Author's Note
Dear reader,
I know that I said this would be the last chapter, but after I wrote it, I ended up with about 25k words. Now, I like a good long chapter as much as any other person, but 25k seemed a tad too long for my taste. So, I decided to split what would have been the final chapter into two smaller ones. The good news is that save for some bits that need to be edited, the final chapter is written and should be updated during the following day.
As I promised, these last two chapters do tie some loose ends. They do give the story a certain measure of finality. However, it would be impossible to tie everything up. As such, if you would be interested in reading a sequel please let me know and I will oblige.
To those that have taken the time to review, I cannot express my gratitude enough. It means a lot to me that you consistently took time out of your busy lives and not only read my story but also commented on it. A huge thanks to: Chrissiemusa, fantasy77, Morganalafay, DissectingPomengrates, Pixel and Stephanie Forever and the annonymous reviewer who refers to himself/herself as Guest. This chapter is dedicated to you and to all those who have read and reviewed this story thus far! Another 'thank you' needs to go to Beukie who has sent me a most wonderfully encouraging PM.
Special thanks to NextChristineDaae who has been a huge support throughout the entire writing process. In fact, it is she that has inspired me to write this chapter and has reminded me why I love Fire and Ice so much. Words cannot express how grateful I am to have her in my life and how terribly honoured I feel to be able to call her my friend.
Yours sincerely,
The Author
FIRE AND ICE
BOOK I: THE WIELDER, THE GIVER AND THE HEIR
Chapter 15: To exist! O, what nonsense, what foolish conceit;
Our eyes but deceive us, our ears but cheat,
What this age discovers, the next will deny,
For better just nothing than naught a lie.
(Mihai Eminescu-Mortua Est)
A little over a week. 7 days and 8 hours. 176 hours and 32 minutes. 10592 minutes. That was exactly for how long he had had the dagger in his possession and half of that time was spent trying to make sense of what exactly was happening. Not that he had made much progress, mind you. In fact, Noah was wondering if he had suddenly switched his world, the place where events had a logical cause, for a strange alternate universe where twenty seven year old healthy males had sudden heart attacks, people who had progressed into stage three heart failure suddenly got better and daggers appeared out of nowhere. It also didn't help that the only person who might have had a clue as to what was happening was avoiding him like plague.
What Hope had been doing for the past seven days (or, more exactly, 10592 minutes, because considering the irrational nature of the situation he had to be exact to maintain at least a semblance of control) he didn't know. What he did know was that she had spent the weekend at Hawthorne manor. Now, for normal people, wishing to spend a weekend in their childhood home was not that unusual. But this was Hope Noah was thinking about. She could fit a lot of descriptions, a lot of patterns, but "normal" was not one of them. She hated that place. As to why, Noah wasn't privy to such an information, but he did know that she hated it. For the ten years he had known her, she had gone there only twice: shortly after they have made their acquaintance, for some undisclosed reason and a few months previously because, he supposed, she wanted to retrieve the ring. Why she decided to do so now, he had no idea and those who lived less than ten meters from her were of little help.
Sitting in front of the proof of a thoroughly unexpected modern medical miracle did nothing to assuage his confusion. Constance Hardbroom was, for all intents and purposes the picture of absolute health. Colour had returned to her face, she had gained the slightest bit of weight and was no longer so skeletal, and she had an air of vitality about her that was absolutely refreshing. As her… suitor, for lack of a better word, Noah approved. As her doctor, however, he was completely and utterly baffled. Had he not personally triple-checked the tests he had ordered on her, he would have said it was a gross mistake. But he did check. And it did not make any sense. Nothing seemed to, these days.
"Something is worrying you." Constance stated plainly and he offered her a warm smile.
Ever since they had that conversation about her the unfortunate happenings of her previous relationship their very own tentative liaison had moved towards a state of intimacy that he welcomed whole-heartedly. It wasn't physical intimacy. In fact, on that front, nothing had gone further beyond the rare embrace and stolen kiss. Surprisingly enough for a man who had reached the age of thirty-six without forming any sort of emotional attachment, he was very pleased about that. In his eyes, she was beautiful and he dared anyone to challenge him on that. But what was more beautiful than her deep hazel eyes, graceful figure and long silky tresses, was her mind. She was a woman of extraordinary intellect. She was also a woman who, despite her reserved behaviour, held within her a passionate nature. She was a woman who was loyal to a fault, dedicated in the absolute and commanded respect with every single word she spoke and movement she made. The only bright part of the torment and chaos of the past seven days had been his daily meetings with her.
When he was with Constance, he didn't feel the need to count seconds. In fact, he forgot about time entirely. Her mere presence, with her aura of stability and outright righteousness, was a source of comfort for him. It was also a source of delight. As the invisible wall between them had come tumbling down during the past days, the deputy felt far more comfortable about sharing little titbits about her. She wasn't as forthcoming as he might have liked, but, for a woman who was reserved to the extreme to share the occasional childhood anecdote or to express a preference for activities which were not related to her position at the academy, made every single piece of information precious. He cherished those moments deeply for they showed him glimpses of the woman that was behind the long black dresses and perfect bun and felt honoured that he was privy to see her in such a light. ts and loved the feelings it not related to her position to the academy, every single piece of informatideepl
"I am not worried… I am confused however. Your health is in perfect condition and that is… not normal…" he answered a bit clumsily and was offered a thin smile in return.
"Do you wish me to be ill, Doctor Elwood?" she answered with a faint trace of sarcasm in her voice, delicately sipping some Earl Grey tea.
"Not at all!" he replied quickly and enveloped her free hand in one of his own "I would, however, feel better if I understood why you are no longer sick" he explained and she gave a curt nod.
"That I can understand, but what has happened the past weeks has somehow dampened my curiosity on this particular subject" she gracefully placed her cup on her night stand and turned to fully face him.
"How so?" for a woman of her intellectual curiosity that was certainly a unique reaction.
"Noah, I am well aware how close to dying I was. I had accepted it. I was perfectly… perhaps not fine, I don't genuinely believe anyone is perfectly fine with dying… but I was resigned to it" she answered in a perfectly calm voice, the same tone one would use when discussing the weather. "That… closeness to death… puts things into a different perspective. What has seemed trivial becomes important. And, conversely, what was once important becomes rather trivial. You just look at the world differently and learn to appreciate some things more than others. And, honestly, I cannot bring myself to question why I am still among the living too much. I prefer to apply my energy to more fruitful pursuits"
"Like preparing the next potions test for the girls?" Noah retorted easily, his voice laced with humour, his eyes travelling towards the pile of papers on the small desk in her room.
