CHAPTER TWO
Wendy stared up at Max then at the unconscious body of Martin that had fallen through the floor to the ground floor. It wasn’t much to imagine what had gone on before the whole commotion was even noticed by the others. She raised her eyebrow questioningly but the silence that followed reminded her that Max was blind.
“Do you mind telling me what’s going on?” she asked.
“Well,” he started as he scratched his chin thoughtfully. “I may have overdone things a little bit. It never occurred to me that the connection you formed when you were being summoned was not actually broken.”
“I’ve not even settled into my house…” “Castle.”
“And you are already breaking the place down.”
“Had I actually examined him when he was still unconscious we would have broken the bond and avoided breaking down your castle.”
Wendy sighed then looked around for the first time and realized that she was not the only one attracted by the noise. “Max?”
“Yes Your Highness.”
“We need to have a few boundaries in this castle.”
“I agree a hundred percent.” He jumped down through the hole and landed on an invisible platform before stepping forward onto the ground. “Frankly, I do not approve of being kept from performing my duties. I came here to investigate why they summoned you.”
“And now you know why they summoned me. I don’t understand why you have to stay.”
“I have to interrogate every party involved in the issue and until I do that I cannot leave. Your King is making an effort to keep me from meeting with Sidney.”
“Because he’s worried about what you are going to do to her or their children.”
“Wendy, I’m afraid you don’t understand. I came here with three orders. One was to find out what happened here and contain it if possible. Two, is to find out why renegade wizards are joining alliance with the Astrakhan’s…”
“The wizards are joining forces…”
“Yes. Three, is rule on all the cases that I encounter here.”
“Wait a minute. Explain to me how wizards are involved in this war.” “Aren’t you going to check on your brother?”
Wendy angled his head and looked at Martin’s still body then brought her focus back to Max. “He’s fine.” She started tapping the scroll she was reading on her hip in impatient and just when he was about to lose it Max had his hand around her neck and the other on her waist. She reacted instinctively and pushed him back but she was pulled along with him.
“I know what you are thinking.”
“Oh yeah?” She countered the move by blocking and shoving his hands respectively from her neck and waist. She was pulling her right leg up to kick his groin for that is the only way to fight a man in close quarters but his shoved hand flowed easily back to block the coming blow.
“I told you.”
“I’m going to kill you.”
“Is that you talking or Martin?”
She hesitated, “What are you talking about?”
“A moment.” He moved his hands higher but paused as if waiting for consent. Wendy nodded once then she could feel him in her mind digging through her thoughts and memories. “When was the last time you actually had training?”
“Today before the summoning,” she said nonchalantly.
“Physical training including your body and your powers. Not just your voice.” “Some time.”
“Then you don’t know how your powers and muscles are faring on?” “Never been concerned about them.”
Max stepped away from her and started to walk away. “Tomorrow morning. You and Martin. Training grounds.”
“Why?”
“Because, if either of you don’t learn how to use the connection you have, I’m not going to be the only victim.”
Wendy turned back to Martin then to the people around. “Somebody get him to another room and I want repairs to start on this collapsed ceiling.” She walked back to her office where she was reviewing scrolls. The one thing that she had learned from both worlds was that information was power. Looking at matters concerning the surrounding kingdoms and Tyrone’s very own top notch citizens. The council for one. Gorham and Nathan also. Then there was the missing queen and her half-brother Joel. Sidney was not very much a concern given that she was now under scrutiny. She wouldn’t try anything now not with Max still around.
Wendy looked around at the room which had once been her biological mother’s then remembered something that Max had said. Renegade wizards had joined the Astrakhan’s for whatever reason and Max knew it. She composed a letter and rang for Jared.
“I want you to personally ensure that this,” she handed the letter to him. “Gets to Gorham. Tell him I will work on that. There is no need to panic.” “Of course, Your Highness.”
“Jared?”
“Yes, Your Highness?”
