Prologue
Scotland, Present Day
Jane sat on the chair opposite mine with a half-empty glass of wine in her hand. Her second. I hoped that it would be enough.
How do you tell your best friend that you’re not who they thought you were – not even close?
“Kim, I don’t think you can surprise me. It’s not like you’re about to tell me that there are fairies, witches, and magical creatures in this world and that Morganstein’s research of Camelot literature is historically accurate.”
I froze, my eyes wide open. No way! Did she already suspect it?
She stopped, seeing my reaction. Then, slowly, she put her glass down and leaned forward.
We sat there, watching each other in silence.
She took a deep breath. “How much of it?”
“All of it.”
Chapter 1
England, AD 500
The dream came every night. So vivid, it almost felt real. But Kim knew she was asleep and these were the visions of her prophecy.
It always started with a woman called Igraine. She had long, curly, red hair, a sign of northern ancestry. She was the most important lady in the land because she would be the mother of King Arthur.
Then, she saw Merlin in his tower at Camelot. He had the other half of the prophecy: he knew who Arthur’s father was.
It was crucial to help Arthur’s parents meet and protect them, and then do everything possible to keep Arthur’s birth a secret. Because the magical world wanted him dead. An older prophecy said that his rule would diminish their influence—slowly, magic would disappear from the world. Their very existence would become myth.
But something went wrong. That part always came next: The fires of battle. She’d see them spread as their heat rose above a town, and mages on both sides cast weather and battle spells to desperately try to affect the outcome. Loud cries from the soldiers would mix with the trebuchets as their rocks hit the castle that lay under siege.
Then, the prophetic visions would be replaced with hazy images of a world far in the future, where men put down their weapons and gave up their rough ways. There were buildings taller than any castle and windows framed in metal. People fought for sport with swords that bent and didn’t draw blood, wearing white attires and strange basket-looking masks—you could watch them without being there in person, on small rectangular screens.
She liked to look at one of these sportsmen in particular. He was the exception—the one thing she saw clearly. He was tall, with bright-brown hair and eyes as grey as a cloud-covered ocean. His presence brought warm feelings, and a perpetual longing to be with him, always. His strong, masculine voice would whisper in the night, in a strange language that she understood perfectly. And he’d call to her, “Kim…Kim.”
Kim opened her eyes. For a moment, the images of her dream were still there. Then, they vanished and the world around came into focus.
She was out in the woods, where she’d chosen to cast a protective sphere called the tent spell. It prevented anyone from seeing or hearing her. Or sensing her magic. The starry night shone between the treetops.
“Kim.”
She turned. “Seth.”
He was the same man from that future world. Here with her now. She reached for him under her conjured blanket, but his side of the bed was empty. He sat on the edge. In the light of the stars, she saw that he was already fully dressed and armed—ready to protect her if there was a need.
Sweet. But she was the one who was supposed to protect him.
“Here.” He leaned and handed her her clothes, placing a delicate kiss on her lips.
She closed her eyes to savor the sensation. “Mmm. What time is it?”
“By the moon, about five or six in the morning. I let you sleep in.”
She laughed and picked up the long, warm socks. They were rough on the skin, but their sturdy fabric was essential during the journey.
“Did you have the dream?”
“Every night. The only part that changes is the bit from us in the future. I see different things each time. Tonight, I saw you fencing, but I wasn’t there. I watched you inside something that looked like a frame.”
He knit his eyebrows. “I fenced in a frame?”
“Yes. Sort of. Or maybe it was some shiny screen.” That was the closest way she could describe it. Sometimes it was hard to tell whether the things in those visions were real or part of dreams. And now some things happened inside these strange screens, just to add to the confusion.
“How far in the future do you think this is?”
“I don’t know.” She rose to put on the warm travel dress. It closed at the front, and Seth came to help her tighten the top.
His fingers trembled on the knots, sending heat through her body and tingles on her skin.
“You could have woken me up earlier…”
“Yes. I could have. But I’d rather save something for tonight.”
“Seth!”
“Don’t complain. I can tell you like it.”
She laughed. He always made her laugh. In that future of theirs, most of the memories were light. Sometimes she giggled in her sleep.