"That as well… Their study of potions during Miss Hawthorne's tenure was not by any stretch of the imagination sufficient" her voice had a slightly outraged quality to it, as if she took personal offence at the idea of the girls not being properly instructed in the art of potions-making.
"Oh… Hope isn't exactly… a potions teacher…or ever studied potions for that matter" he replied rather sheepishly, wondering how, in their long conversations about their mutual acquaintance, he had failed to mention it.
"I know" she replied dryly "She had admitted as much herself. But I had my suspicions from the first day we met. Her hands and her complete and utter disregard for safety were rather instrumental in reaching that conclusion" she explained upon seeing Noah's questioning eyebrow and the man offered a dry laugh.
That reminded him of one other thing he wanted to discuss with Constance. A, perhaps unintended, by-product of Hope's absence during the past days had been the fact that she had made herself unavailable for any sort of discussion. His first impulse after the strange appearance of the dagger on his nightstand had been to talk to Hope. When she had been nowhere to be found, and he had felt his mind close to exploding within his skull, he had turned to the only other person he fully trusted and knew capable of rational thought. Although Constance had not been much help in helping him figure out what purpose served the dagger, or who the people in his dream were for that matter, she did offer various pertinent opinions. Talking to her about such things was very different than talking to Hope. Constance didn't feel the need to hide her knowledge, or gloat at his sometimes uninformed thoughts on various matters, or covert the simplest answer into riddles. She merely offered serious, simple, and above all, logical answers to his questions.
"Mr Mallard requested a meeting" Noah said seriously, and he could see her straighten up.
"Did he tell you what the purpose of such a meeting would be?" she questioned evenly.
"No. But I suspect he wishes to talk about Hope" he replied, feeling her tense by his side.
"And why would he want to do so with you?" Constance's voice was nonchalant and apparently unaffected, but her posture told him exactly what she felt about such a meeting.
"I did tell you that he has… certain feelings for her" Noah explained rather clumsily.
"You did. And trying to kill her is a very effective way to show his affection towards her" the answer was dry, brisk and infused with such a degree of sarcasm that the doctor could not help but smile slightly.
"You clearly disapprove of such a meeting" he stated simply.
"You told me that when you met him before he tried to manipulate your mind and turn you against Miss Hawthorne. Nothing is preventing him from doing so again. Regardless of what he feelings might be, his actions proved that he is dangerous and that he wants to hurt her…I believe you might be a convenient way for him to achieve that aim" Constance explained plainly and watched for his reaction "But you are clearly not opposed to such a meeting occurring"
"He might have some answers…" Noah justified with a slight shrug.
"And will he give them freely?" she retaliated sharply, as if almost annoyed by him considering such a meeting.
"Certainly not. I don't expect him to. But he might inadvertently say something useful to make sense of all this" he waved his hand around the room as if to illustrate his point.
"You already know what my opinion of him is. I cannot say that I fully trust Miss Hawthorne either, but at least she has not been the one to endanger us all. I would prefer it if you waited to discuss the recent developments with her rather than go and talk to him" she offered with a slight sigh, her voice steadier than before.
"I… I can see your point… " he started diplomatically, not wanting their discussion to become an outright argument.
"But?" she questioned with a measure of annoyance.
"Throughout this whole thing… throughout the past ten years, really, I have only listened to Hope's side of the tale. I merely took it as the truth because I thought I knew her and… I trusted her" the explanation was hard for him to give voice to, the words lodging themselves in his throat and refusing to come out easily.
"But now you no longer trust her…" it wasn't a question, it was a statement offered with a measure of surprise evident by the way in which her pale forehead creased a little.
"Lately, she hasn't given me much reason to" Noah retorted bitterly, the reply being the product of weeks of worry, anxiety and conversations that were akin to walking through a maze. Constance said nothing. Instead, she put her pale hand on his much bigger one and clasped it in a firm, reassuring hold.
If someone told him a few weeks before that he would ask Noah Elwood for help, he would have declared whoever was audacious enough to make such a claim absolutely mentally insane. But that was then. Now, the variables of the situation had dramatically changed, and, although he was loath to admit it, he did need the meddlesome doctor's help. It was not that Evan didn't expressly like the doctor. Quite frankly, had they met in different circumstances maybe they would have become something akin to friends, or if not, at least polite acquaintances. But, as things stood he could not help but resent the doctor's connection to Hope. Of course, during the man's previous visit he had prodded his mind and had felt no presence of romantic feeling towards the girl. Those seemed to be reserved for the dour potion mistress. Yet, even so, he could not help but resent the connection the two had and the apparent closeness between them. That being said, Evan knew that, despite his personal feelings, he did need the man's help.
Evan was many things. He was cruel to his enemies, indifferent to most of the world and cold towards most people he met. He was also a very rational man, and it was this particular trait that had made him call Noah Elwood. After Hope had left him that fateful morning a few days back, he had done two things. Firstly, he had lamented her stubbornness and her willingness to sacrifice happiness for an irrational quest. Secondly, and far more productively, he had thought about what to do next. The fact that the woman hadn't attacked him during the night they had spent together was nothing but proof of her twisted sense of morality. Evan wasn't naïve enough to believe that he would be equally fortunate during subsequent encounters. He knew Hope, or at least he liked to think that he did, and knew that she would regard the fact that he was still alive as a failure on her part. A failure she would strive to not repeat.
And that was exactly the crux of the matter. As much as he loathed admitting it, if Hope decided to confront him earlier rather than later, his chances to retaliate would be very small. Quite frankly, taking into account the unfortunate condition of his physical health, his chances to come out alive from such an encounter were close to nil. To make matters worse, if he wanted to have any chance to achieve his own aim, he would have to confront her sooner rather than later.
Some would say that centring one's life on another human being was nothing short of irrational. But, for Evan, that was not the case. By virtue of his position as an Elemental Master his life, before he had even met her, had already been intrinsically connected to Hope's. They were, after all, moulded from the same material, shared analogous experiences and battled similar demons. When he had finally met her, the connection between the two changed from an awareness and acknowledgement of the other's existence to something immensely more complicated. Their two destines collided and their two lives became one, bound together by what he liked to believe to be love from both parties.
There were precious few truths that governed Evan's life and even fewer certainties. One such truth was that he loved Hope more than he loved life itself. He also knew that no matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried, he could never have her. His initial sin had been too grave, his trespass too severe and his betrayal of her trust too momentous to be forgiven. That did not mean, in the slightest, that he could not strive to atone for what had been a terrible lapse of judgement.
