The Bronze Mage (2 page)

Tabitha was pretty sure the statue had stood in the courtyard for years before her father felt confident enough of its permanence to move it, but for as long as she could remember James had been banished to a small garden, which her father had closed to visitors. As such, it was one of the few places Tabitha could be alone. Growing up she'd spent hours there and had never considered the statue as anything but the relic of a legend. As a child she'd hidden in the garden and played make-believe with the scary statue. He was, after all, a villain, so she'd play fight with him, often beating the statue with sticks or throwing acorns at him from the cover of flowering bushes. When she'd gotten older, she'd confided in him. Sitting on his base, leaning against his legs, she told him about the boys who disregarded her, the girls who made fun of her, the problems she was having in school or with her parents. There had been a lot to talk about.

This last year had been different, she'd hardly gone out to the garden. Last winter Tabitha had turned sixteen, and was expected to participate in the social and political affairs of the kingdom. Free time didn't really exist for her any more. A few days ago, feeling nostalgic, she had wandered back into the garden. Then watched, frozen with shock, as bronze turned back to flesh.

Their initial conversation had been short but civil. "Conversation" wasn't quite the term for it: before the shock had worn off, James had frozen Tabitha so that she couldn't run or scream...or fight. He had promised to free her once he was safely across the border into his homeland of Xentia. He had also explained that she was coming with him either way, but that he trusted her word, so if she'd give her parole, he'd release the spell on her. After a long minute considering possible options and outcomes, Tabitha thought it safest for her family if the two of them left quietly.

The trip to the border had taken two days, during which he had acted honorably and even companionably.
 
It had been hard for her to remember that her imaginary friend was the mage who had almost murdered her father. In spite of herself, Tabitha had hoped that perhaps James' time as a statue had improved his character. It was odd having real conversations with someone she'd thought was pretend. Hard to remember this man had never been anyone's friend. He'd certainly acted like he was hers, those first two days.

Once they reached the border, he proved he was not. When Tabitha bid him farewell, James had slapped a slew of compulsion spells on her. They had travelled the next two days in silence. She walked because he made her. Ate when he decided. Slept under a spell. Worse than her fear and anger was her embarrassment. A princess of Valstadt had no excuse to hope for good from this deceitful mage. They had arrived at the cabin this morning. James had brought her to the bedroom, saying that he needed time to get set up, and had put her back to sleep.
 

Now Tabitha wished they were still walking. It was easier to stop thinking if you were moving. She longed to take off through the woods that were so tantalizingly close. However, after staring through the window for some time, she noticed that the sun had barely moved. The room behind her was quiet. Maybe James and the maid had gone out. She stood, turning to survey the room. James had returned to his chair by the fireplace. He had apparently also been lost in thought, but looked up at her as she moved. She turned her back to him, walking over to the dining area. The table had already been cleared.
 

Turning toward the front of the house, she peered through the second front window. She inspected what she could see of the porch, another short lawn, and the road. It was more of a trail, really. The forest edged right up to its far side. It appeared to end at this house. Well, that would simplify her choices when she left -- only one way to go. She leaned against the window to see as far down the trail as she could. It wasn't far. The clearing around the house was small and the trail quickly hid itself in the trees.

She turned back to face James.

"Where are we?"

"Xentia."

"Send me home."

No response.

"Why am I here?"

Silence.

"Whose house is this?"

"It's not a house. It's a hunting cabin. I hear it belongs to a cousin of mine now. It used to be mine."

"It doesn't look like a hunting cabin. There's not a fur rug or mounted trophy anywhere. Did you ever use it?"

"Frequently. I never hunted animals, and I've never kept trophies."

"Won't people look for us here?"

"People from Xentia won't. Not for some time. They don't want to find me."

"People from Valstadt want to find me."

"But we're in Xentia, so that will require negotiation. Months of it, probably."

Tabitha went cold. Months?

"I. Will. Not. Stay. Here. Open the door." Even to herself, she sounded hysterical.
 

