Episode 138: Safety (Zero)

A long time ago, Zero had become enemies with Sam Hartmann. They were the kind of enemies that formed disinterest in one another because of their love for the same woman: Naomi.

Zero had won her, then lost her, then won her body over but to the tune of Indigo.

Now that Sam was free, a potential ally of the Dells, Zero’s mind drifted toward him. Zero was at the limits of his knowledge, and he knew Sam would have new ideas, to protect the palace. Sam cared about family above all else and there was a threat to Talise, to Indigo, and to his grandchildren.

Zero joined Sam at his small home in the woods, where he had been placed thanks to Talise’s mercy. She’d arranged for his release, grown a bond between his grandchildren and Sam.

Sam answered before Zero could knock.

“Zane,” he greeted.

“How are Magenta and Soliloquy?” He asked. Magenta, the woman Sam had met while in jail, had given birth to a daughter: a seal, a selkie.

“I wanted to have a word with you, if you have some time,” he said.

“I have some time,” Sam replied.

Zero sat on the couch. The place was warm and felt like a home. It surprised Zero. He could hear Magenta singing upstairs, and Sam’s eyes gazed at the ceiling for a moment before he focused on Zero.

“Some wiccans have been using magic against the royal house,” he began. “Spence said you were interested in helping with the war against the Caelum, but I’m more concerned with the overall threat to the house.”

Sam’s eyebrow raised. “You want to smudge?”

“And protect. I want it done with minimal knowledge by others.” He wasn’t sure it was necessary, but he needed to know Sam was doing this for family; it was all he trusted at the moment, so he said, “Our grandson is second in line.”

“Fortinbras.” Sam leaned back against the couch.

“He will be attacked from Caelum and other threats. He’s too young to use his own magical strength.”

Zero built the case, including the details of the attack he felt like sharing. Sam listened, but he didn’t seem surprised. It left Zero more and more curious about Magenta, but he refrained from asking any questions.

“Fort may be the crown heir by next week, according to some,” Zero ended.

“Who do you expect to die? His mother or his grandmother?”

“Mother,” Zero replied.

Sam sat forward in his chair, hands rested on his thighs. “We can’t protect her?”

“I am,” Zero promised. “They suspect her death will be short term. But the fact that she will go through this makes me wary; something has been weighing down the line. I want your help – a smudge, protections. I could ask my brothers, but they’re siblings – redundant magic. Yours is more unique.”

“When? Do you want to be hidden when we work?”

Zero leaned forward, the hint of a grin. “Yes. And I want to see the magic as it lifts,” Zero added. He handed Sam a potion that was orange and sparkly. “I thought you might as well.”

“Good,” Sam agreed. In an act of faith, he downed the drink.

They headed toward the palace without familiars; there was no use in being invisible and having familiars to give away your position.

The walk took awhile, but it was worth it to know they had left all evidence of themselves at the cabin. Once they were at the palace they began their work. The smudge took time, not only to prepare but to execute. They revisited the gardens multiple times while they worked, because what they had brought with them wasn’t enough. Layer after layer of spells fell from the palace, and layer after layer Zero realized he couldn’t just be the doctor anymore, and this realm need Spence, a full time wiccan guard. They worked until the sun began to crest over the mountains.

Zero looked to Sam, “This is a bigger problem than I expected. There are years of spells, almost built into the palace.”

It made sense: Ionia and Titania had worked with wiccans long before the war. It was logical for them to send wiccans to interfere in the construction of the palace.

“Four distinct sources,” Sam pointed out.

“I’ll have to tell Konrad,” Zero conceded. “Aadya gave him Wicca.”

Sam scoffed, “Konrad has no finesse with enemies. He either likes them or wants them out of the way. He lacks the ability to see an enemy as a future ally.”

“Like you?” Zero replied.

“I could see that question two ways, and I’ll take either as a compliment,” Sam replied.

“I’m surprised. Pleasantly surprised. We have something in common.”

“What is that?”

A layer of some spell fell from the walls of the training building. Zero began a second lap around it to ensure every spell had been removed and the building was clean.

“Four grandchildren, Spence – Take your pick.” Zero refrained from correcting Sam that he had the inability to see the value in an enemy as an ally, until he had been forced to.

It would shape his future, and it might get him killed, but Sam had proven himself worth trusting.

“Has Spence talked to you about Spaden at all?” Sam asked.

“No, he hasn’t.”

Zero’s back tightened; whatever it was that Spence had avoided telling them, he could sense by Sam’s tone it was something important.

Working together was one thing, but getting along might take longer than their lifespans.

“I made a mistake,” Sam said. “There’s a girl.”

“A binding spell?” Zero asked, more for confirmation than anything.

“She’s your sister,” Sam stated.

