SEARCH FOR THE LOST SOUL (6 page)

“And Loren
doesn’t think like that?”

“No. When a
child reaches the age of eighteen they have the choice as to whether they want
to remain in the castle or not. Most of them do because where else will they
get such good working conditions. Sometimes the girls leave when they marry
outside the castle but mostly they stay. Those that show promise get sent to
college.”

“Where does
Loren get all the money to do this?”

Leopold
looked thoughtful for several minutes before answering. “I really could not
say. I assume that he received money from his family but I do not know for
sure.”

“Could he
get it by magical means?”

Leopold shrugged.
“I could not tell you that either. I know nothing about the arts.” He sighed.
“I wish that I showed promise in that area. I would like to live for hundreds
of years. Think of all the knowledge one could accumulate in that amount of
time.”

“What makes
you think that magicians live for hundreds of years?”

“Well, the
only wizard I know well is Loren and I know for a fact that he just passed his
three hundred and twenty second birthday last June.”

Chris gaped
at him, his mouth hanging open in surprise. “Are you sure about that?”

Leopold
nodded. “Oh yes. When I first heard the story of his age I did not believe it;
who in his right mind would? So, on my next trip to town I went to the church
where all births are registered and checked. He was born in 1681.”

Chris shook
his head. “I don’t believe it. There must have been children born without the
church’s knowledge.”

Leopold
shook his head. “No, that is impossible. Someone would have spoken about it and
the church would have heard about it and gone to the castle to verify the
information.”

“Not if the
family has treated the community in the same manner that Loren does. If
everyone loved them and they wished to keep births silent I’m sure that the
servants who attended the birth would have kept silent.”

“And risked
the child’s eternal soul. I think not.”

“What would
have happened if the family decided not to have the baby christened?”

“Why would
they do that?” Leopold wanted to know.

Chris sighed
in exasperation. “For whatever reason. Suppose that they had done that, what
would have happened?”

“I cannot
imagined such a thing,” Leopold mumbled before falling silent as he thought it
over. When he finally spoke again he spoke in a low voice and slowly. “I
suppose that the family has enough influence to keep a baby from being
christened but I cannot think of why they might do that.”

He fell
silent for a moment before continuing. “If they did do this, no one would ever
work for that baby; who would work for a man who’s soul is in mortal danger?
Nor could he ever get a wife, no priest would marry them no matter how much
influence the family had.”

“But that
doesn’t mean that he couldn’t have had children to continue the family line?”

Leopold was
silent for a long time before answering. “I would doubt that any self respecting
woman would have a child with a man such as that.”

“What if she
was a servant and had no choice in the matter?”

Again
Leopold was silent for a long time before answering. “No, I do not believe that
happened. The servants would have talked.”

“Not if the
family didn’t want them too.”

Leopold
shook his head firmly. “No. I do not know how servants are in America but here
we talk; such a story would have been a juicy tidbit of information and the
servants would probably still be talking about it. No, Loren was born in 1681,
of that I am certain.”

Chris sat
back, settling into a cross-legged position he gazed at Leopold. He didn’t want
to believe that Loren could possibly be over three hundred years old. It seemed
inconceivable that people could not only live that long but that it had been
kept a secret. After several minutes he thought of another question. “Are there
others you know of that are that old?”

Leopold
nodded. “I know of at least two who are older than Loren. One is Michael who
was Loren’s mentor when he was a young man. The other is Joshua, who was
Michael’s Mentor.”

“Are those
the only other wizards you’ve met?”

“No. Four
years ago there were forty wizards and their assistants here for a conference
of some type. What they said I do not know because no one spoke while they were
in the dining room. They spent most of their time in Loren’s study on the
second floor.”

“And did any
of these wizard look old to you?”

Leopold
laughed. “Some of them were absolutely ancient looking. One wizard who called himself
Gerro looked to be so old and frail that I feared a stiff breeze would blow him
away. Luckily he never went outside.”