She yanked at the door. When it still wouldn't budge, she looked around, then grabbed a chair from the dining area and crashed it against the window. It bounced energetically off, wrenching Tabitha's shoulders painfully. She adjusted her grip and slammed it again and again, aiming at different parts of the glass, hoping for a weak spot. Her efforts brought tears to her eyes. The thought of crying in front of him made her angrier. She would not retreat to the bedroom. She headed for the kitchen. The open door flew shut before she reached it.

"I don't think the kitchen is a safe place for a temper tantrum," James scolded.

Tabitha stood, fists clenched, facing the closed kitchen door. She heard a movement behind her and wheeled around. James was walking towards her.

"Don't touch me," she said.

He raised an eyebrow. "You do realize that all you prove with these demands is that you're powerless to enforce them? You'll drive yourself crazy doing that."

TWO

Preference

James walked around the table. Tabitha was unable to move. Her heart raced as he drew near. He didn't look angry. He looked intent. He laid his hands on her shoulders more gently than he had before, though even this light contact was uncomfortable. Her panic rose as he walked her over to the bedroom and through the door, then waned as they passed the bed and approached the vanity. He sat her in the chair facing the mirror.

"You need to relax," he insisted. "Stop fighting me. We don't have to be enemies."

If he'd given her freedom to speak, Tabitha would have had a hard time choosing her response, so many sprang to mind. From her enforced silence, she glared at his reflection in the mirror.

"The maid assured me that this would help untangle your hair," he said, picking up a large bottle of scented oil from the vanity. It hadn't been there before. Neither had the wide-toothed comb. A glance at the mirror showed the sharp contrast between James's striking features and Tabitha's plain ones. She made herself focus on the contrast. When James unstoppered the bottle, the scent of lilac filled the room. It brought back memories of home. Tabitha blinked furiously for a few seconds. Then she closed her eyes so that she could see neither herself nor James in the mirror.

His hands were gentle as he massaged the oil through her hair. Even the prickly pain as he combed out the tangles wasn't nearly as bad as she remembered when her nurse had done similar duty in Tabitha's childhood. In truth, after a few moments it didn't hurt at all. The prickles turned to tingles that spread from the nape of her neck over her scalp, even across her shoulders. Tabitha's thoughts slowly scattered, as if carried away by the sensation. For a few minutes the release of her tense control allowed tears to stream down her face, but she sank into a stupor while James slowly worked from the tangled ends up the frizzed lengths to the matted roots of her hair.

Tabitha opened her eyes some time later, found herself seated at an unfamiliar vanity. James was studying her. His gray eyes looked silver beneath his black lashes. Tabitha blushed under his gaze. He was so handsome. It seemed surreal that he was hers. She frowned a little, trying to concentrate. Had she been angry with him? It was hard to remember. In truth, she didn't even recognize the room, but that wasn't important. They were here together.

James smiled and she colored more deeply. She inhaled the scent of lilacs. The scent troubled her. She brushed the feeling aside and rose. The smell was coming from her hair. She touched it. It seemed coated with a perfumed oil...and was that a piece of leaf in it? She looked at James in confusion. "What happened to my hair?"

"You'll have to wash the oil out," James said. He tucked her hand in the crook of his arm as he led her from the room. "The bathhouse is next to the cabin. I'll walk you there." His calm confidence reassured her. She leaned into him, but he tensed.

"Sorry," she said, remembering her oily hair and moving away so as not to stain his clothing. The next room had the look of a cabin, but still wasn't at all familiar. Tabitha frowned, trying to conjure some memory of it. As they walked through the front door into a tiny yard in the middle of a forest, she gave up.
 
"I can't remember where we are," she confessed.

An expression flashed across James's face, too fast for Tabitha to catch. He said, "You'll remember soon enough."

They circled around the cabin to the left. Next to a kitchen garden was a square wooden outbuilding.

