Hilda - The Challenge (33 page)

When night fell, they worked something
out.

The next morning, the tent had collapsed on
them. Hilda and William had been exerting their energy and focus on
things other than keeping their sleeping space intact, so they had
to laugh about it when they woke up, and getting the tent back in
shape was simple.

They didn't hurry getting up, so when they
finally were on their way home, a good chunk of the morning was
already behind them. The air was still fresh, and as they were
going in the right direction their moods were a lot better and
lighter than the day before, when they were heading towards the
labyrinth ofGurthreyn.

They crossed over the queendom of Raghuna and
finally made it to the kingdom of Walt again. From there to the
house in the forest seemed a mere jump.

"Oh, William!", Hilda cried out all of a
sudden.

"What's up?"

"I have a most shiny idea!" Hilda smiled from
ear to ear. "When we come home, I am going to take a long hot bath,
and you are going to fly the rounds! Alone! How does that
sound?"

"You are serious about this, aren't you?",
William asked.

"Of course! And you can take as long as you
want, doing the rounds. It will give me time to become all warm and
pink and wrinkly."

William grinned at the thought. "You got
yourself a deal. I want to see that when I come back."

Hilda let out her famous shrieking laughter,
scaring some farmers beneath them.

The wizard-to-be felt amazing however. The
fact that Hilda entrusted him with doing the rounds meant
something. "I will change into my blue best though, before I leave
again," he said. "People know that by now, I think that is a good
thing to keep up for now."

Hilda nodded. "Good thinking. They'll know it
is you that way. I can't wait to get home..."

The last leg of the journey was a short one,
and they were glad to get off the brooms. Hilda and William
together took care of the luggage they had stashed onto the
broomsticks. William made the most of his time by stretching
himself as much as he could before he was off again.

Hilda had dashed off to the hot tub when he
had changed his clothes.

"Hey, witch," he said, knocking on the door,
"behave, okay, while I'm gone."

"I will! And William?"

He opened the door, finding Hilda surrounded
by purple bubbles and steam from the hot water. "Yes, sweetie?"

"I think we did well back there. And I love
you. For doing the rounds after this long ride home."

"Only for that?" William faked a moue.

"Of course! Now get going or you have to make
dinner too!" She splashed a handful of pink water at him, that he
easily warded off magically and threw back at her.

Grinning, William walked down the stairs,
while he heard Hilda laugh in her tub.

As the man in blue walked out the door, Hilda
relaxed her knees. The yellow toy dragon she had been holding out
of sight for William popped up, covered in purple bubbles. She
picked it up. "Ah, there you are. Naughty dragon, hiding where you
did!"

She closed her eyes and let the feeling of
William in through the link. Doing it that way, she was very aware
of him. A smile appeared on her face. "He's proud, my sweet man,"
she told the dragon without looking at it. "He is so proud that he
is allowed to fly alone now."

His exhilaration when he took off came
through to her also, and her smile deepened. "I'm proud of you too,
William," she whispered.

William had for himself decided where he
would go. He was able to find the castle and the village without a
problem, as those were the fixed stops on the rounds. He also
wanted to visit Mirror Lake once more, the strange silver lake that
never seemed disturbed. It had made a profound impression on him,
and the memories of the silly splashing were too good not to follow
up again.

His approach of the castle was not as bold as
Hilda would have done. Not as fast either. He did make the
complicated slalom through the forest of towers though and was
thrilled that he managed that flawlessly. There was no one in the
garden or near the fountain. Of course, he was later than usual, so
the king was probably busy with kingly affairs.

Still, William hovered near the top of the
fountain, just for the thrill of it, challenging the fates on his
own. He let his mind drift, deciding he would entirely trust the
magic in and around him to make him respond.

Hilda sat upright in her bathtub, with baited
breath and sparkling eyes.

Something happened. The door of the castle
moved. William knew. His magical instinct had expanded and grown.
As the first inches of water were coming up from the highest point
of the fountain, his broom was already moving upwards. The water
touched the end of the broomstick, lapped at the tip of his cloak,
but he was up and away, out of the reach of the water. He laughed.
And he let his magic enhance his laughter, making it boom over the
area. It was so loud that he was almost shocked by it himself.

"Squeeeee!", yelled Hilda. She threw the
dragon in the air. For a moment it wore something blue.

William knew he had outrun the water and
spiraled down to the king who had run out and was gazing
upwards.

"Wizard William," he said, "where is
Grimhilda?"

William dropped his hood back, using magic.
"The witch had other things to do, so she asked me to make sure
that things are well. Are things well, king Walt?"

Walt grinned and nodded. "Things are well,
William. More than well, as I almost had you!"

"That you did, king," William admitted. "You
are improving every time."

"One day, William, one day I will have both
of you, dripping wet!" Walt's face showed his joy with the mere
thought of it.

"We will celebrate that day, king Walt. And
for now, I wish you a good day." William put the hood over his head
and flew his broom off, at the highest speed he dared. Not as fast
as Hilda could do, but still considerable for someone who was in
training for about a month.

"He loved that," Hilda told the dragon and
kissed it on its snout. Then she lay back in the water, heated it
up again and waited.

William felt good. The first stop had gone
well, very well. His adrenalin level had risen on the ride straight
up from the fountain chase, and it refused to come down. With wide
swoops, as if he was testing the handling of a car, he made his way
to the village, keeping an eye on the area in case there was
something that required attention, or even intervention. Nothing of
the kind was there though, so he reached the village that lay calm
and peaceful in the mild afternoon sun. He hovered over the market
square for a while, remembering the first action he had
participated in while Hilda had wielded her magic with the
vegetable thieves. The smile on his face was hidden from the people
walking by beneath him.

