The Wizard's Misery The Chronicles of the Midlands Book One

Chapter Thirty Five

Celine rode with her hood pulled up to ward off the cold as they traveled down the King's Road while the afternoon shadows lengthened and early evening approached. A cool wind was blowing, hinting at the frosty temperatures awaiting them in the morning and she was beginning to think that it may have been better to spend the night at the inn instead of leaving at midday as they had done. "Well, if the weather is too cool in the morning, we'll just stop in Flatlands and spend the night and then leave the following morning for Halfaway. It'll only delay us by a half a day but it might be worth it," she reasoned as she traveled down the road beside Brandon with Haverty following close behind them.

They didn't speak much as they made their way since each was lost in his own thoughts and Celine figured that Brandon was thinking about the bad news that Henry Draper had given them about Maledictor's intention to marry one of the four sister sorceresses who resided in the Midlands.

"I really don't know that much about the wizards except what I've been told and Merton is the only wizard I've ever met!" she told herself. "I know that the wizards came here from the Eastern Lands across the Great Waves Ocean and I know that they like to live near bodies of water since water is supposed to boost their powers and that's why they like to settle along the coastlines. Except for Maledictor who lives in Sovereign City on an island in the middle of Glimmer Glass Lake and Merton who used to live in the pond in Conjurer's Swamp. But, that's the extent of my knowledge about wizards," she realized, beginning to feel inadequate .

"Then there's the fact that Father never let me have any magical toys when I was a kid and he's never allowed any magical items into our home. So, my knowledge about magic in general is very limited," she concluded and sighed. "I guess I'm not going to be much help when it comes to the wizards and magical issues."

Feeling completely useless since she was going to be unable to help with the wizards, she glanced over at Brandon. He seemed so knowledgeable about the four sister sorceresses and she realized that she had never even heard their names before until Brandon had spoken them. "Everyone in Halfaway always just called them, 'the four sister sorceresses' or 'the four sisters'. So, how could I know their names?" she reasoned, trying to make herself feel better. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter because as soon as Martin comes up with something to hide the Wizard's Misery, Brandon is going to take it and begin neutralizing all the wizards he can. Then wizard lore will be a mute point anyway," she told herself. "So, I'm not going to worry myself about the it."

She stopped musing about her lack of knowledge and began to think about how Brandon had said they should pass around the information that the resistance had the Wizard's Misery. Next she started wondering if the other wizards would send bounty hunters to get it in addition to Maledictor and then she began to worry about Brandon's safety. "I hope Martin comes up with something quickly! I'm going to worry about him once I'm back in Halfaway until I know he's safe," she realized with a frown.

"Why are you frowning so much? Is something bothering you?" Brandon asked as he gave her a worried look.

"I was just thinking that once the other wizards know that you have the stone, they'll start sending bounty hunters to get it, too, because whoever has it will have control over them," she explained as she continued to frown.

"Oh," he said slowly with a mischievous look on his face. "So, you're worried about me and not the end of the world," he said smiling and she couldn't tell if he was teasing her or if he was actually pleased that she was concerned about his safety. Then he became serious again. "Don't worry too much. Martin said that it wouldn't take him long to come up with something. So, the danger will only be for a little while and we've been doing a good job of protecting it so far," he explained with a positive attitude.