The White Wolf and the Wizard
Epilogue
It took Marnie many times and a lot of courage to explain things fully and properly to her father. Ross McBride was confused to say the least to find out that his daughter had magic and it took a good solid week for him to begin to wrap his mind around it.
But he couldn't deny what he'd seen. He couldn't deny that his daughter had used this magic to teleport from her room to Tanatallon castle. He couldn't deny that he'd seen her fight with others against a wolf, which apparently had been an embodiment of black magic. For some reason though, all of that was easier to swallow than believing that people could live for a thousand years; people like the famous alchemist Michael Scot.
When Marnie showed him, what she called, 'small tricks', his face paled but after a while he began to appreciate how extraordinary it was and how special his daughter was. But no matter how much he adapted to the idea, Ross couldn't yet bring himself to call his in laws and tell them; they'd never believe him at any rate. He'd leave that for Marnie to tell them if she wanted to.
For Marnie, the first school holidays came as a much welcome blessing. Now, she not only had time to relax from always watching over her shoulder for a power crazy wolf, she could now relax from having school work as well. One of the first things she did was to have a sleepover with her friend Laura, which actually ended up lasting for three nights instead of one.
She spent much of her time with both Laura and Dougie, walking through the town and , much to her surprise, she found that she soon began to feel very much at home in Edinburgh. There was a lot of things and people here that she liked and though she missed her grandparents, Marnie was glad that she was growing to like Scotland. She and her father had talked about how long she was going to live with him for, and they agreed that after two weeks of the holidays she'd go back to Denver and then return for the start of the school term.
On the day before she was due to fly out to America, Marnie, using the password on the website, got herself to Tantallon castle but when she got here she saw that the Inner Sanctum was completely deserted so she searched through the collections of old books. She picked up the first one which was written in modern English that she could actually read. Then, she piled several blankets and cushions before the fireplace and sat on the hearth with the book on her lap.
On instinct she first looked for matches to light the fire, but when she found none, Marnie remembered that she'd never nice seen anyone use matches to light it. Michael had always used magic. So, Marnie imagined that the fire was burning in the grate, and a second later, it really was burning in the grate.
With a satisfied and, somewhat prideful smile, Marnie turned the first page in the book and tried very hard to make sense of what she saw written there. Suffice to say it wasn't easy.
By the time Michael returned, Marnie had fallen asleep by the fire, she was lying on her side, the book open at the middle, and the fire crackling in the grate. He set aside his staff, resting it next to his chair, he carried Marnie over to his bed and let her rest there, closing the thick, red curtains against the rest of the world.
Michael walked back over to the fire, picked up the book and sat down in his chair to read it.
When Marnie awoke a while later and found herself lying in a very comfortable bed she was confused to say the least when she remembered that she'd fallen sleep on the floor by the fire. She sat up and pushed back the thick curtains to see Michael sitting by the fire.
"Hey..." she smiled, standing up and walking across to the fire, "How long you been back?"
"Not long," Michael replied as Marnie sat down opposite him.
"You should've woke me up," she said, "Where is everyone?" she asked.
"All over the place, they do have their own students, you know, scattered across the world," Michael raised an eyebrow, "God help them."
"They're not bad teachers," Marnie replied.
"I suppose not."
"You miss 'em, don't you?" she grinned.
"Don't be absurd," Michael frowned, turning a page in his book.
"Uh-huh," the young girl hummed, "...Forget how big this place is with them gone. Where's McTaggart, then?"
"Up there," he answered, looking up towards the well.
"What?"
"Giving another of those tours," Michael explained.
"Really?" Marnie smiled, trying not to laugh.
"Hmmm," he nodded, just as an echoing clatter sounded down the well.
"What was that?" she said, turning around and walking over to see what had fallen down. "This is a penny...why did someone just drop a penny down here?"
"...McTaggart," Michael ground out.
"...He drops pennies down here?"
"Mmm," he nodded, "Frequently...thinks it's funny."
"So do I," Marnie chuckled, putting the penny onto a table, "...Has one ever landed on your head?" she asked, but Michael didn't answer. "It has hasn't it?" she smirked.
Again, the wizard was silent and Marnie chose not to pursue the subject even though she found it very amusing. Instead, she sat down again and looked into the flames. "So...did Ailsa and the guys ever get the electrics working down here?"
"No," Michael answered.
"Oh...shame."
"Yes, heaven forbid we live without electricity," he scoffed.
"Anyway," she laughed, "I'm leaving tomorrow and I was trying to say, if you won't even use a phone...well, I guess I could just always McTaggart, but still, you really should..."
"I am Michael Scot and I do not 'text'," Michael said in his best no-nonses tone.
"Okay, okay," Marnie sighed in defeat, "...But if you hate technology so much, what's with the magic password thing on the website?"
"A necessary evil," he answered much to the young girl's amusement.
Neither of them said anything else for a while, until Marnie glanced at her watch and saw just how long she'd been at the castle for.
"I should go," she said, "I sill have to pack."
"Across the Great Ocean, then," Michael remarked.
"Yeah, it'll be good to see my grandparents again...you know I'll be coming back though, right?"
"Hmm," the wizard simply nodded, "Now go on, get off with you," he murmured, gesturing towards the door.
Marnie rolled her eyes and stood up, "See you in a few weeks," she smiled before closing the door behind her, leaving Michael to see remember just how big and lonely the Inner Sanctum was when he was alone.