Sorceress' Blood (10 page)

The driver stopped outside and turned his head as far as he could to
look at Ashley and Rebecca. Two servant girls, like Lord Sebastian's
maids, helped them out of the carriage. Ashley stomped her feet on
the dusty ground a few times then brushed her dress off. Rebecca
thanked the women helping her and began to look around for their
host. She looked over by the door then towards the pagoda. When she
turned around again, she found that he was standing right next to
her. Rebecca jumped and yelped in surprise.

“You scared me,” she said apologetically.

“Lord Edward, at your service. Let me say that you are the
prettiest lady I've ever had the pleasure of surprising.”
Edward's features hinted at a partly Chinese heritage and he didn't
look anything like Lord Sebastian. He was considerably younger with
darker hair and a taller, thinner build. His features were softer and
understated, except for his watchful eyes that gave away his emotions
more than the way he smiled.

“Rebecca. This is...”

“Ashley,” the little girl interrupted.

“Welcome to both of you. This is my castle; my humble abode and
you are to think of it as a haven and - for as long as you like -
your home.” Humble was the last word Rebecca would have used to
describe Edward's home. She tried to place his accent but it didn't
sound like anything she'd heard. It definitely wasn't Chinese and
while he pronounced things the English way it wasn't English, neither
was it harsh enough to be Scottish and certainly didn't have the
broad tone of her own Australian. Lord Edward's voice was, like his
manner and his home, unique.

“Thank you,” Rebecca answered.

“Please follow me inside.”

Edward took them into the castle and to an old cage elevator at the
back of the entrance hall. The three of them rode it to the top floor
and came out to a large waiting room. Edward explained that this was
his floor: This is where his office was, his personal chambers, even
a dining room and a sitting room. He assured them that, at all times
through the day, he could be found here and, if not, his secretary
was here and she spoke English. Edward went on talking and Rebecca at
last saw the family resemblance between Lord Edward and Lord
Sebastian. Both the men had the same way of explaining things and
both acted like very important people. Lord Edward was perhaps
classier or more suave than his cousin but he didn't seem quite as
sincere as Lord Sebastian had been. Lord Edward was a guarded man
that always looked intensely into the eyes of whoever he spoke to.
Still, he was taking Rebecca and Ashley into his home with nothing
but a story and their word that it was true. He could be as
emotionally distant from them as he liked so long as they were safe
there and it certainly felt safe. She didn't know if it was because
of how difficult it was to get to the castle or if it were the
monsters guarding the door, but this place felt safe from even the
craftiest Thralls. This was exactly the far away, isolated corner of
China that she'd hoped for. When Edward had moved from his office
through a door to the dining room, Rebecca began to listen to him
again.

“No doubt you'll want to keep learning magic, correct?”
He asked Ashley and the girl nodded in response. “Then you will
be in the fine hands of my best sorcerer and you will have everything
the Tower has to offer you.”

“The Tower?” Rebecca asked.

“The tall structure by the castle. It's a pagoda, really, but
my family have always been traditionalists and so we call it the
Tower. The Knights live in the castle but those who were gifted with
a talent for magic are trained and live in the Tower where they
continue to practise and to teach others.”

“That's traditional, is it?”

“Of course. I can't tell you why it's tradition but it's the
way things have been done for a long time.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course. I'm here to help you.”

“If you've all been doing this for so long that you don't even
know why you do these things, then how come you haven't done anything
good with all that magic?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why didn't you just make yourself appear in Germany and kill
Hitler the moment he invaded Poland? Why don't you use your magic and
get rid of all the nuclear weapons in the world? Can't you do
anything with magic?”

“Why should I fix the world? You could ask God the same
question.”

“Well ,I'm not sitting at the table eating steak with God, so
I'll have to ask you,” Rebecca said and the first red of fury
crept onto her cheeks. She had only meant to ask a simple question
but, as she spoke, her anger grew and so did her demand for a damn
good reason for these people to be sitting in their castles and
towers making birds appear out of books and not fixing the world.

