The Realm

Chapter 4

The following day dawned bright and beautiful. Washing and dressing quickly, entertained by fantasies of Sinclair thanking her when she saved him, Samantha left her room to go find some breakfast and ran into Kaar on the stairs carrying up a tray for her.

"Food bring I," he said holding up his offering.

"Oh Kaar, you didn't have to do that. I'm not used to being served. Here, let me take that."

Grabbing the tray from a startled Kaar, she padded down the stairs and through the archway leading to the dining room. Entering, she stopped short when she saw Sinclair already seated having breakfast. Rising with a welcoming smile, he again held out the chair next to him for her to sit in. Samantha felt herself warm under his attention and smiled back. He looked even more handsome this morning and it took all her willpower to fight the urge to smooth the rumpled linen covering his broad chest or even better, take it off.

Stop it, Samantha scolded herself. Couldn't she even eat breakfast with the man without having carnal thoughts?

Speaking of which, she finally had a chance to look at what food the tray held. Yummy. Some kind of flatbread spread with a red jam that tasted like the fruit she'd eaten in the village previously. A glass of pineapple juice, freshly squeezed. Sunny side up eggs, smaller than the store bought kind with a light pink yolk, and some kind of flat, fried meat that, while not bacon, had a nice salty flavor and crunched pleasurably in her mouth.

Chewing away happily, she almost forgot she had company - almost.

"I was thinking a lot last night," Sinclair said. "And well, while you obviously know the sordid tale of how I came to be here, having read that book, it occurred to me that in order for us to be able to work together, you could probably use a little more background. I think I may have also been hasty yesterday in my decision to not have you tell me about the story you read. It is possible that there may have been clues in the book that I might find helpful. Perhaps together, we will spot something that will lead us to an answer to my dilemma. "

Samantha smiled at this use of the word we. "Judging by what you've said, the curse can be broken, what I don't grasp is why you haven't done so already. You know magic. Don't you just need to wave your hands around or something."

Sinclair chuckled. "Magic involves a little more effort than just waving one's hands about. As for the curse, according to the Laws of Chance, all curses must have a way for the person cursed to free themselves."

"An escape clause."

"Exactly. However, they often require a catalyst of some kind, either an object or person, or even an act of some sort. I have been trying for years to break it, without success. My teleportation spells just don't work, I cannot teleport myself off this island nor contact anyone. You are the first person I've encountered in all those years, unless you count the Undines who were already here. I am hoping you remember something, anything about the spell Melisante used. Even the smallest detail could prove important."

In between mouthfuls of food, Samantha recounted the entire tale as well as she could remember. Sinclair said not a word during her rendition, he simply leaned back in his chair, watching her as she spoke, wincing when she told the part about his lover's betrayal. At the end of her tale he jumped up and paced, restrained male aggression permeating his every step, much like a wild, caged animal.

"No mention of the words she used, or the name of the spell?" he asked.

"No," said Samantha. "I'm sorry. I wish I could be more help."

He raked his fingers through his hair. "This makes no sense. Did the book target you specifically or did you merely set off a magical trigger? Perhaps something you did or said while you had that book?"

Samantha hesitated a moment. Is he going to take me for some kind of emotional flake when he hears I bawled over a book? But what if my tears were important? "I, um, kind of cried on the book, not much," she hurried to say at his intent look. "Just a drop or two, enough to smudge the ink. And then next thing I knew I landed here."

"The spell needed someone with a compassionate nature for it to work." He rubbed his chin, his face taking on a thoughtful cast. "Interesting. Very interesting."

"Why is that so important?"

"A spell that requires a caring person means whomever brought you here did so without nefarious intentions. On the contrary, you are probably meant to help me somehow which now gives me hope, something I didn't have previously. I need to think about what you've told me. Perhaps I've been going about this all wrong. Since Chance brought you, then you obviously hold the key for my release. I may wish to question you again at some point and perhaps you would be willing to let me run a few magical tests on you."