Another certainty that Evan had, was that power changed people. Power didn't alter the mind in itself, but its existence, its subtle allure, did make one crave for more. Put simply, power bred ambition and greed. This was especially true in the case of people such as Hope and himself who had unlimited power just slightly beyond their grasps. Back then he had been eighteen and, as far as he was concerned, incredibly stupid. Back then he had thought that having unlimited power, in the form of the four Elements, was what truly mattered. Back then he did not, could not, understand that what he believed to be his life's goal would instead be his ruin. Possessing the four Elements together had, after all, been the wish of his ancestors. A wish which had been passed on, as if by divine mandate, to him. It was only when he had felt her life slip away that he had understood that, for him, possessing the four Elements was less important than preserving her life.
But his realizations had come too late and the price for his betrayal had been the conversion of her love into hate. From that moment onwards, Evan had been resolute to atone for his sin. In the beginning he had believed that, given enough time, Hope would forgive him. Or at least talk to him and allow him to explain himself. He had tried on various occasions to contact her by going to Hawthorne Manor, but the house had been deserted after the death of her father. No matter how hard he had tried, he could not reach her. Even in The Otherworld, the lake that divided their two domains had grown lager, not allowing him to see the other bank. For years he had despaired, for Hope, his Hope, seemed to have vanished into thin air. Despite her absence from his life, his love for her did not dissipate in the slightest but dulled, much like the throbbing of an amputated limb dulls into a phantom pain.
Then, ten years after her disappearance, he felt something shift in the nature of The Otherworld. The lake became narrower and he could see the bright flames of the other shore. For the first time in ten years he could feel a change, he could feel her come closer, and he found himself filled with anticipation. It was only after studying these unusual changes that he understood the reason behind them was the fact that she had started to use the Ankh Ring.
"One word of advice before I leave, Evan: don't love me. For your own good, don't love me. Because the next time we meet there will be nothing left between us to stop me from wishing you dead…"
For a long time he hadn't taken her words seriously, especially since they had been said in a moment of extreme justified anger and indignation. The ten years that passed had compounded his certainty that, instead of making good on her threat, she was resolute to stay as far away from him as possible. The idea that Hope wanted nothing to do with him hurt. The realization that she was actually biding her time and she fully intended to extract revenge upon him was akin to excruciating pain. But it also afforded him the luxury of hoping that he would see her once more.
Reading the lore of the Ring and Pendant had chilled him to the core and had proven to him that not only was Hope fully serious in her intention to hurt him, but that she was also willing to go to extreme lengths to do so. In her youth she had been a lot of things. She had been passionate, she had been stubborn and she had certainly been resentful at times. But she had never been cruel. Making use of such devices was proof that she had changed. Had her anger made her cruel? Had her wish to extract revenge embittered her? Had she been so very tainted by him that she had changed her very nature? He didn't know the answer to those questions. But he did know that the connection between the bearer of the Ring and Pendant was of such a nature that no one in their right mind would decide to make use of it.
Feeling at long last a chance for partial atonement at hand, he had then decided to go track down the owner of the pendant and put a stop to the entire matter before the situation worsened. Gaining access to the owner of the Pendant had been incredibly easy with the right amount of money and in no time he had been granted access to Cackle's and her deputy. His initial plan had been to simply dispose of Miss Hardbroom before the connection between the Pendant and the Ring became binding and irreversible. It was not something he took particular pleasure in, but if it saved Hope from herself then so be it. He had done a multitude of other questionable things, after all. It was only when he was rejoicing from his success after the collapse of Miss Hardbroom that he understood the situation was much more complicated and that the woman he loved had changed to an extent he could not believe possible.
That particular insight came to him in the form of a Phoenix, which for the others present must have been a spectacular sight but for him was the most terrible thing he had ever seen. Using the Ring he could understand and he could, to a certain extent, reverse. Summoning a demon, for that was what the Phoenix was, he could not. Summoning and controlling demons was a very trying task which took a toll not only on the body but also on the soul. To control a demon, the conjuror essentially gambled the integrity and immortality of his soul. To him, the fact that Hope was prepared to take such a gamble was proof that she was not only serious in her pursuits but that something else besides simple revenge was motivating her.
From early infancy they had both been taught that the soul was the most important thing a person possessed. It was the essence of a human being. It was the key to continued existence by entering the realm that was beyond the lake. Neither of them knew what exactly was beyond that transitioning point but they both knew that something was there. They had seen it. They both felt it every single time they went to The Otherworld. So, for Hope to endanger her soul was tantamount to madness. It was at that point that his concern had shifted from preserving the integrity of her physical being to that of her spiritual one. It was also at that point that he truly felt an immense amount of anger towards her.
It wasn't an entire noble thought that motivated his actions. In his darkest hours, often when his chosen paramour fell so very short of the ideal that was Hope, he imagined that even if he would not have a chance to be with her on this plane, he would be able to do so when they both were no longer confined by their earthly lives and the stifling circumstances that their positions as Elemental Masters created. It wasn't ideal, for he would have certainly preferred to have her with him in the physical sense as well, but it was better than nothing.
Quite frankly, if he thought that it would solve things, he would have simply allowed her to kill him. He had considered that option in all seriousness on a variety of occasions. If it had been only revenge that she sought, he would have allowed her to take revenge freely, with absolutely no opposition. He would have subjected himself to whatever punishment she saw fit. He would have allowed her whatever cruelty she desired. But that would solve absolutely nothing because, he understood, it was not only revenge that she was seeking but also, above all, power. What would she do after she had the four Elements? Would she be content or would she try to attain more by more nefarious means? Even worse, if she was Mistress of the four Elements there would be no one who could stop her from endangering herself. While Hope was willing to gamble with her own soul, he was not.
So, he locked her up in a prison from which she should have been unable to escape. He had been angry at her. He had been furious with her for trying to take away their only chance to be together, for being so irrational and for compromising herself to such an extent. For the first and only time in his life, he had hated her with an intensity he did not think possible. When they met in The Otherworld during the incident the only thing she had to do to free herself and all the others, had been to say that she gave up on her ambitions. Had she been able to do so, he would have immediately lowered the barrier of Water. But she did not. Instead, she managed to free herself, god only knew though what means.
And while she had been potentially throwing away the last shred of humanity she possessed, he had been stuck in a hospital, unable to do much more than sleep and dream of her. Finding that she had escaped had terrified him to the point that, had he not been under the influence of painkillers and sedatives, he would have gone to Cackle's and tried to talk to her himself. Whatever she had done to escape must have been beyond the realm of what was actually possible within the laws of magic. The only thing he could think of that made sense is that she had, once more, invoked a demon. But to invoke a demon and make it defy the laws of nature itself, would not come cheap. The price would be incredibly steep, steeper than normal, and Evan shuddered to think what that price might have been.
