The Sword And The Pen (7 page)

But how to fix this? My shoulders sagged.

When I'd first realized what I was, I'd thought I could force the wizard to right the wrong he'd committed and return me to my world, but I hadn't worked out how he might do so. Once I met him, I found him both more and less than what I'd expected. Now I wondered if there was any hope that he knew how to set things right. Or even what right might be.

I also realized that, in order for me to return and live again in my world, I'd have to forget what I now knew about myself. In doing that, I'd likely lose my free will. I'd become a puppet once more.

As always, the burden of solving the problem fell on my shoulders. And until I figured out how to do so, I had to rein in my anger--and the unwanted physical attraction that had begun to grow inside me--for the wizard.

He was at the bottom of the stairs. As he caught sight of me, he smiled, and despite my resolve my anger evaporated. I found it hard to hold on to my justified rage when looking at a man dressed in a blue, short-sleeved shirt with a picture of what resembled a grinning orange pheline on its front, and a pair of faded blue half-trousers with ragged edges. They hugged muscular legs. He looked sweet, sexy, harmless and as bizarre as I did. Against my will I smiled back.

"Are you ready to go?" He started to speak then caught sight of my sword. "You'll have to leave that here."

I shook my head. "I go nowhere unarmed."

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "People in this world do not go around carrying weapons."

I gripped the hilt of my sword. "Then they are fools."

He considered for a moment then gave a resigned sigh. "I'm the fool. All right, bring the sword, but you'll have to leave it in the car when we get to the mall. Come on, let's go shopping."

I grunted, but didn't quite agree.

"Not fond of shopping?" he asked as I followed him out of the house.

"It's a necessary evil."

He laughed and led me to another building on the side of his dwelling. "Then you're an unusual woman in more ways than one. I don't care much for shopping, either, but I do think you need something to wear. Of course, if you'd rather not shop we can always take a run over to your place and pick up some things." He shot me a sly look.

"Or you could conjure clothing for me," I suggested.

"One thing I'll say for you, you stay in character." He shook his head, then turned his attention to a small pad of numbered keys set on the wall next to a large door.

With an angry growl, the door started to rise. The noise startled me. I jumped back and tried to yank my sword free, but it tangled in its makeshift fabric knot.

"Easy there!" The wizard clamped his hand over mine. "It's just a garage door opener, not a beast to slay!"

His words made little sense, but his amusement reassured me there was no danger, even if it was at my expense. I went still.

The growl ended as the door stopped moving and rested overhead against the building's inner roof. I calmed my pounding heart and peered cautiously inside. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I took a step back.

The wizard turned to look at me. "What now?"

"What is that?" I pointed to a shiny black hulk that dominated the shadows of the cavern beyond.

"What? You mean my SUV? It's a vehicle. A carriage."

I edged closer behind him. It looked like no carriage I'd ever seen. Its massive, boxy frame looked too heavy to be pulled by any horse. I sniffed the air. It smelled not of straw and manure but of metal and some pungent odor I didn't recognize. "Where are the horses?"

He patted the front portion, just below another expanse of glass. "Three hundred horses under the hood of this baby."

For a moment I forgot he was a wizard. "How did you squeeze three hundred horses in there?!"

His laughter rasped across my already raw nerves. "Well, if nothing else you're good for a laugh. It doesn't really have horses under its hood. It's a machine. It has an engine. We measure the power of the engine--what propels it--by horsepower." He reached out and opened a panel on the SUV's side. "Come on and get in."

Since he went around the other side of the SUV and climbed inside, I trusted it was safe. The interior was more luxurious than any carriage I'd ever seen. Butter-soft grey leather covered the comfortable seats and inside walls. The not unpleasant, tangy scent of metal and dyed leather teased my nose. A nappy grey rug softened the floor. In front of me under a large expanse of perfectly smooth glass was a strange array of buttons and dials.

"Close your door and put on your seat belt," he said.

