Yesterday's Magic Read Online Free PDF

no, that won’t be necessary. Arthur’s belief is enough for me. I wouldn’t demean it by asking you for parlor tricks or whatever.”
    Merlin smiled thinly. “Thank you, Your Grace. It’s embarrassing how many times I’ve had to transform something or somebody to make a point. But Arthur has asked me to do a little something at the wedding tomorrow—for public consumption primarily, but it should help.”
    After several more minutes, Duke Basil excused himself. When Arthur and Merlin were alone, the King looked at his friend. “I’m glad you restrained yourself there. I’ve heard about your giving King Nigel of Glamorganshire donkey ears. You know, that will
not
help my negotiations with that gentleman when the time comes.”
    Merlin hung his head. “I know—I couldn’t help myself. Nigel is such a pompous ass.” Then he looked up and grinned. “But don’t blame me, Sire. I’m just an impulsive kid, after all.”
    “Don’t give me that, old man,” Arthur said, standing up. “The only thing young about you is the love light in your eyes when you look at Heather. You are planning to marry her soon, I trust.”
    “We are discussing it.”
    “Good. As sappy as it sounds, I’m so happily in love myself, I just want to see it spread around. Now let’s get back to the others. And yes, I’ll have my people continue watching the Norfolk contingent. They’re still bothering you, I take it?”
    “Yes. Like someone rubbing fur the wrong way. A feeling like there’s something dark grating under the foundations—despite all the happiness on top. I don’t feel this darkness moving, though, or getting any stronger. But it’s there, like it’s asleep…or waiting.”
    “Well, your concerns are good enough for me. We’ll keep an eye on the Norfolk party. And we’ll see how whatever you have planned for tomorrow convinces the Duke—and others—about your abilities.”
    As they walked out of the garden, Merlin said, “You’ve got to admit, Arthur, that if someone had spun a yarn like ours to you when you were first king, you might have doubted as well. You know, hanging out in Avalon or in a mountain for a couple of millennia, then coming back young again—that’s fairy-tale stuff.”
    “Oh, I might have believed it, after all the training I had as a boy from that cranky old codger, that wizard what’s his name. Merlin, was it?”
    Laughing, the two returned to the bustle of royal wedding preparations.
     
    That night, with the manor finally quieted down, Merlin and Heather met as planned in the ruins of the abbey, ruins that had been ancient long before the Devastation. Empty arches and broken walls traced dark shapes against the sky. A few of the brightest stars showed hazily through the high atmospheric dust. The night wind carried a chill hint of Scottish glaciers, but the two didn’t notice.
    Heather couldn’t embrace or kiss him very easily since she was clutching a long loosely wrapped bundle behind her back, so she brought it out. “I made this for you.”
    Taking the bundle in both hands, Merlin peeled away the blanket. The hazy moonlight caught and silvered the long wooden staff, seeming to make the carvings move along its length.
    Before he could say anything, Heather explained, “I know that after the Battle of London, you said you needed to try working with the new magic and stop using
things
like a staff to focus your power.” She smiled. “But I’ve seen how twitchy that makes you. You always seem to be reaching for something that isn’t there. So I thought if I made you a staff, working into it carvings of living things…and my own feelings, then maybe it would combine both the old and new magics for you.”
    Merlin traced his fingers over the carvings from the hawk head at the top blending through deer, squirrels, snakes, and horses. Below those came faces he quickly recognized—Heather’s, Welly’s, Troll’s, Margaret’s, and Arthur’s. Twining vines wove between them