To Claim the Elvin Princess: Apprentice (37 page)

4

Elisa devoted herself to wizardry with the zeal of someone newly converted to religion. She was eager to master it, and thus be better able to at least defend herself from other, less well mannered wizards. She was soon frustrated, finding her progress slow and difficult, the learning of arcane and convoluted spells being harder than she had imagined. Much harder.

She discovered that being the least sloppy was definitely not wise either, accidentally turning the dog into an armadillo by accident one afternoon. She turned the cat into an alligator, a floor lamp into a tomato plant, and all of her mother’s kitchen knives into stones, and dull ones at that! Worse, trying to turn things back into their proper form required help, usually from a snickering sibling. Rue and Caitlyn seemed the most inclined to tease Elisa, while Missy, aware of more secrets and things she had no desire to reveal, was much more supportive. Still, she occasionally slipped, and said something tacky. She was after all a wizard, even if she was also a bit of a sorcerer.

It didn’t help that Missy could rattle off horridly complex spells as if she were reciting nursery rhymes, and her young sibling’s smug manner did nothing to ease Elisa’s struggle.

“There’s a reason we start young!” Missy succinctly declared at the dinner table, after Elisa had a teary fit over the difficulty she was encountering.

“Well, duh! Brilliant, Captain Obvious!” Elisa snipped harshly.

“Girls!” Grace insisted, tired of the nasty sniping.

“Yeeessss, mother...” both Missy and Elisa sighed in unison, before both giggled at the silliness of their response.

Arthur had been quietly considering Elisa’s difficulty, and suddenly spoke.

“I wonder if someone’s put a spell on her...to make learning wizardry harder?” Elisa was shocked, but all the others merely looked thoughtful.

“Wouldn’t that be wicked!” Rue declared. “Is there any way to tell?”

Everyone looked at Arthur. “It won’t be easy...compulsions are subtle and deep...” he sighed.

Missy, who was playing with her mashed potatoes, raised her hand.

“I know how to find them, but...it takes something a bit...dubious? To get rid of it...” she sighed.

“Missy! Just how much have you piddled with the forbidden arts?!” her mother demanded. Missy shrugged, nibbling on her lip.

“Enough to be a third degree madge? Mom! A little sorcery isn’t evil! Well, unless you set out to use it for evil!” she hastily declared, seeing the shocked look on everyone’s face, except Elisa’s. Before anyone could begin to lecture her, she added, “Besides...We’re going to need a lot of sorcery to save Elisa’s butt...she’s got a sorcerer interested in her...not a wizard!”

“How do you know that!” Caitlyn demanded.

“I know many things....” Missy declared imperiously, before giggling.

“A third degree madge? That’s amazing!” Rue declared admiringly, before he frowned. “What is that?’ he belatedly wondered. Everyone looked at Missy, who sighed, again regretting her own tendency to run off at the mouth about things best left unsaid.

“It’s like...sort of a junior apprentice rank...like a yellow belt in judo...not exactly a beginner...but not too skilled...more or less...” she sighed, her fingers crossed under the table, hoping no one might detect her lie.

“Where did you get that much instruction? Was it from another sorcerer?”

“Sorta...she’s a nice girl...Elisa knows her, but...”

“Elisa...who is she talking about?” her mother demanded.

“T...Tara...she’s a...junior at school. I just found out she’s a.. a...
wizard
!” Elisa managed to say, but barely.

“No wizard...tenth level madge...she’s a sorcerer, and a really good one...she...”

“How did you meet a junior at Elisa’s school?” Grace wondered suddenly, this seeming quite odd and suspicious.

“You met her in the Erisarian, didn’t you?!” Arthur declared, things suddenly starting to make more sense. That going into the wizard’s and sorcerer’s magic realm alone was forbidden, by both her mother and father, make Missy’s problems a lot more wicked. A full confession and plea for mercy suddenly seemed appropriate. She began with a long, mournful sigh.

“Do you remember two years ago when Sammy ran away and got lost?” she began, mentioning the family’s beloved dog, which Missy had managed to
find.
Everyone nodded. “You all had given up hope, so I decided to try using the Erisarian to seek him out. It worked too, after I sorta bumped into Tara, and she helped me...I had no idea what I was doing, but she did! I thought she seemed nice, so when she offered to teach me things, I said yes! I’ve learned a lot!”

