The wizards crown, p.59
The Wizard's Crown,
p.59
“Your family and your lands are here,” she told the young wizard. Emory did his best to convince her, but she was adamant.
After Emory had left, Will brought it up once more. “You know he would do anything for you, right? He’s head over heels.”
“I know,” she agreed. “It’s just not what I want. Not today anyway.”
They invited his Uncle Johnathan to come with them, but Sammy’s father had fallen in love with a woman from Branscombe, and she was young enough to want children of her own. Sammy was a little sad leaving him behind, but she was young with a lot yet ahead of her. She had little fear of starting a new life.
Before leaving, Will took Aislinn’s body to Branscombe, and with his uncle’s help they found the small overgrown headstone marking Arrogan’s resting place. Using the grave-digging spell, Will excavated the plot beside it and laid Aislinn’s body there, putting the embroidered pillow beneath her head. Sammy and Erisa were also with him, but while Erisa shed tears, Sammy hadn’t known Aislinn or the grumpy old hermit well enough to feel much other than a faint sadness.
Will lifted his hand and activated his limnthal so he could speak with his grandfather once more. They’d already had several lengthy conversations over the past week, but he wanted to be sure. “She’s buried beside you. Do you want to see her?” He was offering to let the old wizard possess his body one last time.
“I don’t think I could bear it, Will. Just set me free and leave the ring with her.”
His eyes were filling with tears. “You don’t think it will hurt?”
“I haven’t been able to feel physical pain since she put me in this ring.”
“Any regrets?” said Will, swallowing a lump the size of a frog.
“More than you want to hear, but I’m glad you gave her peace. I was never able to.” There was a short pause, then he added, “I’m proud of you, William. I screwed up a lot while teaching you, but I loved you like a son, whether or not we shared any blood.”
Will lost it then, crying and babbling in response, but finally Arrogan told him enough was enough. “Just do it, boy! Cry after!”
Somehow, he focused his attention long enough to set up a resonant vibration in the wisdom tooth that adorned the Ring of Vile and Unspeakable Knowledge. The tooth shattered a second later, and Arrogan’s spirit was free at last. With shaking hands, Will put the ring on Aislinn’s chest and they filled in the grave.
A few days later, they left for Trendham, the nation to the west of Terabinia. They left with few possessions other than what Will and Sammy had stored in their respective limnthals. Erisa’s house had been razed by the dragon, and Will wanted to travel light. Though he’d been one of the wealthiest noblemen in Terabinia barely a week before, he took nothing from his former duchy. Technically, everything belonged to the queen, and he wanted nothing from her. Owe no debts, he reminded himself. He still had slightly over five hundred crowns saved, a fortune beyond what he’d ever expected to have before leaving Barrowden.
The trip took them close to Cerria, but Will insisted he didn’t want to visit anyone, not even the sister who still thought he was dead. He would miss Tiny and Janice, but he doubted his large friend wanted to see him again. The big man had been very clear regarding his feelings. They followed the road north to Fernham and then beyond until they came to the northernmost city in Terabinia, the port town of Lindham. Janice had been from there, but Will did his best not to think about that.
From there, he bought passage for them on a trade ship bound for Lystal in Trendham. Sammy had been in favor of Bondgrad, the capital of the mercantile nation, but Will wanted to be as far as possible from Cerria. Traders from Terabinia visited Bondgrad frequently, and he wanted no chance of being recognized.
They spent a month in a boarding house in Lystal before Will succeeded in buying a small house on the outskirts of the city. From there, they began to settle in, getting to know the neighbors and trying to make a home for themselves in a strange land. The language in Trendham was different than the Darrowan they’d grown up with, but it was similar enough that they were soon able to manage.
Oliver began to make friends with the children nearby, and Sammy recovered her magic, seemingly without lasting damage. Her language skills were almost back to normal, and learning Trendish seemed to help with that somehow.
Although they didn’t really need money, Will started thinking about jobs. People would talk if they didn’t have an obvious source of support. He was discussing the idea with his mother when Oliver ran up panting and slapped his knee. “Hey!”
The boy had just turned four, and Will smiled at the interruption. “What?”
“Are you my dad?”
Erisa immediately intervened, “Olly, I told you already…”
Will held up a hand to stop her. Then he stared down at the little boy. “It was a secret before, but now that we’re here, I can tell you the truth. I really am your dad.”
Oliver grinned. “I knew it! They said I was lying!”
“Who said?” demanded Will, and then followed Oliver to reinforce what he’d said by repeating it loudly to the neighborhood kids.
His mother was frowning when he returned. “Did you mean that?”
“He needs a dad,” said Will. “Who else is going to do it? I’m not going to tell him his father was a soldier that raped his mother.”
“He already thinks I’m his mother. How will you reconcile that later? It won’t make sense,” she countered.
“We can explain you’re really his grandmother, but then he’ll probably ask about Annabelle. I don’t know what to say in that regard.”
“She died when Barrowden was invaded,” improvised Erisa, before giving her son a serious look. “Are you sure about this? You can’t change your mind later. This might be a lark for you, but it’s everything for little Oliver.”
“Mom,” said Will, meeting her gaze. “You know me better than that. All we have now is family, and Oliver is family. I want to be his dad.”
Sammy stepped out of the house, from where she’d been listening. “I’m already his auntie, so you’re late to the party. I’ll still have seniority, even if you call yourself ‘dad.’” They laughed and then she added, “He’s going to be shocked when he finds out his dad is the Stormking.”
“Shhh!” snapped Erisa.
Will shook his head. “I’m no one now, and I prefer it that way. I just want to live like everyone else.”
“You’re crazy,” replied his cousin. “Are you going to give up magic?”
He sighed. “I’ll keep up my practice in secret, but that’s it. I don’t want anyone to know. Oliver can have a normal life. If word got out, who knows what sort of people would show up looking for me? That would defeat the purpose of moving all this way.”
Oliver ran back to them, shouting as he came, “Dad, Dad!” Will thought he might have something to show them, but Oliver was just practicing the new word. He picked the boy up and put him on his shoulder, and the four of them watched the sun set over the mountains to the west.
The future might be ordinary, but at least it would be peaceful.
Keep an eye out for the next series, The Curse of Power. It follows this series and begins with:
A Wizard in Exile
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Michael G. Manning, The Wizard's Crown