Chris fell
silent but kept a thoughtful gaze on Leopold who had turned his attention to
the fish. His mind raced; if Loren was indeed more than three hundred years old
and only looked middle aged, how old would a wizard who looked ancient be? The
possibilities were mind-boggling.

Chris found
himself wishing that he had done more reading about magic when he had the
chance. But he had never done any reading that hadn’t been required in his
entire life so his only affinity with magic had been through the TV and movies,
a fact that he was certain would be of no use to him now; it was well known
that Hollywood didn’t care about facts when they made a movie.

He finally
reached the conclusion that it was certainly possible that someone with the
knowledge and ability could live for hundreds of years. He found himself
wondering what else the sorcerer might be capable of but he finally turned his
thoughts away from these musings, he didn’t like the ideas that his imagination
was concocting.

He cast
about for more questions; as long as Leopold was willing to talk so openly he
wasn’t about to pass up this opportunity. “Has Loren ever married, had any
children?”

Leopold sat
back and returned his attention to Chris. “No wives, but he has been with
Glenna for as long as I can remember. Nor has he had children. I do not know
why.”

Chris was
silent for a moment as he thought it over. “Perhaps a wizard is unable to have
children. It could be the price he has to pay for the magic.”

Leopold
nodded thoughtfully. “That is possible, I suppose. I know that Loren once told
me that neither Joshua nor Michael had any children. And, when all the wizards
were here, none of them brought any children with them, but that does not mean
that they cannot have them.”

“True. But I
find it interesting that he hasn’t had any. In three hundred years he has
probably had quite a few mistresses.”

“That is
true. It is said that he is a lusty man.”

Chris
frowned. He didn’t like that piece of information; it fed into his fears for
Kelly. “So why doesn’t he have children? It wasn’t until just recently that
birth control became available. You would think that he should have had several
children over the years.”

“I would
think so,” Leopold agreed. “But that still means nothing.”

There was a
short silence before Chris thought of his next question. “I understand that
Loren had brothers. That he was the youngest son but he inherited the castle.”
He waited for Leopold to nod his affirmative before continuing. “So what
happened to them?”

Leopold’s
forehead creased as he concentrated. “Well, I am not an expert on the history
of the family; Wynne would be a much better person to ask. But, from what I
understand he had three older brothers, I have heard that there may have been
some sisters but I know nothing about them, if they ever existed in the first
place.

“Loren’s
oldest brother was named Connor. I understand that he died shortly after his
father, though of what cause I do not know. His brother Hugh married and had
several children but they all died in a fire while the children were quite
young. Val became a priest and had no children.”

“So he has
no remaining family?”

“Not so far
as I know. But, if he had sisters there may be some of their offspring around.
You would have to ask Wynne.”

Chris
grunted; he was unhappy with the answers he was getting. They didn’t fit into
his picture of what he wanted Loren to be. Why, he asked himself, was he so distrustful
of the man? He had been nothing but accommodating. Was that the source of his
disquiet?

He thought
of another question. “If these wizards are all so old, why doesn’t the world
know about them?”

Leopold
laughed. “Wizards tend to keep a low profile. Loren tends to be the reclusive
type. Almost the only time that he leaves the castle is to attend a wizard’s
function or to rescue a witch who is in trouble with the local authorities.

“I remember
when I was a young boy he told me a story about a friend of his who had the
magical talent though, as I understand it, he did not have enough power to put
him into the wizard society. Loren told me how this friend of his made his
living by selling potions and spells to the locals until one of his neighbors thought
that he deserved more than Loren’s friend was willing to give. If I remember
the story correctly this neighbor demanded that his friend perform some magics
that he did not approve of and when he refused he was killed.

“I do
remember that Loren told me that men are a greedy bunch of people; they can not
help it, it is in their nature. I would assume that such stories are prevalent
throughout history and for this reason those of the wizardly persuasion keep a
low profile to protect themselves.”

“Someone
with that much power could easily protect themselves from an attacker.”

“True. But,
I know Loren. Killing is not something that he is comfortable with. I am not
saying that he will not do so when pressed but, well, the best example I can
think of is the mice. Castles tend to be overrun with mice but Loren refuses to
have a cat around as they kill mice.

