The Unsuspecting Mage (39 page)

He begins to remove the shards from her skin when her eyes fly open. “Who are you?” she asks him.

“You were telling me my future,” James replies soothingly so as not to alarm her. “You must have gone into a trance or something. Then suddenly the ball exploded and you fell over unconscious.”

“That has never happened to me before,” she says, frightened. She looks around her tent at the scattered pieces of shards and breaks down into tears. “What am I to do?” she wails. “I have no ball! How am I going to get people to come in here? How am I to live?”

“They are hard to come by and expensive. This one cost me over fifteen golds,” she says, breaking down as sobbing comes over her again.

He comes to his feet and looks around at the shambles that is her tent. “When the tale gets around that while you were reading someone’s future, the ball shattered and that white streak manifested itself in your hair, you may have more business than ever before.”

She reaches up and touches her hair. “A white streak?” she asks incredulously.

Coming over, he touches her hair above her forehead and says, “Yes. It starts here and goes all the way back. Kind of makes you look mysterious.”

“It didn’t make a lot of sense,” he says, “but who knows with such things?” He then turns and walks out of the tent, pushing aside the curtain that had blocked the entrance. Outside he finds Miko still watching the performing monkey who is now riding a wagon being pulled by a small dog to the laughter of the bystanders.

“I almost forgot.” Glancing around the market, James tries to find a bakery but can’t make one out. “Let’s walk around and if we don’t find one, we’ll just head back to the inn, agreed?”

“Agreed.” Miko leads the way and though they fail to find a bakery, they do come across a man selling what reminds James of a cinnamon roll but instead of cinnamon it has a red jelly spread across the top and in the middle. They buy six and head back to the inn. Eating as they go, they both agree that they are delicious and end up eating them all before returning to the inn.

That night as he lies in bed, James has trouble falling asleep, the words of the woman still echo in his mind.
‘Another walks with you, he will be the key, a lock must be opened’. That’s got to be a reference to Miko.
But what lock will he open? He’s not a thief.

The rest of it doesn’t make much more sense:

With the star, seal your fate,

A giant knocks upon the gate.

Pillars of Flame dispel the night,

Out of darkness blossoms a light.

A friend’s wrath you shall feel,

Destroy the land so it may heal.

Return the lost, stones to dust,

Remember in all your heart to trust.

I’m sure it will make sense after it would have been useful to know,
he reasons. After a while of wrestling with it, he finally succumbs to sleep.

Early the next morning, they gather their things and head down to the common room. There they discover the lower floor of the inn to be aswarm with people. The buzz of conversation flowed throughout the room like a hive of excited bees.

“She’s fine,” replies the serving girl, “though her face and arms were struck when the ball exploded. No one knows what happened to the person for whom she was doing the foretelling.” Suddenly, she notices his face and the numerous fresh puncture marks it bears. She looks at his arms and sees matching wounds there as well. “You?”

“I’m afraid so, but let’s not make too much out of it okay?” he asks. “I would just like some breakfast.”

“Sure thing,” she says as she backs away and heads toward the kitchen. On the way she pauses to whisper to another serving girl who glances over at him with a wide eyed expression. The other serving girl then turns to another person and soon, the conversations within the inn quiet as word of his appearance spreads. Eyes looking fearful take in the wounds caused by the shattering of the ball which dot his face and arms. James was beginning to feel a little self conscious beneath such scrutiny.

“Wonder why such a reaction?” Miko asks.

“Don’t know,” he replies. “Let’s just eat and then get out of here fast.”

Beginning to feel uncomfortable too, Miko says “Yeah, it’s getting kind of creepy.” Taking a seat at a small table in the corner of the common room, they wait for the serving girl to appear.

When their meal arrives, the girl sets it on the table then backs away fast. Wishing for nothing else but to rid themselves of the watchful crowd, they eat their meal quickly. Most of those within the inn, seeing that James is not behaving in any way out of the norm, return to the conversations they were having before.

James can’t help but notice the way everyone continues to cast glances their way. After a bit, he also notices that the crowd within the inn seems to be getting larger. Over in the corner are several youngsters talking amongst themselves. One girl from the group, who couldn’t be more than twelve, is given an encouraging shove from another as she timidly makes her way over to his table. She stops several feet away and asks nervously, “Can I ask you a question?”

James says, “Sure, what would you like to know?”

