by ‘I’m not going without Ves,’ Jay duly announced, fifteen minutes later, standing in the middle of Milady’s tower-top chamber with his chin high, eyes flashing rebellion.
‘Certainly not,’ said Milady, calmly.
The chin came down a bit. ‘What?’
‘Ves, you are late. I understand you were recuperating in the Grove, so I will let it pass. However—’
‘Late?’ I repeated, stupidly.
‘A summons was sent this morning. Several, in fact.’
And I’d been sulking with the Horn Squad and had missed them all.
Oops.
‘Sorry,’ I gasped. ‘Sorry. I’m here. And I’ll go anywhere.’
‘Silvessen, specifically,’ said Milady.
‘Great. Where’s that.’
‘Silvessen was a thriving village many years ago, with mention made in the Domesday Book. Scant references to it in one or two historic texts suggest it was a magickal community, home to at least one wand-wright of considerable skill. However, it has long since faded. Any source of magick it once possessed is either gone entirely, or nearly so.’
‘Perfect,’ I agreed, nodding.
‘It also happens to be remote in location, at a little distance from other habitations. Hence, an ideal choice for a test of Orlando’s prototype.’
Few inconvenient passers-by, magickal or otherwise, to interfere with whatever we’d be doing.
‘Sounds great,’ I said brightly.
‘Perhaps.’ Milady paused, then went on, without elaborating upon that slightly sinister maybe. ‘Indira shall accompany you, as Orlando’s representative. The workings of the regulator will be left to her, for she is properly trained in the operation of the device.’
‘Understood.’
‘Emellana Rogan has also agreed to work with us again, as the Troll Court’s representative.’
I bounced a bit. I couldn’t help it.
Milady paused again, for longer this time. ‘And,’ she finally said, ‘Valerie has recommended that Zareen be included as part of your group.’
‘Zar?’ I echoed. ‘What? Why? Not that I have the slightest objection to her being with us, but—’
‘It is unusual,’ Milady interrupted, ‘but I find myself in agreement with Valerie’s reasoning. The facts of the matter are briefly these: while little information remains about Silvessen in the historical record, there is one discernible mention which gives cause for concern. Gallimaufry has brought to our attention a short text, written by one Sumla of Witheridge in the late fifteen-hundreds, in which a village we believe to be Silvessen was described as “a deathly place“, and “beyond the pale“. It is not known why these words were used or what, precisely, they betoken. Considering that the text in question is hundreds of years old, it is likely that nothing now remains there but ruins.’
‘But in case that isn’t true: Zareen,’ I said.
‘Indeed. She assures me that she is fully recovered and ready to resume duty.’
‘And what are we doing in Silvessen, precisely?’
‘Your goal is to verify whether the use of the regulator can successfully alter, or indeed reverse, the predominant state of magick in a designated area. In the case of Silvessen, a successful test will see some restoration of magickal flow.’
My heart was too full to reply. Take several valued friends. Venture forth, into the ruins of a magickal community possibly rife with ectoplasmic activity. Deploy the hard-won regulator. Bring magick back. Save the day.
‘I love my job,’ I told Milady.
The air sparkled with her amusement. ‘I am certainly pleased to hear it.’
An idea occurred to me. A glittering, scintillating, brilliant idea, and I passionately loved it from the very first moment.
But to carry it off, I’d have to be careful.
‘So, considering the, um, uncertainties about Silvessen and the possibility of encountering unusual trouble,’ I said. ‘We’ll be needing some unusual arts at our disposal, no?’
‘Your unusual capacities may indeed prove a valuable asset, Ves, yes.’
‘That’s why I’m going along.’
‘Besides your unique familiarity with the regulator’s history and workings and, indeed, the mission’s goals, yes.’
‘I will do my best to be fully prepared,’ I vowed.
Milady knew me well. There was a pause.
‘Within reason, Ves,’ she said.
‘Oh, absolutely.’ I beamed. ‘One hundred percent within reason.’
Jay was looking at me sideways. He knew me pretty well, too.
‘So!’ I said, clapping my hands together. ‘When do we leave?’
If you’re hoping to avoid inconvenient questions, a quick subject change is always a handy tactic.
‘Tomorrow morning. Please make your preparations promptly.’
‘Faster than the speed of light,’ I promised.
***
A false promise, of course, despite having what they call the best will in the world. I did my best, though, by stepping smartly down to my room the moment Milady closed the meeting, Jay trailing along at my heels.
‘Ves,’ he said, in a wary tone of voice, ‘what are you planning?’
‘Me? Nothing.’
‘You know that when people answer a question like that with the word “nothing”, there’s nothing more likely to rouse greater suspicion. You know that, right?’
‘I do.’
‘And you recall that I’m your faithful partner and sidekick and I’ve always got your back, but it does help to know what I’m dealing with? Right?’
I beamed at Jay. ‘And I also know that you’d never go tell on me to Milady and ruin a plan of guaranteed genius. I do know that, right?’