"Tests?" replied Samantha warily, wincing at the idea. Tests in her experience were never pleasant as they usually involved large needles sucking out her blood. "I'll let you run some tests, but I'm warning you that I am not into the idea of ritual sacrifice or anything painful."

A loud laugh made his body shake. "Never fear, I do not practice the black arts. They are forbidden by the Great Laws. The tests I am talking about will not hurt. That, I promise. I won't be ready to do them for a few more days because I need to look some things up first. I also want to tell you more about the Realm and magic, but I need to help Kaar with some things down at the village. So, if you don't mind, I shall take my leave and we shall resume our discussion over lunch."

Samantha nodded in agreement and then sat back to watch him leave the dining room, admiring once again the view of his tight butt in his snug black pants. I can look all I want, she reminded herself. I just can't touch.

Leaving the dining room, she went across the entryway towards the library but hesitated at the entrance. Would the watching feeling return?

Taking a deep breath, she strode in, glad to discover the absence of the previous day's eerie sensation. As the hours of the morning flew by, she grew more relaxed. The books in this library were truly fascinating, especially the one on gardens and pixies. She hadn't known pixies were allergic to roses or that they enjoyed a warm saucer of milk. Apparently it was important to keep garden pixies happy if you wanted healthy plants. As she catalogued and skimmed through the books, she found many dealing in curses and put those aside. She had just finished organizing the last of the books when Sinclair came to find her.

Getting up from her hands and knees position on the floor, pushing her glasses back up on her nose, she smiled at him. "Part one is mostly done. I've got the books organized by type, then alphabetically by author. I've kept aside some of the books that I will use to start the research. And this pile over here," she said walking over to a tall stack. "Are the ones that I couldn't read or decide where to put."

"You've certainly been productive," he said taking in his neatly organized library. "You need a break. Come on, the chef has prepared us some lunch and you're due for a history lesson."

Taking her by the hand, his grip warm and firm, he guided her into the dining room and seated her, his hand lingering on her shoulder.

Quickly, they ate their lunch of breaded fish cutlets with a light mango sauce, crusty bread and cheese and when done Sinclair leaned back in his chair. "Time for your history lesson but in order to understand I need to go back a bit in time."

Samantha leaned forward, eager to listen.

"Many hundreds of years ago, the world was a chaotic place. Magic abounded, both good and bad. There were white wizards, those who used their magic to help others and of course there were dark wizards. They destroyed anything and anyone who stood in the way of their quest for more and more power. Finally, a time came that non-magical humans who were the most affected by all this and the most numerous in population decided enough was enough. They met with some of the more powerful white wizards and asked for a way to live free of magic. After many years of debate and more destruction by the dark forces, the white wizards came up with a spell, one that would separate the world into two, one half with magic, the other half without.

Thirteen of the world's most powerful white wizards came together and for thirteen days and thirteen nights they spun a magical spell and separated the world. The non-magical half of the world is the one you were raised in. The other half, known as the Realm, has the humans who decided to stay along with the wizards and the magical beings who need magic to survive, like the Undines. The two worlds are separated by what we call the Boundary."

"So," said Samantha, trying to sort all this information in her head, "I'm still here on Earth, but on the magic side right now?" Sinclair nodded. "But I don't understand how that works. I mean, I've never heard of an invisible wall stopping people from going places and my world has pretty much had every inch of it explored."

"First, the population of magical beings and wizards wasn't that huge, what with magical beings having lower birth rates than non-magical ones. A small continent, or if you prefer, a really large island, was chosen to become the new Realm. It lies in the middle of one of the great oceans and the Boundary was set around the island."

She shook her head. "Still makes no sense. Ships sail the oceans every day. Wouldn't they notice if they were being diverted around a huge invisible island?" The idea perplexed. Although, a magically invisible island would explain the strange happenings in the Bermuda Triangle.

"The ships you're talking about don't actually go around us, they go through us. The spell the ancients wove was one of true invisibility, so not only can the people of your world not see us, they can't feel us either. The same goes for the Realm locations that remained on the main continents. For example, there is an elven enclave hidden in a valley in a huge line of mountains on one of the biggest continents. Because their Great Tree couldn't be moved, a boundary was placed around that area. Other magically important locations also had boundaries placed so as to preserve them."