“Nor will he
allow conventional mousetraps to be used. He devised a special trap that keeps
the mice alive. Every day Eldon goes around, removes the mice, takes them out
into the fields, and lets them go. Personally I would kill the things but Loren
will not allow it.”

“But he eats
meat.”

“No he does
not. He allows it to be served to others but he will not eat it himself.”

Chris
thought back to the two meals he had shared with Loren and had to admit that he
hadn’t seen the wizard eat any meat. He sighed and decided not to ask any more
questions at this time. He was certain that he would be able to find the
gregarious Leopold when he had accumulated another list of questions about the
wizard. After another short silence, he asked Leopold to give him a closer look
at the stalactites and stalagmites.

Leopold was
more than happy to do so, stating that he never tired of looking at them as he
bounded out of his sitting position. For the next several hours the two of them
wandered through the caverns, stopping frequently to examine the formations
before they returned to the castle for lunch.

Chris
breathed a sigh of relief when they entered the castle; although he wanted to
trust Leopold, the thoughts of getting lost in the caverns had never been far
from his mind.

Lunch was a
quiet affair with only Chris and Kelly at the table. When Chris questioned her
as to how her morning had gone she frowned and said that Loren had stayed with
her for only a short time before falling silent and leaving her alone in the
study. After she had been alone for quite some time, a young man who said that
his name was Dominic and claimed to be Loren’s apprentice had come in to talk
to her for a few minutes.

Chris
frowned when she was reluctant to reveal what Dominic wanted to discuss with
her but when he pressed her she finally relented and said that he wanted to
know about all the traumatic things that had occurred in her life. She was
still upset over the feelings that recalling the memory of her parent’s death
had brought up. She fell silent after that and refused to talk for the
remainder of the meal, leaving as soon as she finished the small amount of food
that had she placed on her plate.

Chris
watched her go before returning thoughtfully to his meal. Why, he wondered, had
the wizard sent his apprentice to learn about her most painful memories? The
more he thought about it the angrier he became. What right did Loren have to
upset her so? He decided that he would have a word with the wizard at the
earliest opportunity.

Chris finished
his meal and pushed his chair away from the table, wondering if he should go in
search of Loren. He was still trying to decide whether he should ask one of the
servants if they knew where he could find Loren when a girl in a maid’s uniform
appeared in the doorway.

“Are you
finished with your meal, sir?” she asked in a quiet voice.

Chris smiled
up at her. “Yes.”

She smiled
back. “In that case, Loren was wondering if you would join him in his private
study.”

Chris rose.
“Gladly. If you can tell me where to go?”

She dropped
her eyes. “It would be easier if I were to take you there.”

“Fine.”

She turned
and led him from the dining room and up to the second floor. Once there he was
grateful for her presence as she led him down a series of corridors with many
turns, stopping in front of a thick wooden door. She tapped lightly before
curtsying quickly to him and disappearing in the direction from which she had
come.

Chris
entered when a voice from within, he couldn’t tell for sure whether it was
Loren or not, called for him to. He paused just inside the doorway to look
around, deciding instantly that he liked the comfortable room. It was wood
paneled with eight wingback chairs, three of which were pulled up to the
roaring fire.

Although
several pictures hung on the wall, mostly seascapes, the majority of the wall
was covered with shelves that contained books that appeared ancient to Chris’
unlearned eye; most of them looked as if they would fall apart in your hands if
you tried to read them, not that he had such desires.

Loren
cleared his throat, which brought Chris’ attention back to the fire and three
chairs. Loren silently indicated one of the chairs. Chris frowned as he crossed
to chair; Loren had indicated the one farthest from the fire.

As he
settled himself into the chair he noticed that a small man who appeared to be
of Latin origin occupied the third chair; if he had been back home he would
have said the man was Mexican but here he had no idea. with Loren’s
transporting skills he could have retrieved the man from anywhere in the world.

“Are you
comfortable?” Loren asked after a moment.