“Come, saucy lady. Let’s get food, before I give in to temptation and we’ll start the day too late.”
She bit her lip, and fastened the peplos under her shoulders. Then, she conjured food. It was a transmutation spell: the ground under the mattress transformed itself, as it did to sustain the plants and life of this earth. It was the only form of conjuring that was permanent.
It was a breakfast almost worthy of her father’s castle.
She used to be a princess. The fresh scent of the bread reminded her of the court life that she had left behind. She closed her eyes. She could almost imagine the taste of the morning stew that had brewed all night, and the sweet baked goods. It was one of the best kitchens in the land. Even Seth said so. He had visited many courts when he was the first knight of King Fergus Mór; dined with noblemen and kings, including her father. Or rather, her adoptive father. The father she had in this world.
Over two years had passed, since…since they went back in time and ended up here, forgetting everything they knew. She recalled how hard it was to deal with such a loss of memory. They also got separated for almost two years. They met again only a few weeks ago, and then the memories came. Before that, she just knew herself as King Áedán’s daughter.
She had made a brave and dangerous choice to leave it all behind and try to find Merlin.
She looked at the plates in front of her. At court, they had a prayer of grace before eating. She had a different prayer now: that the Order of the First Shrine wouldn’t find her.
*
Seth watched the way Kim picked up a bread roll. Delicately and slowly. He chuckled, recalling her perfect, almost mechanic manners, when they first met, back at her father’s castle. And the intense hostility between them then.
“What?”
“Nothing. Well, you.”
She smiled at him. Her eyes shimmered. Soft. Loving. She ate the bread and beamed in satisfaction.
“You should try the salad. There’s magic in the sauce.”
He expected a laugh, but she stared. “I think…you’ve said that to me before.”
He had! That was right. He remembered now. It was long ago, in another time. She sat beside him, her blonde hair loose and her clothes different in style. The table was thinner than the heavy wooden ones he was used to here. They had a selection of salads in small plates. Everything else was a blur. He was nervous, being so close to her. It must have been shortly after they’d met.
He smiled. “Well, this time it’s certain. Magic in the sauce.”
Whatever spell brought them to this time had taken her away from him, but he found her again and the intense love between them grew every day.
She looked down at her plate. “I think I’m done.” It was still mostly full.
“What? But you’ve just started. You need to eat. It’s the final day of our journey. After that, we’ll have time to rest and take things slow.”
“All right.” She sighed and put her hand on his. “We’ve been lucky so far.”
Lucky was an understatement. It was a miracle they were still alive.
The Order of the First Shrine wanted Kim because of her prophetic visions. And they were the most powerful order of mages in the land: they shared their combined magic through a hundred Blue Diamond rings, so a chance meeting with one of them was fatal.
For over a hundred years, the magical world waited for those visions she had—so they could kill the child king, or better yet, kill one of his parents before he was born. A powerful curse, Avalon’s Curse, had caused them to become servants to mankind, and this boy’s rule was destined to seal their fate.
Instead, she wanted to go to Merlin and save Arthur—who she saw as the king’s protector in the future—because she loved Seth. Avalon’s Curse had made witches Guardians to humans. She was his, born to fall for him. Mages lived for hundreds of years—this was the only way that they could spend their long life together.
She did have another option. He’d told her that over a month ago, when they started on this dangerous journey.
“You can go to the Order. You won’t have to run away. They’d take you in with open arms, just to prevent this child from being born. You could restore the power of mages and possibly even reignite the fire of Avalon to reverse the Curse.” It was the one thing many mages wanted.
“But I would be reversing us. There would be no more Guardians.”
“So, you chose me.” There was no way to describe how much her words had meant to him.
For the last few weeks, they had to look over their shoulders constantly. They even used new names, Adelis and Caradoc, a lady and her bodyguard—not even a couple—to draw less attention. They slept in the woods and stayed away from towns as far as possible.
