“Look, Quinn. I have an idea,” Lionel said, frustration bleeding out of his words. That was the other problem, he kept blaming himself every time he got it wrong, which made him less able to get it right.
“Anything will be better than trying this again. I’m sorry I’m such a lousy teacher, Lionel.” Maybe a bit of blame taking would help his self-esteem.
“No, I’m sure it’s just because you can’t see.” He sighed. “So, when Cate taught me a spell she would take me through it a step at a time. We would put the ingredients out in order, just like we have now. Then I would talk through the spell until I could do it without reading. Then I would do the motions while talking until I got them both right, then I would try to cast the spell.”
“And how long did it usually take to get you to the casting point?” Clarence called from the kitchen.
“It depended. And, she always had a dissolve spell ready. Just in case. That came in handy more than once.”
It might work, I really worried that Lionel wouldn’t be able to pull this off. But really the spell couldn’t go wrong. It would work or it wouldn’t. The thing is we would only know when a fairy got pregnant; two days at least. “It has merit, and maybe by doing this, we can find some other way to deal with it. Maybe we can work together, or something,” I said without thinking.
“Really?” Lionel sounded so eager I felt bad about my earlier impatience.
“Let’s start with the ingredients. List the ingredients in order.”
“Batwing powder, clover pollen, fairy blood…” Lionel listed the twenty ingredients in order and completely accurately; including the fact that the raindrops needed to have been caught in a Foxglove flower.
“Perfect,” Edrinda confirmed.
“Okay, talk me through the moves. Take your time. This spell can be cast very slowly if necessary.” Unfortunately like most spells, no one else could speak while it was being cast.
“I take the Batwing and using my right hand,” he paused and I assumed he was waiting for confirmation. I nodded. “I gently pour it into the crucible.”
He stumbled a few times but Edrinda corrected him and we let him go forward.
“This seems to be working. Okay, keep going through this until you have it right without us prompting.”
We sat through this process for an hour. And Lionel’s ability dropped the longer we did it. Eventually I couldn’t take it anymore. “We need rest. Lionel, stop. Let’s have some tea and try again later.”
After we rested, I told Lionel to go back to reading the spell and walking through the motions. Maybe he would build some motion memory and then be able to do it without the writing. We couldn’t have Edrinda hold the paper because she would get in his way. He couldn’t hold it because he needed both hands for the spell.
“We need a plan B,” Clarence said. “Can’t you just memorize the spell and cast it?”
“We can’t take a chance that I will spill an ingredient, or reach for the wrong one. When this is over I’ll figure out how to be a blind wizard. Today we need to find a way for Lionel to cast this one.”
“I’m sure he’ll manage to learn it. Maybe not in time, but eventually.” Clarence laughed and I looked to see if Lionel had heard. He was so deep in the spell he wouldn’t have heard a train run through the room.
Someone coughed and I heard Clarence’s armor creak as he turned.
“Olan. You look like crap.” I felt Clarence move away.
“I have been fighting for my life. You should see the other bird.” Olan’s voice was weak but he sounded jaunty.
Great, another complication. “Who were you fighting with? Or, should I guess?” I asked.
“Well a certain Irish crow. She started it. It was nothing I wanted.”
“I doubt that, but it sounds like you finished it.” I wondered how badly he was hurt. “Clarence, what does he look like?”
Lionel sighed and said, “I’ll go find Edrinda; she’s got a healing touch.”
“A few feathers missing and he’s limping a bit,” Clarence reported.
Olan chirped a laugh. “Well, that only needs time to heal. It is not serious. I thought I might find a way to get your eyesight back and it worked, I found this book.”
“Found?” I asked.
“Yes, I found it in Fionuir’s library.”
“So The Morrigan was in Fionuir’s court?” I was getting a bad feeling about this.
“Not exactly. I took the book outside for the light. And the crow was there.”
Man, he attracted that woman like a trailer park attracts tornadoes. “And you fought.”
“And I beat her.” He chirped what sounded like a victory cry. “I got the book, and I got her to agree to a truce.”
“I’m impressed. How long a truce?” I asked.
“Well, until the next full moon. And that gives us time to solve more than one of our problems.”
And by then the Sidhe would have a new queen. “What does this book contain?”
“I don’t really know. I couldn’t get it open, but it is supposed to contain spells to undo spells, to identify spells so they can be undone, that kind of thing.”
“That’s a myth.” There was no way that Olan had found a Key book. They didn’t really exist. “Where is this book?”
“Here.” I felt his feather on my hand and a sudden weight on my lap.
“This book is bigger that you are. How did you manage to get it here?”
“It’s a pixie thing.” Olan stepped onto my lap. “Maybe Lionel can figure out how to open it. Then we can find a spell to give you back your sight.”
“That would be useful right now. But we only have a bit of time to deal with the fairies.”
It took a while, but Lionel finally had the spell memorized. He walked through it six times without stumbling.
Burr and Sting congratulated him on his success.
“Okay, take your time,” I kept my voice gentle. “You know this spell and we all know you can do this.”
“Okay.” Lionel sounded a bit more confident than he had before but still doubtful.
“Everyone is going to leave the room; you and I will be the only ones here. I will sit in a corner, so I’m out of your way. I have a blanket spell ready.” I had shown every charm and amulet I had in my pocket to Lionel and he’d identified them for me. I had a blanket and a freeze spell in my hands. “Are you ready?”
“Yes, ready as I’ll ever be.”
I waved Clarence over, or at least if he was where I thought he was it would have looked like I was waving him over. He took my arm and led me to a chair we’d placed in the far corner. We’d set Lionel up in the center of the room, a brazier and a small wooden table in front of him. On the table, all the ingredients and vessels he needed. In the very center of the table sat the Gur amulet. I could feel the power emanating from it even from the corner. The spell would not affect the souls of the Druids. There was no way that could happen-I hoped.
I counted to ten then said, “Okay, start when you are ready, go nice and slow.”
There was silence for a few minutes. I hoped he was centering his focus, not getting ready to faint.
“I call on spirits of love and peace to cover this spell with their presence.”
It seemed he was able to summon the spirits because I felt the air in the room dampen and his words became muffled. If I could see, all I would see is a shadow of his movements. The suspense wasn’t exactly killing me, I just wish it was.
I listened to the cadence of the muffed words. He seemed to be going through the process smoothly and there were no dreaded hiccups.
His voice suddenly became clear as he closed the spell.
“… for your blessing.”
I waited, the power still emanated from the amulet, so we hadn’t accidentally release a horde of annoyed druids.
“Lionel?” He should have said something by now.
“Sorry, Quinn, I just needed a minute. I think I did it.”
“Come over to me and bring the amulet.” I would be able to make sure that there was no taint of Fionuir’s spell if the amulet was close enough.