SEARCH FOR THE LOST SOUL (4 page)

She glanced
at Chris who nodded to her. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. After a
moment, she nodded. “I see it.”

“Good,” said
Loren. “Now, I will repeat what I told you previously. I want you to listen to
the words through that blue spot. When I am finished you will know the truth of
what I am saying.” He quickly repeated his previous words.

When he
finished, she opened her eyes and smiled at him. “He’s telling the truth.”

“It could be
a trick,” Chris was still suspicious.

Kelly laid
her hand on his arm. “Chris, trust me. I know that he’s telling the truth but I
can’t explain it to you.”

Chris looked
down into her earnest face then up at Loren, who was watching him with an
amused expression on his face. After eying the wizard for several minutes, he
shifted his eyes to look at the fairy then back down at Kelly. He sighed; he
was out of his league and he knew it.

“Chris,”
said Loren. “I know that it is difficult for you to believe. As far as you knew
magic, real magic, didn’t exist. Come with us. You can stay until you are
satisfied that we have Kelly’s best interests at heart.”

Chris eyed
him for a moment before looking back down at Kelly. “Why is it so easy for you
to accept this magic?”

She frowned.
“I don’t know. But I believe in it.”

“It is the
dreams,” explained Loren.

“What
dreams?” Chris asked, shifting his attention back to Loren.

“Kelly has
been having unexplained dreams for the past several months. Now that the word
magic had been mentioned, the meaning of much of these dreams is becoming
clear. More will be revealed to her once she has learned some control over her
power.”

Chris
shifted his eyes to Kelly for a moment, noted the intense concentration on her
face and returned his gaze to Loren. “How do you know that she’s been having
these dreams?”

“As I said
earlier, Trevin has been watching her. He was the one who noticed that she had
become restless at night. The dreams were the only reasonable explanation. They
were a prelude to her gaining access to her power.

“Now that
she can use her power, we need to protect her from Gregory and the others like
him who would use her power for evil. Eventually she will be able to protect
herself but until she can do this we must do it for her.”

There was a
short silence as he eyed Chris. “You will have to trust us until we can prove
it to your satisfaction. Now, we must be going before Gregory calls upon his
brethren to break through the spell that Kelly created.”

Chris eyed
him for several minutes before shifting his gaze down to Kelly. He sighed as he
realized that he had no choice but to accept it. If he didn’t, he ran the risk
of them going off without him. And there was no way that he was going to let
her go without at least a modicum of protection. He nodded to Loren.

Loren
smiled. “Fine. Now, we will all grasp hands so that I can teleport you to my
castle in the Scottish mountains.”

Chris
started to protest again but was interrupted when Loren grabbed his hand and
grayness enveloped him.

Chris’s
stomach lurched and a sense of disorientation clouded his mind for an unknown
length of time before. a stone floor appeared beneath his feet with a
suddenness that caused him to fall to his knees. He looked up in time to see
Loren grab Kelly by the arm to keep her from suffering the same fate. He shook
his head as he struggled to his feet, trying to clear his mind.

Another man
appeared suddenly at Chris’ side, placing a firm hand on his elbow to help
support him.

Chris smiled
at the big, red-haired man once he felt that he was steady once again. The man
nodded and released his elbow before looking askance at Loren.

“We will be
having dinner as soon as possible, Godfrey. Please see that all is ready in the
family dining room.”

“As you will,
sir.” The man bowed to Loren before disappearing as silently as he had
appeared.

“I will show
you to your rooms,” said Loren. “I have one question. Will you two share a room
or would you like connecting room?”

“We’re not
lovers,” said Chris sullenly.

“Ah,” said
Loren with a slight smile. “Connecting rooms it will be.” He raised a hand to
hold off Chris’ objection. “I know that you probably do not feel that you
should have a connecting room with Kelly, however, if you are not close to her,
how will you be able to protect her from me or anyone else.” He smiled benignly
at Chris.

Chris
frowned at him but nodded his agreement, hoping that there would be a door he
could shut; it wouldn’t do for him to inadvertently see her changing clothes or
something. Not that he would have minded such a sight but he was afraid that it
might embarrass her, and she had been through enough already.

Loren led
the way up a wide, stone staircase. Chris looked down at each step as he
ascended, thinking of the hours that must have been involved in carving this
one staircase, let alone who knew how many others there were inside this
castle.