"Wow," said Samantha. "That's crazy. I can't believe those wizard guys got everybody to agree to this."

"They were given a choice - magic or no magic. Those who needed magic to survive or didn't wish to abandon it, made damn sure they were on the right side when the spell was cast. The spell also covered a wide perimeter of ocean, too, for those who live in the sea."

Samantha's eyes widened. "You mean like mermaids and the Undines. What about Nessie? Did you guys forget to shield her?"

"Who?" asked Sinclair with a lost look.

"Never mind," said Samantha blushing. After all, just because all kinds of other fantastical creatures truly existed didn't mean Nessie did - although Samantha secretly believed she did.

Sinclair resumed his history lesson. "While all magic, be it man, creature, or object caught outside the Boundary dissipated or became non-magical, it didn't, however, stop the dark wizards still within from creating havoc. Thus began the Great Hunt. All things evil or created with dark arts were found and either destroyed or stored with magical defenses and guardians. The dark wizards they captured were banished to your world, minds wiped clean, their powers gone once they crossed, forced to live out their remaining years as normal humans. The knowledge they amassed was destroyed, or so we believed. It would seem the cleansing was not as thorough as initially thought, judging by the grimoire Melisante uncovered."

"What the heck is a grimoire? I take it that it's not related to an armoire?"

Sinclair chuckled. "No. A grimoire is a book of spells. Usually a lifelong compilation by a wizard of renown who doesn't wish his work to be lost after his death."

"Oh, so it's like a cookbook of spells."

"Exactly. Once the hunt was over and all dark magic erased, the Great Laws were created, a monumental effort that involved representatives from all species left in the Realm. It took almost a hundred years to create them and they are the mainstay of our society. The Great Laws have many clauses and exceptions, but the gist of it is that wizards cannot use magic to physically harm another, on pain of being banished, powerless, to the other side of the Boundary. Needless to say, the majority prefer to follow the laws."

Samantha absorbed this information but something niggled at her, so she asked, "But I'm not magical, so how can I be here? And if magical items and spells don't work in my part of the world then how was I teleported?"

"We are all human, even we wizards. Humans can live on either side of the Boundary but only in the Realm can they use magic. If I were to go to your world, I would no longer have my wizardly powers. I would be just a regular human like yourself. In your case, you don't appear to have any magic so you remain the same no matter which side you are on. The book that brought you and that bookstore you found were probably created by a Higher Power. My guess would be Chance. The Higher Powers, of which there are many, are not governed by the same laws of magic we are."

"Higher Powers? So you mean there are still some people out there who can do magic on my side?"

"Well, I wouldn't call them people, exactly, although they may choose to take human form when appearing to others. While few can recall having met any gods personally, multitudes have been affected by their meddling. They just love to play games with our lives. For centuries there have even been those who worship them, blindly following whatever commands or portents they are given."

As if she didn't have enough on her plate, now she'd have to worry about these wanna-be-gods floating around, or whatever they did, directing her actions like a pawn in a game of chess. Although, she had to admit, whichever one had meddled with her life had probably done her a favor. She'd never enjoyed herself more.

"Okay, so some higher power sent me here so that they could use me to mess up the curse you're under, but what I still don't understand is why she cursed you instead of sending you into my world. Surely making you into a regular guy would have been easier than cursing you to this island with the possibility of escape."

Wouldn't he have caused a commotion had he shown up in my world? Women would have been falling all over themselves offering to take care of him.

He smiled and nodded as if proud of her conclusion. "But you see, placing me in your world wasn't enough. The Boundary has portals from your world that lead to my mine They were created so that those who wished could leave for a non-magical life and also to allow in those who felt the call of their inner magic."

"Do you think I might have a teensy bit of magic in me?" she asked hopefully. Wouldn't that be cool?