“Why does an infant learn to walk?”

“What?”

“As an infant grows, it begins to crawl and then it learns to
walk. Why?”

“So it can get around, obviously. What's that got to do with
anything?”

“It learns to walk because no one is going to carry it around
forever. The infant becomes a toddler and learns to walk on its own
feet. Because no one does all the work for it, it learns and grows
and becomes self-reliant and more able to survive.”

“So it's tough love?”

“You might say that. Maybe the sorcerers over there in the
Tower have enough power between them to turn Africa into one big
dairy farm but what happens if it burns down? What happens if a
plague kills all the cows? They wouldn't know what to do because it
was done for them the first time and they'd be back where they
started. Humanity would never grow or develop, if sorcerers just did
everything for them. Sorcerers weren't the ones who built cars
because they didn't need them. A sorcerer has never needed the
Internet and so a sorcerer never programmed it. A history that relied
on sorcerers would never have left the dark ages, maybe never left
the stone ages.”

“Then what's the point?” Rebecca's anger had subsided for
the time being. Maybe he was right, but she wondered if perhaps it
would hurt the world so much if it was given a helping hand every now
and then. Even an infant needs to be picked up and put on his feet
while he's still learning to walk.

“Well, some people just like to pull birds out of books, I
suppose. Then, of course, there is the matter of the sorceress. With
Ashley here in the picture we are now closer than ever to the
Sorceress' rebirth. Should that ever happen it's important to have
sorcerers of any strength to help, because certainly one or two or
even a whole family will not be enough for what must happen. Whether
she returns or not, the possibility is there and we must be ready.”

When they finished their dinner it had gotten late. Rebecca had found
she'd enjoyed the wine a little too much and walked clumsily when she
followed the maid leading her to her room. When she asked which room
Ashley would be staying in the maid told her that Ashley would be
living in the Tower at all times and that Rebecca could visit her
there if she wanted. Rebecca didn't say either way about it but
closed the door, found her bed and went to sleep. She awoke in the
middle of the night with a bad case of cotton mouth and she got a
drink from the sink in her bathroom and then went back to bed for the
rest of the night. She didn't wake up until the following afternoon.
She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept that late, even
before she'd met Ashley and the Knights.

When Rebecca had dressed she left the castle and headed across the
grounds to the Tower. The Tower stood as a lone monolith with few
windows, none of which could be seen into. No one entered and no one
left the Tower and even though, behind those walls, the impossible
was happening all the time, the Tower stood silent. Rebecca tried to
open the doors but the two dragons would not part. Rebecca knocked,
waited and nothing happened. She took a few steps back and looked up
to the top of the Tower but it was sheathed in glaring sunlight and
she had to look away. Rebecca looked around her for someone or even
something that might help her but no one came near the Tower. She
sighed and walked back the way she came and into Lord Edward's castle
once again. Servants and knights busied themselves and Rebecca felt
herself reaching instinctively for Ashley's hand but she grasped only
air.

Rebecca walked quickly, as if trying to run from that feeling of
loneliness, to the elevator and had it take her up to Lord Edward's
office. A woman sat at reception playing Noughts-And-Crosses with
herself.

“Yes?” She asked as Rebecca came up to her desk.

“I need to speak to Lord Edward.”

“He thought you might. Go in and see him.” Rebecca's mind
took a second to process the woman's heavy accent, but she understood
and went past her, into Lord Edward's office. He was standing by a
window looking out towards the fields. He turned at the sound of his
door opening and smiled at her.

“No one's very busy around here, are they?” Rebecca
asked.

“We have our slow days and I'm thankful for them any time
there's a busy day. What can I help you with?”

“I want to get into the Tower and see Ashley.”

“Already? She hasn't even been there a day.”

“I know. But—”

“She'll be hard at work right now anyway. Why don't you wait
until this evening or tomorrow, even? She'll be exhausted after her
busy day.” Lord Edward sat down at his desk as he spoke and he
continued smiling casually. “You don't need to worry about her
while you're here.”