He turned
his attention to the stones in the wall they were passing. Although the stones
had been polished, in places he could still see the marks made by the person
who had chiseled it many years before. He peered closer but could see no sign
of mortar holding the stones together, it appeared as if each had been carved
to fit snugly against the stone next to it. He shook his head in wonder; the building
of this castle must have been a very expensive undertaking. They climbed four
flights of stairs before Loren turned onto a circular landing

Loren
stopped in front of a thick oaken door, pushing it open before standing aside
and ushering both Kelly and Chris inside. The room was elaborately furnished. A
large canopied bed covered with a dark blue velvet coverlet stood along one
wall with an oaken end table flanking each side. Along a second wall sat an
elaborately carved desk with a chair and a small lamp sitting on top next to a
closed door.

The third
wall was entirely covered by a large, stone fireplace, now empty and cold.
 a large window, now shuttered, and a double doorway that led to a stone
balcony were the only things along the fourth wall . A sheepskin rug covered
most of the stone floor.

“Is this
room satisfactory for you?” Loren asked Kelly.

She nodded
as her eyes traveled around the room.

“Good,” said
Loren. “I will see that it is cleaned and repaired for you and that a fire is
laid to warm it to a comfortable temperature.”

Loren waved
them out of the room. As they emerged into the hall a teenaged girl with flame
red hair appeared. “This is Moira,” said Loren. “She will be serving as your
personal maid.”

He turned to
Moira. “See that the room is prepared.” She curtsied and disappeared back down
the hall.

Loren turned
and led them to the room next door, which was furnished much the same as the
one they had just been in. Chris nodded to indicate that the room was
acceptable to him. a young boy entered the room and came to stand next to
Loren.

Loren smiled
at him before turning to Chris. “This is Conrad. He will be serving as your
valet.”

He turned
back to the blond boy, giving him the same instructions that he had given
Moira. When the boy had gone he smiled at his guests.

“Dinner
should be ready by now. I assume that you are hungry.”

Both Kelly
and Chris nodded, their mouths watering at the thought of food. as they
followed Loren back down the stairs, Chris wondered when they had last eaten;
it all depended on how long they had been unconscious in their prison room.

Loren led
them to a small room dominated by an oak table with legs carved into the
 shape of various animals surrounded by six wooden chairs. The table was
laden with large plates piled high with food that Chris didn’t recognize. Loren
took the chair at the head of the table, indicating that they should take the
two chairs flanking him.

As the meal
progressed Loren kept up a steady stream of conversation, explaining that the
castle had been built in the fifteen hundreds but had recently been modernized
with electricity and indoor plumbing. He smiled as he apologized for the lack
of heating, stating that he couldn’t permit such an unnecessary expenditure.

as a maid
laid a large chocolate cake in the center of the table, Loren explained that
they had the run of the castle except for certain room, which they would find
locked. If they should get lost, they would discover a multitude of servants
roaming the castle, more than a hundred inside alone, to give them directions.

Before they
finished their desert, Godfrey appeared and bent to whisper in Loren’s ear.
After listening intently Loren waited for the man to leave before wiping his
mouth with a linen napkin. He rose. “I am sorry that I must leave you for a
while. There has arisen a matter, which requires my immediate attention. I do
not know if I will see you before retiring for the night so I will see you in
the morning. Kelly, we will begin your training at that time.”

“Fine by
me,” was her answer as she reached for a second piece of cake. She didn’t
remember a time when she had felt so hungry.

Loren smiled
absently at them as he hurried from the room. Once he was gone Chris spoke for
the first time since sitting down at the table. “Are you sure that you can
trust him?”

Kelly nodded
as she took a sip of the sweet drink that she couldn’t remember the name of. “I
don’t know why but I do.”

Chris
frowned. Somehow it all seemed too convenient to him. Although it didn’t appear
that they were prisoners, with a hundred servants within earshot there would be
plenty of people to detain them should they try to leave. And Loren seemed to
be too pleasant; he didn’t trust anyone who smiled all the time.

they finally
decided that they were full and rose from the table, three young girls appeared
to clear the table before they could leave the room. Chris shook his head as he
piloted Kelly from the room.

They
wandered around the first floor of the castle, quickly locating the large
formal dining room with a table that Chris estimated could seat fifty guests
and the kitchens, which were behind the formal dining room. When they poked
their head inside the kitchen all twenty or so people who were working there
looked up, asking if they required assistance.

Kelly smiled
at them and told them that they were simply exploring and were sorry for the
interruption.

Next they
discovered a large ballroom with a polished wooden floor. Both of them wandered
through the ballroom, marveling at the sheer size of the room. The walls were
lined with velvet upholstered chairs except for one which contained a raised
platform which the musicians would use as they played. Huge crystal chandeliers
hung from the ceiling, providing amply light for the dancers below.

