Something Magic This Way Comes (39 page)

It was Wilkins. He sat up. “Master Arthur,” he said, “I’ve had the grooms saddle horses for you and your friend. You’d best be gone, quickly. Lord Carandon is planning terrible things.”

The old butler had been at Tatcham long before Lord Carandon had married Kitty’s mother. He’d been our partisan through all sorts of trouble from when I was barely out of short clothes. I should not have been surprised . . . but I was. And touched, especially after Kitty had just let her stepfather take us.

“Wilkins, where is Kitty? I have to talk to her.”

“I think she may be in the laboratory, young master. None of the servants are allowed in there.”

“Good. Then that’s where I am going. Best play least-in-sight, Wilkins. I don’t want you in trouble over this business, and it is deep doings. But thank you, from the bottom of my heart.”

“I am glad to be of service, young Master.” He smiled. “In the hall we always thought you and Lady Catherine would make a match of it. It was not to be, but I’d always thought that I would be your man.”

“You may yet be. And I may still surprise you. First I’ve got to put your present master to grass . . . I am less than sure how to do that. First off, I must spring Annwn and talk to Kitty. Best be back to your post, old friend.”

I walked down the passage toward the laboratory.

* * *

“I have been quite blind, haven’t I?” said the alfar-girl.

“Bespelled, yes. For many years,” said Annwn.

“And now it would seem,” said a cold voice from the doorway, “that I will have to redo a great deal of my work.”

“Papa!”

He smiled, showing his teeth. “In a manner of speaking, yes. Now, back away from that creature, Catherine. They are dangerously glib if nothing else. I am proof against your spell, fay. I have been studying you kind for many years. I lack your power, but I exceed your skill.”

Uncertainly, the alfar-woman moved toward him.

She had after all been under his influence for many years. Then, to Annwn’s surprise she grabbed his arms. “Run!” she screamed.

But it was too late. Gwyn stood behind him. Annwn knew that he was more powerful than she was. She felt him raise his will . . .

And saw him turn and fall as the alfar-girl was thrown off by the man she called father. The human mage turned and drew a long thin blade from inside his silver headed cane. “Redmund,” he said. “I was planning to dispose of you more tidily.” He raised the blade.

Annwn could do nothing to the mage. He had indeed protected himself very well. But a faerie blade was hers to call. And Arthur had earned it.

* * *

As I faced my death, I felt the swordhilt smack into my palm. It was a long and a very light blade. Lord Carandon dropped his thrust to parry my stroke, and I was forced briefly onto the back foot. I beat at his blade, and then we were hard at it. He was not my master by much, but I was feeling the months of dissipation wearing away my stamina. It might have gone ill . . . but then Kitty thrust a foot between his legs.

He fell heavily, and I leaped forward. This was no gentleman’s duel . . . and I thrust at nothing. He was gone with a clap of inrushing air.

I looked around in puzzlement. “He has translocated,” said the little fay.

I helped Kitty to her feet. “You have to go,” she said. “Now. I have seen him do this before. He’ll be back with help.”

The fay nodded. “We need to be away. All of us. What did you do to Gwyn? He is more dangerous still.”

“I gave him a leveler. He is just back there. . . .”

He wasn’t.

“Wilkins sent a groom to saddle horses for us.” I took Kitty’s hand. “Come with us.” There was much yet to be dealt with, and much that could not be undone.

But this I could put right.

“She must,” said the fay. “I will need her to get home.”

“Only if you want me to,” said Kitty, looking down.

I lifted her chin gently. Looked into her dark eyes.

“I never wanted anything more,” I said, and kissed her, while the little fay stamped her foot with impatience.

By day,
Walt Boyes
is a not-so-mild-mannered chief editor of a technical magazine called
Control
and a partner in a high-technology consulting firm, Spitzer and Boyes LLC. Ah, but by night, he transforms into the Bananaslug of Baen’s Bar and begins to write. Walt has written ten nonfiction books, articles and columns too numerous to count (Bananaslugs have very few fingers anyway), and has published several fiction pieces, including two short stories in the 1632 Universe and some children’s stories. Walt is currently working on two nonfiction books, and a novel (of course— doesn’t every writer have one stashed somewhere?). Walt is Associate Editor and Marketing Director for Jim Baen’s
Universe
magazine.