With eyes wide and a slight tremble in her voice she asks, “Is it true that a demon came and Serenna had to fight it off or it would have eaten your soul?”

“That’s absurd!” he replies. Then he notices how every eye in the inn is directed his way. From their expressions, it is clear they had heard the same thing.

Standing up, James turns toward the crowd and raises his voice saying, “Despite the rumors you may have heard, there was no demon and I have never made a pact with one.”

“But I heard the story from Serenna herself,” one lady says from the crowd. “She’s been telling it all morning.”

“Oh, we’ll just see about that!” Grabbing his things he says, “Miko, we’re leaving.” Heading out to the stable to collect their horses and mule, curious onlookers follow and watch as they make ready to ride. It’s with great relief when he is able to mount and leave the courtyard. A few people attempt to follow but he kicks the side of his horse and quickly leaves them behind.

Drawing near the marketplace, they find it jambed pact with people. Moving forward slowly, they force their way through, eliciting much disgruntled mumblings from those displaced. The marketplace isn’t much better as a mass of people fill the entire market area, all facing toward Serenna’s tent. Carefully maneuvering through the mass of people, James leads the way forward. Standing on a wagon in front of her tent, she speaks to the crowd, the white streak in her hair a stark contrast in amongst the black.

“…its scaly foot had him pinned to the floor, a seven foot sword dripping with fire was raised and ready to cleave him from head to toe. ‘
Your soul is mine’
the fiend cried.” The crowd collectively caught their breath, several women actually fainted dead away. “Not knowing what else to do, I cried ‘Fiend be gone’ and threw my crystal ball.” Pausing for effect she dramatically reenacts the throwing of the ball. “When the ball struck, it cried in pain. Why, I don’t know. The crystal shattered, spraying shards in all directions.” Using her hands to direct their gaze to her face, she continues. “Many of the shards struck me, causing great pain.” Members of her audience let out with an ‘ahhh’.

“The shattering of the crystal in some way caused the demon to return to its realm,” a cheer rises from the crowd. “The poor man, who had come to me for help, lay there, whimpering with fear.” Her voice softens, “‘Mama, is that you?’ the poor man cried as I came close. Not knowing what else to say I replied, ‘Yes, it is dear’.”

Looking around, James can see the people around the marketplace are in rapt attention to every word Serenna is telling them. Some of the women are openly sobbing with tears streaking their face. Even a few of the men are visibly moved.

“I held him there, blood still welling from my wounds, pain throbbing in my face and arms, yet still I held him. He slowly came to his senses and at first did not know where he was, ‘Where am I?’ he asked. ‘You’re safe, that is all that’s important now,’ I assured him. He suddenly jumped up, fear again in his eyes and ran out of my tent. I called for him to return, so that I might help him, but he did not heed me.”

The audience begins to applaud and James would have been moved by the story too, if he didn’t know it was just a bunch of lies. Feeling slightly offended, he continues toward her.

Attention drawn to the presence of a rider approaching, she recognizes him. “There he is!” she cries pointing toward him. The crowd as one turns their attention upon him, the marks on his face and hands visible. They are a match to the ones she herself bears.

“It is him,” utters many whispered voices throughout the crowd.

“I am glad you are now safe,” Serenna says, loud enough for the crowd to hear.

“That’s quite a story,” James says, raising his voice loud enough to carry across the marketplace. “But not quite true, is it?” Turning to the crowd he continues, “There was no demon…”

A scream rips through the marketplace. With a crazed look in her eyes, Serenna screams again then cries out to the crowd, “The demon has taken this man’s soul for his own. Do not hearken to him.” She points an accusing finger at James.

The crowd grows ever more edgy. Fearing it could easily transform into a mob, he nods and they turn to proceed back the way they had come. The crowd parts for them as they leave. Every eye is on him as they make their way from the marketplace. As they leave the area, they hear Serenna once again speaking to the crowd though they are no longer able to make out the words. The crowd within the marketplace cheers loudly to something that she says.

Shaking his head, James leads them out of the city and once again they head east toward the Merchant’s Pass.

_______________________

Riding out of Willimet, they remain quiet for some time. Miko is worried about his friend who has fallen into a dark, brooding mood. After the outskirts of town are no longer visible behind them, James suddenly stops his horse in the middle of the road and cries, “That bitch!”