So far, they only got attacked twice by bounty hunters and both times she managed to avoid any spells requiring a lot of power—mages could sense those, and if someone recognized her trace of magic…
But it was almost over. One last stretch, and they would reach Camelot, where Kim saw Merlin. Seth knew that village. A famous mage, Ivan of Camelot, once lived there. But that was long ago. Ivan was dead and the place was destroyed by a fire. He’d told Kim this, but she said that in her visions it had been rebuilt into a town with a royal court.
In truth, he couldn’t wait to finally get there. It had been nonstop since they left. No real rest. Draining.
But there was no time to think of this. Not today. They finished eating and set off. At least the roads were quiet and easy to navigate. Though Kim lagged behind.
“Enjoying the ride?” He turned and teased.
“Oh, please!”
“You know, people pay for this kind of luxury.”
“They do? Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Her expression changed. “Hmm…Let’s find out!” And with that, she suddenly quickened her horse’s pace and overtook him.
He hastened to match her speed. This was the side of her he loved the most. The side that craved adventure. Here was the brave woman who, in one day, left the comforts of royalty and embraced life as a mage.
How she had managed to endure the restrictions of court for so long was still a mystery, knowing what she was like. Seven months, and before that she lived with a fairy tribe for about a year and a half, where she was coached and groomed to be the perfect princess. Hard to tell which one was worse! The night he took her from the palace, she showed him how naturally she took to life on the road.
Her joyous laughter filled the path up front. “Right or left?” she shouted.
“Which do you think, Highness?”
She picked right. It was wrong and led them to a dead end at a small clearing.
“Oops.”
“Oops?”
She smiled. “It’s a good thing I’ve got the best knight in the world to protect me.”
“Who says I’m going to?”
She giggled.
“Hungry?” They always had packed snacks with them. Kim never dared to conjure outside that protective spell.
“Not really. But, I’ll have a bite.”
He split the food and handed her half.
“Thanks.” She chewed fast. Tense. Something bothered her.
He waited. She’d talk. She always did in the end.
She finished the food and looked at him. Her expression betrayed doubt. Perhaps even fear. “What if Merlin’s like the others? What if he doesn’t want to protect Arthur? What if he’s a threat to us too?”
It had occurred to him, but it seemed unlikely. “In your visions, he does. And either way, if he’s smart, he won’t challenge you. He’ll hear you out to find out all he needs to know. That would give us time. And, don’t worry. He’s not our only hope. We’ll find someone else if we need to. There are plenty of strong mages, and some of them are bound to be like you—prefer to keep things as they are.”
She sighed. Her face calmed.
How was it that with all her tremendous powers, she still looked to him for strength?
*
They almost reached Camelot. Almost. Damn the rain!
They were only an hour away when it got heavy and they had to stop at a tavern, in a small town called Benwick.
Kim waited impatiently by the window. So close!
The roads from here were rough and hard to navigate. It was better to wait for the storm to pass.
The place was packed. She watched Seth negotiate with the tavern owner for a table. They had said that they were full, but he walked back to her with a look of victory.
He approached her, taller than most men there. Glorious. So radiant in the way he walked, and…a memory: their first kiss! They stood in front of each other, somewhere outside in the dark. She surprised him and took a step forward, stopping with her body inches from his. Her hands moved toward his wide chest. With a mesmerized look on his face, he leaned down toward her.
Now, intensity rushed through her, as if she were reliving it, seeing him amid the blur that clouded the world around the memory.
How could she have forgotten this?
Seth thought they shouldn’t dwell on their past too much and they were lucky to be together, no matter where or when. And that whatever took them away from their old lives must have happened for a reason. But she disagreed. She hated not remembering.
“You all right?”
She nodded. “Never better.”
He laughed and looked out the window. “Don’t worry. The rain can’t last forever.”
“Well, no. Not unless I do something,” she teased. Weather spells were out of the question in a crowded area.
He winked. He took her hand in his, and they went to the place that was set for them. At the other side of their table, three men sat with many empty tankards of beer.
Seth helped her to her seat.
“Thank you. Always the gentleman.”
“Doing my best.” He sat beside her, and the innkeeper brought them a tray of freshly baked bread and jam.