"Oh, he still remembers that," Hilda said to
the dragon. "I didn't know it made him feel so good about knowing
me. Do you feel good about knowing me too? Hmm?"

William set course to the more busy streets
in the village, where lots of people were now engaged in their
shopping and selling. He thought for a moment about floating
through one of the streets so people could see him, but he was not
certain if that was a good idea at this point.

"Do it, William, do it," Hilda whispered,
hoping she could encourage him through the link, even if he did not
sense her through it. "Just go to the street, show yourself."

William slowly glided downwards, dropping
into a calm spot in the street. What had given him the push, he
didn't know. He did enjoy having done it, slowly flying through the
street on his broom. He looked left and right, taking in the sights
of the people and the stores, the goods in the stalls, the smells
and the sounds. People looked at him and nodded, greeted him and
made sure he could pass through everywhere.

At the end of the street he looked left and
right. Left was very busy, right was relatively calm. His first
impulse was to go right and avoid the bustle, but then, if
something were to happen it would be in the busy part. So he turned
his broom to the left.

"Good boy," Hilda nodded, her head against
the cushion that she had stuck between the tub and the wall, her
eyes closed, and the dragon floating snout down among the purple
bubbles.

A man who was trying to lift the lid off a
large barrel was pushed by his mate who did lookout. "Stop. Bad
news."

"What? The witch?" The question came in a
whisper.

"No. The wizard," the lookout said.

"What's worse," the thief whispered, "witch
or wizard?"

"What the hell do I care," said the lookout,
"I'm out of here, you wait and find out if you want." He
disappeared in the crowd.

William floated up to the man who apparently
had a problem lifting the lid from a barrel and for a moment was
tempted to help him with some magic. Then he rethought and decided
that the man had to handle his own.

The thief, his hand still on the lid, saw the
hooded figure on the broom hover in front of him. He knew that the
eyes of the magical person were on him and he did not dare to move.
The thief knew that the man's gaze could burn right through him. He
had heard of things like that happen, and now he was facing a
similar fate.

"Next time," William said with a magically
enhanced voice, "you will be dealt with." Then he flew on through
the busy street.

The thief wet himself.

William left the street and then the village.
He raised his broom up high into the air, content with how he had
done in the village and found his way to Mirror Lake. He slowly
soared over it, looking down at his reflection. There were a few
people sitting near the waterline. He decided not make any sudden
moves, there was no reason to upset them, he thought. Or was
there...

"Spoilsport," Hilda muttered.

Something inside him stirred, rummaged in the
box with wicked streaks and served up a grin to his face. In a wide
circle he reached the grass and then the broom with the hooded
figure jumped forward. William raced his broom over the people, at
a height he could certainly not touch anyone. The screams and
shouts made him laugh his booming laugh and then he shot up over
the trees, heading for the by now certainly pink and wrinkly witch.
The people would not forget him.

Hilda had a big grin on her face as she
climbed out of the tub and tapped the 'empty' plaque.

William came into the house, holding his
broom in hand.

Hilda sat at the big table, a large pot of
tea hovering over a candle, a big smile on her face as she saw him
come in. "Hello, wizard. How did you go?"

After putting his broom away and taking off
the cloak, he sat down. "Thank you," he said as Hilda poured him
tea. "I think it went well. I outran Walt's fountain, went through
some streets in the village and scared some people at Mirror Lake.
Oh, this is really nice tea."

Hilda, supporting her face with her hands,
elbows leaning on the table, stared at him with a dreamy smile.
"I'm glad you had so much fun, William."

"Yes, it was fun, indeed. With you there too
it is better, but this was... special." He winked.

Hilda saw that he was sporting much more
confidence about his abilities now. Amazing, after such a simple
trip out alone, she thought. "So you actually went and scared
people?"

William grinned, a blush spreading over his
features. "I just couldn't help myself. I think you are rubbing off
on me or so, I would never have done this in my previous life."

Hilda got up and walked around the table. As
usual, she squeezed herself between the table and William. She put
her hands around his face and kissed him. "Good for you, sweet
man," she then said. "It's about time that you loosen up a bit more
about all this. the ordinaries have some responsibilities and some
fun. We have the big responsibilities so we should also have the
big fun."

William looked in her black eyes. There were
no sparkles of any colour, so she was very serious. And he
understood what she meant. The work of the local witch was not just
flying around and doing crazy stuff by challenging the king and his
fountain. It also consisted of locating evildoers, taking care of
them in a way that they were not harmed (but that might depend on
the situation), and handling a lot of issues around the village.
Like trying to find the flower-witch that had disappeared, Fidelma.
"Yes, I understand that," he said. "I really do."

"I know," she said, and kissed him again.

He slipped his arms around her. She smelled
nice and heat seemed to radiate from her. "How long did you stay in
that tub?", he asked, and she giggled.

"Very very long."

They sat like that for a while, enjoying each
other's presence, until a singing chime sounded through the room.
Hilda looked up, frowning. "Ah, please, not now..." She slipped off
William's lap and walked to the crystal ball, while William poured
the both of them some fresh tea.

"Hi Drago, what's up?", he heard Hilda say.
He had never heard of someone called Drago.

"What?!" Her outcry was so loud that William
almost slapped his tea from the table. He turned and looked at
Hilda, whose red housecoat back was turned towards him. "No! That
can't be true!" Hilda turned and beckoned him to come over, which
he did.

"Drago, this is William. Tell him what you
just told me."

William saw a black face with even blacker
hair in the ball. The eyes of the person were red, his teeth
scarily white in his black frame. "William," the face said with a
short nod, "someone has taken Calandra from her house. I went to
visit her and she was not there. It seems that she was taken by
force, telling from the state of her house."