The Wizards of Venus Book One: Magic Touch (3 page)

* * * *

On the far side of the courtyard, two figures watched the Prince pull himself out of the fountain. "What do you think of his new bride?”

"I don’t think she’ll be a problem. It’s obvious she doesn’t want to be his bride. I’ve checked her out, it’s a royal match. Their fathers negotiated it.”

“So do you think she could be turned to helping us?”

“I don't think so. She's one of his best friends along with his security advisor, Jonathan. I’ll keep digging. Maybe I can find something on her to persuade her to our way of thinking.” The figure glanced at his watch. “I have some unfinished business to complete. I’ll report back later.”

* * * *

Later that night, Grace let herself into her suite. After she had managed to give Rand the slip, she had spent the rest of the afternoon in the palace library, searching for a loophole in the antiquated courtship laws. She was well trained in the laws of her country due to her choice of career, but so far she had not found any. It looked as if Rand had her cornered for the time being.
“Why are you fighting him, sweetie?”

“Not you too, Zara! Please don’t make me fight both of you.”

“I don’t want to fight you, but you forget my mate is part of your chosen. Do

you honestly want to sentence me to a life without him?”

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“Spare me the guilt trip, Zara. I refuse to be bullied into this. Rand has never even
shown an inkling of romantic interest in me until his Gathering. Until you and Ruzac
reared your little heads and took over.”

“You keep trying to make us into separate beings, we’re not. We’re just as

much a part of you as your heart or lungs. We’re here to help guide and protect

you.”

She chose to ignore Zara and let herself into her room.
“Not only do I have my father trying to foist me off on Rand, everyone else is conspiring against me.”

“Of course, Dad wants you to marry Rand.”

Spinning around, Grace saw her sister sitting on the couch. She looked cool and elegant in her white linen suit.

Gracie sat down next to her.

“Round one didn’t go in your favor, did it?” Pati wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“Neither did round two. I don't know who is more stubborn, our dad or Rand.”

Laying her head on her sister's shoulder, she felt like crying. Since the Gathering she only let her younger twin see her vulnerable side.

“Are you sure it won’t work out?”

“Oh, Pati, I don’t see how it can. I’ve been his friend for so long. I’ve seen the women he’s gone through; they’ve all been dazzled by his charm, but have never seen the iron will underneath. He needs a woman who’ll be able to stand beside him. He doesn’t even realize it. If we marry, it’s exactly what he’ll get from me, which will be the end of our friendship. That will hurt more than anything else could.”

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“You even lie to your sister. Why can’t you just admit you’re scared of losing

control with him? You’ve denied your desire for him for so long you’re now

scared to let it free.”

“I didn’t ask you, Zara!”

"Liar. I’ve seen the tapes, Gracie. You bonded at his Gathering and the prophesy was fulfilled.”

Gracie shook her head in denial. It was one thing to admit it to Rand and another to admit it to her younger sister.

“You know it’s true, Gracie. Why fight him when he’s fated to win?”

Before Patience could scold her sister any more, the communications console chirped. Gracie leaned over and pressed a button to activate it.

“Gracie, that wasn’t very nice.”

“Are you ready to call it off yet, Rand?”

Laughter filled the room. “It’s not going to be that easy, Wildcat. We’ve unfinished business to take care of and since you’ve been avoiding me after that little stunt you pulled, you’ve left me no other choice. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Don’t you dare!”

Gracie’s protest came too late. He’d already ended the transmission.

“Evidently whatever you did didn’t have the affect you’d hoped for,” Patience observed.

“Damn stubborn man.” She turned to face her sister. “Wanna keep me company tonight, Pati? We can make into a slumber party. You can stay and keep me company."

“Aren’t we a bit old for that? Not to mention I’ve a date tonight.”

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“Traitor.”

“At least I’m not the one who’s going to be sitting up all night trying to avoid a dream merge. I warned you about letting him practice on you the summer after his Gathering, but you wouldn’t listen. So now you’re stuck trying to stay awake to avoid the man you love but was foolish enough to let have access to your dreams.” Pati giggled as she stood up.

“This is just great. I’m twenty-eight years old, my best friend wants to marry me and my twin thinks it funny.”

“Don’t forget you have your final wizardry exams to take.”

“Yeah, I'm scheduled to take them next week. Hopefully, when I finally talk Rand out of this betrothal, I’ll still be able to hold a spot on his cabinet.”

“Best of luck with that.” Pati winked before scooting out the door to avoid the book her sister flung at her.

* * * *

Patience and Jonathan were shown to their seats shortly after they arrived at La Chez. After sitting down and ordering, they cut to the heart of the matter. “You called this meeting. So what are we going to discuss?” Patience sipped on her water. Jonathan waited for the waiter to leave.

"We’re going to play cupid.”

"For Rand?

“Yes. Believe it or not, Rand asked for help. It’s no secret to anyone other than your sister that he’s head over heels for her.”

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“I know. I can understand why he waited but I doubt she’ll understand when she finds out.”

“I don’t know why he’s kept the danger from her. I’ve told him to tell her many times but regardless, they belong together.”

The waiter arrived with their salads.

"I know he made sure she got the scholarship at the same advanced studies center as him. Then when he graduated he stayed close.”

“Partly because of the danger but the biggest reason is his power has already merged with hers.”

"There’s going to be pure hell to pay when she finds out. Especially on top of the fact she wasn’t told about the danger to her. Whose idea was it to keep it from her anyway?"

"Rand and I agreed it was best if she didn’t know. Even though Deanna got off with a slap on the wrist due to her age, she's a dangerous woman."