One of the drunk men pounded his fist hard on the table. She looked up from her plate. The man laughed at the other two. “And then he says to me, ‘You fool. You’re better off staying at home. If you go there, you’d be baked alive.’ I tell him his mother was a fool and I bet she never knew who his father was. But I do as he says. He says, ‘Don’t go on that ship.’ So, I don’t go. And guess what? The next day I hear that it burned.”
“It’s a coincidence.”
“It’s not a coincidence. I’m telling you. Sure as I can see you now, that man can see the future.”
“Nobody can see the future.”
“He can.” He gave his friend a small push.
“I heard of a mage who can do it,” said the third man. “Merlin.”
What! She glanced at Seth.
“Ha! A mage who could see the future.” The second man snorted. “What next? Carts that move without horses?”
“I’m telling you, there was a mage around here once who could do it.”
Was?
“Yeah? What was he like?”
“Tall. Messy beard. Funny attitude.”
The description fit her visions.
“That’s him! That’s the one I met,” said the man with the ship story.
“But he died three years ago.”
No. That can’t be! Her hand caught Seth’s.
“They’re just drunk, sweetheart.” He’d heard it too.
“And if they’re right?”
“They’re not.”
He was just saying it—to give her confidence, after all the effort they made to get here. There was always a risk that something happened to Merlin—there were so many risks in general.
The three men started to talk more quietly about horse rustling and stealing weapons.
“I’ve come across people like them,” Seth whispered. “Men who like the rough side of life and test the boundaries and the flexibility of the law.”
“What did you do?”
“Mostly kept my distance.”
She snorted.
“Unless protecting King Fergus Mór demanded otherwise.”
“Hey!” One of the men turned to them. “Do I know you?”
Seth gave him a sharp, cold look.
The man tilted his head and looked at her. “You look oddly familiar.”
“She gets that all the time.” Seth replied and then looked away from them.
She hated when he spoke for her. But it was part of the deal. Bodyguards did that. As did most men, she had to admit.
The man cursed. A few minutes later, one of his companions suggested they head out, and the three of them left.
Kim and Seth waited for the rain to ease and then set off again. They planned to reach Camelot before sundown.
The ride was than she feared. Fallen trees, large muddy puddles, and rugged terrain, not to mention her swelling hands and rear pain…
And then, finally, there it was! The silhouette of the hills around Camelot, just like in the visions. It shined above the tree line.This was it!
The rain was now back with vengeance. She couldn’t care less.
Almost there! She smiled at Seth.
The narrow path opened and there was the familiar turn in the road that she saw so many times. She sped up, excitement building inside her.
And then, right in front of them, she saw the three men from the pub.
The sound of the rain had disrupted her magically enhanced hearing, and she couldn’t notice the sounds of their approach.
“There she is.”
What were they doing here?
“I told you it was her. Fifty gold pieces bounty on the Wanted notice.”
A Wanted notice? She felt the tension.
Seth overtook her and stopped between her and the three men. She now saw that they were armed. One had a short sword and the other bow and arrows.
“Hand over the witch!” The third spoke. It was the same man who had talked about Merlin at the pub.
“What witch?” Seth raised his eyebrows. He sat motionless. His voice was calm, his expression cold as ice.
“Do you take me for a fool?” The man pulled out a knife. The others laughed. And then, he suddenly threw the knife right at Seth.
Seth caught it. He held it in his hand, by the handle.
The man froze, surprised. But then he turned to his companions and they laughed harder.
Then, things happened quickly. One moment, the man rode toward them and Seth closed the distance. And then the next, the man was on the ground, bleeding, and Seth was still on his horse, looking down. His moves had been rapid and direct; she didn’t even catch what he had done to throw the man off the horse.
“Anyone else?” Seth’s eyes now filled with fire at the other two, who stared and cursed.
They shook their heads and made their way back into the woods.
Seth watched them closely, until they disappeared in the path. He dismounted and offered the man his hand, but the man spat at him, got up on his own, and mounted his horse.
“See you around, idiot!” the man yelled behind him as he rode away to join the others.
Seth watched him go. When he’d disappeared behind the trees, he turned back to her and smiled.
“Nice catch.” She chuckled.
“Did I impress you?”
“No.”
“No?” He raised an eyebrow.
