Kay Hooper - The Wizard Of Seattle

"Because I can't rule the male wizards here, not alone, not without more power. For years I've thought and studied the problem, all the while trying to keep Sanctuary intact to provide all women a safe place for living-and breeding. I've done everything I could to restore the balance of the population of Atlantia."

Merlin had formed a conviction about one aspect of this city, and though he was taking a chance, he was too curious not to ask. "In the mountains the males kill their female children; here, I'm told, male children born with power always weaken and die. The women here seem to blame a baffling fate, but I think the cause is far more… practical. Isn't it? Isn't it all a part of your determination to balance the population, no matter what the cost?"

She stiffened. "That is none of your concern," she snapped.

He had his answer. "No, I suppose not. But if that's true, why are you telling me about your intention of ruling Atlantis? Firstly, it's none of my concern, and secondly, my involvement could hardly make a difference. Could it?"

"Yes, it could." Her eyes were still cold, but they were also sharp and eager. "I've seen the future, Merlin. No one else here has the ability of sight, but I have it. I saw you-with me. I saw our powers joined just as our bodies were joined, and together we were invincible. I saw it . We were meant to rule Atlantia together."

Merlin chose his words carefully. "You must have somehow misinterpreted what you saw, Antonia, because I have no intention of ruling anything. I am leaving for Seattle with Serena before the next full moon, as I always intended to do."

Her lovely face hardened, and her lips writhed in that snarl of fury. "You spurn me? Me ?"

"No, I simply decline your generous offer to rule Atlantis. I'm sorry, Antonia, but it was never one of my ambitions to be a king-even with a lovely queen beside me."

For several moments it seemed doubtful that he'd escape this room without feeling her wrath, but Merlin stood his ground, because his instincts told him to do just that. And it seemed his instincts were right, because she finally relaxed and offered him something like a smile.

"Well, since you wouldn't be much good to me unwilling and I can't seem to break through your guard to change that, it seems I have little choice but to accept your refusal."

He bowed slightly, making sure the gesture held no mockery. "Thank you. But I still say you may have misread what you saw. After all, the male wizards are all very similar in build and coloring."

"Yes, perhaps." She was impatient now, a bit imperious as she attempted to regain her lost face. "In any case the matter no longer concerns you. Good day, Merlin."

Since he'd already pushed his luck a couple of times during the interview, he didn't hesitate now in bowing again and promptly leaving the room. As he'd expected, the two female Master wizards were waiting outside to escort him from Antonia's house, though they went only as far as the street, leaving him to find his way back to Roxanne's house alone.

He glanced up to study the sun, calculating he had no more than an hour before he had to leave the city, and quickened his steps. He thought he'd suggest to Serena that they leave the city together and climb the nearest mountain for the night; he could hide their presence from whichever male wizard the land belonged to, after all, and they could return to Sanctuary in the morning to wait for Roxanne and Tremayne.

After the encounter with Antonia, he had the urge to stay away from this place as much as possible.

He was nearly at Roxanne's house when two sudden realizations stopped him in his tracks. The first was that Antonia might have been Serena's older sister, they looked so much alike; the second was that crystal balls had always been used by wizards for prophesy. Always.

Merlin stood there for a full minute, but then continued on his way to Roxanne's house. After all, it wasn't his place to tell Antonia what she obviously hadn't realized-that the Curtain must have distorted her crystal over the years. It wasn't his place to tell her what her own people had obviously neglected to inform her about Serena's so closely resembling her (because she surely would have commented on it if she'd known). And it certainly wasn't his place to suggest that the woman she had recognized as herself in that vision of the future might well be Serena.

"I saw our powers joined just as our bodies were joined, and together we were invincible!"

Had Antonia actually seen Merlin and Serena in that prophesy of a physical coupling and the merging of powerful positive and negative energies?

He pushed the question away, forcing himself to re-examine his decision not to return to Antonia and tell her what he'd realized. The decision felt right. Besides, he'd seen enough to be sure she wouldn't believe him no matter what he told her. In her determination to rule Atlantis, she had blinded herself to everything but her goal, even to the loathsome extent of slyly causing the male children born in Sanctuary to weaken slowly and die, which made her no better than the ambitious males up in the mountains and possibly worse. At least their infanticide was reputedly quick and efficient.

Serena had been right-as an example of sisterhood, this place came up lacking.

Antonia sat before her crystal, staring fixedly into the shimmering depths. And, again, as she had for weeks now, she saw the same scene. The background was only darkness, so she wasn't sure where it took place, but two people lay together, their naked bodies entwined, obviously making love. They were lying on a bed covered with fur, and firelight flickered over their bodies, so there was apparently a hearth nearby. The man was dark, muscled, powerful; the woman slender and yet seductive, her rich red hair spread out like waves of fire, and the aura surrounding them was literally pulsing with their combined power.…

Antonia sensed that she was looking at something truly incredible, and it fascinated her. All that power, she thought, and simply due to a sexual alliance! If she had known years ago that her power could combine with a male's, she would have chosen a consort then and saved herself years of a frustrating standoff in which she governed the women while the male wizards bickered and bred like rats.

Striking the table with a clenched fist, Antonia swore softly, intensely. Why had he refused her? Why ? She wanted to believe his rejection was momentary, that she would find a way to persuade or seduce him, but she wasn't fool enough to indulge in stupid fantasies.

His power was obvious, and when he had slammed the door to shut her out, she had found no possibility of forcing her way back in again.

No, Merlin was stubbornly attached to his Serena. How sweet. The only bright spot Antonia could find was his assertion that they would soon leave Atlantia; given his power and skill, the last thing she wanted was for him to linger long enough that he might be tempted to interfere in her plans-however much he denied an ambition to rule.

But with Merlin gone, what hope had she of finding a powerful male wizard willing to join his body and power to here-and, of course, to later be commanded by her?

The situation seemed hopeless, but Antonia didn't give up so easily. Instead she covered her crystal with a black cloth and went to her desk, taking from one of the drawers several sheets of parchment. There were written the names of every adult male wizard in Atlantia, with the ones said to be weakest and easiest led at the top. She had devoted much time and effort during the last weeks to the compilation of the list, since she had known only that her lover would be a dark male wizard.

She went to the perfect mirror hanging on the wall of her bedroom and recited a soft spell, then glanced down at her list. Looking back at the mirror, she said, "Show me Selby," and watched as an image swiftly formed. She knew at once he was wrong; this wizard was thin and too pale, not at all like the man she had seen in her crystal.