Spaden being bound to a girl…. It explained why he had never dated and why he wasn’t interested in anyone. Even Sawyer, years younger than him, showed more interest. It hadn’t made sense – the blind focus on work, the goal orientation, until Sam’s confession.

Spence likely didn’t say anything because he hoped it would appear natural, not forced upon Spaden. The spell would make Spaden certain of her, much like the bond behaved.

The spell would have had to have been done at conception, in the concave. That meant his mom was there, but had left before he had a chance to see her. It meant Ulysses was there.

If Sam had loved Naomi…

No, he wasn’t going to defend Sam with one possible explanation for Spaden.

The spell though…

“There are worse things than a girl,” Zero stated.

“Spence doesn’t think he should know. The trouble is finding her. I tried, but she’s hidden. I don’t have genetics to work with, though.”

If she was his sister… “We might be able to find her, but I think for the time being we don’t need the extra complication. Something with the Caelum will come up soon enough.”

With Spence’s move to free all gay prisoners, it would be a large strike. A pointed strike.

“You know something?” Sam asked.

They moved on to the school, which was a newer building compared to the main palace and the outer walls. The magic on the school was less notable, more than just time would implicate. It had been left out of three of the influences’ focus.

Zero kept track of which buildings were neglected by which magics. It would help him with dating the spells as well as sorting potential motives.

He would include Konrad and Spence; they both excelled at these sorts of puzzles.

As for the Caelum, “I know they’re going to strike, with Spence’s campaign and Xander taking an interest in Eulalee.”

Sam stopped what he was doing, “What?”

“My dad told Xander about Ulysses’ sister, Eulalee. He’s taken an interest in her. I’m sure Ulysses will be reacting to it.”

“I…”

Sam began working again, then stopped, “Isn’t she insane?”

“She killed Xander, and revived him without any plants,” Zero stated. It encompassed not only her power but her insanity.

“So she’s dangerous. Was she the fifth child?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “She has dolls. Have you seen them before, anywhere?”’

If anyone knew about the dolls, it would be Sam. He knew about the life-saving spell to collect energy, he knew many of the things Naomi did – high up spells that were kept out of the reach of others.

“Dolls?” he asked, to clarify it sounded like. “There’s a book. I think they’re in there.”

As they worked, people began moving through the grounds. Zero moved before someone bumped into him, on their way to the field to do the morning drill.

“What do you know about them? Or do I need to read it myself?” Zero asked.

“I know they’re powerful. Make sure she doesn’t get pregnant. The book… it was in the concave that day. Either Leonora took it or Aadya destroyed it.”

Xander’s death left a large window of opportunity for Eulalee to have conceived. With her magical ability, she may not have needed a spell to guarantee offspring. Zero filled his lungs with air and let his mind wander down a path of concern; his father was no longer trustworthy.

“And if she is pregnant?” Zero asked.

“Is she?”

“It’s possible, yes.”

“Ever been scared of a toddler before?” Sam asked.

He had a bad feeling he knew where this was going.

“Not yet,” he replied, with a level of pessimism about the future. “Do we want them to exist? I’m lost on this subject, but she’s almost a child herself, body wise.”

It wasn’t common, but Eulalee was one of the wiccans that chose to keep her body in a never ending state of childhood. He couldn’t understand the appeal.

Sam got back to work, and more spells tumbled into nothingness. “I doubt we can stop her or the child from existing.”

“So we should find a way to sway her,” Zero concluded. The last thing they needed was an additional enemy.

“Yes, probably.”

Sam huffed, a small amount of laughter almost escaping through his breath. “I wouldn’t involve Konrad.”

A crazy pregnant girl with magic dolls? “I agree.”

They moved on to the last of the buildings, at the heart of the palace grounds, and what seemed to be the last spell fell. He would send Spence out to smudge the grounds again, and Konrad, and Mara, and Spaden, and Mallory if he could show her some of the techniques. The unique ways they approached it would make an impact

For now, he turned to Sam, “Are we done here?”

They were still invisible to the outside world.

“See if Leonora has that book,” Sam said. “It has the answers you need.”

“Will Leonora kill me?” Zero asked.

Sam was silent, and so he decided to let it go. Then, before he turned away, Sam said, “She can’t do magic.”

It was the last thing Zero expected to hear: Leonora, the powerful wiccan, couldn’t do magic.

He would pay her a visit. It changed his entire perspective.

He doubted his mom, Lilla, knew; she hated non-wiccans. She believed in strength of magic and purity.

Leonora’s time in Sylem was about to change.

“I’ll stop by,” Zero replied. And he would, just as soon as he spoke to Xander. It was the biggest thing he had in common with Sam: Family first.

They parted ways, but he knew they’d be working together again soon.

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