“More than a piddly third lever madge?” Caitlyn slyly asked, putting Missy handily on the spot. The young girl tried to stay calm, but her face took on a strong blush. Seeing that she was well cornered, she finally slumped and sighed mournfully.

“I’m within a hair of being an eighth level sorcerer,” she declared, glancing around, she shook her head reflexively. “That may not even start to be adequate to save Elisa’s behind!” she pointed out.

“Why? Who’s behind all her problems?” Rue wondered.

“A...a level fifteen madge...and no, I don’t know who or what he is...I don’t honestly want too, either! Tara knows, but can’t tell...she’s under as wicked of a compulsion as the one she hung on Elisa!”

“If she wants to help Elisa, why would she put such a charm on her?” Arthur wondered, puzzled.

“To protect her...in sorcery, it makes sense. I can’t explain it to you since all you know is wizardry...” Missy insisted.

“So you trust this girl?” Grace asked, unsure.

“Yes, and so does Elisa!”

“I do?!” Elisa gasped, amazed by this declaration.

“Oh course you do. She had you utterly helpless, completely enchanted, and didn’t do any thing wicked to you!” Seeing Elisa about to explode, she continued. “Other than making your panty disappear off your butt! At least she gave it back! You’d pee yourself if one of us had you that helpless, and you know it! She may be well onto being a powerful sorcerer, but she’s not evil...at least no more than I am!”

“My, isn’t that reassuring!” Caitlyn declared snidely. She soon screamed, “Stop!” when she had her water glass suddenly rise up and dump on her head. She leaped up, intent on getting her hands on Missy, but hesitated when she noticed Missy’s fingers moving through a strange series of gestures. Caitlyn soon found herself standing completely bare, top, bra, jeans, panty and socks and tennis shoes vanishing with no warning.

“I’ll get even with you!” she shrieked over her shoulder, as she hastily ran towards the stairs, to seek something to wear. In spite of wishing not too, even her parents were snickering in amusement.

“She’s not likely to,” Missy sighed.

“That was awesome...could you do that to my girlfriend?” Rue wondered.

“I could, but I’d be more inclined to do it to you...she’d find that pretty funny, I’m sure! Maybe we should all be nudists?” Missy wondered, toying with her glass.

“Maybe you should forget about such foolishness...the ninth level ward protecting your butt won’t stand up to all of us, in case you’ve forgotten that,” her father sighed.

Elisa had volunteered to help clean the kitchen, mainly wanting a break from practicing her wizardry. Seeing her deep in thought, Grace resisted the urge to question her, until they were mostly finished, whereupon she gave her a strong hug.

“We love you! Just be patient, and work hard. Things will work out!” she said quietly.

Elisa ran upstairs, intending to do homework, but froze when she was passing Missy’s closed door, startled to hear another odd spell emanating from within. Curious, and suspecting she was hearing sorcery, instead of wizardry, she slipped close, intending to open the door silently, if it wasn’t locked. Touching the knob, she discovered the lock set, making the knob un-turn able, but a gentle push showed the latch hadn’t caught; she was soon peering in, as her mouth dropped open.

The sight that she beheld seemed surreal and sinister, there being a darkness about the room. Missy appeared to be wearing a long black dress, and was swaying to a long and odd incantation. More astounding, another woman, similarly dressed, was facing her, matching Missy’s movements. That the other one soon was revealed to be Tara, astounded Elisa, and she gasped, in spite of her intention to remain silent.

Elisa quickly regretted her snooping, as Tara noted her intrusion. Pointing swiftly at her, index finger like a dagger, she spoke an incomprehensible spell, and as she curled her finger towards herself, Elisa felt herself irresistibly drawn into the room. The door closed behind her without being touched. When Missy stopped her odd chanting, Tara dropped her arm, and Elisa dropped like a stone to the carpet, paralyzed and with a splitting headache. She soon found her head being cradled by Tara, who mumbled a short charm, touching Elisa’s face; her headache vanished instantly.

“How nice of you to drop in!” Tara declared, a smug look of her face.