‘Right.’
The word was not uttered with quite the ringing confidence I was hoping for, but Jay had a point, so I took it.
‘The plan,’ I said, flinging open the door to my room, ‘is simple. We’re taking Merlin with us.’
‘Okay…’
‘Things could get hairy. We might need her.’
‘I can’t fault your logic, but Ophelia’s rather retiring, are you sure she’ll want to—’
‘No,’ I said, striding over to the silver star on the floor. ‘I’m sure she won’t want to. Which is why we aren’t taking Ophelia.’ I smiled seraphically at Jay. ‘We’re taking me, though, aren’t we?’
I didn’t give him time to reply. Another step carried me into the centre of my portal-star, and I was gone in a blink.
He didn’t follow. By now, he knows better than to remonstrate with me when I’ve got a Brilliant Idea.
Wise man.
It not being Tuesday, I was polite enough to knock on the door of Ophelia’s cottage before I interrupted her. I found her with her rough green overalls on, mixing up something sweet-smelling in an enormous pestle and mortar. Every pound of her heavy granite pestle sent up another, pungent waft of scent, and I inhaled deeply. ‘That smells wonderful. What is it?’
‘An emollient.’ Ophelia neither elaborated nor looked up, intent upon her process. ‘Hello, Ves,’ she added, absently.
‘Good afternoon! And I hope you’ve had a pleasant day.’
At that, she did look up. Perhaps it was the buoyant quality to my voice that alerted her suspicions. ‘I have,’ she said, eyes narrowing, ‘thank you.’
‘So, you know how you said that if I want something I should just enquire?’
I could see regret for these recently uttered words unfurling behind her eyes. ‘I did say that.’
‘I come with an enquiry.’
‘So I perceive.’ She set down the pestle, giving me her full attention. ‘Let’s hear it, then.’
‘Have you heard about the new regulator?’ I was never sure how much she kept up with the news at the Society. She spent so much of her time alone in her cottage, engaged in her own, solitary work.
‘I have,’ she nodded.
‘Aha. Well, I asked for time off because a few of us are going off to test it in the field. Tomorrow.’
‘Congratulations.’ She smiled, a little, and I was touched. She knew me well enough to understand how excited I’d be.
‘Thank you!’ I beamed. ‘The thing is, Milady is sending Zar with us, just in case we encounter Toil and Trouble. Which we very well might. Apparently there are unquiet spirits, possible undead, who even knows? So, I thought I’d better be as well equipped to deal with trouble as I can.’
‘I believe I can see where we are going with this.’
‘And. And! Since the whole mission is about testing a new magickal art in the field, I thought it might also be a nice opportunity for me to test my new magickal arts in the field. Two birds with one stone. Super efficient.’
Request made. I had only to shut up and wait, while Ophelia turned the idea over in her mind.
‘It is too soon,’ she said.
‘I thought you’d say that, and you’re not wrong. But really, how are we ever going to know when I’m ready unless we try things out?’
‘There is some justice to that thought, yes.’
‘And I will, of course, swear on my honour to remember everything you’ve taught me, and never to abuse my power.’
Her head tilted. She regarded me thoughtfully, and said, in a deceptively placid tone: ‘How will you know what constitutes abuse?’
‘Um. You’ve taught me a lot about ethics, and—’
‘I have tried to teach you a lot about ethics. I am not sure how much of it has registered with you.’
I coughed. I do have a reputation as a rule-breaker and sometime trouble-maker, and it’s not altogether unjust, now is it? But…
‘You knew me by reputation when you chose me for this job,’ I pointed out. ‘I have to believe you’d trust me to get it right in the end. Even if I make some mistakes along the way.’
That, it seemed, was the right thing to say, for at last she nodded. ‘Very well. I believe I can invest you with Merlin’s magick on a temporary basis. Shall we say, one week?’
‘That should be plenty. Thank you, thank you, thank you.’
She cut me off mid-gush with a raised hand, and I shut myself up. ‘I will expect a full account of your doings as Merlin. An honest account. And I will be asking your colleagues for an appraisal of your conduct and achievements while wielding these arts.’
‘That seems fair,’ I said, cautiously. I knew I could rely on Jay and Zareen to soften any misdemeanours I might happen to stray into, entirely accidentally. But Indira? She was too scrupulously honest for that. And Emellana, well, she was a wild card. I couldn’t tell what she would do.
I might actually have to behave myself.
Ophelia’s smile returned, tinged with an amusement I might even term faintly malicious. ‘It will be quite the test.’
I let out my breath in a deep sigh. ‘What happens if I fail?’
Ophelia thought about that. ‘I don’t know,’ she admitted. ‘I will have to think about that if it happens.’
So I’d placed myself on trial as the up-and-coming Merlin, with criteria I would personally find difficult to stick to, and the threat of unknowable consequences if I screwed up too badly.
Excellent.
I was beginning to feel nicely alive.
