The Orchard of Hope (30 page)

20

Something to Chew On

“Why did the sorcerer call me by
Megan
’
s name?
”
Nicholas asked. Things had been confusing for Nicholas when he
lived outside the castle, where the sorcerer
’
s spell was stronger, but he had never been more
confused than he was at the moment.

The king had taken Nicholas to
lunch, and they were now dining alone in the king
’
s private study. However, Nicholas didn
’
t feel very hungry. He had too many questions on
his mind.

“Because there
’
s a piece of Megan within you and the sorcerer
recognized her,
”
the king explained as he
picked up a roll of bread. He held it gently with the tips of his
fingers as he looked over the top of the bread and into
Nichola
s'
hazel eyes. He continued
speaking after allowing Nicholas to ponder his words for a few
moments.
“
When you signed the contract to
begin lessons on healing, Megan exchanged a piece of her soul for
yours. The two of you are connected.
”

“How can that be?
”
Nicholas put his fork down and placed his hands in
his lap. It was no use pretending to eat.

“You can’t heal someone else
effectively without giving up a piece of yourself. It’s part of the
natural law.” The king slowly tore the roll he was holding into two
pieces as he spoke. “You can repair someone, but that’s not the
same as healing. Healing is much stronger and lasts
longer.”

“But I had natural healing
ability. Even Megan said as much,” Nicholas protested. “Why did I
need a piece of Megan if I already had the talent within myself?”
Nicholas gripped his napkin and dried his moist palms with
it.

“You had talent, but it needed to
be cultivated. The most efficient way to advance your skill was for
Megan to become a part of you in order to impart her wisdom. There
are some forms of learning that are like this,” he explained. “You
didn’t just learn a pattern of actions. The ability is inside you,
and you’ll carry that bit of Megan with you forever, just as she’ll
always carry a piece of you with her. You’re not the same once
you’ve formed a bond like this. It changes you forever, but it
makes both of you better.”

Nicholas felt uncomfortable with
this knowledge. He didn’t know that he was entering into such an
arrangement, but it made him even more uncomfortable that Moss and
the king had that knowledge and didn’t share it.

“I wish someone had told me,”
Nicholas muttered.

“It was in the contract you
signed. Did you read it?”

“No,” Nicholas confessed. He was
immediately angry with himself for being so careless.

“Most people don’t, but they also
usually don’t find out about the deal they made when they signed
the contract. They simply walk away from the training with
knowledge that they didn’t have before.”

“Shouldn’t Moss have known that
the sorcerer would detect Megan’s soul in me?” Nicholas
asked.

“Under normal circumstances, it
wouldn’t be noticed by anyone. It’s such a small piece that it’s
usually unperceived. Most other people don’t recognize it when they
gain a part of someone else. However, yours is an unusual case,
Nicholas. There’s no way any of us could have known about this. The
sorcerer is no average person, and there’s something about you that
makes you different, as well.”

“When I was in the orphanage, my
mentor said that about me,” Nicholas replied. “He said I was
different from the others, but he couldn’t explain how, and I don’t
understand. I don’t feel different.”

“People, animals, and all living
things are drawn to you, more so than to others. You’ve noticed
this, haven’t you?”

“Well, yes.”

“Do you know the root of the word
‘enchantment’?”

“No,” Nicholas admitted. He took a
sip of cold water as he waited for the king to continue. The room
felt very warm to Nicholas, and his throat also felt
dry.

“The word ‘enchant
’
means to attract or captivate,” the king
continued, “and I think that living things are drawn to you because
you
’
re naturally enchanting. In other
words, you have natural charm inside of you that can be developed
into a powerful force.”

“Are all sorcerers enchanting?
Like the pontiffs?” Nicholas asked, referring to the former
guardians of the orphanage where Nicholas had met Maggie, “Because
they didn
’
t seem very enchanting to
me.”

“Bad example,” the king replied as
he buttered a piece of his roll. “They went astray from their
purpose. Some are more enchanting than others, and this affects
their power.” The king paused before putting a piece of the roll in
his mouth and swallowing it. “Eat something, Nicholas. You need
your strength. Training is hard work.”

“What
’
s
a good example?” Nicholas asked as he picked up his fork again.
“Are there any good sorcerers that have strong natural
enchantment?”

“Yes,” the king replied without
hesitation. “Moss and, to a lesser extent, me.”

Nicholas thought briefly about
Moss. He wasn’t sure how Moss was a good example, but he meant to
ask about it before they were finished with lunch.

“You have a lot of talents, Your
Majesty,” Nicholas remarked. He picked up a bit of salad on his
fork and tried to eat it. The tartness of the dressing relieved his
dry mouth, and he started to feel a little better once he had
swallowed a few bites.

“I’ve found that the people who
are the best at something are the ones who don’t try to do
everything,” the king said. “They do that one thing very well.
That’s why I expect you’ll be a much more powerful sorcerer than I
am.”

“I hope I don’t disappoint you,”
Nicholas replied. “I know there are a lot of people working hard to
win the war. They’re fighting the spells of confusion every day,
and I wish I could be more useful.” Nicholas took a few bites of
pasta. The food was helping. It was calming him.

“You’re doing your job here.
You’re doing everything that has been asked of you.”