"I think you are making a mistake of not telling her. Now that she is his betrothed, she deserves to know the danger; keeping it from her will only enrage her and may even endanger her."

"In the end it was Rand's decision. She'll be angry at him."

"Don't delude yourself, Jonathan. She is going to be angry at anyone who kept it from her. You're both supposed to be her best friends."

"I've tried to talk him out of it several times, Pati. He just won't listen. He's hung up on protecting her. He's trying to treat her like a pampered princess…innocent and unaware."

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"Are we talking about my sister? That's going to backfire on him, Jonathan. He'll be lucky if she just decides not to talk to him anymore. Besides he knows better. A pampered princess she’s not.”

"I hope, for her sake, she yells at him and gets it out of her system. Rand won't tolerate her shutting him out; he'll use any means he has to get through to her -- even the dream merge."

"I gathered that. He called her before I left. Evidently she did something to him and then hid in the library all afternoon to avoid him. He told her he would see her later tonight and hung up on her. She wanted me to stay, but I turned her down.” Pati grinned. “She should’ve known better.”

Jonathan shook his head in dismay at her revelations.

“Let’s hope they can come to some kind of agreement.”

“Just out of curiosity, is it hard to sustain the merge?”

“If both parties are receptive to it, no, it’s not difficult in the least. But if one party is not - then it will take a tremendous amount of concentration on the other's part.”

Jonathan glanced up at her as he finished his salad.

“Does one have to possess magic to participate?"

"If the other is receptive, no. A low level witch or wizard can accomplish it. But if the other resists, it takes a high-level witch or wizard, say a level eight to ten to hold the merge.” He nodded to the waiter when he appeared again, this time holding their food.

“So what happens if the person has no power or magic? Can they still have this type of dreaming?” Patience took her food from the waiter.

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“Yes. I keep forgetting even though you’re her twin, you have no power. You’re such a capable woman, Pati.” He nodded in thanks to the waiter when his own plate was placed in front of him, a Venusian deep-sea fish in white sauce, simply but elegantly garnished.

“Don’t feel sorry for me, Jonathan. I may not have any magical powers but I have other strengths. Still, it is nice to know I could participate in some things that are magical. I’ll just have to find someone with magic to assist me.”

Jonathan’s fork paused midway between his plate and mouth, and slowly he lowered it back to his plate.

“Who are you planning on asking to help you with this?”

Pati glanced up at his soft question. “I haven’t any particular wizard in mind, I guess.” Unsure of the sudden change in his demeanor, Pati decided to proceed with caution.
After all he’s one of the most powerful wizards in Venus.

“Well, when you do decide, let me know.” Jonathan resumed eating.

“Why?”

“Because I want to be on the top of your list.”

“Really. What level are your magic powers, Jonathan?”

“Level nine, more than adequate for dream merging.”

* * * *

Grace yawned and glanced at the clock on her bedside table. The digital display read after one in the morning and she was usually asleep by this time. The remote communications console started to buzz softly. Groaning inwardly she debated whether 30

to answer it; if she didn’t Rand was sure appear in her suite to make sure nothing had happened to her. After the fifth ring she snatched it up.

“No, I am not asleep yet.”

“Well, I can see that. I thought I would check in with you. I just got home after a wonderful evening with Jonathan. He even offered to do it with me.”

“Patience! You lucky little devil. Jonathan is very selective with whom he dream merges. I’ve only done it with him once when Rand wanted to see if he could merge with both of us at the same time.”

“Did it work?”

“Yes, it did. But it can give you a headache if you try to hold it too long. I hope you realize what you are getting into if you let him into your dreams. Earlier you laughed at me for letting Rand into mine. Jonathan is a very powerful wizard and he’ll have control of when he leaves your dream.”

* * * *

At the same moment, Rand and Jonathan were discussing the same subject in Rand’s private wing of the castle. “She actually said she was going to find a wizard to initiate her in dream merging?” Somehow it didn’t surprise him Grace’s twin wanted to experiment with dream-merging.
I’m sure she’ll be as receptive to as Gracie was.

“Yes, she did. I told her if she was looking, I’d be happy to help her.”

"I know it's none of my business, Jonathan, but as Pati's future brother-in-law, what are your intentions?"

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"I don't know quite yet, but I like her. I’m going to use the time we are helping you to get to know her better. Maybe we'll keep dating or maybe not. I know Pati isn’t looking for anything serious."

"And if you decide you are?"

"Then I'll be honest about it, Rand. Speaking of which, Pati and I talked about Deanna at dinner. I still think we ought to tell Gracie about what happened at the Gathering. I know you said she couldn't see who attacked because you were blocking her view. Now you've publicly acknowledged she's your choice for a mate, she needs to know about the danger."

"No! I'll protect her if the need arises. I'm her chosen and it is my responsibility."

"I still think you are handling this the wrong way. But it's your funeral, cousin. So, when are you going to slip into her dreams?”

“In about another hour, Gracie’s should be in a deep sleep by then.”

* * * *

When Grace had turned the communications console off, it was after two, and she was very sleepy. This is when Rand would, more than likely, make his move. If only she could make herself more alert. Yawning again, she flipped the covers off her legs and walked to the bathroom. Catching a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror, she winced at the bags under her eyes.
Screw this, it’s time to turn the tables on Prince Randall de
Carthwright. He wants to use the dream merge as leverage, let’s see him do it when I’m
the one who initiates it.
Going back to her bed, she climbed back in and got comfortable; then drawing a deep breath, she sent her mind out to find his.