Amelia Cackle was, by nature, a passive person who, had she not been thrown into the role of headmistress, would have probably chosen a role that did not require leadership skills. But, as things stood, she was in a position where it was expected of her to take action and act as a guiding hand for those within the academy. More often than not that didn't bother her. In fact, under normal circumstances, her position as headmistress simply entailed answering long boring letters from parents and the Witches' Guild, solving the occasional, rather trivial argument between her staff members and sometimes offering advice to some of the girls. Normally, she wouldn't be confronted with matters of life and death. Normally, she wouldn't have to take decisions that would affect not only her, but those within the castle, to such a fundamental level. Normally, she wouldn't be expected to act upon ancient knowledge derived from books that had not been opened for centuries. But, as she stood in her office with the Grand Wizard pouring over one such book, Amelia reckoned that this was by no means a normal situation. In fact, normality had been so skewed for the past few months within Cackle's that she could not help but long for the days where avoiding her deputy in order to get a spot of tea and cheesecake at Cosy's had been one of her top concerns.
When the Grand Wizard had stormed into her office almost a week beforehand, he had been frazzled beyond belief and carrying a strange old book that Amelia had not been familiar with. Then he had started to tell her a fantastic tale about how the Phoenix that had saved Constance's life had been in fact the summoning of demon. Understandably, Amelia's first reaction had been one of complete and utter disbelief. While she was not as versed as the Grand Wizard in magical creatures, she could not bring herself to consider that something as sinister as a demon had somehow made its way on the grounds of the academy. But, despite the feelings on the matter, she had to admit that the Grand Wizards' evidence was conclusive. More so, if what he had discovered was true, the consequences of the event were troubling to say the least.
Within the book that he carried, Egbert Hellebore had showed her a passage that he considered of upmost importance. Amelia had read it so many times that its words had lodged themselves into her brain: "the exorcist with his companions must beware he give no eare to the melodie". That combined with the wizards' agitated inquiry of whether the bird was singing or not, had proved to the headmistress that the presence of the supernatural being was not a matter to be taken lightly. While her memories of the event were a little bit foggy, she had able to confirm that the bird had been indeed singing. Her declaration had disturbed the Grand Wizard further and had marked the start of a week-long research process.
More often than not, throughout the week, Amelia had felt her knowledge of the magical arts and workings of magic itself fall short. She was well aware that someone like Constance, who had dedicated her life to such a study, would be far more efficient and far more productive than her. But, she had also made the conscious decision to not involve her deputy in the matter. For the first time in years, Constance seemed almost content on both a professional and personal front and somehow, after all that had happened to her, Amelia was reluctant to dispel that happiness. As such, she allowed the younger woman to teach her classes and work on her budding relationship with Doctor Elwood, while she herself was cooped up with the Grand Wizard trying to figure the implications that the apparition of the demon had on the academy.
The theory they were working on was rather simple. Either Mr Mallard or Ms Hawthorne had decided to, for whatever reason, summon the demon in order to save Constance. Why they had needed to do so in the first place was a matter of opinion. The Grand Wizard was convinced that one of them had tried to harm the deputy and the other had tried to save her. Amelia, who was by nature a far more optimistic person, proposed that one of them had known about Constance's plight and when she had collapsed they had decided to help her. As Mr Mallard had been there at the time when that unfortunate event had occurred, it wouldn't have been impossible for him to want to lend a helping hand and, because the process was rather taboo, to wish to do so in secret. Amelia's optimistic outlook fell apart when Noah declared Constance to be completely healthy despite all odds. Her surprising recovery, while fortunate in itself, did indicate that the cause of the disease had been magical rather than physical and that reinforced the Grand Wizard's theory.
As to what the repercussions of the apparition of the demon were, the matter was far more complicated. They had both concluded, after hours of research, that the apparition had an effect on the castle's magic. Somehow, the conjuror had managed to make use of the castle's ancient magic to sustain the summoning. It had been the headmistress who had proposed this inference, based on the simple fact that the castle to which she was so much attached, did not feel right. It wasn't the most irrefutable piece of evidence she could have given, but some of the ancient tomes supported her belief. However, most chilling were the consequences of the fact that bird had been singing. According to Clavicula Salomonis Regis, also known as the Lesser Key of Solomon, which contained Weyner's demonology appendix, one of the powers of the Phoenix as a demon was its ability to entrance its audience and make them bind to its will. Or, better said, to the conjuror's will. As to how many people would have been affected, for how long and what would such an abolishment of mental freedom entail, neither the headmistress nor the Grand Wizard could give an answer. On that matter, the books had been completely silent. However, it was a very real possibility that, for a certain amount of time, some of the residents of Cackle's Academy had been under the control of a third party.
Lastly, and Amelia believed it to be of the upmost importance, there was another matter that needed to be addressed. Namely, that they had two potential criminals roaming freely around the premises. Summoning demons was against the law, not that many people would have been insane enough to accept the cost that such a process would entail. Hours of reading about demonic possession had taught her that it was a very taxing procedure which, most often than not, resulted in misfortune for the conjuror. As such, she could infer that not only was that person going against the law but also had a command of magic that would be unparalleled. Whoever the conjuror was, he or she was very dangerous and needed to be banned from the school immediately.
"Grand Wizard? If you were to make an educated guess, who do you think summoned the Phoenix?" Amelia asked, lifting her head from the old, yellowed pages of Clavicula Salomonis Regis.
"I think, based on the fact that the Phoenix is a magical being often associated with Fire, Miss Hawthorne is more likely to have summoned it. As to why she did so, I cannot say" he answered as carefully as possible
"We need to make her leave Cackle's for good" Amelia said after a moment's thought, her elbows placed on her desk, her cheek resting on her knuckles. "I will call the Guild immediately and have her removed from her potions student teacher position"
The Grand Wizard watched her in stunned disbelief of a moment. Then he started laughing. Amelia felt rather offended by his reaction.
"Dear lady, the Hawthorne family is one of the oldest, richest and most influential families in the magical world. Do you think you have more sway over the Guild than Miss Hawthorne has?" his voice was laced with mirth, his eyes bearing a spark of something dark in them.
"But if the children are at risk, surely they…" Amelia replied indignantly.
"Miss Cackle, I know how those old bats work. They will listen to you, assuage your fears and the moment you put the phone down, they will call Miss Hawthorne and inform her that her most recent employer is making wild claims against her. From that moment onwards, Miss Hawthorne will have the power of life and death over the school, with the full support of the Guild" he answered darkly "It makes no difference to them whether what you say is true or not. They cannot punish her or even investigate the matter because it would create a dangerous precedent. They all come from families as old as hers and they have all done things that they are not proud of. It would not be in their interest to allow one of their own to come under scrutiny, because then they would all be liable to have the same thing happen to them in the future"
"So, you are saying she is above the law?" the headmistress questioned skeptically.
