The Wizard's Secret (14 page)
A couple weeks later, I was eating dinner in the main
dining room with other members of the castle, when I felt a change in the air.
“Do you smell that?” one of the king’s daughters asked her sister.
I didn’t smell anything, but everyone started
sniffing. “It smells sweet,” the king said. One of the guards suddenly slumped
to the ground, unconscious. Everyone else at the table didn’t even have a
chance to panic before one by one, they all passed out.
I covered my mouth and looked around for danger, but
there was no one else in the room and the soporific agent wasn’t working on me.
Realizing what it was, I opened myself to the magic around me and sensed a
wizard almost as powerful as Cennuth had been. There was no doubt in my mind
that it was Baltezore.
I left the dining room, saw more two guards and a
servant on the ground, and went outside. Standing at the bottom of the steps
was Baltezore. “I know what you are here for, and it is already gone.”
“You have disappointed me, Merlin,” he said darkly.
“I disappointed you because I beat you to it?”
“You have disappointed me because you fell right into
my trap. I knew very well that you would come here and take the egg. I had
planned to make you turn it over, but you had to go and make it more difficult
on yourself. Do not be mistaken; I will get that dragon.”
“You will never get your hands on him.”
He laughed. “You are still far too young. I will
return on the day
she
is hatched, and you will give her to me
voluntarily.” With that, he turned and vanished.
I had no idea I was about to get my second chance at
happiness.
* * *
At the time, I lived off the land as a hermit in a
small cabin in the woods, on Gmork’s home world. I was wandering the forest in
search of some herbs for my potions, when I heard a woman calling for help.
Without thinking, I followed that cry right into another man’s land. I knew
there were other wizards, but we all kept to ourselves.
When I came upon a pit trap, I hesitated, for this
felt eerily familiar.
“Is someone there? Please help me!”
I approached the pit. Sure enough, there were spikes
at the bottom and a woman lying on the ground. “Are you hurt?” I asked.
She was covered in mud and sweat, but she still tried
to stand. “I hurt my leg. I didn’t get pierced, but I twisted my ankle.”
I watched her try unsuccessfully to stand and sighed.
“I will be back. I need to get some rope from my cabin.”
“Please come back soon. There are wolves out here.”
The only reason I didn’t say she didn’t have to worry
about wolves was because there were much more dangerous predators and I didn’t
want to frighten her. “I will be quick.” I rushed back to my cabin and grabbed
both rope and a sword before returning. For some reason, I hated this young
woman being out of my sight for a moment, as if she would be discovered and
harmed without me.
I sunk the blade of the sword into the loose dirt
next to the pit, focused my magic, and said, “Bjarg.” The dirt turned to stone,
freezing the sword into place. Then I tied one end of the rope around the hilt
and tossed the remaining rope into the pit. I didn’t make her climb it, though;
I climbed in and carefully lifted her out before climbing back out myself. She
was staring wide-eyed at the stone patch in the ground, seemingly forgetting
her injury. “Ógǫrr.” The stone changed back into dirt and I pulled the
sword out easily.
“That was amazing,” the woman said.
“You are not afraid of magic?”
She looked up at me with beautiful blue eyes. “I’m
not afraid of you.”
* * *
I helped her back to my cabin, where I sat her down
on my bed and gave her a pail of water and cloth to wash herself. To give her
some privacy, I went out to get some herbs to make a healing paste. By the time
I returned, she was done, and I was stunned.
Her eyes were as blue as the deepest, bluest sky, her
hair was like silken strands of gold, and her lips were as pink as the
prettiest flower. She was the essence of a warm summer day.
“Thank you for saving me,” she said shyly.
I didn’t know why I did save her, since it was almost
exactly the same as how I met Erica Baltezore. However, I could feel this woman
was different. “My name is Merlin.”
“I’m Nimue. I should probably be getting back to my
family.”
“At least stay until you heal. You might get hurt
much worse if you try to walk on an injured ankle.” She agreed and I made a
healing paste. I felt completely inappropriate putting it on her, but I did it
anyway and wrapped her ankle with a bandage.
“So, do you live out here on your own?” she asked. I
nodded. “I thought older wizards lived out in the woods alone.”
