C. Brittain - A Bad Spell in Yurt

“Well,” said Zahlfast, looking surprisingly embarrassed, “at first I didn’t think anything of it, though I should have realized immediately it was you asking for help. It wasn’t until we heard about the dragon going over on Christmas day that I began to think there might be something seriously wrong in Yurt.

“First we got telephone calls from the wizards in courts with telephones, and then the next day the messages started coming in from the pigeon relay station. When we plotted them on a map, it became clear that the dragon had been heading for Yurt, for no one south of Yurt had seen it.”

“And even then,” said the Master with a chuckle, “we had an idea that you might be a competent enough wizard to handle a dragon, although we probably should have considered the likelihood of a demon as well.”

“Didn’t you,” I said accusingly, “even for a minute, suspect that I was practicing black magic and might have brought the dragon down for my own purposes?”

Zahlfast blushed, which I had never seen him do before.

“Not at all,” said the Master. “At most, one or two people had momentary doubts. Besides, we knew there was another wizard here, the retired wizard of Yurt, who could help you.”

“He did help me with the dragon. I never could have killed it without him. But what do you know about the old wizard?”

“I’ve only met him once,” said the Master, “this summer. That’s when he came to the City to try to find out about you.”

“He came to the City?” I cried in amazement. “You didn’t tell me this, Zahlfast.”

“That’s because I only found out about it myself the other day.”

The Master laughed. “He said when he arrived that he would talk to the head of the school or to no one, so he had to talk to me.”

“But I always thought he didn’t want to have anything to do with the wizards’ school.”

“I don’t think he ever does. But he wanted to know about you. He said he’d left you sleeping among his herbs for the whole day, while he flew down to the City. Said he’d never been to the school before, hoped he’d never come there again, but he thought this was the fastest way to find out about someone he called a ‘young whipper-snapper.’ Took me a few minutes to realize he meant you.”

“So what did you tell him?” I asked, feeling highly inadequate. Once again, everyone else seemed to know my business much better than I did.

“I told him you had flair and promise, if you ever applied yourself. And from the look of the telephones, it’s clear that you have. To say nothing of killing a dragon and defeating a demon, even if you nearly got yourself killed in the process.”

“Did get myself killed,” I corrected, but they pretended not to notice.

Zahlfast stood up. “You look tired. I think we should let you rest.”

“Just don’t leave Yurt yet,” I said. “Most of the guest chambers are still sound, in spite of the dragon. And you’ll want to try our cook’s excellent holiday meals. I hear they had to leave the boar at the duchess’s castle, but I’m quite sure she wouldn’t have left the Christmas cookies.”

“We’ll stay tonight at least,” said the Master. “Sleep now, and we’ll talk more later.”

I still did not feel strong enough to climb the chapel stairs the next morning, but the following morning, leaning on the constable’s arm, I ascended by the light of my own magic lamps. The others respectfully stood aside for me and made sure I was comfortably seated in the front pew. Joachim led the thanksgiving service, and while I had good reason to be highly thankful myself, I was rather surprised to see that everyone else in the castle was also delighted to have me alive. Even Dominic smiled at me, and the queen gave me a radiant look that made my heart turn over.

The winter sun burned red through the chapel’s stained glass. Listening to Joachim read from the Bible, I decided I was not worthy either of a miracle on my behalf or of the friendship of all these excellent people. When the congregation sang the final hymn, I did not trust my voice and stood silent.

Once Joachim had pronounced the final benediction, every person there, from King Haimeric down to the stable boys, came up to me. Most said a few words, of how glad and grateful they were to have me again with them, though a few just touched my arm hesitantly and turned away as though overcome with profound awe and wonder. Not daring to speak, I nodded at all of them and tried to smile.

But my foray into sentimentality was cut short by talking to Zahlfast and the Master of the school. They had ended up staying two nights in Yurt, but this morning they were ready to go, waiting only until I returned from the chapel to say goodbye. We stood by the castle gate, talking for a minute, with me well wrapped up in two coats and a muffler. The two wizards were the only people in the castle who had not been at chapel service.

“We’re delighted you’re feeling better,” said Zahlfast briskly. “Now that your telephones are working, I hope you realize you should call us if you run into any other problems this serious. I hadn’t realized you’d take my warning against calling the school for every little problem so literally!”

I nodded glumly.

“Though I must say I should have credited you with more courage than I did,” Zahlfast continued. “Most wizards wouldn’t have gone down alone to face a demon, even those who did a lot better on the demonology exam than I happen to know you did. I hope you aren’t going to turn into one of those rash young wizards who think of themselves of indestructible.”

There didn’t seem to be much danger of that. I had never expected to have a second chance at life, and I knew I would never get a third.

“Just remember you’re a wizard,” said the old Master. “Don’t start relying too much on the priests.”

“This makes it all very symmetrical,” I said. “The bishop is worried about my possible evil influence on the chaplain.”

The two glanced at each other. “Coming close to death doesn’t seem to have changed you very much,” said Zahlfast.

I had noticed the same thing myself. One might have hoped that if I came back from the dead I’d come back better, but I was too happy to be back at all to care.

The old Master looked at me with a twinkle in his eye. “I hope you realize we are very glad to have you still alive. In a few weeks, after all of you here have had a chance to repair some of the damage to the castle, we’ll send up some wizards from the technical division. They’ll take down the details of how you put the spells on your telephones so we can start putting far-seeing attachments on other instruments.”

After watching them fly away, I sat on a bench in the courtyard for a few minutes to catch my breath, wondering how soon the new edition of Ancient and Modern Necromancy would come out and what it would say about me. I hoped it wouldn’t say that I had made a brilliant invention but that no one could ever duplicate it because I hadn’t kept good notes. The sunlight was almost warm here in the shelter of the castle wall, even though there was still a dusting of snow on the ground, left behind by the stable boys’ brooms. But in ten minutes, as soon as my strength returned enough to walk again, I went inside in search of Joachim.

He was sitting in his room, finishing breakfast. “Thank you again for interceding with the saints for me,” I said, sitting down and breathing hard. “I’ve just been seeing off the wizards; they’re on their way back to the school. But I wanted to find out if you’d spoken to the Lady Maria.”

“Yes, I spoke to her yesterday. I told you I would.”

When he seemed unwilling to continue, I said with an exasperated laugh, “What is this, Joachim, the secrets of the human soul that a priest can never reveal? Since I realized she’d sold her soul to the devil long before either you or she did, and then got myself killed negotiating for her soul, I should at least be able to find out what she’s going to do now that her soul is safe again.”