"They all are" Egbert responded, a measure of disgust clear in his voice
"Then what can we do? Surely, she cannot be allowed to roam freely around the school!" It was unnerving to Amelia to think that someone was above the law and the code they took so much pain to teach the girls.
"I think that she might be more inclined to leave if we had some form of physical evidence that she has actually broken the law…" Egbert answered after a moment's thought, a slightly triumphant smile appearing at the corner of his lips.
The first time he had entered into the lion's den, Noah had been angry. In fact he had been so angry that the force of his emotion had allowed the other man to control his feelings and thoughts. It was with a sense of apprehension that he had decided to once again take the plunge and return to Mallard Manor. That and an intense desire to at find answer to at least part of the questions that had been plaguing him. However, for his own safety Noah had decided to keep as calm and emotionless as possible. After all, there was hardly any love lost between them and he did not put it past the man to try, yet again, to influence his thoughts.
That being said, when he actually came face to face with the master of the house, Noah found it hard to believe that Evan, as he was at that very moment, had the strength to magically influence anything. Quite frankly, the man looked a few steps away from death's door and every fibre in Noah's medical mind screamed that he should take the man to a hospital and not start a potentially antagonistic conversation with him at that particular moment. He quickly quieted that impulse by reminding himself that: one, he was not Mr Mallard's handler and two, the man in front of him had been responsible for almost killing his best friend and the woman he loved.
"Doctor Elwood, do come in and take a seat" Evan offered graciously, a polite smile plastered on his face.
"Why did you call me here?" under normal circumstances, and faced with another person, Noah would have been more gracious. Yet, he figured that the rut he had been in for the past months did give him the excuse to not be as polite as he normally would.
"As I said during our brief conversation on the phone I wish to discuss something with you… Something about our mutual acquaintance" Evan's answer was surprisingly straightforward, considering that, much like Hope, he preferred to be as evasive as possible.
"I think Hope is more than a mutual acquaintance for both of us" Noah challenged evenly, sitting down in the armchair opposite the one Mr Mallard was occupying.
"Yes, indeed. You are quite perceptive doctor and might have gathered that I do harbour some feelings for her…" Mr Mallard answered in a rather strained voice, one of his hands rubbing his face tiredly "I also believe that she might… or at least might have responded in kind at some point"
"Mr Mallard, if you have called me here to play matchmaker, you will be sorely disappointed. I learned long ago that, despite my status as her friend, it is best I do not interfere in matters of a strictly personal nature" Noah warned plainly, his eyes watching his converser like a hawk.
"If only it were that simple, Doctor…If only it were that simple… In fact, I believe that out of this whole business only one romantic entanglement will come out unscathed and it is not mine with Hope" Evan answered slightly under his breath , his voice having a somewhat acrimonious quality to it.
"So, why did you ask me to come here, Mr Mallard?" he questioned with a rather defeated sigh, truly hoping that he would get a proper answer which would not involve solving a million of riddles.
"I need your help" Evan retorted plainly, his features explicitly showing how much he resented his own words.
"My help?" Noah repeated in confusion, expecting neither such frankness nor such a request. He pondered his next words carefully before voicing them. "Mr Mallard, if you need my help from a medical point of view, then my duty as a doctor compels me to offer it freely. However, if you need my assistance in other matters, I must…"
"Doctor Elwood, what did Hope tell you about the ring she wears?" Evan inquired abruptly, raising a hand to stop the doctor's discourse.
"Why should I tell you?" the reaction was defensive and prompt.
"She didn't tell you much, did she? She didn't tell you what it actually does? You seem like a clever man, doctor, so it is beyond me how you can still be loyal to her considering the amount of things she keeps from you" Evan said in a slight derogatory voice and Noah could feel his blood boil for a second.
"Mr Mallard, I can assure you that mocking me is not the best way to secure my help" Noah answered icily, his eyes challenging the other man to continue on that particular train of thought.
"Then how about I tell you a story?" Evan exhaled, trying to his best to keep his temper and his tongue in check. After all, the doctor did have a point.
"Mr Mallard, I don't have the time to…" the doctor started to protest but was stopped once again by his interlocutor's raised hand.
"Pray listen. And at the end you will decide whether an alliance of sorts is worthwhile between the two of us… The story does, after all, explain why our families are so irrevocably connected" Evan explained smoothly and waited for guest's response. After a moment's thought Noah nodded his assent.
The legend starts with an old king who had four children. Three sons and a daughter…" Evan started and Noah's blood ran cold "The king, even if he wasn't the ruler of a particularly powerful domain, was respected throughout the land for his amazing magical power. No one dared to challenge him. However, the king didn't use his power to further his small kingdom or gain riches. In fact, he barely used it at all. Suffice to say, some were not particularly pleased with this. Especially the daughter…"
"Adenah" Noah whispered involuntarily and Evan raised an elegant eyebrow.
" Yes, Adenah was her name. You know the story, Doctor Elwood?" Evan asked with a measure of surprise.
"I suspect I only know the beginning…" Noah replied, inwardly chastising himself for his slip of the tongue. "Do continue…"
"Well, Adenah had a very ambitious nature and failed to understand why her father did not use his gifts to further their station in life. She was also in a very difficult position, for, as a woman at that time, she could not inherit the king's power upon his death. The one who would inherit would be her eldest brother, Alton. In fact, her only chance to gain a better life was through marriage. But becoming the queen of an insignificant kingdom was not enough for her. She wanted at least part of the king's power for herself. So, she concocted a plan to make the king give her some of it…" he rose from his armchair, his movements slow and deliberate, and walked towards the drinks cabinet, Noah's eyes following his every movement "Can I offer you something to drink, doctor?"
"Just water, please" the doctor replied unwilling to have his faculties in any way impaired by alcohol.
"Are you certain? The continuation of the story might warrant something stronger than water and I do have an excellent bottle of bourbon. A…" Evan offered effortlessly.
"… 23 year-old Evan Williams?" Noah continued for him, knowing fully well that it was the only kind of hard liquor that Hope ever indulged in when the mood struck. It was notoriously hard to get as the only place you could buy it was the Kentucky distillery itself. His own reserve consisted of only three bottles and had been procured through an American contact and only because he had been told, repeatedly by a certain friend of his, that he had nothing decent to drink in the house.
"You are quite right" his host offered a wry smile "Shall I pour you a glass?"
"No, thank you. I don't particularly like it" he replied graciously "And, considering the cocktail of medication you should be taking, you shouldn't pour yourself one either!" he followed, the doctor in him absolutely horrified at the prospect of mixing pills with alcohol.