“Yes, but—”

“But nothing,” Edward interrupted again. “You've
worked so hard to get her here where it's safe. Now you get to relax
and she can finish what she started with Sebastian. Why don't you
take a walk around the fields or the gardens? You could go down to
the kitchens if you're hungry. What would you like to do?”

“I'd like to see Ashley.” Rebecca folded her arms over
her chest and watched Lord Edward as if it was a staring contest.

“I'm afraid I must refuse” Lord Edward leaned back in his
chair and rested his hands behind his head. “You have freedom
to roam my entire estate except for inside the Tower.” He
didn't blink once.

“I can go anywhere?” Rebecca asked, walking closer to
Lord Edward's desk.

“Anywhere at all.”

“Then I'll go here.” Rebecca sat down opposite him. “And
I'm not leaving.” Lord Edward looked at her silently a second
and then began to laugh.

“Well, I did say anywhere, didn't I? But if you're going to sit
here with me, we should do more than stare at each other.”

“Look, Lord Edward—”

“Please, there's no need for that. You can just call me Edward,
or Ed or Ted, if you like.”

“Ted?” Rebecca raised her brow at Edward. “Why
would I call you Ted?”

“Ted is short for Edward. Sometimes it is, anyway. I'm not sure
why, but that's what I've been told.”

“I'll stick with Lord Edward.”

“Suit yourself. I would be more than happy with just Edward or
even Ed.” This time it was Rebecca who took a quiet moment to
watch and to judge. The conversation had taken a strange detour and
now Lord Edward was standing with his back to her, rummaging through
a cabinet.

“What did you have in mind? Instead of staring at each other, I
mean.”

“I was thinking cards. It's been a long time since I had anyone
to play cards with. What should we play?”

“Black Jack,” Rebecca said but she thought Go Fish and it
made her smile.

“I was thinking something light-hearted, but if you want to
play Black Jack then that's what we'll play.”

Edward shuffled the cards and dealt them out. He soon proved to
possess a complete lack of ability in Black Jack and Rebecca proved
to be exceptionally lucky that day. They played for an hour or maybe
two; Rebecca couldn't see a clock in Lord Edward's office. There
wasn't much challenge for her but she enjoyed Lord Edward's company
and she felt relaxed in his castle. When the sun had set and the
world was in twilight, a servant came in and interrupted a joke Lord
Edward was telling about zebras and God. She said something in
Chinese and Lord Edward responded in kind. Then he looked at Rebecca
and said:

“Dinner will be served soon. Would you like to freshen up
first?”

“I don't think I need to,” Rebecca said. “I haven't
done anything today to unfreshen me.”

“Of course.” Edward spoke without a change in his tone.
“Well, I'm going to wash my hands. I'll see you in the dining
room.” They both left his office and then he parted from her.
Rebecca began towards his dining room, then paused at the door. Was
he expecting her to be more formal? Should she wash her hands too? It
wasn't as if she could be dirty; she'd only been playing cards.
Although, she did go outside and if he was washing
his
hands... Rebecca had become so nervous and embarrassed by her lack of
graces that she'd been paralysed. Where could she even go go to
freshen up for dinner? Did she have to go all the way back to her
room? Surely there was some kind of communal bathroom in a house that
big with that many people. But even if there was, she wouldn't know
where to find it!

“Waiting for something in particular?” Lord Edward's
return pulled her from her thoughts.

“Just for you,” she lied.

“How good of you.” Lord Edward brushed past her and
opened the door. For a second Rebecca realised how much taller he was
than her when her face was practically buried in his chest. He
smelled faintly of musky cologne. Rebecca noticed he was waiting for
her, holding the door. She smiled at him and then went in and sat
down.

That day ended with considerably more dignity than the day before.
The following day Rebecca skipped going to the Tower and went
directly to Lord Edward's office in the morning. He was sitting at
his desk shuffling cards.