Not sure I was being wise, I pulled the heavy door shut then looked at him in confusion as I struggled to accept the existence of a machine that ran on the power of horses shrunk down and hidden in its front. "Seat belt?"

"Oh, for Pete's sake. Enough is enough." He reached across me and dragged a wide belt over my chest. The feel of his arm brushing against my unbound breasts sent a tingle of awareness through me. The memory of my dream heated my blood and made me forget my fear.

The metal end he held clicked into a receptacle anchored to the side of the seat, and I felt trapped by the band that now traversed my chest from right to left and the other across my hips. For what reason did we need to be strapped inside this vehicle? But no sooner had I quelled my urge to panic, the machine came to life.

It gave a muffled roar and a rumble, and I jumped and tried to clutch the hilt of my sword--but it was caught beneath one of the bands around me. I let out a furious squeak, but the wizard touched my knee.

"Relax! You're safe. I promise."

The warmth of his hand and the soothing tone of his voice eased my trepidation. I let myself relax. Whatever else he might have done, my wizard hadn't yet lied to me. Until he did, I'd give him my trust--at least in this.

*** *** ***

The SUV had great suspension; it flew smoothly over and down the bumpy gravel drive. Remembering Seri's response to the garage door opening and her first sight of the SUV made Brandon smile. It probably wasn't kind of him to enjoy her discomfort, but damn, he'd had his own share of surprises these last twenty-four hours. It felt good to turn the tables.

Her fictional world had only the simplest machines. Nothing powered by gas or electricity. She seemed to act in accordance with this. Either she was a great actress, or completely cuckoo. He supposed that changed none of his previous conclusions.

Once on the main road, he pressed down on the accelerator. The SUV responded with a gratifying burst of speed.

As he drove, he worried. He'd decided to take her to the new shopping mall that had opened about an hour's drive away. Though he didn't spend a lot of time in town, he knew the people of Council Falls were curious about him. Bringing Seri into town would only stir their interest.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her reaction to riding in a car. At first Seri sat frozen, her hands clutching the armrests. After a few miles, he could see her start to calm down and enjoy the journey. When he opened the sunroof, she raised her face and let out a small gasp of amazement.

"Relax," he told her. "It'll take us about an hour to get there."

"Where are we going?"

"To a mall."

"What is this. . .mall?"

"A place to shop--a marketplace."

She let out a small groan and turned her attention to the passing countryside.

He'd always reveled in the sense of power driving this oversized SUV gave him, though he was also a bit embarrassed by that. Out of the corner of his eye he watched myriad expressions flash across Seri's face: fear, excitement, acceptance, amusement, incredulity. Usually with people he felt the need to talk, to fill the void, but with Seri the silence in the car was comfortable. He allowed himself to quietly enjoy it. Few other cars shared the two-lane country highway stretched out ahead and behind them. Seri studied each as it passed by.

After a while, she turned to look at him. "This carriage appears much larger and more powerful than the others."

Just then, an 18-wheeler came roaring around a bend and toward them. Seri's eyes widened and she grabbed an armrest. Despite Brandon's SUV's size, it rocked as the semi whooshed by.

He tried to hide his grin. "There are bigger things on the road."

She released her grip on the armrest and twisted toward him. "You find my rational alarm amusing, Wizard?"

"You've got to admit, this whole situation has its funny side."

"I admit nothing," she said, but he could hear laughter lurking in her husky voice.

He couldn't stop giving a chuckle. When she herself let out a laugh, the tension he'd been holding inside since her appearance eased out of him. His sense of the absurd had been one of Wanda's major complaints: She hadn't understood his need to see the funny side of the world and himself. But without humor, he couldn't cope. Laughing kept everything manageable.

He wondered why humor had rarely found its way into his writing. Perhaps because Serilda's world was grim and dark, a place where emotions were a luxury. Was this a reflection of his own barren inner life? Had it been a place to release and slay his mental demons?