"Then water it is… for us, both" he said with a dry laugh, and waved his hand over two empty glasses. He handed a filled glass to Noah who took a sip and felt his eyes widen in surprise. The water was good. In fact it was the most refreshing thing he had ever tasted; something akin to the taste of clear water from a mountain spring. He gulped it down hungrily and as soon as he finished he saw that his glass had been re-filled.
"That was rather refreshing… thank you. I didn't know Elemental Masters could change the proprieties of an Element to such a degree that something like its taste changes"
"You couldn't have known. After all, neither of Hope's Elements is comestible, and I believe you've never willingly placed your hand in one of her flames to see if it burns or not. But yes, we do have a certain degree of control over their attributes" Evan replied simply.
The knowledge that he could change the proprieties of his Element had come to him rather recently. After Hope had left that unfortunate morning, one of the things he had researched had been why her flames hadn't burned him. The result of his research had not been ground-breaking, a success or in any way useful to him. He had set out to find a way to stop her and instead he had learned how to produce spring water, which he had to admit, as he took a sip from his own glass, was indeed very refreshing.
"So, going back to the story… Where was I?" Evan turned to face his interlocutor.
"Adenah came up with a plan to have the king to give her some of his power…" Noah supplied helpfully.
"Yes. Well, Doctor Elwood, it is at this point that our families become irreversibly connected" he said with a smile that showed he wasn't particularly pleased by that outcome.
"How so?"
"Well, the king had a sister. She wasn't in any way magical but she was married to a man who was part of the family that had given the land its most talented and powerful diviners, a certain Linos Elwood" he explained patiently and saw that the doctor's eyes widened in recognition "Adenah's plan was, in itself, very simple. She believed that if she could convince a foreteller to issue a prophecy saying that the downfall of humanity will come if the power is not equally distributed between the children, then the king would grant her some of his power. So she set out to do just that."
"But that can't be done" Noah intervened "A foreteller is bound by an oath of magic to never lie when he or she is issuing a prophecy. If he lies he will go mad and everyone will know the prophecy was wrong"
"That is why Adenah's plan was to convince the foreteller to issue two prophecies: one predicting the death of the king in a set number of days, and the other predicting the downfall of the world if the power was not equally distributed. When the first prophecy would prove to be wrong, no one would know whether the foreteller went mad because the first prophecy was wrong or because both prophecies were wrong. And she knew that her father would not risk the absolute destruction of the world" Evan followed and Noah's mind tried to reconcile the image of what he had seen in his dream, with Mr Mallard's words.
"So she decided to marry her uncle and compel him to make the prophecy" he concluded remembering how the red-haired girl had called Lord Elwood 'her betrothed'.
"Yes. She planned to marry him and ensnare him to such a degree that he would care more about her wishes than about his mental health. But there was a little complication because, Linos Elwood, the most famous diviner in the land at the time, was married to her aunt"
"So she killed his wife" Noah interrupted, remembering how Adam, the stout short man, had cautioned Lord Elwood against 'suffering the same fate' as his wife, before giving him the knife.
"She didn't. She got Alton to do it" Evan answered with a shake of his head.
"Why would Alton agree to such a thing?" the doctor asked, thoroughly surprised. Out of the three brothers, Alton, as the eldest and heir, would have no reason to get involved in such a scheme. On the contrary.
"Why does a man do anything for a woman?" he replied with a measure of sarcasm.
"He loved her…" Noah answered, the image of the blond young man's disgruntled glare as Lord Elwood refused to kiss his sister coming immediately to mind.
"That he did. And not in a brotherly fashion…He was in love with her, apparently most ardently" Evan replied, his voice even, a somewhat bitter smile playing on his lips.
"So he killed Lord Elwood's wife" he concluded "What happened next?"
"She managed to make Lord Elwood fall in love with her and make the two prophecies. Everything went according to plan. He went mad but the king, on his dying bed, split the power equally between the four heirs. They became the original four Elemental Masters and their powers became intertwined with their bloodlines. But after receiving Fire, Adenah realized that it was not enough, so she tricked Adam to will away Earth to her"
"And Alton took Aether's Air"
"Yes"
"If they loved each other, why did they start feuding?"
"That I do not know. Alton's writings, which have been passed down from generation to generation into my family, are not very forthcoming on this issue. My best guess would be ambition and a hunger for power that neither could resist" he shrugged "But I do know what happened after they started fighting, which brings us to the matter of the Ring"
Noah straightened himself in his armchair and, seeing that he had a captivated audience, Evan continued.
"Because Alton knew all her tricks and their powers were almost equal, Adenah knew that she had to find another source of energy that would make her stronger than him. The opportunity arose when she discovered that one of her serfs was incredibly talented in the magical arts, to the point that the people in the village started to compare her to the Mistress of Fire herself. Suffice to say, Adenah was not very pleased about being compared to a serf. So, on false charges of thievery, she had the young woman arrested and condemned to death. Then, when she saw the girl's magical prowess she decided to transfer that power onto herself. So, in Avalon's Lux Eterna, she created two objects that formed an unbreakable bond between two humans: a pendant and a ring"
"What sort of bond? What does 'transfer the power' mean?" Noah asked suddenly afraid of the implications Mr Malard's words might have on those close to him.
"The bond was, in essence, a magical contract. Before being imprisoned, the girl had fallen with child, so Adenah promised her that she would preserve her life until the child was born if she took the pendant and willed the pendant into her bloodline until the end of time. Naturally, the girl, young, pregnant and scared agreed to it" he answered simply.
"What does the pendant do to the person who wears it?" Noah whispered, and feeling his throat constrict, took a sip of water.
"The terms of the contract are deceivingly simple. The bearer of the Ring promises to maintain the life of the bearer of the Pendant. If that promise is broken, the bearer of the Ring dies. In return the one who bears the Pendant wills their magic away to the one who bears the Ring" Evan replied calmly and watched how the doctor seemed to become pale.
"So the one who bears the Pendant would become unable to perform magic, right?" he said with a measure of hope in his voice.
"If only it was that simple…" Evan replied bitterly "Doctor, both magical and non-magical people are born with a certain amount of the four Elements within them, which come together to form what we traditionally recognize as magic. In essence, everyone is born with a spark of magic within them. But, mostly due to breeding, some extraordinary individuals are born with a bit more. They are those who can actually perform magic. Magic is an integral part of everyone because it is an integral part of our souls. Taking away someone's magic is like tearing apart their soul"
"Mr Mallard… I think I will take that drink, now" Noah whispered after a few moments of silence, his hands trembling slightly. With a nod, Evan moved towards the drinks cabinet "She is perfectly well, now… " he followed more for himself, while his host prepared the requested beverage.
