The Wand & the Sea (22 page)

“Or the day I got the wand,” Holly murmured, gazing down at it.

“No, you're lucky there,” said the changeling. “The stone cannot take a day that has direct impact on your coming to this point. But still, you don't know what it
will
take—”

“I don't care,” Holly broke in. “How do I do it?”

“Lady Holly, think of what you're giving up. The days, once given, can never be retrieved,” the frog said anxiously.

Holly raised her wand. The frog skittered out of the way with a squeaky croak. She touched the wand to the stones and closed her eyes. “I agree,” she said. The wand trembled. “I agree to give three days of my life to retrieve the time stones.”

The wand jerked in her hand toward the well, and Holly's eyes flew open. The stones fell into the basin with a plinking sound, and she scooped them into her palm. But the wall looked unchanged.

“Did it work?” she asked the frog. “They're still embedded in the stone.”

“Any Adept may claim a set of time stones,” said the frog. A tear fell from one of his bulbous eyes. “Do you know which day has been lost, Lady?”

A day from her past. Holly thought back. How would she know if it was gone? At once a wave of panic rushed through her, causing Áedán to sit up in alarm. What if she'd erased the day of Ben's birth? She scanned her memories. No, she
remembered
Ben. Her mother and father were both fine too. But . . .

Something
was
missing. A small wound, a tear, opened in her heart. Something had been taken. Tears welled behind her eyes; but how could she cry for what she couldn't miss? What
was
it? What had she lost?

“Oh,” she said softly. She turned to the changeling.

But it had disappeared. She sank onto the grass, lost in thought, heartbroken.

Wondering.

Holly was startled to see that it was getting dark by the time she and Áedán made their way back down the mountain. The stream from Coventina's well had turned the island lush and green. She wasn't surprised that the others had returned to the beach. She found them gathered around a campfire, conferring with Almaric.

They all crowded around her in great relief. Ben gave her a big hug, and Everett tried to explain that they never would have left her there, they were just trying to regroup.

“I'm all right,” Holly said, pulling the stones out of her pocket. “I found these. And I saw the changeling.”

Holly sat down at the fire with the others and told them what had happened, and what the changeling had said about the Adepts. “We conjured the
Sea Witch
for nothing. There's no way we can sail to the Adepts' island.”

The circle was quiet for a long moment after she finished. “Maybe it's a trick,” Everett said finally. “Can we trust this changeling? Maybe it doesn't want us to find the Adepts for some reason.”

Ben nodded, but Almaric and Ranulf shook their heads. “There have been similar rumors for years,” said the magician. “And the changelings have always been loyal to the Exiles.” He paused, thinking. “Let me see the stones,” said Almaric. “Jade, are they genuine?”

The cat stepped forward and sniffed them in Almaric's palm. “They are. Therein lies the key, to be sure.”

“The key to what?” Ben asked.

Almaric held the three stones close to the firelight. “The changeling was correct. Time stones are quite powerful, and rare. The fluorite—that's the blue one, Lady Holly—represents the past. The obsidian, the black stone, is the future. But look at the crystal. It rules the present. Usually, it is clear, but see how this one is cloudy? I believe that's what the changeling meant when it said the Adepts altered the stones. They have clouded the crystal to hide themselves. When it clears, the Adepts will be ready to come home.”

“But, Almaric, how do they work? What can I learn from them?”

The old man smiled at her, his blue eyes sparkling. “A great deal, Lady Holly.”

While Morgan's crew elected to sleep on board the
Sea Witch
, Holly and the other passengers camped on the beach. The next morning the captain sent Cook and Darcie along the beach to gather crabs and fish, and Quinn and Innes hiked off in another direction to hunt game and fill the water casks. Kailani and Rowan took charge of making repairs to the bowsprit and the sails.

In the meantime Almaric took Holly over the dunes, out of the way of the others. The dead burned trees had turned into a lush jungle that crowded close to the sand. She sat down in a clearing with Almaric and Jade, and took the three stones from her pocket. Áedán crawled out from under her collar and perched on her shoulder to watch.

“So what exactly do time stones do, Almaric?” she asked. “Can I actually travel in time?” It was something she had always wanted to do, particularly during her math fundamentals class.

“Not exactly. The stones are used to call people to you—
they
become the time travelers.”

“Oh.” Well, that was still pretty interesting.

“Each stone calls people from a different time,” Almaric went on. “With the fluorite”—Almaric held up the slate-blue stone—“you will be able to call on those from the past to come to you. But beware: They cannot come to your aid if you are in any danger. If the stone perceives danger, it cannot work, because the traveler might be killed and vanish from his own past, which could alter the caller's future.”

“Like if my great-grandfather got killed,” Holly suggested. “Then I wouldn't even be alive to call him in the first place.”

“Just so.”

“But what if I called my great-grandfather just when he was about to meet his wife? I could still change his history, right?”

“I believe not,” Jade put in. “I have seen these stones work before. The traveler moves outside of his own time. It is as if the events of his time are frozen until he returns.”

“So no one even knows he's gone,” said Holly.

“Correct.”

Holly's mind spun with the possibilities. She could talk to
anyone
—Lewis and Clark, or President Lincoln, or—

“Or the Adepts. I can call
them
!”

Almaric smiled. “Exactly.”

“But what about the other stones?” Holly asked.

Almaric picked up the crystal. “The crystal, as I said, represents the present. This stone calls people from your own time across distances. But it affords no protection to the traveler like the fluorite.”

“So that means I can use the black one to call people from the future,” Holly guessed.