“You have been an asset to this kingdom.” She saw the confusion in his eyes. “You have been of great help to the kingdom and thus you are in a position where you can ask me for whichever position you want in the elite guard.”
“Your elite guard.” “Yes mine.”
“You have to learn that this,” he motioned around him. “This is yours. You have to think of it as yours then claim to others that it is yours, before you will believe that it is yours.”
“Your advice is well appreciated.” Jared bowed. “I have to deliver this.”
“Of course.” She looked at the door for a long time before she went back to what she was doing.
*
Sidney was watching Gorham. Ever since Wendy and the rest of the entourage arrived, the latter never gave her a chance to leave his eyesight. She was with him every single time unless they were upstairs where no unwelcomed visitor would be allowed to. She knew sooner or later she was going to lose her mind but for now she sat patiently waiting for Gorham to look up from the letter that Jared had delivered.
Sidney turned to Jared when she realized that Gorham was reading and rereading the letter to avoid missing something in the words and sentences. “So she has turned you into an errand boy?”
“No, Mrs. Storm. She needed someone she trusts to deliver this letter to the king and I was the only one she could think of.”
“Then what will you do after this? Will you take her a reply from Gorham and deliver another letter to him from her.”
“Whatever is necessary during this time of war.”
“Well, I hope she knows what she’s doing.” She shifted in her seat and looked at Gorham for a few more minutes. “Gorham? Gorham?”
“Yes.” He looked up at Sidney and somehow she could tell the letter made him depressed.
“What does the letter say?”
“The letter?” he looked at the letter again then back at Sidney. “Wendy believes that there may be some wizards working with the Astrakhan’s.”
“What?” Sidney was already standing and heading to the desk and she snatched the letter from Gorham’s hand. She read it.
Dear Gorham,
This is letter is just to inform you that the Astrakhan’s have joined alliance with some wizards. Reason for this is still unknown to me but I will find out. I may need more time with Max and Leo, so, I’m asking you to keep Sidney out of their reach for a little longer. He is fixated on examining Sidney that I suspect that they already knew what went on here and only came because they want something from her.
Wendy.
“That wasn’t the only thing that was written. Why didn’t you want to tell me what was written?”
“I don’t know what they want from you,” Gorham whispered.
“If Wendy is right then it stands to reason that it’s not something that they can just take away from us. They need a reason to do whatever it is they want.”
“What reason could they possibly have?”
Sidney’s hand went to her neck, “Where’s the necklace?”
Gorham opened the drawer where he had kept it but it wasn’t there. He shoved the papers aside looking for it and when he was sure it wasn’t there he looked up only to find that Sidney had gone as white as sleet. “I kept it here.”
“It wasn’t Nathan. He has been keeping his distance from the wizards since their arrival, especially when he knew Max could read thoughts.”
“Then who?”
“Not many people knew about the necklace. So finding out who must have taken the necklace should be simplified by some margin,” Gorham tried looking at it with some logic.
“I knew about it. You too. Nathan,” she turned to Jared and pointed. “You also knew about it.”
“Yes, but I haven’t told anyone what I know and haven’t come into contact with
Max. I know that is how he reads our thoughts.” Jared defended himself. “He hasn’t bothered to offer me a hand shake and vice versa.” “Then who else might have told him?”
“Victor knew about the necklace.” “My brother is dead.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean that he never told anyone.” “Henry,” Sidney gasped then looked at Gorham.
“But why would he tell the wizard council about the necklace? What is he thinking? What does he want?”
“I don’t know.”
“You are the closest person to him. You are the only one who can tell us how he thinks.”
“I don’t know.”
“You have to know some…”
“I already told you. I don’t know!” she shouted and then silence engulfed the office.
“If I may suggest something,” Jared said when neither party appeared to want to break the silence. “Why not ask Wendy what…”
“No!” she shouted again then whispered a second time, “No. I don’t know which side she’s working on. I can’t trust her.”
“You summoned her yesterday. You have to have some sort of bond with her.”