"Honestly? I don't think you're magically inclined, although I could be wrong," he added quickly at her crestfallen look. "Not all abilities are immediately visible. It could be that you have a dormant power, or perhaps somewhere in your family tree, you had an ancestor who had some power. But even without magic, you're still special, else why would the Higher Powers have chosen you?"

Okay, so maybe she didn't have super powers or the type of beauty that made men swoon at her feet, who cared, Sinclair thought she was special and that simple fact made her smile inwardly. "Sorry, I interrupted. You were telling me about the portals."

"Ah yes, the portals. My family has been highly placed in the council for years," he continued, "so the portal locations are well known to me as are the guardians of the portals. Had she sent me to the ÔOther Side', I would have simply found a portal and come back. By placing a curse on me she saved herself. Curses are very hard to cast and detect, and so long as the curse doesn't physically harm the person, they are actually allowed by the Great Laws. Melisante on her own would never have been able to cast the curse she did. However, by using the amulet, she managed to amplify her power. To my friends and family it would have seemed that I just disappeared with nary a trace. Had she killed me with a spell instead, then there would have been nowhere for her to hide her wickedness as the Great Laws would have marked her as soon her spell killed me."

"Wow," said Samantha, her eyes wide as saucers behind her lenses. "That's pretty intense stuff. But if the amulet is so dangerous, why didn't your hunter guys destroy it?"

"A couple of the items that were created using the dark arts proved to be impossible to destroy. In order to prevent them falling into the wrong hands they were separated and given to families of the thirteen white wizards from which I'm descended. My family has been protecting that amulet for generations and it is a great shame for me to know I failed in that task." he said, his face taking on a haunted cast.

"But," said Samantha, and she had to ask because this question had been niggling her since she'd read the book. "How did she get through all your defense spells? I mean, I read the book. You had that amulet locked up tight. If she wasn't strong magically to start with, how did she get through all your magic and how did she disable that maze thing you had that needed a password to even reach the amulet?"

"I've had years to think about what happened. I know I never told her about the labyrinth's password and I also never told her enough about the protective spells for her to have nullified them so easily, especially given her low level of magic. It means someone in the family betrayed me and helped her. I just can't imagine who."

"Who knew about the amulet and its defenses?" she asked.

"There was my mother of course, my sister and my brother. Those should be the only people other than myself who knew all the secrets."

"You said Melisante was very beautiful, right?" she asked and rushed on before he could answer. "So it stands to reason that while her beauty wouldn't have affected your mother or sister, isn't it possible that perhaps she had another lover as well, someone close to you, like maybe your brother or a cousin?" she said trying not to cringe as she said it, afraid to look at him.

"It's possible," he said slowly. "At the time I was so consumed with my lust for her that I ignored much that was going on around me. She could have had several lovers, for she had her own home and I was only ever there at her invitation. But I just can't see my brother betraying me like that. And as for my cousins, none of them should have been privy to our secrets."

She could tell he didn't want to contemplate someone close to him betraying him. How horrible if they did.

He stood abruptly. "You've given me much to think about. Perhaps I need to re-examine my past. There may have been more clues I refused to see before."

"If you need me I'll be in the library."

"No, you've been working hard since you arrived yesterday. Take a bit of time off and let me think a while. Perhaps I'll be able to save you some work. Why not go for a walk or a swim, or maybe explore the island a bit? I assure you there are no wild animals around to worry about."

Samantha wasn't sure about the wild animals part, the look in his eyes sometimes definitely resembled that of a predator. A little bit of sunbathing and fresh air sounded like a great idea. While she couldn't swim in her gown, she could at least enjoy the view and with all the eating she'd been doing - the chef really was amazing - she could stand a little exercise. Yes, a walk down to the beach was definitely in order although she looked at her linen slippers ruefully. She'd have to do it barefoot again. The slippers would just get ruined and they offered no real protection anyway. It sucked Sinclair couldn't just snap his fingers and get her some flip flops. If this kept up she'd have soles tougher than bark.

