask, Kenric nodded. "I
need
Megan. How can you not know this, when every breath I take is for her.
 
She is all I can think about."

          
Her smile was wise.
 
"Yes, you have said many times how much you
need
her.
 
But do you
love
her, Kenric?"

          
Love
.
 
Once he had been so sure that he didn't believe in such a thing.
 
But that had been before, when he'd been dead inside.
 
Now he knew there were things he loved - Rhiannon, his faerie family, Lancelot, and - most of all - Megan.

          
"I love her," he said firmly, meeting his sister's fond gaze.
 
"Of course I love her.
 
More than life itself."

          
"Does she know this?"

          
"I have shown her in a thousand ways."
 
Defiantly, he crossed his arms across his chest.
 
"She has to know."
        

          
"Ah, yes.
 
But have you ever whispered the words to her as you held her?
 
Called her my love, told her that without her, life to you is not worth living?"

          
"She knows."
 
He roared, rapidly losing patience.
 
"I have given her a ring and asked her to be my wife.
 
And yes, I have spoken words of love to her."

          
Patiently, she waited until he had finished.
 
"Do you not recall the words you used then?
 
Think on them, Kenric, then tell me for certain that Megan knows."

          
You are mine
. He had said.
The ring is a token of my need for you
. He had never mentioned love. That explained the sorrow he had seen mingled with the joy in Megan's beautiful eyes.
 
How could he not have spoken of the depth and breadth of his love for her?
 
How could he not have told her how he felt?
 
He loved her.
 
Of course he loved her.
 
How could he not?

          
Love is the most powerful magic.

          
He leapt to his feet.
 
"That's it. I know what to do."

          
Satisfaction colored Rhiannon's smile.
 
"What?"

          
The glow in the cave seemed to brighten.
 
The chill that had haunted his bones lifted, making him feel strong again for the first time in months.
 
A warrior once more, he knew this was his last hope of regaining his soul half.
 

          
He reached for the yellowed scroll that he always kept with him, the one that had contained the original spell Rhiannon had used to bring Megan to him.

          
With trembling fingers, he unrolled it.
 

          
The parchment was no longer blank.
 
One word was written there, one word in a flowing script that told him his instincts were right.
 

          
Love
.

          
The most powerful magic of all.

          
Rhiannon bent her head to listen as he told her what he believed he must do.
  

          
Together they watched as the words to the spell formed on the scroll.

#

          
That night, Megan's dreams were full of Kenric.
 
Him holding her in his arms, covering her mouth with his, telling her to wait for him, that he would find a way to reach her.
 

          
When she opened her eyes that morning, it was not to Rune.
 
Instead, it was to an empty hospital room full of soul-less machines and smelling faintly of disinfectant.
 

          
"Good morning!"
 
The young nurse, way too cheerful for six a.m., pulled open the curtains.
 
"Looks like we're in for a storm today."

          
Outside the morning sky looked gray, turbulent clouds blocking out any bit of sunlight.
 
Biting her lower lip, Megan blinked back tears as she remembered that final battle, when they had vanquished Myrddin once and for all. And then she had been ripped away from the only man she'd ever love.

          
"I think the doctor might let you go home today."
 

          
Megan nodded, her throat too tight to speak.
 
Since they had unhooked all the machines the night before, she'd guessed she'd be released soon.

          
The nurse, perhaps seeing something in Megan's face, left without another word.

          
Lightening flashed in the distance, followed seconds later by the crash of thunder.
 
A surge of energy went through her, a powerful jolt that reminded her of the bolt of lightning that had sent her to Kenric initially.
 
Would she always react so to lightning?
 
She sighed.

          
But something had changed.
 
She sat up.
 
Was it her imagination, or did her hospital room seem to be filling with swirling mist?
 
Heart pounding, she swing her legs over the side of the bed and clutched her hospital gown closed.
 
          

          
Something was happening.
 
She blinked, holding her breath, daring to hope.

          
A man materialized out of the shadows, taking shape slowly.
 
A tall, muscular man, a beautiful warrior from another time and place.
 

          
Kenric
!
 
He held out his arms in welcome.

          
With a glad cry, she moved towards him.
 
   

          
"You."
 
A voice snarled from the doorway.
 
"So you're the one who poisoned her against me."

          
Megan froze mid-step, her heart skipping a beat.
 

          
Roger.

          
Kenric's beloved gaze met hers, steady and sure.
 
In one stride he reached her, pulling her close with his massive arms, telling her without words that he would protect her if need be.

          
For a moment she allowed herself to relax into his embrace.
 
It was tempting, so tempting to let him shelter her.
 
The woman she had once been would have accepted gladly, shaking with sheer terror.
 

          
But Megan was no longer afraid.
 

          
She kissed Kenric lightly, and turned, stepping out of his arms to face Roger.

          
"Roger, go away.
 
I’ve already told you--"

          
"You are mine."
 
Though Roger snarled at Megan, he watched only Kenric.
 
"Mine."

          
"No, I’m not."
 
She spoke calmly, her voice steady. "I've already told you that I can't marry you."

          
Outside, the storm continued to rage.
 
Lightening flashed and the accompanying thunder was so loud it shook the building.