“I know what my guy is capable of. I remember someone saying to me, about you, ‘The man’s a devil. People who watched him in tournaments believed in magic.’”
“That’s your territory, dear.”
“Yes. Using my charms on you.”
“As if you could help it!” He laughed. A good mask. He wasn’t as calm as he let on. There was no doubt about the danger they had just escaped.
The sun was very low when they reached the valley behind the hills.
Only a few more minutes. Her torso hurt, and she ached to put her feet in warm water. She hoped there would be a nice place to stop once they arrived.
But when they got there, there was nothing. Old ruins of stone houses that had been destroyed long ago were scattered from the bottom of the valley and up toward the hills. With large gaps between them that may have been used to grow crops. In the middle was a larger building that might have been a gathering place.
She should have known that something wasn’t right! Even with her magically enhanced hearing, she couldn’t detect any people before, but she assumed it was because of the noise from the rain.
But how could this possibly make sense?
Seth had warned her. And she did know the story of Ivan of Camelot. He was her great-ancestor and only his kin could carry the visions of the prophecy. His village had been burned before the Curse, but…she saw it got rebuilt, into a town. That was in the visions.
“I don’t get it,” she heard herself mumble.
“We must have made a mistake.”
“No. This is the place. I recognize the hills.” It was definitely the same valley.
A soft wind spread over the valley. The high grass made a hissing sound. Then, it stopped and the place stood still, apart from the rain.
They dismounted and started to walk.
“Could it be that the Camelot you saw was Ivan’s village, before it was destroyed?” Seth asked.
“It couldn’t be. The buildings were too different. These couldn’t have been the same ones.”
They kept going until they reached the middle of the valley.
“There.” She pointed. “Right there was a small castle. They were adding sections to it. I saw builders. And people moved on paved streets around it.”
“Sweetheart.” Seth stopped and smiled. “I don’t think we made a mistake. I think you saw the future of this place.”
Chapter 2
Scotland, Present Day
The road to Musselburgh was beautiful, with green fields and barren hills on the side, a reminder of the world I had left behind.
My grandpa, George Evans, drove the hired Land Rover to the house, where my parents were waiting. “Can’t beat a British car.”
We had only just met, and I already liked him. Though mid-aged in appearance, he was well over two hundred years old. I knew that I would have to get accustomed to people using age spells around me now. Especially my mother.
Seth sat in the front passenger seat. Our eyes met in the mirror. He smiled at me, and then looked away. We weren’t ready to talk.
Back at the hospital, he was the first to wake up. He sat by my bedside and caressed me as I came to, with my grandpa, who was also our doctor, right beside him. “We’re okay, Kim. We made it.”
But once that initial excitement about being back was over, it was impossible not to remember what had happened in that past world.
Two and a half years. We’d been gone for two and a half years. And only five days had passed for everyone else.
We weren’t even sure how we made it back. I had my guesses about what Merlin had done, but it didn’t all add up.
The blue waters of the ocean came into view. “Julie thought you’d want some peace, so we rented outside of Edinburgh. Near the coast,” George said.
Julie. My mother. I’d never called her that. Julia was how I’d known her. A reminder that my parents’ story was complicated too.
I closed my eyes and tried not to think.
Through my magical sensing, I could tell we were getting closer and closer to the shore. I felt the water, moving back and forth with the rising tide, warming up slightly under the rays of the midday, late October sun.
I embraced the peace that the sensations of nature could give me, even if only for a moment. Allowing myself to forget that we just got back to our own time, the emotional meetings with my family at the hospital and most of all, that other world, that now felt more real to me than this one.
The car stopped. I opened my eyes.
“We’re here.” George turned off the engine.
Seth got out and opened the door for me.
“Thanks,” I managed. Our hands touched and for a second, I felt that incredible spark between us again. I glanced up and was met by the depths of his eyes.
I wanted to linger, but he took a quick breath, looked down, and pulled away.
“Kim, honey!”
“Mom.”
She stood at the front door. Her long, dark hair was done up, away from her face, accentuating her now excited expression.
A beautiful woman with faded blonde hair was beside her. I recognized her from pictures I’d seen. My grandmother. DoctorHelen Evans. Both my grandparents practiced medicine.