The next
room proved to be a library filled with leather bound books. Chris wasn’t
interested in the library, he only read when he had to, but Kelly stepped
forward to examine some of the titles. He decided that she had found some that
she would be interested in reading when she returned to his side, smiling.

They quickly
moved through several sitting rooms and an office before coming to a room with
oil portraits covering the walls. Chris trailed behind Kelly, noting
dispassionately that most of the portraits were ancient but Kelly was obviously
fascinated, coming to a stop in front of each one and spending several minutes
peering closely at it.

They had
made their way halfway down the first wall when Kelly reached the portrait of a
young girl. She appeared to be only six or seven, a beautiful child with golden
curls and large blue eyes. Kelly stared at the picture, unable to tear her eyes
away.

Chris
watched her, a frown on his face as he wondered what the attraction of this
particular portrait was. Sure the girl was young but there had been several
other young children’s pictures hanging on the wall that she had passed with no
more interest than the others. He eyed the portrait but saw nothing that should
command such attention.

Chris jumped
when a soft voice spoke from behind them; he hadn’t heard anyone approach.
“Shall I tell you the story behind that portrait?”

They turned
to find a middle-aged woman wearing a floor length purple gown with long
sleeves and creamy lace around the low cut neck and wrists. Her black hair was
twisted into a tight bun at the nape of her long slender neck. Her most
striking feature were her large dark eyes ringed by long lashes set into her
pale face.

“I would
like very much to hear it,” said Kelly.

The woman
smiled. “Her name was Effie. She was two days shy of her seventh birthday when
she died suddenly of a fever. Her grief-stricken parents commissioned that
portrait after her death. She was their only child and her mother, Darcy,
followed her in death less than six months later. That is her portrait over
there,” she pointed to the portrait of a mousy looking overweight woman with
pale brown hair.

“They say
that she died of a broken heart. Her husband,” she paused to point at a
portrait of a large, dark man, “married a few months after his wife’s death; he
married the groom’s daughter and caused quite a scandal. It was said that she
was with child when they married but that was never proven as the baby died
before birth.

“They raised
four sons after that. The youngest was Loren who inherited the castle after it
was discovered that he had the magical talent that is so highly prized in this
area of Scotland. His older brothers were unhappy with this turn of events but
there was nothing they could do about it. His father’s will was unbreakable.”

Kelly
returned her attention to the portrait of Effie. “So she was his sister.”

The woman
nodded. “It was said that she would have had the power also. She already had
the second sight. There is a long history of persons with power in Loren’s
family.”

“Are you a
member of his family?” Chris asked.

She laughed.
“Oh, no. I am merely a witch he allowed to come here to learn the use of my
powers. We were lovers for many years but when he moved on to another, I
stayed. Loren is a wonderful man, loving and more gentle than any other man
that I have ever known.”

“So you
stayed to try to get him back,” said Chris.

She laughed.
“Oh, no. What we once had was over a long time ago. But he is a kind man and I
had nowhere else to go so he allowed me to stay. He is not one who holds a
grudge. I now work as his secretary. He is a great sorcerer but a terrible
businessman.”

“And what is
your name?” Chris asked.

She laughed.
“Forgive me. We all know about you, you’re the talk of the community, and I
forgot that you have no idea who we are. I am Wynne.” she paused for a moment
before continuing.

“Around the
castle you will find others he has rescued over the years, Geva from a small
village in Israel, Trevor from Canada, Sheeva from India, Ziven from Russia and
Hans from Germany. Most of us would have died had Loren not interceded for us.”

“He sounds
like a wonderful man,” said Kelly, poking Chris in the ribs.

“Yeah,
wonderful,” grumbled Chris.

Wynne
laughed again. “You do not trust him.”

“No, I
don’t. He appears to be too good to be true.”

“He is
exactly as he appears,” said Wynne. “In two hundred fifty years I have heard of
only one enemy;  Sagwai a Chinese wizard.”

Chris
frowned. “Only one?”

Wynne
nodded, “I do not know the entire story but from what I have heard, Loren took
offense when Sagwai tried to make a young girl his bride. It seems that he had
been doing this for years, casting them aside when they became adults. They
fought and Loren won; he stripped Sagwai of his powers so he couldn’t do it
again. Loren always stands up for what he believes is right.”

“So what’s
his interest in Kelly?” Chris demanded.

“Ah, so that
is what troubles you. You think he is after your girl.”

“Kelly is
not my girl,” Chris answered sullenly.