"That is probably because whatever Hope did to get out of the potions laboratory infused her with so much magic that her body cannot receive any more without destroying itself. But once her body adjusts to the new level of power the process will continue." Evan responded and offered his guest a glass filled with an amber liquid. Noah was gratified to see that it was scotch. Quite frankly he didn't think he could stomach bourbon. Now or ever.
"Is there any way to stop it? Can something be done? There must be something… a miscalculation…anything…" he asked with a measure of desperation in his voice.
"Not quite…" Evan replied carefully as he sat back in his chair "There was a miscalculation of sorts, but not one that would suit your purpose very well"
"What was it?" Noah asked quickly. Whatever miscalculation, whatever error that had been made could be a way to free Constance form that terrible fate.
"When she created the objects and made the contract, Adenah did not take into account that she was mistress of two Elements and not only one. Had she only been Mistress of Fire, her plan would have worked perfectly. Earth governs Death in the way that Air governs Life and birth. Because of that, the Masters of Air and Earth have the obligation to preserve the integrity of human souls at all cost. If that duty is broken, then their own souls are at risk. And these two objects clearly break that particular law of nature" he answered with a certain mixture of sadness and bitterness in his voice.
Sitting at what once had been her father's desk, Hope felt a multitude of things ranging from frustration to outright desperation. In a show of such negative feelings, she barely stopped herself from setting on fire the big, ancient tomes that were crowding the desk and leaned against her chair with a defeated expression gracing her features. When she had started her self-imposed confinement to the ancestral manor of her family, she had actually had a course of action in mind. Namely answering three very important questions: Who was the inheritor of Air? How could two souls that had merged be separated? And, last but not the least, what effect had the heir of the pendant on the bond between the Ring-bearer and the one who owned the pendant?
The first question had been easily enough to answer, mostly due to the almost anal obsession old families had with recording their genealogy. It was rather ironic that it had taken her about half a day to find the thing that people had been look for centuries and which had inspired the imagination of writers throughout history; namely, the Holy Grail. A quick call to the Witches' Guild had told her that Constance Hardbroom had graduated from Witch Training College fourteen years before. Then, a quick call to the city hall of the town where the college was located, under the pretence of being an estranged relative of Miss Hardbroom wanting to inform her of an inheritance, told her that fifteen years before, said woman had rented a house with a certain Cain Martel. Checking the man's name against the self-updating genealogy records her family possessed, confirmed her suspicions that he was indeed a descendant of the initial Master of Air. Thus, after a couple of hours of research she realized that the Holy Grail, or at least the father of the Holy Grail, was very much alive and well, living in France of all places.
The second question had been far more problematic and it had yet to have an answer. Nothing that she could find was even remotely helpful to her mostly because the situation seemed to be rather unique. There was a lot of information about exorcism and casting away demons, mostly in useless books written by non-magical people, but nothing about separating two merged souls. As to why such a phenomenon had been possible in the first place, she had a couple of working theories, but none of which were incredibly convincing. Still, this second question, while important in the long run, was hardly the most pressing issue. After all, the soul of the child that was sharing Mildred's body seemed to be mostly benign. If anything, the experience was rather frightening for the young girl, but Hope didn't believe it to be truly dangerous.
It was the third question that was perhaps the most important because its answer would have the most immediate consequences. The lore of the Ring and of the Pendant was not something that had been extensively documented by her ancestors, mainly because Adenah, the initial Mistress of Fire, had not allowed the entire process to run its course. Why that was, Hope did not know, but because of that, generations upon generations had discarded it as a failed, dangerous experiment. The only thing that they did record, had been the names and dates of death of those who had born the Pendant, generation after generation. That meant that she only had suppositions and her own knowledge of how human souls worked when trying to answer the last question.
Her initial conclusion had been that the soul of the dead infant would not have any bearing on the magical contract. When Adenah had created the magical contract with one of her serfs, one of the conditions was to pass the pendant from mother to daughter until the bloodline came to an end. That had inadvertently created a certain parallel between the fate of the ones who were destined to bear the Pendant and those who would inherit the Ring: when a Mistress of Fire was born, a bearer of the Pendant died. Constance Hardbroom's mother had died on the 21st of July almost twenty six years previously. Her grandmother had died when her mother had been born. Constance Hardbroom herself would have died when her own child would have been born. But then again, so would Hope. In every case where the Pendant and the Ring were not used, the one who bore the Pendant and the analogous Mistress of Fire died on the same day.
While that was an interesting oddity, it did nothing to shed light on the current situation or explain what happened when the bond between the two objects did run its course. The only other witch in history who had allowed it to, the famous Morgana LaFey, had been too erratic, too consumed by her need to defeat her opponent to actually bother to leave behind an explanation of what had occurred. What Hope supposed the parallelism of the destinies of those two people meant was that one Mistress of Fire could only make use of the powers of their analogous Pendant-bearer and not the heir to the pendant as well. Taking that into account, the fact that Miss Hardbroom had an heir, even if it wasn't in a traditional sense of the word, shouldn't have had a bearing on the process.
Had it not been for something that nagged at the back of her mind, Hope would have left it at that and would have tried to further research ways to exorcise the dead soul from Millie's living one. But, there was something that she could not disregard, no matter how much she tried. And that was the feeling she had the first time she had made a semblance of contact with the potions mistress. Back then after she had come out of the trance in which she had invoked the Phoenix, Noah had asked what had been killing the deputy. Her answer had not made much sense. She remembered that her exact words had been: "… it had a really unique magical imprint. It felt like it was old and young at the same time. New and ancient, extremely good and extremely evil…"
In light of the discovery of the bond between Mildred's soul and that of the dead infant, Hope's words and feelings made much more sense to her. She could say with confidence that at that particular moment the deputy had not been harmed only by the power of the bond between the Pendant and the Ring, but also by the presence of the soul of her own unborn child. Mildred's own admission that the first time she heard the strange voice, which had been plaguing her for quite a while, during the assembly which was celebrating Evan's arrival at the academy as its benefactor, gave weight to Hope's theory. That seemed to be the moment when the soul of the child had made contact with the world of humans. It also seemed that, for whatever reason, that the first contact had almost killed Miss Hardbroom.
Why that happened and whether it would happen again was the crux of the matter. The way in which the two objects worked was, in fact, very simple. The souls of the Ring-bearer and the one who had inherited the pendant were, in fact, two souls bound together, one feeding of the other while giving ultimate protection at the same time. In practical terms it meant that if Miss Hardbroom expired because of any other cause than the bond between the two objects, Hope herself would die because she would have broken her end of the magical contract. If it was only a case of a one-time occurrence, the fact that the deputy had been harmed by her soul of her unborn child would have not been much of a problem. Yet, if it was liable to happen again, if it had been happening all these time, then Miss Hardbroom could die because of it. And that would entail Hope's own death.