Sidney sighed then sat down. “No. whatever feelings she may have had for Victor are buried deep or have been forgotten. She cares naught for whatever happens to me.”
“Then what are we going to do? We have to find that necklace or whatever case they are building against you will be very strong.”
Sidney thought about it then she sat up slowly, “It’s a stone Gorham. A rare one as that.”
“And?”
“I’m good at finding them. I can do a retrieval spell and have it come to me. I need to do a little research.” She stood up and walked to the door before turning one more time to Gorham. “I’ll be upstairs if you need me.”
He waited until the door was firmly shut behind her before he started saying, “Diane once assigned you to me and told me I could trust you inexplicably. Is it still true?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me what you think of Wendy.”
“I think she is trying to learn everything she can in a very short period of time. She will do everything she can to win this war.”
“Would you trust her to lead you?”
Jared was quiet for awhile. “She is supposed to train tomorrow morning with the wizard. Something happened to Martin and her and the wizard wants to see how she is going to fair. I believe everyone else will go to watch how their new queen will perform.”
“I think I would like to be there also to witness.”
“I will send someone to inform you when it will start.”
“Then when you get back, tell Wendy that I appreciate the information. Sidney is busy with another project hence Max and Leo won’t get to her.”
“Your Majesty,” He bowed and left.
*
Nathan’s castle was situated near Alice’s but given that wizards were now habitats of the building all the ambassadors had relocated to this castle. That included Ambassador Winston and his assistant Nelson. The two of them were taking a walk because they didn’t trust Nathan when they were told that the conference room offered privacy. Nathan and Gorham had stopped asking for peace talks and Winston knew that the only reason they were still there was so that they could be spied on. They knew their letters were scrutinized for whatever information that they may give on their kingdom’s endeavors.
They had heard that the Tyrone council had decided on summoning Wendy the late Queen Diane’s daughter. They had known that it was inevitable but they sent the news to their own kingdom. Such general information was not stopped and Winston had the impression that they wanted the news to go through perhaps to intimidate the rival kingdom.
Winston turned to his younger companion, “They have wizards on their side also.”
“They are not here to join in the war. I heard that Mrs. Sidney broke some sort of law of the wizarding community.”
“As long as there is some attention on the family we cannot continue with the plan. They need the boy to go so that they can proceed to the next step.”
“He’s being watched. There is no need to worry about that. We were informed that we have an inside man within the group that arrived.”
“I wasn’t aware that you received another letter besides the one that arrived when I was with you.”
“It the same letter. The message was hidden within the letter.” “So, obtaining the boy is his job.”
Winston looked at the evening sky. “Everything has been set in motion. All we have to do now is wait and we will be conquerors.”
*
Martin woke up early the following morning. It wasn’t so much for training but the strange dreams that kept forcing their way into his own dreams. He was slaying a woman who was on the ground kneeling but as the sword passed through her neck, the face changed to be Victor’s. He felt his legs give out as he tried to return the head back to the body wishing he had the power to heal. He felt the tears run down his cheeks and his heart hurt much worse that when Jared had actually cheated on him.
Then Victor’s ghost appeared behind the dead body. When Martin looked up, Victor was smiling and then he stepped forward caressing his cheek. Then he pulled out his sword and pointed to Martin’s neck. ‘How hard was it to protect me? How much did you try? Do the same for yourself. Protect yourself as much as you protected me.’ The sword was then swung and just as he felt the edge touch his neck, he woke up.
He washed his face knowing that bathing will have to be done after the training. He didn’t understand why he was even going for this training session anyway. He had never been good at this fighting stuff and was sure he was going to embarrass himself in front of everyone that is going to be there. He knew there would be many people present to witness his humiliation.
He put on his clothes and waited knowing for some unknown reason Wendy was heading his way. He went to door and opened it just as she was about to knock.
“Oh!” she gasped as she stepped backward. “Max is getting impatient.” “When did you wake up?”