“Ah, my dear,” George greeted her.
“Mark made chocolate brownies,” Helen said. She was speaking about my dad. She turned and led the way in.
Everyone followed her. I stopped at the door. It suddenly felt like a gateway between the two worlds. In front of me was the house with the people from this time. It seemed that once I walked in and closed the door, I’d also be shutting out the past.
I turned to look at the road and remembered the life and the people I’d left behind.
Gone. They were gone now.
My hands trembled.
It was only yesterday that we were with them. Fighting for our future and for what we all believed in. Where were they now? Nothing but ashes. Lost forever. But no loss was greater than…
“Come.” Seth stood behind me. He spoke in a warm and low voice.
“How?” I shook my head.
“I don’t know.”
I bit my lip and stifled a sob. No. I wouldn’t cry. Not yet. “Gone,” was all I managed to mumble.
His strong hands caressed my shoulders. “And never to be replaced,” he whispered. “But we’re here now, Kim.”
He was right.
Still, I couldn’t move.
“Are you guys coming?” my grandma called from inside.
“I need a moment alone,” I said to Seth.
“Okay.”
He went in, and I remained there. I looked at the road again. I could almost see the entrance to Kardoel castle on the other side, calling to me. And I remembered them. All of them.
Tears threatened. I took a deep breath, shut my eyes, and turned. Then, I strode inside and with a telekinetic wave of my hand, I closed the door behind me.
My family was seated at a large dining table. A place was reserved for me next to Seth. I took it.
My mom smiled at us. In front of her was a tray of brownies. “They’re known to be sensational,” she told Seth.
“Then, we should hurry before they’re all gone.” He gave me one and took another for himself.
I stared at my plate.
My grandmother’s cheerful voice urged, “Take more. Don’t be shy. We’re not counting calories today.”
“Oh, she could finish the tray herself.” My dad chuckled. “She and her brother Harley.”
“The kids of a fitness trainer!”
I looked up to see my grandma’s scolding expression aimed at my mom.
My mom laughed. “I haven’t been a fitness trainer for a long time, you know.”
No. But she did teach gym classes, which was similar enough.
“Yes, I can see that.”
“Hey! Excuse me?”
“I didn’t mean your body, hon. I meant the use of age spells. You’ve been gone for a while.”
Once again, I was reminded of my parents’ story. My mom had done something that got her and my father into trouble. They’d always kept me in the dark about it, for my own protection.
What I did know was that in order to save me, they had to go back in time for twenty-two years, and move from New York to Reading in England. That was why I hadn’t met the rest of my family until now.
They had returned to replace their young selves at the moment they’d left. Nobody could suspect they were gone. That was five days ago, on the same day that Seth and I were sent back in time.
To hide their identities in the past, they chose new professions and new names. I knew them as Julia and Markus Taylor, school teachers. Now they were back to being Julie and Mark Ralston. A fitness trainer and a billionaire tech CEO.
Their secret kept us close as a family. A fact that I appreciated now. My mom was warm-hearted. Unassuming, yet powerful both personally and magically. She taught me how to use my powers when I was growing up. She was also the one who had taught me to be strong in love. Particularly as a Guardian. She and my dad were sweethearts at first sight, but she’d always said that there were different kinds of love.
Naturally beautiful, even in her later years, she had blue eyes and dark hair that kept its color and passed on to my brother, Harley.
He was somewhere in Canada right now, with Amber, his Charge. They were high school seniors and their relationship was full of teenage drama. My grandpa said that they were traveling somewhere with no cell reception. That was so much like Harley.
And then there was my dad. I was closest to him. He was always there for me. He made time. He taught me and Harley everything he could, and we knew to come to him whenever there was trouble.
There were few people I could trust that way and there were instances in my life when I felt that he was the only person I could talk to.
It was hard to believe that this was the famous Mark Ralston. I had seen his face—well, that of his younger self—on a magazine at the hospital. The headline praised a large donation he’d made to the Scottish National Gallery. The quote sounded like something out of a marketing campaign. When I read it, my first thought was That is not my dad.
