Taking Flight

Kelder knew at once what the answer to this was — no, they couldn’t. Maybe Irith was capable of that sort of selfishness, maybe even Asha was, but he wasn’t. Not when he was who he was, and not when he was fated as he was.

He did not say so immediately, however; he paused to think it over, to consider not just what to say, but the entire situation.

He expected to marry Irith — Zindre’s prophecy said he would, and he had liked the idea very much. Irith was bright and cheerful, incredibly beautiful, and her magical abilities gave her all the appeal of the mysterious and exotic.

He still liked the idea, but it was obvious that Javan’s Second Augmentation had changed her into something that wasn’t quite the girl she appeared to be, and the thought of loving and marrying a creature that might not be quite human any more was a bit frightening.

And he knew that Irith was far from perfect; she could be selfish and thoughtless. In particular, it was obvious that she would leave him when he started to show any sign of age — or maybe even just signs of maturity.

He did not want a wife who would leave him when he aged; the Shularan custom, and his family’s tradition, was to marry for life. He had assumed that that was what Zindre had prophesied for him, that he would have Irith with him for the rest of his life, but now that he knew Irith, knew who and what she was, that looked very unlikely.

But then, was that really all that bad? He would survive if she left him, just as he would if he were widowed, and while the marriage lasted, she could certainly be an agreeable companion when she chose to be.

Still, he had doubts. This whole adventure was turning out differently than he had expected, and he was not sure yet if it was better or worse. The Great Highway was a dirt road, most of it ugly. He had seen the great city of Shan, but only very briefly and without pleasure; he had seen the vast plain of the Great Eastern Desert, and it had frightened and depressed him more than it had awed or exhilarated him. The wife he had been promised appeared to be a flighty and unpredictable creature, an immortal shapeshifter rather than an ordinary woman. Championing the lost and forlorn he had expected to be a matter of facing down thieves or slaying a dragon or some such traditional act of heroism, not stealing a dead bandit’s severed head on behalf of an abused child, or defending the rights of an ensorceled drunkard.

If this was the destiny he had been promised — and really, how could he doubt that it was? — then he had to consider whether he wanted it.

And if he decided he did not, could he refuse it, or was he foredoomed?

He really couldn’t say; he had hardly been thinking of such things when he spoke to Zindre as a boy of twelve. He might be doomed to carry out his destiny, or he might not, he simply didn’t know.

If he wasn’t trapped, did he want to go on?

Well, discharging his promise to Asha was easy enough now; he would certainly go on and hold Abden’s funeral, as he had said he would.

But did he still want to marry Irith?

She was as lovely as ever, and he thought he would enjoy her company for as long as they were together, but there was the little matter of what she had done to poor Ezdral. That was not something he wanted hanging over his married life, that some dismal old sot was madly in love with his wife, that she had been completely responsible for it and didn’t seem to care.

And that spell of hers — that wasn’t anything he wanted hanging over him, either. What if Kelder tired of her before she tired of him, or even if he just refused her now and turned away — what if he decided not to marry her after all, and she decided otherwise? Would she use her spell on him?

Would he know it if she had? Would he even care? Ezdral knew that Irith had deserted him, had avoided him, but he was still in love with her, still looking for her.

Kelder had no desire at all to live out his life under such a curse.

Of course, spells could be broken — Kelder knew that, at least in theory. Irith had said there was a counterspell for the love charm — or at least, that she thought there was; by her own admission, she was unreliable on any question having to do with magic.

Could the love spell be broken?

Could Irith’s spell be broken — Javan’s Second Augmentation of Magical Memory? Irith hadn’t been able to do any new magic for two hundred years, so anything she might say would be out of date; maybe a counterspell had been found long ago. If she were restored to an ordinary, non-magical existence, that would certainly simplify any marriage plans.

Of course, he didn’t know if Irith wanted all her spells broken, but there was certainly one she would like to be rid of — Fendel’s Infatuous Love Spell.

There was supposed to be a counterspell for that. The prophecy hadn’t mentioned anything about it specifically, but Kelder knew where all the great wizards were supposed to be, and Zindre had said he would see cities, plural. Shan was one; there had to be another.

The three of them had been sitting in silence for several seconds, thinking their several thoughts; now Kelder broke the silence.

“Listen,” he said, “suppose that after we’re done in Angarossa, after Abden’s funeral is all done and his soul set free, we all go on along the highway, all the way to Ethshar, all four of us — you, Irith, and you, Asha, and me, and Ezdral — and see if we can’t find a wizard who can break the love-spell.”

“All four of us?” Irith asked, startled.

“That’s right,” Kelder said, gathering enthusiasm, “all four of us! It would give poor old Ezdral a chance to be with you one last time, just as far as Ethshar — I’m sure we could find a wizard there who could cure him of his infatuation.”

“But why bother?” Irith asked.

“So Ezdral can live out the rest of his life in peace, of course,” Kelder said, annoyed. “And so you can either get rid of the love spell permanently, so you won’t accidentally use it again, or so at least you can learn to dispell it if you do use it.”

As he finished saying this he suddenly realized that he might be making a mistake — if she could turn the love spell on and off, Irith might well use it more often. That was scarcely a good thing.

She would be able to use it on him, whenever they argued.

Well, he told himself, the words were out now, and it was too late to take them back.

“You’re probably right,” Irith agreed thoughtfully. “If one of them could break the spell, I guess that would be nice for poor old Ezdral, wouldn’t it? I mean, it wouldn’t give him his forty years back or anything, he’d still be a horrible old man, but maybe he wouldn’t be so bad.” She brightened. “And then he wouldn’t have any reason to follow me around any more, or bother me at all — not even sit and wait for me, or anything!”

Kelder nodded, pleased that she seemed to have missed his accidental suggestion.

“That would be great!” Irith said. “I don’t like the idea of that awful old man thinking about me all the time.” She paused. “Do we all need to go?”

“Well,” Kelder said, “we probably need to have you there so the wizard can see how your spell works, and we need Ezdral so we can use the counterspell on him, and Asha doesn’t have anywhere else to go except with us, and I want to see that everything works out all right.”

Irith nodded. “I don’t like the idea of being around him,” she said, “but I guess I can stand it as far as Ethshar.”

“Why do we have to go all the way to Ethshar?” Asha asked plaintively.

“Because that’s where all the best wizards are, of course,” Irith told her.

“There are wizards in other places besides Ethshar, aren’t there?” Asha asked.

“Of course there are,” Kelder agreed, “and we’ll look them up along the way — we’ll ask in every village and castle along the Great Highway. I’ve always heard, though, that for real, serious wizardry, the best place to look is Ethshar of the Spices.” Besides, Zindre’s predictions clearly implied that he would see Ethshar before returning home; what other great city was there? The Great Highway ran between Shan and Ethshar, it didn’t go to Sardiron of the Waters or Tintallion of the Coast or any other important cities.