Chris
shifted his attention to the wizard. “Yes. I’m glad that you wanted to talk to
me because I have something to say to you.”

Loren smiled
slightly. “Is that so? What can I do for you?”

Chris
glanced at the silent man before returning his gaze to Loren. “I’m assuming
that this is Dominic.” He waited for Loren to nod his head slightly before
continuing. “What I want to know is what gives you the right to send your
lapdog to question Kelly about her most painful memories? She’s terribly
upset.”

Loren
steepled his fingers together, holding them against his chin as he gazed at
Chris. Several minutes passed before he spoke. “It was not our intention of
upsetting Kelly.” He fell silent, gazing at Chris thoughtfully. Finally he
leaned forward, “Tell me Christopher, how traumatic do you think the loss of
her parents was?”

“It was the
worst thing that could have happened to her. Not only did it deprive her of a
loving family but it uprooted her from her community and placed her into a
totally unfamiliar situation, she was sent to a school where there were more
people than she had ever seen at one time in her entire life. How would you
have felt?”

Loren
grunted and sat back. There was a long silence before he spoke again. “How well
do you know her?”

Chris
paused; this could prove to be dangerous ground. His mind raced as he tried to
figure out why the wizard was asking him such questions. In the end he decided
that he didn’t know enough to come up with an answer. He shrugged. “Well
enough, I guess. Why?”

Loren rose
and paced around the room for several minutes before sitting down again. He
leaned forward. “Chris, what I am about to tell you does not leave this room.
It is very important that you agree to this.”

Chris
frowned. “I’ll make no such promise until I know what we’re talking about. You
could be talking about something criminal and I would have a moral duty to
report you to the police.”

Loren shook
his head. “We are not involved in criminal activity. What I am about to tell
you is not something that would go against your moral fabric. You can trust me
on this.”

Chris
frowned at him but decided not to say anything.

After a
moment Loren leaned back and laughed gently. “Ah yes. I forgot, you do not
trust me at all, do you?”

Chris
remained silent.

“Believe me,
my boy. You have no reason not to trust me. Someday you will realize this.”
There was another long silence before he sighed. “Very well, since one of us
must extend trust I will be the one to do so. I have confidence that after we
speak you will agree with us that no one else should know of this.”

Loren and
Dominic exchanged a long look before Loren returned his attention to Chris. “As
you are aware, Kelly was to start her training this morning. We had not gotten
far when I realized that there was a problem. Even the simplest of spells were
proving to be beyond her capability. I found this puzzling, as I know that she
has great power.

“I thought
that maybe I was moving too fast for her so I slowed down and tried the most
basic of spells, which she was unable to perform. I did not know what to do.
After much consideration, I asked her permission to perform a spell on her to
determine what the problem was; I thought that perhaps she had somehow
developed an aversion to magic that we would need to overcome before we could
begin training. I was totally shocked at the results.” He fell silent.

Chris waited
for several minutes for the wizard to continue. Finally he could stand it no
longer. “So, what was the problem?”

Loren
sighed. “She has not made a choice between good and evil. Until she does so she
can not learn any actual spells.”

Chris
frowned. “That shouldn’t be a problem. Kelly is a good person. It shouldn’t be
difficult for her to choose the side of good.”

Loren
cleared his throat before speaking. “Therein lies the problem, my young friend.
She cannot make the choice. Her soul is missing.”

Chris jumped
to his feet. “What?”

“Sit down,
Christopher.” Loren waited until Chris had complied before continuing. “That is
the reason I brought you here. We must discover what happened to her soul.”

“But how? I
never heard of a person losing their soul.”

“It happens,
though it is rare, especially in one so young. generally t a very traumatic experience
is required. We were wondering if you knew of any possible events, perhaps one
that she has blocked from her memory.”

Chris’ mind
went immediately to the events inside Gregory’s prison. Surely his actions
couldn’t have cost Kelly her soul; after all, she had been unconscious the
entire time. “Isn’t there another way she could have lost her soul?”

Loren was
silent for a moment before answering. “The only other way I know of removing a
soul requires very, very strong magic. the combined powers of all the members
of the board would be required to accomplish it, and we would never do such a
horrendous  thing.”