As she mounted the steps, she turned to kiss James. He flinched. Backing away, he said, "Just knock on the door when you want to come out."

Confused by his rejection, but not wanting to start an argument, Tabitha went inside. A pile of clean clothes lay folded next to a soft towel on a bench. The bath water steamed slightly and also smelled of lilacs. She undressed and slid into the water with a sigh of pleasure. It felt like it had been days since her last bath, though that was extremely unlikely. She washed her hair and soaked a ridiculous amount of dirt off herself, dried and dressed.
 

By this time Tabitha had the distinct feeling she'd been forgetting something important. Something about James. Why had he evaded her kiss? Were they fighting? That must be it, because the feeling that she had been angry with him was also getting stronger. It seemed odd that she couldn't remember. She would have to ask him. Forgetting to knock, she tried to open the bathhouse door. It wouldn't budge.
 

Tabitha remembered.

Her hand on the door latch shook as she realized that he'd cast another spell on her. Preference spells were forbidden in the three kingdoms, but this had been more insidious. She hadn't just wanted to please him, she'd half-constructed an alternate history for them. Melanie had never mentioned that as an effect of a preference spell, or any other. Perhaps it was something beyond Melanie's level of learning? Or perhaps Tabitha's own wishful thinking had betrayed her?

She sat heavily on the bench, tried to think through her predicament, form a plan. The hopelessness of her situation overwhelmed her. How could she escape when he could control not just what she did, but what she thought and felt? Tears turned to sobs for a few minutes before she forced herself to calm down.

Nurse had told many, many stories about the heartless Xentian mage who'd sought to take over Valstadt. Quite a few of Nurse's stories had detailed the mage's numerous scandalous relationships with noblewomen. She'd wanted her young charges to be wiser than those foolish ladies. But Tabitha had long suspected that Nurse had made up most of the stories, adding new ones to fit whatever point she was trying to make. Now she wasn't so sure. Still, James could have taken advantage of the kiss instead of shying away from it. Maybe Tabitha should be thankful that she was homely. Her sister's beauty had tempted more honest men than James, though they usually regretted their impertinence after. But James had always had a purpose for his dalliances. She needed to figure out why he had taken her.
 

Tabitha splashed water on her face and dried it. She straightened her shoulders, clenched her jaw, and knocked on the bathhouse door. James opened it immediately, dispelling any hope that he hadn't overheard her sobs. She regarded him gravely.

"Good," he said. "We have time for a walk."

THREE

First Night

Tabitha walked beside James across the lawn.

"By yourself, you now have access to the house and the yard," he explained. "You may only enter the woods in my company."

As they turned down the trail, Tabitha glanced casually through the trees. She noted the presence of edible plants, as well as small animals, though even if she escaped she wouldn't likely trap anything. It would take too much time and she was only a few days journey from home.

They walked in silence for several minutes, before James broke it again. "We'll light a fire when we return. You ought to dry your hair."

Tabitha had no idea how to respond to that. James had kidnapped her and she had no idea if his intent was revenge, ransom, or dowry. Yet he must have spent more than an hour combing out her tangles, had healed her wrenched shoulders, and was worried about her hair. What did it mean? He'd put a preference spell on her, albeit an extremely temporary one. What had been the point of that? It wasn't likely to soften her to him, if anything it did the opposite. To scare her into submission? Well, that may have worked. Not that she wouldn't try again to escape, but she was done challenging him directly. Now, like a trained dog, she walked obediently at his side. The image galled her, but at least she could scout the area.

She wanted him to relax his guard. A complete about-face would be too obvious, but she needed to move in that direction. "Thank you for healing my shoulders," she said.

James turned left off the path.

"I realize you've only been human again for a few days," she continued, "but do you have a plan? I suppose you could set yourself up as an herbalist if you wanted to lay low."

James snorted.

"It couldn't possibly be safe for you to be known, to come back as yourself."

"Safe for whom?"

"You have fewer resources now and more enemies than admirers."