“Just now,” she shrugged as they started walking down stairs. Martin realized that people were watching but she didn’t seem bothered about that.
“Why am I a part of this training?”
“Max wants to experiment,” she said as she jogged down the stairs. They went through the door and were in the field in a matter of seconds. “You have to try and fight.”
“Everybody knows that I wasn’t born for this.”
“And I never thought that I would actually end up here being queen but here I am.” She looked into his eyes as they had stopped. “Life changes Martin. Things happen and what you may have been able to do a year ago, you may do it better… or worse.”
“Mom tried all her life to make me something.”
“Then you still have the knowledge somewhere inside that head.” She looked at the crowded field. “Talk about performance anxiety.”
“How do you deal with it? People always watching and waiting for you to mess up.”
“I don’t think about them. I’m not doing anything for anyone. That’s something that Victor taught me.” Her facial expression changed to sadness, and then abruptly she was her normal self. “Whatever you do, you do so because you want to. Do you want this Martin? To be able to do things that you never thought were possible?”
“I do.”
“Then you are going to go to that field and try to prove something to yourself.” He smiled and they made their way to the center of the field. “Max? Where do you want us?”
“You will watch first as Martin takes the field against Leo.” “What?” both of them asked at the same time.
“You heard me. Martin take your position.”
Martin was left at the center as Max and Wendy walked over to the side line. Leo joined Martin in the field. He handed him a sword and they took their stances. Leo attacked first taking Martin by surprise leaving him on the ground. Wendy winced but the second time wasn’t any better than the third time or the fourth time. Leo was attacking as if he was in an actual fight. It was with a lot more force than restraint. Then by the sixth round, Leo knocked Martin’s sword out of his hand.
“No.”
“What do you mean by no? If he keeps up like this he is going to kill him.”
“He has his orders. He’s going to attack until Martin stops him…or until Martin dies.”
“I won’t allow this,” she turned to move to save Martin but Max caught her arms in a vice grip. She could not move forward and her only option was to pray that he dodged the blow that was aimed at his neck. Martin dodged and rolled picking up his sword. He blocked the next move with the sword and swiped Leo off his feet and he stood up. From then on he was defending every blow aimed at him.
“Kill him!” Max’s voice carried over the quiet field and Leo gave an imperceptible nod. He held out his hand and another sword flew in. Leo attacked with his full strength.
“No! You have to stop this.” She turned to Max.
“I’m sorry Wendy but I can’t. You have to stop it.”
She struggled out of his grip but it was no hope. “Please. You can’t just execute him.”
“I’m not. Watch.” He shook her to make a point of where she should be looking. Martin was being overwhelmed by the two swords. He whispered into her ears. “He needs another sword to even have a chance of survival. He should call on the weapon. He’s an Izanami descendant. If he wants it bad enough, it will come to him.”
If he wants it bad enough. God! Martin! You just have to want it bad enough. Want another sword. Want the sword.
Call it. Come to me. Come to me.
“Come to me!” he shouted and held up his hand. Unlike the one that went to Leo, his materialized in his hand.
Max let go of Wendy and called out, “Enough!” He walked to the center. “You have confirmed my suspicion and now the training begins. Wendy, you are going to fight against him.”
“Why?”
“Because whatever you think of doing he’s going to counter it.” “What’s the point of this?”
“The two of you are eventually going to fight me. If you win then you are ready to face what’s coming.”
“And what is coming? Is this about the wizards forming an alliance with the Astrakhan’s?”
“If I told you yes, will do everything possible to be better than you were before?” “Yes.”
He smiled. “Yes. It’s because of the alliance.” “Tell me more.”
“Another day. For now, commence.”
*
Jared pulled the man in the hood away from the crowd. There were going to some effort to keep his identity a secret but because he didn’t want to cause a commotion, they had to do it his way. The training ground was packed with everyone wanting to see what strategy Wendy would use to defeat the wizards. They all wanted to know how they were going to survive this, especially when they had heard that the Astrakhan’s were teaming up with wizards.
