“I did.”
“So, teach me how to do it. Teach me how to use magic.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Why does the rectory have so many damned steps?” I gasped two days later as I hiked my skirt up a little higher and put my foot on the next curving step that led upwards to Merlin’s tower for my first lesson in magic.
“The wizard prefers higher vantage points, “ Bedivere, who was climbing right behind me, said simply. I wondered what sort of cardio the man did because he wasn’t even out of breath as we finally reached the ornate wooden door that would lead into Merlin’s rectory.
Bedivere had been my constant shadow since we made it to Camelot, oftentimes remaining completely silent as I made my way around and began to learn how to run an entire ass castle.
Unfortunately for me, there were no‘Managing Castles for Dummies’books lying around, so most of the past two days hadbeen full of me chasing after Andrivete and trying to soak in as much information as I could about staffing and funds.
That had been, at least, until this afternoon because today was my first lesson with Merlin—one he had only begrudgingly agreed to.
“Why?” I asked, bending in half at the waist in order to catch my breath. I was pretty sure that I would have calves of steel by the end of my training if this kept up.
“Because it means that most people will not venture up here to bother me,” Merlin said as he pulled the door open, looking much more put together than I had ever seen him before.
When we met he had been wearing a threadbare tunic and had a pair of dark circles under his eyes. Now that he had two days of rest and a chance to bathe, the Merlin in front of me was an altogether different man.
He was still wearing a tunic that was in a deep shade of green and made his lighter colored eyes seem even more unearthly. Behind him, his rectory seemed to stretch on much further than I thought would be possible.
“It feels much bigger on the inside,” I told him as he ushered me inside, eyeing Bedivere for a moment but saying nothing about his guarding of me as he came in behind me.
“It is magic. I had a need for space that a castle tower could not accommodate so I placed the spell nearly fifteen years ago and it has yet to wear off.”
“It’s like a TARDIS!” I gasped, staring up at the ceiling that was outfitted with glass windows that showed the cloudy sky above.
“What is a TARDIS?” Bedivere asked, his stern expression pulling down into a confused frown.
It was one of the first questions he had asked me all day and I jumped to answer but Merlin got there first.
“A television show about an alien,” Merlin said offhandedly as he turned back to the long table that had several boiling pots spread out along it. “Come, let us get started so you can go.”
“Merlin,” Bedivere’s voice was full of warning. “You may not ascribe to normal standards as the rest of us do, but her majesty is still your queen. Treat her with more respect.”
Merlin turned to look at the man over his shoulder, an odd look on his face before he just shrugged. “Whatever you say, old man.”
Bedivere flinched as if Merlin had struck him and I stepped in between them to soothe the sudden tension in the air.
“Okay, Yoda, please teach me your ways,” I said, trying to inject a lightheartedness into my words.
That seemed to distract the wizard because he smiled at me brightly, his eyes lighting up. “I understood that as well—Star Wars—yes?”
“How much about the future do you know?” I asked as I followed him to the bench.
More than you know,Merlin answered in my head this time.We will conduct the rest of the lesson with our mental connection.
I turned to look at Bedivere who was standing against one of the walls, his gaze firmly on me.Won’t that bother Bedivere?
No, the old man could use a firm kick in the seat,Merlin’s mental voice was dry as he shook his head,and being kept from our conversation should do the trick.
Stop calling him old,I grumbled, glaring at him.He’s only thirty-nine.
I had finally worked up the courage to ask Bedivere his age yesterday and had been pleasantly surprised to find that he wasn’t as much older than me than I’d originally thought. The silver streak in his hair was definitely premature—probably from high levels of stress in his younger years.
He had told me the information with an air of surrender, like I would turn away from him once he revealed it to me, but when I gave no negative reaction to it the alpha had lapsed into a confused silence for the rest of the day.
