Page 26 of Keeper of the Flame: Orrick

“That’s enough, Noah,” Orrick stopped him. “You need to leave now before I tell Lord Corbett you have been sneaking off again when you should be doing your chores. He’ll never make you a page if he hears that.”

“I don’t care about being a page,” whined the boy. “I want to be a powerful wizard like you.”

“Sorcerer. I’m a sorcerer, not a wizard,” said Orrick, crossing the room and pushing the boy out the door. “Go on, now. I’ll show you some magic later.”

“All right,” said the boy, hurrying down the stairs, humming.

“Sit down, Lady Hope. Please.” Orrick extended his arm, pointing to a chair. When she went to sit, he closed the door, but that seemed to make her very uncomfortable.

“You’re closing the door?” she asked. “Why?”

“It wouldn’t fare well for any passersby to see me doing magic. Lord Corbett doesn’t like me to use it, because he says it scares the servants and even some of the knights and ladies. He says magic has no place in his castle.”

“He says that and yet he lets you stay?”

“I have known Corbett since he was a boy when he lost both his parents at a young age. I more or less raised him. We’ve become good friends over the years.”

“Oh, I see. So, it’s like your relationship with that orphan boy, Noah.”

“Noah,” he said with a chuckle, sitting on a chair across from her. “Nay, he’s just a pesky child who tends to be on the lazy side. He’s harmless, but also hopeless. Lord Corbett took him in because of his wife’s good-heartedness. But honestly, the boy should be in the kitchen with the servants.”

“Orrick, I’ve been looking for you because I wanted to ask you about the Eternal Flame.”

“What about it?”

“Well, you said you’d help me find it.”

“Did I?”

“I saw your grandson, Sir Rick. He is your grandson, right? Or is he your great-grandson?” She was fishing for information but he wasn’t about to give it.

“I’ve never had any children,” said Orrick, already almost kicking himself for saying that.

“Then what is your relationship to Sir Rick then? He looks an awful lot like you. Are you close to him?”

“Closer than you think. Let’s just say Sir Rick and I are two of the same.”

“Oh, so then he knows all about the Eternal Flame, too?”

“What is it you want to know about it? And why, exactly, are you looking for it?”

“I found this on your shelf,” she said, eagerly pulling the book from her bag and holding it in two hands, staring at the cover. “I haven’t had the chance to read it yet, but I am guessing this can tell me all about the Eternal Flame and everything I need to know.” When she was about to open it, he snatched it away from her. With a wave of his other hand he quickly put the spell back on the book so the words would be unreadable to mortals. Even if she had magic, mayhap she wouldn’t read the title out loud again and then the spell would hold.

“This book can only be read by those with magic,” he said.

“Really?” she asked. “Well, I was able to read it and I don’t have magic.”

“You don’t?” He cocked his head and perused her, trying to decipher if she was telling the truth or not. “Then how could you read it?”

“Anyone can read it. Let me show you.” She took the book back and flipped it open. Staring down at a page, she made a face. Then she flipped page after page, looking discouraged, before closing the book and placing it back down on the table. “I don’t understand it. I was able to read the words inside before, but now I can’t.”

“It’s not important,” said Orrick, sliding the book across the table to him and resting his elbow atop it. “I can tell you anything you want to know.”

“Then tell me where to find the flame.”

“That, I cannot tell you.”

“But you just said you could tell me anything about it.”