When he and the hooded man were far away from everyone else, he pulled off the hood and looked back at the cheering crowd. “That wasn’t what I was expecting!”
“I didn’t know Martin could do that.”
“Neither did I, but it stands to reason that he is able to do it.”
“This was a test to Max. He wanted to see something today and I’m guessing that it is exactly what we have seen.”
Gorham still had a puzzled look on his face. “Has he been hiding it all this time?”
“I don’t think so. I may have forgotten to inform you of this yesterday but he attacked one of the wizards. That was why Wendy even went toe to toe with Max and managed to get him to admit the plans the Astrakhan’s had.”
Gorham nodded and pulled his eyes away from the field. “I want you to keep an eye on the training. Nothing should get out of hand and I want a detailed report of the whole training tonight.”
“Yes Your Majesty.”
“I’m in the public court for the next two hours. If Wendy is done by then, inform her that she should be attending the Council meeting at that time.” He nodded then walked away. Jared went back to the field. He was supposed to be watching each one’s moves but his eyes were fixed on Martin. He had never imagined that he could move like that. To Jared, that was even more intoxicating that being able to dance.
He stared for a long time that the background noise faded away. Martin’s moves were perfectly counteracting Wendy’s and when he attacked, the opposite was true. It was as if they could read each other’s minds. The most impressive thing that had happened so far was when the sword came into his hands. A couple of minutes later, Max was calling out to them. He could hear what was being said. That was when he realized that the crowd was quiet.
“If you can defeat me, then you are ready.”
“To be clear on this,” Martin interrupted. “Which one of us would be ready?” “You,” Max angled his head toward Martin.
“I don’t think this would be fair.” At the puzzled look on both faces, he added. “You are blind.”
“I never said I was blind.” “You aren’t?” Wendy asked.
“No. Now back to business. Martin and you have to work together. Sooner rather than latter, I’m going to break the connection between the two of you.”
“I don’t get it.” Martin said.
“It’s like saying right now, the two of you are thinking as one. Now, having you train with her is harnessing the skills that you need to survive the battle. Your muscles are getting used to the movement as is your brain. It is easier to train you like this and faster too. For Wendy, this will teach her to follow more of instinct than thinking too much before attacking. Now attack!”
*
Jared went to the barracks immediately after the training session. Both Wendy and Martin had gone to have a bath. There were things that he had been postponing but they had to be done. Things like finding an assistant for Wendy. He was supposed to choose which post he wanted but staying around was going to put him in the middle of the issues between Gorham and the queen.
He stood in the middle of the barracks and signaled to the guard at the watchtower to ring the bell. Everybody came out of their rooms and assembled in a matter of minutes. “I need volunteers to be assistants to the queen.” No one reacted. Most of them just looked down avoiding eye contact with Jared.
One warrior stepped in front. Before Jared could congratulate him, he asked, “Permission to speak freely sir.”
“Permission granted.”
“She is not a queen. She just showed up the other day and moved in. Now are we supposed to treat her like a queen because she sleeps in the queen’s bed?”
The others gasped at the audacity of the warrior to challenge the throne. To save the situation, another warrior stepped forward. “I think what Seamus is trying to say is that there had not been a coronation to confirm her as queen.”
“I know that.” Jared acknowledged. “But what good does a coronation do one. The previous queen ran away with her lover just at the brink of war. The coronation we all attended didn’t make her a better queen neither did it make her the rightful one. Wendy has come to us when we needed a leader. She cares not about whether she undergoes the coronation ceremony or not. What she wants is to protect her people. If that does not qualify her to be queen then I don’t know what does.” Jared looked around at the warriors. “She needs assistants. At least two. Let me warn you that you will be coming into contact with wizards frequently. You will be even expected to dine with them. So, if you are comfortable to do this then you can volunteer.”