Dominic
leaned forward, speaking for the first time in a heavily accented voice. “I
noticed that you did not deny that there was no traumatic experience.”

Chris looked
from Dominic to Loren before dropping his eyes.

Loren leaned
forward and placed his hand on Chris’ hand. “If you know something, you must
tell us. It is the only way that we can help Kelly.”

Chris
remained silent for quite some time, refusing to look up least he meet the
wizard’s eyes. When he eventually spoke, his voice was so low that both Loren
and Dominic had to lean even closer so they could hear him. “What I’m about to
say won’t leave this room, right?”

Loren took
the time to search Chris’ face with his eyes before answering. “I cannot
promise that. We may bee required to pass the information on to the council.”

Chris looked
up but quickly discovered that he couldn’t meet the wizard’s eyes. “But, you
wanted me to promise not to discuss what we talked about. Now you refuse to
offer me the same courtesy.”

“there is a
reason for my refusal; we may require the combined magical abilities of all the
wizards and in order to gain that the problem would need to be discussed. for
your promise; it is necessary that you not speak in front of the servants. They
gossip too freely and as few people who know about this , the better it will
be. As long as Kelly’s soul is missing she is in grave danger.”

This brought
Chris’ head up with a snap. He met the wizard’s eyes squarely. “What kind of
danger?”

“There are
many forces who would love to get their hands on someone with Kelly’s power.
People like Gregory are minor compared to some of them. Should any of them
discover how vulnerable she is, well, even the combined power of the council
might not be enough to protect her.”

“Could it be
possible for her to have experience something without her conscious knowledge?”

Loren gave
him a searching look before answering. “That depends on the event.”

Chris dropped
his eyes as he realized that he would have to tell Loren about his despicable
actions. He sighed before relating the events that occurred in Gregory’s castle
as tersely as possible. When he finished there was a long silence in the room.

Suddenly
Dominic began speaking rapidly in a language Chris couldn’t understand, but
from his tone, Chris was certain that the other was cursing.

“Now, now,
Dominic,” said Loren in a soft voice. “It does not good to say such things.
Also, you must speak English for our guest’s benefit. He does not have the
luxury of speaking several tongues as we do.”

Dominic
switched to his heavily accented English. “I cannot believe that he actually
used a lust spell to achieve his aims. I thought that that particular spell had
been banned.”

“It has
been,” said Loren mildly. “He shall be punished once Kelly’s soul has been
replaced.”

Chris looked
up. “Then there’s hope for her?”

Loren
laughed softly. “Yes, my boy. There is hope.”

“So, how do
we do it? I want to help. It’s my fault that this happened.”

“No, it is
not your fault. You were under a spell and had no control. The fact that you
were able to come to the realization that something was wrong is impressive.
That you were able to fight the spell once you knew something was wrong speaks
very highly of you.” He fell silent, his brown eyes on Chris. After a moment he
leaned forward, placing his hand on top of Chris’. “Or, is it that you care for
Kelly and didn’t want to hurt her?”

Chris
dropped his eyes again.

Loren
laughed softly. “So that is it. Relax, my boy, there is no harm in that. Tell
me, though, does she share your feelings?”

“I don’t
know,” Chris mumbled.

“Hmm,” said
Loren. There was another long silence before he spoke again. “That also
explains why you mistrust me. You fear that I have designs on her. You can rest
easy on that score also, my boy. I have no romantic interest in Kelly. She is
far too young for me; I prefer more mature women.”

Chris
decided that he didn’t like the turn the conversation had taken. “So, how can I
help her find her soul? Where do we start to look?”

“Wait here,”
said Loren. “I must do some research.” He rose and crossed to one of the
shelves. After examining several of the binders he chose one and began leafing
through it.

Chris
watched the wizard for several minutes before turning to look at Dominic. The
apprentice was watching him with smoldering dark eyes that made him feel
uncomfortable. He turned his eyes towards the fire; at least it wasn’t accusing
him of anything.