Then it struck her. She had always referred to the child as an infant but, if the child had been a still-birth then her soul would not be that of an infant but that of a foetus. The soul of a foetus was undeveloped. Much like the foetus shared his mother's body, nourishment, and emotions it also partly shared its mother's soul. That was why, if a pregnant woman died she only had to take one soul. Or, why she had never had to take the souls of children who had been aborted. Taking that into account, it meant that by virtue of its nature, the soul that was attached to Mildred fed onto the soul of the deputy. What had been a dyadic bond, was now shared by three people, three souls and that meant that there was a very real possibility that the process would fail.
That left her with two alternatives: stop the process of transference or quickly find a way to exorcise the soul out of Millie. Feeling like she was finally getting somewhere, Hope turned to her ancient books to try to find out which avenue would be most appropriate.
Noah took a moment to process what was happening. If what Mr Mallard said was true, then not only was Hope actively and willingly trying to kill Constance and destroy her soul, but in doing so, she was also destroying her own soul. What in the world could have possessed her to do that? Hope was, for most part, rational and would not take such an insanely dangerous course of action without having a good cause. Of course there was the possibility that what Mr Mallard was saying was not true. And, before condemning his friend, Noah was more than willing to further investigate the latter avenue.
"She said you were coming and she couldn't face you without the Ring" he said in an accusing tone, his eyes looking at the other man trying to glimpse any sort of deceit.
"Doctor," Evan offered a bitter chuckle "If I had known where she was, I would have come. But only to throw myself at her feet and beg for her forgiveness"
"Forgiveness for what?" he asked in the same harsh tone and could see that the other man was pondering whether to answer or not "Do remember that you are trying to secure my help"
"Ten years ago, I had a moment of… weakness" he chose his words cautiously; every word he uttered seeming almost painful to him "I tried to take her two Elements from her. Understandably, she has been unable to forgive me"
"You tried to kill her?" Noah asked in astonishment, the accusation clear in his remark.
"Yes" he admitted under his breath, his head slightly turned towards the flames in the fireplace "I have been… regretting it… every day, ever since."
Once again, Noah found himself looking for any signs of dishonesty, but he could find none. On the contrary. Whatever had happened ten years before seemed to have affected Mr Mallard to such an extent that the memory of that event still had a hold on him. For a moment the younger man's hazel eyes had seemed lost in another time, in another place and a shadow of grief passed on his features before he consciously schooled them into a neutral expression and turned to face him once more.
"You went to Cackle's with the intention of killing Miss Hardbroom" Noah accused once more, not allowing his gentler feelings to be swayed by what seemed as a genuine expression of remorse.
"Yes" Evan replied simply "I believed that I could stop the process from occurring before it became binding. I have nothing against Miss Hardbroom, but if I thought that it would have some merit, I would not hesitate to do it again. Unfortunately for me, and I suspect fortunately for you, it does not. Thus, it is not me who you need to be worried about regarding the deputy's continued welfare"
"This is madness! You expect me to help you after you freely admit that you tried to hurt someone I care about!" Noah retorted with a measure of outrage.
"I believe I told you once before that, unlike Hope, I conduct my business in the open. I would do whatever is necessary to preserve her life and, if that is impossible, at least preserve the integrity and immortality of her soul. If I needed to, I would kill you, Miss Hardbroom and the entire human kind!" Mr Mallard answered more forcefully than before, his words having a cutting edge to them.
"If her welfare is so important to you, why did you try to destroy her by locking her up in the potions lab?" Noah could honestly say that never in his life he had seen such misguided show of loyalty and affection from anyone.
"She only had to say that she gave up on her ambition of gaining the four Elements and I would have lowered the field!" Evan almost yelled, becoming clearly aggravated by the stream of denunciations "I waited for her every single day in the Otherworld knowing that she would show up! And when she did, she refused to give up! She refused it! Instead of saying three blasted words, she chose to do god knows what and endanger herself further!"
It was with a deep sense of astonishment that Noah watched him take a deep breath, trying to calm himself, his elbows placed on his knees, one hand involuntarily pressing for a moment against his chest. Whatever the reality of the situation might have been, Evan Mallard believed that he had acted justly. And, Noah had to admit that, if one were to look at the situation from his perspective and take into account his twisted sense of what was right and what was wrong, they would see his actions as being defensible. If there was one grain of truth in the whole story, it was the fact that Evan obviously cared about Hope. Not only cared, but perhaps loved with an intensity which bordered on obsession. In Noah's opinion, his actions had been terribly misguided and he could not condone them in any situation. But his motives had been, in a strange sort of way, pure. If all that he had heard was true, that was much more than he could say about Hope's motives.
"Mr Mallard, do try to calm down before you do yourself harm" the doctor advised in a much gentler tone than before "What would have happened if she had been unable to free herself?" he continued his enquiry in a milder voice upon seeing that his host had regained a measure of control.
"She would have died, and I would have become the Master of the four Elements. I would have immediately impregnated a woman to ensure the continued survival of the world and I would have died the moment the child drew his first breath" he said dryly, in all seriousness, his eyes meeting those of the doctor as if urging him to see the truth behind his words.
There were so many things that seemed wrong with that particular statement that Noah didn't know exactly where to start. He decided to not even try.
"Doctor Elwood, I don't require you to trust me or even believe that what I said was the truth… I do, however, need your help" Evan said much more firmly than before.
"How could I help you when…"Noah started
"Please" he interrupted with a measure of civility "The contract between the Ring bearer and the owner of the Pendant can be stopped through the volition of the Ring bearer. Adenah did manage to stop it at some point when she realized that it was hurting rather than helping. I don't know how she did it, but Hope must know. Urge her to stop before it becomes too late. There is so much damage one's soul can take before it destroys itself"
"I am afraid you are overestimating the influence I have on her" he answered truthfully "Perhaps, if her feelings are what I suspect them to be, you would be more successful"
"I tried and failed" he retorted bitterly "As you might have gathered by my less than stellar appearance, I am hardly in any position to confront in an outright fight her right now. The only reason I am still alive is because I believe she took pity on my decrepit state. I cannot reasonably expect such mercy again. And, if she does become the Mistress of the four Elements no one would be able to stop her"
Author's note:
I hope you have enjoyed reading this chapter. As it pretty much exposes the theory behind half of the plot of Fire and Ice , I would be very grateful if you shared your opinions on this chapter via your reviews.
Also, please let me know if you would like to read Fire and Ice Book 2.