“You are to be given a higher status. From working with the queen you can be assigned to any other royalties if she sees fit. You will definitely get a higher pay and your training will be offered by some of the best trainers we have and sometimes you may have a chance to spar with the queen.”
“Then I will be your first volunteer.” “Your name?”
“Annie Connelly.”
“Hudson Huertas at the queen’s service.”
“Anyone else?” no one volunteered. “Dismissed. You two, come with me.”
The three of them walked toward the castle as Jared explained to them what they would be doing. The dos and don’ts of the job. “Never ever make fun of her hair. At least that is what Amber said. With every other thing you should be frank with her, lie to her and you are out. Threaten her and you will be treated as a traitor. The council wanted her to be here and is doing whatever necessary to ensure her safety. You will only answer to her and you will do whatever necessary to please her. Understood?” he asked as they got to the queen’s private chambers. He knocked and Amber’s voice asked them to go in.
They walked in and found the wizard sitting on the sofa with her legs on top of the table. She was reading a book. Then she looked up at Jared them the rest of them then turned back to the book. Wendy came running from the inner chambers stopping once then twice to slip on her shoes. “Have you seen my earrings, Amber?”
“They are on top of the bureau where you left them when we came here.” “Thanks.” Then she was running back to her inner chambers.
Amber flipped to the next page. “She sent them away. Apparently she is shy.” She looked up and winked. “Who would have thought? Huh.”
“They were female, weren’t they?” Jared asked moving to have a seat opposite Amber. The two stayed standing.
“Doesn’t matter. She’s rather comfortable with a skimpy bikini in a public beach but shy nude when surrounded by only women.” Amber shook her head in puzzlement.
She turned her head to the bedroom and called out. “Wendy! Your ride’s here.”
“Just a moment. Do you think I can have some underwear sent over from the other side?”
“No.”
“Seriously, how am I supposed to survive with only two pairs?” she asked as she came to the bedroom door combing her hair. When she saw the group that was gathered, she blushed.
“You could ask Sidney. She’s been updating the style here and it’s like that involves underwear. It probably isn’t Victoria secret but it would do.” Amber explained not being perturbed by the audience.
Wendy didn’t respond to that, instead she asked Jared, “Am I that late?”
“No, the meetings rarely start on time.” He stood up. “Wendy, these are your assistants Annie and Hudson.”
“Have you done a background check on them?” she asked. “Background check?” Jared asked not following.
Amber looked up again. “History and priors to establish whether they can be trusted.” She explained. “She’s been influenced too much by our world.”
“Oh! No. I haven’t done a background check yet.”
“Then they will be staying behind until that is done,” Amber said as she stood up leaving the book on the chair. “Ready?”
“Yes.” They walked to the door. “And Jared can you have the messengers sent out to the outlands. I need information on their situation. And I need to know what we are doing with the new recruits. How many they are and how they are being trained.” The door slammed behind her.
“You heard her.”
“Yes sir, we will just get to it.”
*
The last time Wendy was in the council chambers she had turned the weapon back into a sword. Now the sword was in the possession of Martin. She was still amazed that Martin had that much command in him. She had thought what should happen and he was the one who did the summoning. According to Max, Martin now just has to form the same bond with the sword. The unfortunate thing about the sword forming a bond with him, he’d have the tendency to want to kill wizards. Anyway now that she was in the council chambers, things felt so surreal.
“Welcome,” Amon said.
“Thank you,” she said and looked around and found an empty seat which she assumed was supposed to be hers. This time Amber and Ken didn’t enter with her. She felt all the council members were watching every step she made.
“We will start with where we left off last time. Queen Wendy, we haven’t done the coronation ceremony but this council gives you the full authority of a queen. You can demand, command and execute an order at your will.”
Silence descended upon the hall until Wendy realized that she was expected to say something. “I can personally tell you that I have already given a few orders and I can tell you that they are being carried out.”
“You do know that the major orders you make should be passed through us or King Gorham.”