“I would presume so,” Almaric said. He held the stone up to his eye, but not even the sunlight reflected off its surface. “I have never seen the obsidian used. You will not need it, in any case.” He laid it next to the others and looked at her kindly. “What did you sacrifice, Lady Holly?”

She blushed, as if she'd committed a crime. “Three days, Almaric. I hope it wasn't the wrong thing to do. I don't know which day in the past I gave up, but I feel like part of me is missing now.” She felt a ridiculous urge to cry again.

The magician was quiet, and Jade stole up next to her, warming her skin. “A day in your present will disappear as well,” he said. “You will not see it coming, but at some moment it will disappear in front of you.”

Holly sniffed. “What about the future?”

“That too has already vanished,” said Almaric. “You will someday realize what has been lost. It is potential. I hope the loss will not be severe.”

She had been reckless. She'd wanted the time stones so badly, she hadn't thought of what the price could mean.

“All novices make mistakes,” said Jade softly.

“Yes,” said Almaric, and then more brightly, “but we press on. The good news is, you have a way to further your training now. I suggest you make use of it.”

Holly sat back and crossed her legs. So the Adepts could help her, could teach her magic, if she were able to call them. What would she say to them? What would they think of her, she who couldn't even fight off a few knights? Her cheeks burned as she remembered the scene with Grandor and the others.

She took out her wand.

Áedán tensed on her shoulder.

“You won't need the wand, Lady Holly,” said Almaric. “Just as with your work with the captain's compass. You need only the stones.”

“But who do I call, Almaric? I don't know anyone's name.”

“Try a general call. Something like, ‘Adepts of the past, I call for your wisdom and teaching.' Whoever is open to mentoring a novice will be receptive to the call.”

Holly sat up straight, and Almaric placed the fluorite stone in her hand.

At once she felt it respond. Instead of warming her like the wand, it felt cold, and got only colder. It was like holding a piece of ice. Holly closed her eyes, and a sudden chill breeze gusted around her face, whipping her braids behind her head. Áedán huddled close.
It's safe,
she told herself.
It has to be safe; Almaric and Jade are right here.
But she didn't open her eyes to check. Instead she took a breath and uttered the words Almaric had instructed her.

“Adepts of the past, I call for your wisdom and teaching.”

The wind blew stronger. It hurt to hold the fluorite; she felt the prickling along her palm that meant she was in danger of frostbite. She said the words again:

“Adepts of the past, I call for your wisdom and teaching.”

Her heartbeat slowed; her limbs grew heavy. She couldn't be freezing to death, with Áedán so close, but he didn't move. What if she was hurting him? But she felt Jade's soft paw on her knee, urging her on, and she called once more to the Adepts.

“Well?” said an impatient voice. “You called and I came. What is it you want?”

Holly's eyes flew open.

Standing before her was a slight, dark-haired girl of about fifteen, dressed in a linen tunic over loose trousers. Something about her—the tilt of her eyes, which were large and brown—was familiar, but Holly couldn't quite place it. She sat speechless; Jade and Almaric were as silent as she was.

“Will someone tell me what I'm doing here?” the girl asked, her dark brows coming together.

“Sorry,” Holly hastened to say, and stumbled to her feet. Almaric and Jade bowed their heads. “I'm Holly Shepard—um—I'm an Adept too.” She held out her hand, hoping her beating pulse wasn't too obvious.

“No kidding.” The girl frowned at the hand as if not knowing what to do with it. “I am Ailith.”

Almaric raised his eyes. His face was quite red, and he kept twisting the hem of his robe in his fingers. It reminded Holly of when he had first met her, and she felt a pang of jealousy. “I am Almaric of the Elm, Your Ladyship, and this is Jade, Lady Holly's familiar.”

Ailith sat down cross-legged and beckoned Holly to join her. “I am an Adept mentor and guide. Where is this place, and what have you called me for? I assume someone is in need of training.”

“I . . . well . . .” Holly hardly knew how to begin.

“Allow me, Lady Ailith,” Almaric cut in, and then explained quickly that Holly had come from another world, though he said nothing about the king or the Sorcerer or the Adepts being exiled.

“I've never heard of such a thing,” said Ailith. She frowned again at Holly. “Another world. How can you be an Adept, then?”

Holly rubbed the stone in her hand. She had wondered the same thing more times than she could count. Then she remembered the wand, and drew it out.

Ailith cocked an eyebrow. “Your wand is lovely. You forged it yourself? Have you been presented at King Lancet's court?”

“Well—”

“Your Ladyship,” Jade interrupted, “you have traveled into the future. We cannot reveal details of our time. Those are the rules by which the time stones are used.”

Ailith rolled her eyes. “Yes, fine. I'm here to render service, no questions asked. You're stuck on an island in the middle of nowhere and you need to train. I suppose I don't need any more information than that. What can you do, Adept?”

“I—I can do
osclaígí
.”

“Easy enough. Is that all?”

“And the Vanishment.”

Ailith nodded. “The Vanishment is advanced. You've got some talent. Maybe you're not a complete waste of my time.”

“I hope you're not a waste of mine,” Holly shot back before Jade could stop her. He and Almaric exchanged looks.

“I think
I'm
doing the favor here, Adept.”

“It's
Holly
.”

“
Holly
. Let's start with . . . Oh, I don't know. Your training so far is all over the place.” Ailith sniffed the air, then examined a few of the plants nearby. “It's the season of water? Let's start there. Manipulation of the Elements. Water should be easy, since we're in season, and you've got plenty of the stuff to practice with. Besides, it's a good idea to start with the opposite of your native Element. You're obviously a fire person.” She shuddered. “Anyway. Let's begin. Raise your wand.”