He'd always loved the world and the characters he'd created, but lately he'd found himself wanting and needing more, in both his writing and in his life. At times his fictional world seemed so real he feared he'd end up like his mother, totally neurotic, or like is grandmother, disconnected from reality. Or maybe like his father he'd just disappear. He wondered if the conflict between what he loved and what he had yet to obtain might account for his writer's block.

"Is this carriage difficult to drive?" Seri asked. "Could I do so?"

Her question distracted him from his musings and brought him back to reality. "Not too difficult, but you need a license. I don't suppose you happen to have one on you?"

She ignored his challenge. "Tell me about your world. It's so different from mine. This carriage, the way you command light, heat and cold are marvels. Why didn't you include them in the world you created for my people and me? Why force us to use four-legged beasts to travel? To heat and light our homes with wood and smelly oils. What other things that would ease our lives have you denied us?" Her antagonistic questions shattered the companionable atmosphere that had begun to grow between them.

"Since I don't believe you're truly my fictional character Serilda come to life, your questions are meaningless. Serilda, her people and her world are nothing but figments of my imagination. They aren't real. You are."

The fight seemed to drain out of her as she sagged back in her seat. The defeated look on her face made him feel like a bully. Deluded she might be, but that didn't give him leave to verbally beat up on her.

They spent the rest of the trip in silence. As they approached a more populated area, she sat forward and stared intently out the window. Her eyes widened as she caught her first glimpse of the mall.

"This building is larger than the entire city of Marisol!" She spoke of Barue's capital city as she watched the people going in and out of the structure's large glass entrance. "Where are the guards?"

If he weren't positive she couldn't possibly be Serilda, he would have sworn she was seeing everything for the very first time. "There aren't any guards. The mall is open to anyone." He felt silly explaining the world, but he couldn't just ignore her pretense of awestruck curiosity.

He turned in to the parking lot of the mall and found a spot in the crowded lot. With a groan he realized it was Saturday. Living alone and working from home it was easy to lose track of the day.

"You'll have to leave your sword in the car," he said. When she hesitated, he swore, "There's no need for it here. I promise."

He couldn't control his sense of satisfaction when, albeit with evident reluctance, she placed the sheathed sword on the SUV's seat: She trusted him!

Inside the mall, he groaned again. Different booths than usual filled the large walkways, and people milled everywhere.

"Are these the merchants?" Seri approached a booth filled with crystals, diaphanous garments and other New Age items.

"Sort of," he said. "The mall is hosting a science fiction/fantasy fair this weekend." At least he kept a low profile with the public, so he didn't think he'd be recognized.

She gave him a puzzled look but didn't ask for further explanation.

With everything that had happened, not even with Hillary's reminder had it registered that this was the weekend of Sci-con. Several months ago he'd been asked to participate in the book-signing portion of the fair, but as usual he'd declined. Over the years he'd worked hard to overcome his irrational fear of crowds, but he knew better than to push his luck. Shopping was doable, but sitting at a table with a horde of fans pressing around him would strain his limits.

Judging the look-a-like contest had never been an option. The idea of looking at other people's interpretation of Serilda made him queasier than actually interacting with them. He'd created her for himself. Oddly, Seri's resemblance to Serilda didn't bother him. She had a depth he knew his character lacked.

Because she's a real person not some character out of a book, he reminded himself.

Keeping Seri close to his side, he made his way deeper into the mall. Sounds and smells swirled around him. New-age music and the chatter of a hundred voices all talking at once blurred together. Cinnamon from the Cinnabon store mingled with the aroma of baking pretzels.His muscles twitched and his heart rate sped up. He knew he should grab Seri's arm and hustle her out, but whether for her sake or his he wasn't sure. Instead he took a deep, calming breath.

"Let's get this over with."

*** *** ***

I twisted my head to and fro, trying to see everything at once as the wizard pulled me along at a rapid pace. Sounds, colors, smells and motion rose up from everywhere. High above, glass panes in the ceiling gave a view of blue sky. Along both sides of the wide corridor filled with colorful booths, large windows displayed innumerable items, from clothing to house wares to things for which I had no name. My head swam at the quantity of items and the variety of choices available in this world.