Paul Crilley
is a thirty-year-old Scotsman living in South Africa with his partner, Caroline, and their young daughter, Isabella-Rose. He spends his days writing scripts for South African television and his nights trying to finish the various novels he has on the go. His first novel,
Night Of The Long Shadows
, was released in May 2007. He and Caroline have just bought their first house. Visit Paul at www.paulcrilley.com

Linda A. B. Davis
was originally schooled in print journalism but has decided that writing science fiction and fantasy is a lot more fun. She enjoys creating new worlds and characters that she would like to see become real. Her work has appeared in various magazines, both web and print, as well as in local newspapers. She lives in northwestern Florida with her husband, daughter, three dogs, cat, and rabbit. When she’s not dodging hurricanes, she also enjoys softball, reading, jigsaw puzzles, and travel. Many thanks go to Steve, her parents, and her Aunt Frances for their support and inspiration.

Russell Davis
has written numerous short stories and novels in a variety of genres under several different names. Some of his most recent work can be seen in
Slipstreams
,
Maiden, Matron, Crone
, and
Under Cover
of Darkness
. He lives in Nevada, where he writes, rides horses and spends time with his family.

Eric Flint
is a popular star of SF and fantasy.
1634: The
Galileo Affair
, a collaboration with Andrew Dennis, was a
New York Times
best seller. His novel
Mother of
Demons
, was picked by
Science Fiction Chronicle
a best novel of the year. His novel
1632
, which launched the Ring of Fire series, won widespread critical praise, as from
Publisher’s Weekly
, which called him “an SF author of particular note, one who can entertain and edify in equal, and major, measure.” He has also shown a powerful gift for humorous fantasy adventure with
Forward the Mage
and
The Philosophical Strangler
, which
Booklist
described as “Monty Python let loose in Tolkien’s Middle Earth.” A longtime labor union activist with a master’s degree in history, he currently resides in northwest Indiana with his wife Lucille.

As a sick brat,
Dave Freer
once found himself trapped in house in which he had had nothing to read. Having read the contents of all the jars and detergent boxes, he started on his sister’s collection of Regency romances. As a rugged outdoor fisheries scientist and fish-farm manager, he learned to hide his passion for them in girly-magazine covers until he grew up and stopped worrying about it. Now he is a full-time writer, author or coauthor of ten novels, including
Rats Bats &Vats
(no. 7 on the Locus ranking) and
Pyramid Scheme
(no. 3 on Locus), both with Eric Flint, and the successful
Heirs of Alexandra
series with Mercedes Lackey and Eric Flint. His last solo novel,
A Mankind Witch
, was star rated by
Publishers Weekly
(meaning they considered it a book of outstanding quality). He is contracted to write a further five novels. Freer has written a growing body of shorter fiction too, all of which is designed to avoid him wasting time rock-climbing or diving for spiny lobsters. He lives near Mooi River, South Africa, with his wife, sons, various dogs, and the cats that own him, somewhere close to middle of nowhere.

Esther M. Friesner
is the author of thirty-three novels and over one hundred fifty short stories and other works. She won the Nebula Award twice as well as the Skylark and the Romantic Times Award. Best known for creating and editing the wildly popular
Chicks in Chainmail
anthology series, her latest publications are the Young Adult novels
Temping Fate
,
Nobody’s
Princess
and
Nobody’s Prize
. She lives in Connecticut with her husband, is the mother of two grown children, and harbors cats.

Darwin A. Garrison
resides in the wastelands of northeastern Indiana, where he spends his days hunting the wily saber-toothed prairie gopher to supplement his family’s meager diet of instant ramen noodles and Kit Kat bars. Frequently observed near video retailers stocking anime titles and bookstores with notable science fiction and manga sections, he cannot be easily identified because he looks just like any other middleaged cubicle lemming. By dint of his disconnect with reality and the miracle of the “infinite typing monkeys” theory, he has managed to write two other stories of sufficient quality for sale to DAW/Tekno anthologies this year in addition to Firebird and Shadow. His dearest dream is to sell enough fiction to fund a recurring Friday night anime-pizza party that will continue until he succumbs to intense mozzarella poisoning.

