The Wizard's Daughters: Twin Magic: Book 1 (19 page)

“Yes,” Astrid said. “The one thing. The one thing that must become two. I wonder what he will say.”

♦ ♦

Erich had risen just after dawn and gone out into the quad. He did not dare leave the university, but he needed some air to think. Past the grand hall was a long colonnade, students and faculty walking up and down. As he followed it, he found himself on the edge of a manicured garden planted with hedges turning this way and that. There was a bench. He sat.

His parents’ marriage had been arranged, as was the case with most noble matches. His mother and father had not seemed happy together, which was perhaps why his father had been so stern with his sons. He rarely saw them argue, but neither could he recall any signs of affection.

That was not necessarily bad. Marriage for a duke like his father was a serious matter, too serious to let emotions dictate anything.

It was much less so for him, of course. It hardly mattered to anyone whom he married.

Erich tried to weigh the consequences of marrying Ariel and Astrid. His whoring days would be over, though that might be an improvement in his circumstances. It was expensive, for one thing. His recent fortune could well be short-lived were he to start spending it on tavern girls. Such things had impoverished him in the past.

He was not ready to stop his wandering, but he had begun to think recently that wandering alone was growing tiresome. It would be good to have someone riding beside him, perhaps two someones. The girls had spirit. He felt sure they could adapt; they had done well on the trip from Weilburg, keeping their wits about them and remaining cautious.

And they had talents, very useful ones. They were young and would grow in power. He could think of many times in the past when their magic could have helped him.

So.

There was more. He realized as he sat there how much he had repressed his desire for them. Now he let it flow, allowing himself thoughts he had avoided for weeks. They could be his. They wanted to be, he could tell that. Virgins they might be, but they had passion. And that book, whatever it was.

He could not let this be the deciding factor, but such thoughts of them greatly weakened his reluctance. There were worse things to base a marriage on.

Especially since they would be all he would ever have after this, not without killing them and himself as well. Which, admittedly, was how things were supposed to work. How did the vows go?
Until we are parted by death
. He would merely have some external assurances of that.

He dug into his pocket, finding the sapphire rings. He already had his wedding gifts, at least.

♦ ♦

Walther sat at the table in the outer room going through his papers. However the girls’ match worked itself out, there were a variety of things he had planned while they were here. Some work he wanted to show to Johannes, people he wanted to discuss matters with, new inventions to share.

Ariel and Astrid had emerged from their room a little while earlier, their disappointment at finding Erich absent quite plain.

“I heard him go out at dawn,” Walther said. “But fear not, his things are still here. He has not fled with the night sky. I suspect he has simply gone to collect his thoughts.”

So with little else to do, they had sat on the bench in the corner reading, Shadow resting at their feet, as Walther puttered around with his papers.

The door opened. All of them looked up. It was Erich. The girls put down their books and stood.

Erich stopped in the middle of the room and looked around at all of them.

“I have come to a decision. I am sorry for being unable to give you an answer immediately.”

He took a deep breath.

“Ariel, Astrid, as your father has already given me his blessing, I think I should be honored to become your husband.”

Ariel gave a little cry and put her hands over her mouth. Astrid clasped her hands and smiled. They came to him, embracing him quickly. Ariel laughed. “I am so happy.”

Walther stood. “I think you would have been hard pressed to do better,” he said. “All of you.”

Erich smiled. “I will agree with you.” Ariel hugged his arm to her chest. Astrid simply held his hand between hers. “So what now?” he asked.

Walther cocked an eyebrow at him. “Well, now you get married. Were you expecting something else?

“Just like that?”

“Magely marriages are not complicated affairs. It is a matter of a simple spell. Should you wish to marry in the church later, we can do that when we return to Weilburg. Assuming we can convince the priest to bless this unusual union, I suppose. Then perhaps we can have the wedding feast. If we have it here, I will be expected to invite half the university, and I have not the funds for that. The three of you know none of these people, in any case.”