“But I wish I could go somewhere
like Kelsey and be a part of the action. I feel useless staying in
the castle when there’s so much to be done.” He took a few more
sips of the water and felt a sudden pain in his teeth from the
sharpness of the cold.

“Sometimes the most important
people on a journey are the ones who stay behind,” the king
replied. “We all have work to do, and we shouldn’t envy the tasks
of others.”

“It’s easy to say that we
shouldn’t envy others, but it’s difficult not to be envious of
others when I’m struggling to learn things while other people are
out risking their lives. I feel incompetent.”

“You’re anything but incompetent.
Your standards for yourself are too high. After all, look at how
well your healing ability is progressing.”

“Yes, I feel those lessons are
coming along well,” Nicholas remarked.

“You’re doing fine, Nicholas.
Extremely well,” the king assured him.

“It’s not the healing,” Nicholas
explained, “It’s the other lessons. I’m learning things, but I’m
not sure exactly what I’m learning, and I can’t tell if the problem
is with me or with Moss.”

“It’s Moss. But that shouldn’t
worry you. He’s an unconventional teacher. However, he has
knowledge that no one else in the kingdom has.”

“I do think that Moss is very
smart,” Nicholas agreed, but then he hesitated before finishing his
sentence. He didn’t know how to phrase it delicately, so he finally
just blurted it out. “But I think he also may be crazy.”

The king laughed. “Oh, he’s
definitely crazy,” he said, then became serious again. “But he’s
also powerful.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any
better.” Nicholas hesitated again, then he spoke his mind. “I don’t
feel safe with Moss.”

“If your goal is to be safe,
you’ll never get anywhere in life.” The king paused before
continuing. “Moss isn’t safe, but his heart is good, and I trust
him. He has a lot to teach you if you’re willing to
learn.”

“I’m not sure I want to learn
everything he has to teach,” Nicholas replied.

“He’s got some less desirable
habits, but we all have flaws.” The king waited a moment for
Nicholas to respond. When he didn’t, the king continued. “Remember
the meaning of the word ‘enchant.’ The very fact that living things
are drawn to you means that evil will also be drawn to you. Once it
finds you, it will want to be near you, and it may even attempt to
destroy you. There is no one in the kingdom who can teach you to
protect yourself better than Moss. No one.”

“The lessons are just so strange
…”

“I’m monitoring your progress
carefully, even when I’m away from the castle. I’m watching over
you, and Newton is here to help. Despite his large appetite, he is
very useful.”

“I’m seeing that,” Nicholas
agreed. Newton had been a good friend, especially in helping
Nicholas to navigate his relationship with Moss.

“Never underestimate the power of
a good friend, especially when that friend is a gargoyle. They were
made to protect us from evil, after all.”

Nicholas nodded. The gargoyle
appeared to have more sense than the sorcerer who had brought him
to life.

“Continue your lessons and know
that you’re safe with us watching over you,” the king assured
him.

“Yes, sire,” Nicholas replied
politely. “But please, no more scrying to watch the evil
sorcerer.”

“Our friend who calls himself Mr.
Crane?”

“Yes. I don’t want to scry on him.
It makes me nervous.”

“No more scrying on Mr. Crane.
It’s too dangerous now that he’s detected Megan within you. We
can’t risk him learning anything more.”

Nicholas felt relieved and was able
to finish his lunch. He was surprised at how delicious the food
became once he got the taste of worrying out of his
mouth.

Chapter

21

Conflict Resolution

Roland had been standing watch over
Maggie. She was wounded but alive. No one had dared to approach
death during the battle, and this had kept Maggie safe. She never
went back inside the abbey, mostly because she wanted to be where
she could see what was happening. However, she had become too weak
to sit up on her own, so she was propped up against the cold stone
wall of the abbey. Her head was leaning all the way back against
the wall, so that she appeared to be looking up at the sky. Her
skin was paler than normal, and she looked weak. Kelsey wondered
how much blood her friend had lost.

Kelsey knelt down on the grass. She
paused to wipe the back of her good hand across her forehead. Her
head still felt warm from the battle, and she could feel a thin
layer of gritty dirt and dried blood.

“I hate it when Megan is right!”
Kelsey exclaimed. Maggie lifted her head.

“About the wolves?” Roland
asked.

“No, about learning to heal,”
Kelsey said. She glanced down at her own hand and then turned to
Maggie. “I’m not very good at this, so I suppose I should start
with you in case I can’t handle healing two wounds in one
day.”

“At least you don’t have to
translate a message from a bird,” Maggie said with a feeble smile
as she raised her head to look at Kelsey. Kelsey smiled back, but
she felt sad over what had happened to Maggie. She knew she had to
pull herself together and concentrate on the healing. There was
still work to be done.

“What’s this?” Roland asked as he
examined Kelsey’s forearm with the petal marking. He raised one of
his eyebrows and then the other.

“A weed exploded and left this
mark,” Kelsey said in a dismissive tone. “It looks just like a
flower petal, of all things. What an odd shape for a burn. Why
couldn’t it leave a skull or something cool?”

“What kind of weed was it?” Roland
asked.

“Those yellow flowers we see
everywhere. They look almost exactly like dandelions.” She pulled
her arm out of his grasp. Roland let it gently slip through his
paws. He studied Kelsey as she turned to face her
friend.