My dad was a down-to-earth guy. He could sometimes throw me off guard with a humorous comment that was suited to a man who’d been ultra-successful in life. But that was rare.
“Are you all right?” He was talking to me now.
I made myself smile and raised my eyes to see the faded hair that used to be like my own, bright and vibrant in color. I liked it. It was familiar.
“So…” I turned to my mom, “you don’t use age spells in the house?”
“I do. I just switched us back to our older selves for you and Seth. We thought it would be easier for you at first.”
“Oh. I see. That’s…really considerate. It must have taken effort.” Age spells were semi-permanent magic. You’d cast them to reverse the effects of time and then you’d start aging again, but faster. At the hospital, they visited us as their older selves. I wondered what it would be like when I first saw them after they changed again.
My grandmother turned to Seth. She was evidently excited to be meeting him, too. “So…Kim’s grandpa says that you are a fencing champion.”
“Not yet.” Seth smiled and put his utensils down, giving her his full attention. “I still have to earn the title.”
“Son, you are considered England’s sure bet for Olympic gold,” my grandpa said and then raised his eyebrows at me, as though to say nice catch.
I managed a grin.
“Well, that’s why it’s called a bet, sir. I’ve had a very different type of practice lately.”
“And, you also do computers?” my grandma continued.
“It’s my major.”
Seth was finishing his masters this year, and I was graduating with a bachelors in literature. My life in the present was charging at me like a train on a collision course that couldn’t be stopped. I couldn’t be in Kardoel much longer.
After dinner, we went up to our room. The house was large, and ours was the first door at the top of the stairs. A box waited for us there with items from our dorms that our friends from college had sent. Christ Church college, Oxford.
Seth wanted to unpack. I went straight into the en-suite shower, where I closed the door and let the warm water and the silence wash away what was going on outside.
There was no way I could get my head around it all.
When we were clearing the table together, my grandmother had been thrilled to tell me about the family. Especially about my mom’s four siblings: John, Angela, Sally, and Leo, with some age differences of over a hundred years. It seemed she was the closest to Sally. “A bit of a perpetual teen, though her wife Jo is a very serious woman. They have a daughter, Molly. I think you’re close in age.”
Close in this family meant anything less than half a century.
In the years of hiding our identities, I had waited for this. Finally, people to practice my magic with. But it was too much right now.
The warm water helped me tune out. Become distant from what was around me. Go back into my world. Back to Kardoel. And to Seth.
He was sitting by the window when I was done. I walked out toward him, wrapped in a towel. For a brief second, he stared at me the way he used to. And then he turned away. It was as though the room had just gone cold.
But how could I blame him? It was just as hard for me to look into his eyes. It brought back a terrible memory.
“There’s another towel for you. I put it on the heater, in case you wanted to shower after me.”
“Thanks.” He rose.
When he passed me to go in, I felt the warmth of his body. I could sense it from across the room if I wanted. Maybe from across the world.
He didn’t say anything. He got in and closed the bathroom door.
Once again, I was alone. I walked to the window. In the distance, I could see the ocean between the neighboring houses. To my left was a balcony that belonged to an adjoining room. I decided I’d go there.
After closing the curtains, I tossed my towel on the bed. Then, I thought of warm clothes. It was always best to use words for conjuring. Give me a warm dress and coat; give me a warm dress and coat. The fabric materialized on my skin, and I added socks and slippers, before stepping out into the hallway.
The door to the other room was open.
My dad was there, sitting at a table with two bright screens. Large earphones covered his head.
I stopped.
He looked…like a man in his early thirties or late twenties.
“Okay, guys, thanks for that. Bob, if you can send me the presentation with the changes. I’d like to have another look before they pitch to us.” There was a pause. “Excellent. That’s all, folks. Good work.”
Commanding. Direct. Sharp. I’d never seen him like this before.
He put the headphones down and turned to me, smiling. “Come on in.”
He spoke like my dad. With warmth. His voice almost the same as the one I knew. But he looked so different.
I hesitated.
The room was about the same size as mine and Seth’s, but there was no bed. Only the desk, a sofa, another table with a printer, papers arranged in piles, two more chairs and a set of drawers.