“I am an older wizard.”
She scoffed. “You can’t be that old.”
“I am much older than I look.”
“Because of your magic?”
“Yes.”
“Can you teach me magic?”
“I thought you had to get back to your family.”
She shrugged. “I doubt they even realize I’m gone.”
She told me her family was very kind and loving. However, it was difficult
times for them so her father was going to marry her to a wizard. She didn’t
know the wizard’s name or what he was like, as she had never met him. The only
thing she knew was that he was rich and powerful.
“It could be worse.”
She nodded. “I know, but I want to marry someone I
love.”
“So there is someone else you love?”
“No. I just don’t want to marry anyone unless I love
them. I was on the way to meet the wizard when something spooked the horses. I
was thrown from my horse and heard a fierce growling, so I ran. The next thing
I knew, the ground vanished beneath me and I fell into the pit.”
“Stay here for tonight, and in the morning, I will
help you find your family.”
We talked about her for a while. What I found most
interesting was that she had a little experience with magic as well. However,
it was not her parents or dragons who taught her magic; she had learned from
fairies. Since she was very little, she had an affinity for nature, and
somehow, she drew the magical beings to her.
She never figured out why, but I had an idea. Nimue
emanated love and innocence. Although I had never met fairies myself, I had
read that they adored innocent and gentle children. I figured Nimue just never
grew out of that, so the fairies never stopped visiting her. This was another
reason I needed to help find her family as soon as possible; nothing as good as
Nimue ever lasted around me.
Eventually, she asked about me. I didn’t think she
would believe me, but I told her anyway. I liked seeing the wonder in her eyes.
The only thing I couldn’t bear to tell her was that it was my fault my mother
was killed. Although I admitted my mother died alone, I made it sound like she
died of old age.
She was extremely expressive, especially when I spoke
about Vinr. When I told her they were gone after I escaped from the cave, she
changed the subject. “It must have been exciting to live with a dragon.”
“It had its moments. If I did not excel in healing
potions, I fear you would be quite repulsed by me, for I would be covered head
to toe in burn scars.”
“Scars do not detract in beauty. Each and every scar
a person has is a story written in their skin. Most of them are very sad
stories, but they are still a part of someone and that makes them beautiful. Do
you always speak so formally?”
“Yes, yes I do.”
“I like that. Will you teach me magic?”
“Go home tomorrow and meet your affianced,” I said.
Her face fell. “Give him a week to win your heart. If he is not the man of your
dreams or if he mistreats you, return to me and I will teach you everything I
know. Beware, however, that my magic is not like that of the fairies.”
She nodded and smiled brightly. My heart skipped a
few beats.
* * *
In the morning, I led Nimue back to the pit and
retraced her steps through the forest. It did not take long before we found the
spot where the horses had been spooked. From there, it only took a few hours to
get her back to home. She invited me inside, but I turned her down. “Remember
our deal; if I don’t fall in love with the wizard, you’ll teach me magic.”
I nodded. “I remember.”
* * *
I didn’t expect to ever see Nimue again. After a week
passed with no word from her, I knew it was foolish to hope that she felt the
same as me. I didn’t even know a lot about her, but I still couldn’t get her
out of my mind.
Two weeks passed and I decided it was time to move to
another world for a while. I was packing up my things when I heard a tentative
knock on the door. When I answered the door, I couldn’t have been more
surprised to see Nimue.
“Am I too late?” she asked.
I stepped out of the way to let her enter. “I thought
you fell in love with the wizard.”
“I gave him a week…”
“And?”
“And he’s great. He’s kind, he’s respectful, he’s
interested in my interests, and he’s even interested in teaching me magic.”
“Why are you here then?”
She shrugged and sat on my chair. “I don’t know. I
like him, but there’s something… dark about him. He has servants, which I’m
fine with, except for one in particular. Quinn is a creepy little wizard who
leers at me every time his master isn’t around.”
“Did you tell your fiancé?”
“He said he would get rid of Quinn. Despite how
polite he has been to me, I really thought he wasn’t going to let me go. I told
him I wanted to wait to marry someone until I was in love. He didn’t say
anything or even glare at me, but there was something in his eyes that told me
I was angering him. Then I told him about meeting you… and he told me I should
be with you.”