Daniel M. Hoyt
aspires to be
that
Dan Hoyt—you know, the one who writes those cool stories and books. Realizing a few years ago that rocket science was fun but unlikely to pay all the bills, Dan embarked on a new career choice—writing fiction for fun and profit. Since his first sale to
Analog
, he’s sold several stories to other magazines and anthologies. In addition, Dan is particularly pleased to announce his upcoming DAW anthology,
Fate Fantastic
, edited with Martin H. Greenberg. Curiously, after a few short years, Dan’s mortgage is still outstanding, but he remains hopeful. Catch up with him at http://www.danielmhoyt.com

John Lambshead
was born in the English Westcountry surf town of Newquay in 1952. He was educated at Newquay Grammar School, and Brunel University in West London. He took a PhD at The Natural History Museum in London in 1983 and now works there as a research professor in biodiversity. He is married to Valerie, and they have two grown-up daughters. John’s hobby was designing wargames and computer games. He is best known for creating the first icondriven computer game,
The Fourth Protocol
. He has written a number of popular history and gaming books, including David Drake’s
Hammers Slammers
Handbook
. His historical science fantasy,
Lucy’s
Blade
, was published in May 2007.

Fran LaPlaca
’s short story, “Wings to Fly,” appeared in the award winning Realms of Wonder anthology,
Fantastic Companions
, and her flash fiction has been featured online at antipodeansf.com. She lives in the rolling green hills of northwest Connecticut with a cat, a hamster, two fish, a rabbit, as well as a husband and two of her three children. A member of the soon-to-be-famous CEvo writing group, she works on her novels while laboring away in customer service. You can find her online at http://www.sff.net/people/fran-laplaca.

Alan Lickiss
was raised in the suburbs of Washington, DC, where he met and married his wife, Rebecca. He lives along the front range in Colorado with his wife, four children, and at last count one cat, six parakeets, and one dwarf hamster. Alan spends his days working in software development, writing in the evenings and on weekends. His goal is to give up the day job to write full time. Other work by him appears in
All Hell
Breaks Loose
and
The Future We Wish We Had
.

Barb Nickless
’s short stories have appeared in a wide variety of magazines and anthologies, including
All
Hell Breaking Loose
,
New Writings of the Fantastic
, and
Fate Fantastic
. Currently at work on her second mystery novel, she lives in Colorado with her husband and two children.

Kate Paulk
takes interesting medication. This explains her compulsion to write science fiction and fantasy and also means you’ll be seeing a lot more of her in the future. Her friends would fear for her sanity, but she claims not to have any. She’s been published in
Crossroads
,
Fate Fantastic
, and
Misspelled
and is hard at work on a novel. She lives in semiurban Pennsylvania with her husband and two bossy lady cats. Whether this has any effect on her sanity is not known.

Charles Edgar Quinn
works buying and selling books at The Book Broker in downtown Colorado Springs, a huge, independent used book store that now faces an uncertain future because of renovations and rebuilding on the block. He has worked there under three owners and three different names since 1993. Previously he worked managing the metaphysical bookstore section of a new age store, a job he got by virtue of having the right birthdate— they seemed to consider the horoscope the most important part of the interview process. He worked a few years as an independent wholesale distributor, and worked for a while at a North Carolina newspaper, the
Durham Herald
. His unavoidable writer’s cat is a large orange Tabby named Scooter.

Irene Radford
has been writing stories ever since she figured out what a pencil was for. A member of an endangered species, a native Oregonian who lives in Oregon, she and her husband make their home in Welches, Oregon, where deer, bears, coyotes, hawks, owls, and woodpeckers feed regularly on their back deck. For this story Irene updates her popular Merlin’s Descendants Series, bringing her world of magic and wolfhounds into the present.

Laura Resnick
is the author of such fantasy novels as
Disappearing Nightly
,
In Legend Born
,
The Destroyer
Goddess
, and
The White Dragon
, which made the “Year’s Best” lists of
Publishers Weekly
and
Voya.
A long-ago winner of the Campbell Award for best new science fiction/fantasy writer, she has published more than fifty short stories. Under the pseudonym Laura Leone, she is the award-winning author of more than a dozen romance novels, including
Fallen From Grace
, which was a finalist for the Romance Writers of America’s Rita Award. You can find her on the Web at www.LauraResnick.com.