The two men walked over to a wagon that waited in the courtyard. One of the bigger children pushed a little boy forward. “Ask him. Ask the wizard to do a trick for us.”
“Not I,” said the little one. “He might turn me into a rabbit.”
I didn’t blame him for being scared. The wizard had a scowl on his face and muttered things under his breath as he and his apprentice unloaded his pack into the wagon.
I walked over to him anyway. Wizards knew magic.
Perhaps they knew how to undo fairy spells put on people through signing foolish contracts.
He didn’t look at me as I approached, just kept unloading flasks, dried plants, and several objects I couldn’t identify. I heard him mumbling angrily, and as I approached the wagon I could make out his words.
191/431
“Queen Neferia didn’t find me worthless. She’s been happy enough with my wares. Twice she’s bought my disguise potion. And a magic mirror. Paid me well, too.
But now I’m worthless because I’ve nothing to defeat the Black Knight. As if I could break the laws of magic. The royals know nothing of the ways of enchantments. Nothing. Aye, there’s a lesson for you to mark, Simon.” He turned to his apprentice and waved a bundle of something to emphasize the point. “When royalty is too important to learn the ways of magic and too impatient to listen to the instructions of wizards, it will be their downfall.”
I waited to catch his eye and when I didn’t, I said, “Excuse me—”
Without looking up he said, “I’m all out of love charms, and even if I wasn’t, I only sell to royalty or them that have magic to trade.” He glanced up, squinted in my direction, and then added, “Bah, you don’t need love charms anyway. What are you wasting my time for?” He waved a dismissive hand at me, then continued to unpack. “Just swoon a bit for your gentleman and that should do the trick. Off with you now.” I didn’t move, and neither did Simon. He’d stopped unpacking and was blatantly appraising me until the wizard nudged him. Then Simon went back to sorting 192/431
things in the wagon, but I took a step closer to the wizard. “I’m not looking for a love charm.” The wizard took a pair of small wooden boxes from his apprentice and stacked them in the wagon. “It matters not. I see no crown on your head, and I only sell to royals. They like it that way, so unless you’ve magic to trade with me, I’ve nothing more to say.” Muttering to himself again he added, “I’ve stayed in these parts too long.”
“I have some things you might like.” I walked over to his side. “I have instant fire on little sticks. Here, I’ll show you.” I had some of the valuables I’d brought from home in a satchel tied around my hip. I took out the box of matches and struck one. “See how easy it is?” He grunted, unimpressed. “Any wizard’s apprentice can make fire out of naught. What else do you have?” I pulled out a spoon from my pouch. “A place setting of silverware that never needs to be polished.” He took the spoon from my hand and turned it over in his palm. “Nicely made, but my clients have servants to polish their silver. What else do you have?”
“Tylenol.” I took a medium-size bottle out of my satchel. “One or two pills will kill pain and bring down fevers.”
193/431
“Fever cure. Now that’s useful magic.” He took the bottle from my hand and tapped the side. “I see the bottle is enchanted too.”
“It’s plastic; that means it keeps water out and it won’t break if you drop it. Here, this is how you open it.” I lined up the arrows and flipped the lid off, showed it to him, then snapped it back on.
His eyes widened and he nodded happily. “Ahh, it’s fine magic. What do you ask for it?”
“Do you have anything to break spells?” He humphed at me as though I ought to know better than to ask such a question. “Breaking spells is a complicated business. I couldn’t do it for all the wealth the royal family is promising, and I can’t do it for you. Is it the Black Knight’s armor that is enchanted? His sword?
Himself? Where came his magic from? I’ll never be able to get close enough to tell so I can give no counterspells.”
“I didn’t mean the Black Knight’s spell. I was thinking of a spell a fairy put on a friend.” Before I could explain what had happened, the wizard shook his head. “There are as many fairy spells as there are flowers. It’s near impossible to know the recipe for undoing a specific one. Casting a spell is like throwing mice into your neighbor’s barn. Easy enough to do, but 194/431
near impossible to undo.” He turned the Tylenol bottle in his hand, clearly displeased to have to give it back.
“Is there anything I could do to make a spell better, to modify it somehow?”
“Not unless you know someone with a better enchantment who’s willing to switch.”
“To switch?” I repeated.
A grimace crossed the wizard’s face. “I should have thought of it when I was talking to the prince.” His grip tightened on the bottle. “I do have some switching potion. It’s an obscure bit of magic. Takes years to make a single batch. He can’t fault me for not remembering.
How often are two enchanted people in the same place?” The wizard looked at the castle as though debating whether or not to go back inside.
“I want to buy it,” I said. Because even though it wouldn’t break Tristan’s enchantment, it suddenly occurred to me I could still help him defeat the Black Knight. I could switch enchantments with the knight and then he would no longer be invincible.
Simon, who’d been busy placing things into the wagon, stopped his work. His hands froze somewhere among the bottles and boxes, and he turned a pair of startled eyes in my direction. I knew he wanted to say something, but the wizard didn’t give him time.
195/431
“You want to buy it?” The wizard’s voice changed so quickly—suddenly all business—that I wondered if his speech about selling it to King Roderick was just for my benefit. He pulled at his beard thoughtfully. “Such an important commodity is expensive. It will cost you the pills, the fire sticks, and the silverware.” I fingered the spoon, suddenly unsure. This could be either a very good decision or a great financial loss. I glanced at Simon, but he was no longer looking at me.
He’d gone back to putting things into the wagon with a grimace set fiercely on his face.
“How does it work?” I asked.
The wizard dug through things in his wagon, sending some of them spilling in a noisy clatter as he retrieved a small mirror. Before I could question what it was, he took my hand in his bony grasp and held it under the mirror. Almost as quickly, he released my hand and held the mirror up to study. His eyes squinted and his eyebrows drew together like two furry caterpillars. “Ahh,” he said. “So you are under an enchantment. Certainly not the worst I’ve encountered. Still, I can understand why you’d want to switch with someone.” I took the mirror from his hand to see what he was looking at. On its face, and fading as I watched, were the words: When said occupant tells a lie, a reptile or amphibian will appear on his or her tongue.
196/431
The wizard took the mirror from me and tucked it back into the wagon. He sorted through several more items and finally pulled out a blue clay jar no taller than his thumb. He wiped off the dust with the sleeve of his tunic until the bottle shone like a robin’s egg. “This is the potion you need, m’lady, and this is how it works. As you know, a kiss can be powerful magic—” He must have seen my blank look because he added impatiently, “A kiss can awaken a princess from an enchanted sleep. It can break the spell that keeps a prince in the form of a frog.”