“You look…” I started and then realized that it must be strange for him too, and maybe he didn’t need his daughter commenting on it.
“It’s funny. Isn’t it?”
It was uncanny. I wanted my dad. This man, this young vibrant man, who was he?
“You can close your eyes if you want. It sometimes helps your mom and me.”
“I…”
“It’s okay, Kim.”
“All right.” I sighed. I walked in, took a seat on the sofa, and then did as he suggested.
“I still find it hard to look in the mirror,” he said.
Yes. It was my dad. He was back, now that I couldn’t see him.
“Shaving has been sloppy.”
I giggled.
“But at least I can still make my daughter laugh.”
“Was that a conference call?”
“No, I just enjoy giving orders to people while looking like a young, stuck-up entrepreneur.”
I laughed again.
“Yes. It was a conference call.”
“What’s it like? Being back.”
“I don’t know. I miss so many people. Your mom was afraid this would happen. That in our hearts we’d still remain…the Taylors.”
“I miss people too.”
“I know. I can’t imagine what you’re going through. I want you to know that I am here. Anytime.”
He always had been.
“Your mom too. And your grandparents are taking an unpaid leave. We’re there for you for as long as you need us. And if you want, we’ll go down to Oxford with you.”
“You can’t do that! Someone might recognize you.”
“Yes. As Mark Ralston.”
Right. I opened my eyes and looked at the young, handsome man in front of me, in the suit top and tie. That was the famous Mark Ralston all right, and no one would make the connection to my father—the similarity was not that obvious. He could be his own nephew at most.
“Dad, is it actually safe in college?” I closed my eyes again. It was easier not to try to speak with Mark Ralston.
“You mean with the witches?”
It was why we went back in time. Witches were kidnapped and killed in Oxford, and Seth and I got threatened too.
It happened on the day that my parents went back to their lives, and I was left to face my aggressors without my mother’s protection. So we agreed to let someone send us to the past. We weren’t told that we’d be sent back that far, though…
“It’s much better now. There have been no more cases of missing people.”
“Did anyone else…die?”
There was a moment of silence. “Kim, maybe it’s not a good idea to speak about this yet. There’s no rush.”
Yes. He was right. It was already too much for one day. “Okay.”
“Things are being taken care of. I’ll tell you more about it tomorrow, or maybe the day after.”
“All right. Um…is college even open?”
He paused. “No.” His phone rang. He turned it off.
“Hey, Dad, I was wondering if I could sit outside on the balcony.” I changed the subject.
“It’s three degrees out.”
“I’ll cast a heating spell.”
“Go ahead then. But if you catch a cold, don’t come back complaining. And don’t tell your mom I allowed it.”
I laughed. I got up and turned to open the sliding glass window.
“Oh, one thing before I forget.”
“Yes?” I said without turning back.
“Your friend Jane called when you were in the hospital. She said she wants to come visit.”
Jane Omondi. My best friend. The girl with the largest, warmest heart in the world. How I wished we could just sit together somewhere and talk.
But Jane didn’t know anything about my magic. About… “I’d love to see her,” I said quickly.
“Good.”
I took one of the chairs and closed the sliding door behind me.
Outside, it was now getting dark. I sat and watched the view, my magical vision carrying me as far as the horizon. I let myself drift, almost forgetting. Almost. Magic never forgets.
Would I still get the dreams? Would the prophecy’s visions wake me up in the night?
My thoughts wandered to Ivan of Camelot. My great-ancestor. He was where it had all started. He had defeated the tyrant mage, Harthenon, king of Avalon. The world was ruled by mages then, and Harthenon had created a curse that would end their earthly dominion if he died. Ivan wasn’t afraid of the curse. He believed that the new world, after King Arthur, would be a better one.
As did Merlin. This was Merlin’s creed.
They were right. I could testify to that, having seen both worlds. And yet, there were those who wanted to reverse Avalon’s Curse. That was how Seth and I were nearly killed in college—these people wanted to take my powers when I refused to join them.
But we made it. And Seth was alive and with me. The man I loved more than anything. We had shared such a great adventure together. Though it all ended so terribly.
Would we ever go back to loving each other the way we once did?