“Wha...what are you doing here?” Elisa moaned, feeling stupid and clueless.

“I dropped in to give Missy another lesson, but apparently you need some work too?”

“I don’t know! I’m a complete mess!” Elisa confessed, miserable.

“We think she may have a spell working to make learning the arts hard...we can find out, can’t we?” Missy asked. Tara considered this.

“We’ll have to take her into the Erisarian...she’s never been there, has she?” Tara wondered. Missy shook her head.

“You aren’t allowed to go...none of us are!” Elisa reminded her sister. Missy patted her cheek.

“Poor sister dear...we’re forbidden to go to lots of places, and I’ve now been to most of them. You’d pee your panties if you saw some of what’s out there!”

“But...why do I have to go?”

“Because...if you are cursed with a sorcerer’s spell, we can’t break it out here. Only by us getting you where we can draw power from the...”

“Darkness?” Elisa ventured, terrified.

“No, dummy! God, you don’t know anything!” Missy moaned.

“Missy! Don’t be so snotty! Look, Elisa...the universe is much different than most people believe. It isn’t all dark versus light...good versus evil. There are fundamental, underlying sources of power, which can be used for either good
or
evil. There are good wizards and wicked ones, good sorcerers and evil ones. Sorcerers tap into this power, much more than wizards do. Most wizards are pretty terrified of it, frankly, and try to avoid it as much as possible.”

“And you don’t?”

“A wizard’s spell won’t move your body across town and back...especially when that body is chubby like mine!” she insisted, and laughed. “Now I’m going home...I’ll be back later, after everyone’s in bed. You’re going on an adventure. Just be sure to pee good before we leave...unless you’re not bothered by wet panties!” she teased.

Jack’s Books

Novels:

Makeshift Justice  
Crime/detective

Disobedient Tribesman 
Mayan saga, first of three

Failure of Judgment  
Romance/chick lit

Kaniya’s Vision  
Native/spiritual/chick lit

The Shaman’s Calling  
Teen adventure

The Angel’s Punishment 
Romance/spiritual

Secret Nature  
Shape changer romance

The Saving of Jake Harper 
Post apocalypse romance

The Jealous One 
Romance/chick lit/spiritual

A Stately Affair 
18th century Romance

A Private Crusade 
13th century
Romance

A Touch of Faerie 
New Adult/historic

Humor:

A Just God Would Punish
That!
Jack’s humorous look at teens

For a description of each book, see Jack’s book pages at his website,
http//
www.jackbessie.com

Jack’s books are available at all fine booksellers and as eBooks in many formats.

About the Author

Jack Bessie is a child of the corn belt, who grew up shy and rather isolated, chasing critters and working on the neighbor’s farm. An avid reader from an early age, he was obsessed with learning, especially science. He hated English, which is a superb irony, considering how many millions of words of prose he has written in his later life; it would appear that God does indeed have a fine sense of humor or at least a fondness for satire and irony!

Jack’s college experience was fanatical and obsessive, involving ridiculously intense bouts of reading and self motivated study, interspersed with much drinking and the chasing of women. He devoted a large portion of his study to psychology and communications, dropping out without a degree, but with an astoundingly wide and deep education. He also accumulated a pregnant wife along the way. The chasing of women was productive at least!

Jack’s work history is as interesting as his college journey. He’s been a hospital orderly, janitor, research assistant, draftsman, cook, plumber, electrician, home builder, and master cabinet maker, the trade his father plied. One of the high points of his work life involved being fired from two different but equally lousy jobs in the same day!

Jack and his second wife raised five biological children, and then were crazy enough to adopt six more. He’s never been noted for moderation. They are now content to herd their cats, Beatnik, and Funky Kitty.

Honestly, Jack hasn’t gotten any less excessive, as you might notice from reading his writing. His life has given him an endless panoply of things to make fun of and to think deeply about, which he endeavors to share with his readers and fans. The author of a dozen novels, and a million words of humor and insight, Jack is always writing, and has no plans to ever retire.

Jack also designs games, and teaches novel writing, and is once again serving as a judge for the Global eBook awards!  There’s no dust on him from sitting around!

Get acquainted and stay in touch at his website:
www.jackbessie.com