♦ ♦

Walther explained that they needed to determine the most auspicious time and place to conduct the bonding spell, which for naturalists such as Ariel and Astrid, was typically at night under the moon, and in a natural environment such as a forest. Given the risk, Erich was not prepared to leave the city for this, after which Walther suggested the university garden. As that was where Erich had made his decision, they agreed it was appropriate.

When the moon rose that night, they walked out to the garden. Shadow insisted on coming with them, whining and growling when Walther tried to keep her in the apartments. So they let her come along.

The garden was in a smaller quad behind the main one, planted with manicured hedges and low trees. There were several flower gardens within, but as it was mid-autumn, they had lost their blooms. In the center of the garden was a round lawn, and that was where they assembled.

“Normally the husband and wife cast this spell together,” Walther said. “But as you are not a mage, I am not sure what we can do besides have Ariel and Astrid cast it.”

“He can still recite the incantation with us,” Astrid said.

Erich nodded. “I can do that. I suppose I should. What is going to happen?”

“If the bond is successful, you will see a light between you,” Walther said. “Most of the time it is yellow, but sometimes other colors like red or green appear. The colors are supposed to signify things, though exactly what is a matter of debate.”

They joined hands, Ariel on his left, Astrid on his right. They smiled at him, and he squeezed their hands. Just as they prepared to start the spell, Shadow ran into the circle they had made, sitting on the ground in the very center. When Walther went to retrieve her, she again growled at him.

“Does it matter?” Erich asked.

“I don’t know, frankly,” he replied. “There isn’t normally room for animals to insert themselves into this.”

“I think it’s all right,” Astrid said.

“Let’s begin,” Ariel said. “Repeat after us as best you can.” They had practiced this a few times, and Erich knew what it meant.

“
Ydych yn fy mhriod
,” they said. Erich repeated it.
You are my spouse.

“
Fi yn addo fy ffyddlondeb
.”
I promise my faithfulness.

He began to feel the energy flowing through them, seeming to go in a circle from him to Ariel to Astrid and back.

“
Gadewch i Ni Ymuno â'r hud
.”
Let us join our flows.

The energy surged. Erich noticed that Shadow had sat up, head back.

“
Nes i ni yn gwahanu gan angau
.”
Until we are parted by death
.

With the last phrase, an intense blue light blossomed in the center of the circle. Erich’s hands were singing with the energy flowing through him. Shadow let out a howl.

But the girls, and Walther, only gaped at the light in amazement.

“It’s
blue
, Father,” Astrid gasped.

“I can see that,” Walther said.

“It’s so blue,” Ariel whispered.

Slowly the light faded, as the energy in the circle faded with it. Just as the light winked out, it seemed to fall down onto Shadow.

“You are married,” Walther said.

The knowledge of that fact was at war with what Erich had just seen. “What did that mean, the blue light?”

The girls—his wives, he corrected himself—were still stunned and silent.

“Blue is the rarest of colors for a marriage bond,” Walther replied softly. “I have seen it only once in my life, and it was much paler. It signifies the strongest of unions, but it is also a strong omen, though for good or ill I cannot say.”

“I thought blue disrupted your talents,” Erich said to Ariel and Astrid.

“It did,” Astrid said. She put her hand together with Ariel, and they summoned a small flame. Unlike all the others he had seen them conjure before, it was tinged with blue. “But that may have changed.”

“It may be that something I did was more prophetic than I realized,” Erich said. He reached in his pocket and withdrew the sapphire rings. “I had these made from the stones we took from the ogres. I meant them as a wedding gift when we parted. Though I knew you could not wear them, I hoped they would at least serve as some remembrance.”

“Put them on us,” Ariel said.

Erich did, slipping one on her hand and the other on Astrid’s. As he did so, they were lit by an internal light, which flared briefly, then faded, though not entirely.

His wives turned to each other and summoned another flame. This one was again blue, though stronger.

“They are not interfering, at all,” Astrid said.

“No,” Ariel said.