“What did you tell him about me?”
“That I couldn’t get you out of my mind,” she
answered.
“Really?” For the first time in years, I didn’t know
what to say. “And he just let you go?”
She nodded. “When I told him about you, yes.”
That seemed odd to me; there weren’t a lot of men I
knew who would be selfless enough to let a woman like Nimue slip through his
fingers. “What is his name?”
“Gmork.”
* * *
I explained how I had a friend from this world named
Gmork. I didn’t think it was a common name, so I was very curious to know if
Nimue’s fiancé was the grandson or great-grandson of my childhood friend. “Do
you want me to introduce you to him?” she asked.
I considered it carefully. I pretty much handed her
to the wizard, but he let her go and she came back to me. “Soon, but not
immediately. First, I did promise to teach you some magic.”
She was very excited, so we began that night. Since
she wasn’t experienced, I started with a few little tricks like turning small
gems into gold and pulling swords out of stones. Nimue was enthusiastic about
learning, so after about a week of her staying with me, I started taking her to
other worlds. She made me see the universe with a new light.
Our relationship was platonic at first, and I felt
she was too innocent for anything more. That didn’t mean I didn’t quickly grow
to love her. Nimue was extremely considerate and always made sure I was happy.
She listened carefully to everything I said as if I was exceedingly
interesting.
About two months after she showed up at my door, we
returned to her world so she could visit her family. She convinced me to go
with her and her parents were very happy to meet me. Of course, they also
thought she had run off and married me. Or, at least I hoped that was what they
thought, because they asked us when we were planning on having children.
Nimue blushed deeply. I didn’t want to tell them
their daughter was still available for them to marry her to Gmork, especially
since I was pretty sure they could tell how I felt about her. We had a nice
visit and then returned to my cabin… only my cabin was not empty.
I had placed a protective ward around it, and very
few people knew how to disarm it. I opened my door and saw Gmork sitting in my
chair. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that it was the same person I was
friends with when we were children.
“Hello, Merlin,” he said calmly. He was taller, thin,
less pale, and his hair was longer, but his eyes were the same vibrant green
they were when he was a child. He also had a small, short goatee that made him
look very different. On the other hand, it had been hundreds of years since I
last saw him.
“How are you still alive?”
He smirked. “I could ask you the same question. You
never came back.”
“I was trapped by another wizard and made immortal.”
He laughed. “Figures. I learned to maintain myself
with magic.”
“How?”
“In due time, my friend. I think we have quite a lot
to catch up on. Nimue, please give us some privacy.”
She looked at me and I patted her shoulder. “We could
use some more healing herbs,” I said. After a moment of hesitation, she nodded
and left.
“Do you love her?” Gmork asked.
I nodded. “Why did you tell her to come back to me?
She was supposed to marry you.”
“I knew she was your type. I was going to insist she
marry me until she told me she had already met you. She talked about you for
days. She fawned over you.”
“She spent less than a day with me.”
“Well, you made an impression. I had hoped that you
two would live out your long and happy lives together, but I had also hoped
that you would have come to see me when she told you who I was. I thought we
were still friends.”
“I thought you were long gone. I also wanted a little
time alone with Nimue and I didn’t know it was really you.”
“Now that you do, do you want to continue where we
left off?”
“As friends?”
He shook his head impatiently. “You know what I was
working on when we last met.”
“Necromancy.”
“Exactly. I have found a way to overcome death. With
our magic together, we could do anything.”
“Nothing good will come of it. I refuse to be
involved.”
He stood with a sigh and approached me. “So be it.”
He passed me to walk out the door.
“What happened to your mother?” I asked.
He hesitated for just a moment before leaving without
answering me. Nimue returned and I explained what happened. When I was done,
she didn’t say I did the right thing. She trusted me to do what I thought was
right and nothing needed to be said. It was another reason why I loved her.
* * *
Nimue and I lived together for five years in perfect
happiness. We traveled for a while and returned to my cabin when we got tired.
Nimue never complained about or tried to exploit the fact that I was immortal.
She made me enjoy things in life I had forgotten to care about.