The Worlds of the Sheaf

Essca - Part 6

     Barl laughed out loud when he mentioned the possibility to him, back in their rooms in the castle. They were preparing spells to change their hunting clothes into something more suitable for indoor wear, trying to imitate the style currently fashionable in the cities of the south so as not to betray their true city of origin. Lord Ruby was a lot better at this kind of magic than Tak was and so he was finished first and he stood in front of a mirror to admire his efforts while his fellow Gem Lord was making his fourth attempt to prepare the engrams. If he spoiled the spell, he wouldn't be able to cast it again until the next day.

     "In love?" cried Barl, hardly able to contain his mirth. "My dear fellow, wizards don't fall in love!"

     "They do sometimes," protested Tak angrily. "Look at Enna and Hopliss. They're happy together. Have been for years!"

     "Yes, but it's not love. They like the sex and they're good friends, but they could separate tomorrow if their careers took them in different directions, in which case they'd forget each other as soon as they find other bed partners. That's all you're suffering from, my friend. A bad case of blue balls. Take her to bed, show her a good time and you'll find you've gotten it all out of your system."

     "And if I haven't?"

     "You will have. Trust me."

     Tak wasn't so sure, though. He couldn't stop thinking about her, and it wasn't sex he was thinking about, or at least not just sex. He just wanted to look at her. Talk to her. Hear the sound of her voice. He wanted to know what his name, his real name, would sound like spoken by her. The possibility that he'd been enchanted occurred to him again, and he wondered whether he ought to get Barl to cast a disenchantment on him, just in case.

     Even if his feelings were the result of a magic spell, though, he wasn't sure he could bear to be without them. If being enchanted meant feeling like this, then he liked being enchanted and wanted to go on being enchanted.

     He didn't really think it was likely, though. The wards and sigils carried in his clothes would have warned him of all but the most powerful spells being cast on him, and the power he'd sensed in her was nothing like great enough to overcome his defences. It was love, he concluded joyfully. Simple, ordinary love that had crashed down on him from his first sight of her, just as told in the songs of the bards.

     Did she love him in return? He froze in horror as he contemplated the likelihood that she didn't. She would probably court him for a while, until she'd gotten the information she wanted from him, and then she would go merrily on her way, leaving him crushed and despairing behind her. But maybe love would grow! If they spent enough time together. Saw enough of each other. Maybe she would discover feelings for him to match those he had for her. New hope filled him, and he found himself rehearsing lines of conversation. Things he would say to woo her over. He would start by complimenting her, of course. Women loved being complimented, and he could... He could... He could teach her a couple of spells! Yes, of course! Magic was what they had in common, after all, so that was the obvious place to start.

     First, though, he had to change his clothes, and he was no closer to getting the engrams right than he'd been an hour ago. He was driven by new purpose now, though. He would change into something that would be sure to impress her. Something that would catch her eye from the other side of the room. He returned to the work with new vigour, therefore, while Barl watched him with a smile and a sad shaking of the head.

☆☆☆

     His arrival in the great dining hall was everything he could have hoped for. The general hubbub of conversation as everyone looked for their place and exchanged pleasantries with their neighbours was suddenly silenced, to be replaced by gasps of wonder and admiration. He'd eventually decided to add an illusion spell to his dinner suit, along with a glowing jewel that he wore on his forehead so he could pretend that the illusion was generated by an artefact he possessed, rather than from his own magical powers. Wizards sometimes paid for expensive spell components with artifacts like that, so it wasn't out of the question that a minor noble might have one.