Wandering out the front door of the castle and down the jungle path to the village, she kept a wary eye out for sharp stones underfoot. When she entered the village she found it mostly deserted, only a few of the Undines were there, occupied with household tasks. They paused in their work to wave and smile when she went by. Samantha, pleased at their friendliness, waved and smiled back. She went through the village to the beach and sat on the warm, white sand. Leaning back on her elbows, she closed her eyes and basked in the sun, her thoughts inevitably drifting to Sinclair, sexy lord of the castle.

I guess I can't deny it. I'm attracted to Sinclair. Just looking at him or thinking about him makes me feel warm and tingly inside. But he doesn't see me as a woman. Well, he does, just not in a desirable, rip-my-clothes-off kind of way. He needs my help to break this curse so he can go back to his family and friends. And when he does, he'll probably meet a gorgeous sorceress and they'll have dozens of little wizardlings or whatever they call their offspring. If only I were beautiful and brave like one of the heroines in my books. Maybe then he'd notice me and sweep me off my feet to carry me into the sunset, vowing eternal love.

She sighed. Oh, what am I thinking of? Am I that desperate for love? And to choose him, an almost perfect stranger to fill the role? Sure the book portrayed him as a victim, but that was years ago. That's a long time to be alone with only thoughts of vengeance for company. Will he ever be able to trust again having been so betrayed by love? Samantha didn't think she could in his place. And look where love had gotten her mother. Alone and sick, raising a child on her own. No, thought Samantha defiantly. I will not fall in love, I don't want to be hurt.

She would do what she could to help him, as a friend. But she also needed to exercise caution and guard her heart.

Getting up, she brushed the sand off and looked around. Her chemise under her gown stuck to her damply as she perspired lightly in the warm sun which sat high in the sky. They were in a much warmer climate than she was used to in Canada.

A sound behind her made her turn and she saw a big pair of eyes watching her. She smiled at the little watcher, obviously one of the village children and the child grinned back in delight before running and jumping in the waves. The child surfaced and raised its hand and beckoned her to join it.

Samantha started shaking her head no, she couldn't go swimming in a dress, but the water looked awfully tempting and she thought, screw it. This was a tropical island and she'd have to shed some of her modesty if she was to partake of the delights. Stripping down to her thin chemise, which actually covered more of her than a bathing suit would have, she put her glasses carefully on top of her folded clothes before diving into the water after the child.

Fantastic! The water swallowed her, warm and wonderful. Surfacing, she laughed aloud. Talk about glorious - a beach, an ocean, and a castle with a dark, mysterious hunk. So-long, boring life!

Splashing sounds signaled the arrival of more young Undines, their little green heads bobbing alongside her. They started a game of tag in the water and included Samantha. Their pointy grins were endearing, and Samantha laughed and smiled as she dove and swam along with them. Their agility and speed in the water nothing short of amazing, and it didn't take long before she grew tired trying to keep up. Waving them off with a laugh, she lay on her back and floated. The salty water made her buoyant and she drifted on the waves, a light current carrying her a little way out from shore. Closing her eyes, she felt her skin soaking up the sun's hot rays, her hair fanning out in the water around her.

A nudge from under water made Samantha snap up. Treading water, she looked around but she didn't see anything, her little playmates from before had all disappeared. She did notice, though, that she'd drifted a lot farther from shore than she'd intended. Time to start heading back before she floated too far away. She fell into a slow gliding breast stroke, arms and legs flexing out gracefully in the water. A slimy nudge on her thigh made her gasp. Looking quickly down with a squint, she saw a dark shadow gliding below her. Sinclair had said there were no predators she needed to worry about on the island but did that include the water? Not interested in finding out, she picked up her pace, the shore not approaching as rapidly as she'd like.

A splash behind her had her whipping her head around to see a dark, jagged fin tunneling through the water behind her. Samantha shrieked and fell into a rapid front crawl, arms and legs pumping as hard as she could. What the hell was this? Jaws? As she pumped frantically, she kept tensing, expecting at any moment the painful chomp of a huge set of teeth. When she barreled into something hard, she screamed, or tried to, through a mouthful of water. Flailing and thrashing at the thing that had a hold of her, she tried desperately to escape.