Erich embraced them, kissing one, then the other.

“Let us go back, husband,” Ariel whispered. “I am eager for the wedding night.”

28.

They returned to the apartments in silence. As they walked through the darkness, Erich stopped to rub his eyes. Something was . . .
different
about his eyesight. It was dark, too dark to see clearly, yet he could see. Yet that wasn’t right, either. He couldn’t precisely
see
, at least not the way he had before, but rather he saw gray forms in the darkness that should have been invisible.

He noticed Ariel and Astrid blinking in confusion. “You as well?”

They looked at him. It was dark, yet he could see the details of their gray faces.

“I can see in the dark,” Astrid said in amazement.

“What has happened?” Ariel said.

Erich had a sudden thought, and looked down at Shadow, who was watching this exchange with an unfamiliar spark in her eyes. Ariel and Astrid followed his gaze.

“She bonded us as a familiar,” Astrid said. “That was why she ran into the circle.”

“That would do this?” Erich asked.

“It can happen. A familiar and a mage exchange things.”

“But how could she be bonded to all three of us?”

Walther had been listening to this silently. “There is something important going on here. I know not what, but we will not unravel this tonight. You have more to concern yourselves with at the moment.”

“But how, Father?” Ariel asked.

“Johannes would know, perhaps. Ask him tomorrow.”

♦ ♦

When they reached the apartment, Walther paused briefly, kissing both his daughters. “I am sure you will be up for quite a while, but these old bones need rest.” He embraced Erich as well. “Good night.”

Smiling nervously, Ariel and Astrid drifted into their bedroom. Erich followed, shutting the door behind them just as Shadow slipped into the room. She trotted over to a corner and curled up.

First Ariel, then Astrid untied their robes and let them fall off. They wore only thin shifts underneath. Erich pulled off his shirt and approached them.

“Husband, wait,” Ariel said. “There is something we need to do first.”

“What?”

“This may be hard to understand, but please listen.”

Erich paused in front of them, puzzled.

“Can you remove your breeches?” Astrid asked. He did so, slipping them to the floor.

“The problem,” she continued, “is that there are two of us . . .”—her eyes and Ariel’s dropped to his groin—“. . . and only one of those.”

Of all things, he had not expected this. It took him a few moments to respond.

“I am afraid, ladies, that that is something I can do nothing about.”

“We know,” Ariel said. “But we can.”

His jaw dropped. “What?”

“There is a spell we devised,” Astrid said. “It will give you another.”

He looked down at himself in shock. “But
why
?”

“Father said you read the book about magely marriage,” she went on. “So you understand how lovemaking works for mages, what it does and what it means. It is a joining of bodies and flows together.”

“I understand that. But this . . .”

“Husband, do you remember the resonance cube?” Ariel asked.

“Yes.”

“I know now why it exploded. It was because I tried to match with you without Astrid. Somehow, that caused a blockage, or some confusion in our flows that caused the crystal to explode. All because Astrid was not part of the connection as she was meant to be.”

He thought about that a moment. After what he had seen that night at their wedding, it made sense.

“Erich, the resonance cube
exploded
. What do you think would happen if you and I joined physically, without Astrid, without anything between us like the cube or the crystal?”

“It is a risk,” Astrid said. “We had begun discussing this long ago, when we found the book. Back then, Ariel just thought it would be the only way to fully join with our husband. Now, I am convinced anything else could be very dangerous. Especially after tonight. Our bond is so strong. We must respect it.”

“And . . . even without that issue,” Ariel said, “wouldn’t it be better, all of us together, instead of”—she shuddered—“
taking turns
with you?”

Erich gulped, unable to lift his eyes from his organ.

“Are you sure it will work?”

“We tested it on a stray dog months ago,” Ariel said. “It worked. It seemed to do it no harm.”

Erich had a sudden flash of remembrance, of a dog urinating in an alley. He finally forced himself to lift his eyes. Everything they said made sense. But what they were asking!