WILLIAM
The quaint white cottage with brown trim comes into view. "This looks quite nice."
"I think you will find it more than adequate for our needs." Prudence smiles. "I have always loved being here and often wished I could stay in the country."
Samuel slows the carriage and stops at the front door. A girl of perhaps fifteen rushes from the cottage, and stops at the narrow path of white stone that leads from the two steps to the drive.
I jump down and help the ladies out.
When the girl sees Prudence, she runs into her arms. "Great Mother, I have missed you."
"Brianna, my girl. You're so grown I hardly recognize you." Prudence hugs the girl tight and kisses her cheek."
Prudence makes the introduction. "Sir William Meriwether and Miss Esme O'Dwyer. This is my granddaughter Brianna Bishop."
"Granddaughter?" I ask, shocked.
Laughing, Prudence says. "A few generations removed, but too many great-greats makes me feel old."
We all chuckle.
Brianna says, "I've cleaned the cottage for you all. I live just a mile down the lane if you need anything at all. I see you've brought some help, but if you need more, just let me know, and I'll come, or find another to suit your needs."
"Just like your mother." Prudence cups Brianna's cheek. "Efficient and kind."
"Thank you, Great Mother. Shall I stay and see you settled?" She tucks her brown hair under her cap, and looks nervously down the road.
Prudence says, "Run along. I'm sure your mother needs you more than we do."
With a kiss on her grandmother's cheek and a wave, Brianna runs down the road and out of sight.
"Henry?" Prudence calls.
At her side in a moment, Henry offers his arm. "Madam?"
"Will you and Anne get me settled in my room? I need to rest. I'm not as young as I used to be."
I'm speechless as my staff rush to do the witch’s bidding without so much as a look back for my approval. "I guess I know where I stand."
Esme's laughter is worth any amount of indignity. "It seems we are both unnecessary, Sir William. Shall we have a look around the property?"
It is by far the most tempting offer I've had in a long time. "I would be delighted."
At my feet, Simon cries.
Esme crouches and scratches his head. "You may stay here or come with us as you wish, little one. We shall be here for a little while, but don't get lost. You are too small yet to find easily."
With a loud purr, he rubs her fingers, then scrambles into the cottage as Samuel hauls one of the bags inside.
"I was surprised to hear that you've not spent much time in the country. I would have thought with all your herbal remedies, you would need some way to gather ingredients." I keep my hands clasped at my back to hold off the desire to touch her.
"Tradespeople sell and barter with me. Minerva has a small garden and trades with me often. I manage, but it would be nice to have a garden and woods closer. I shall make good use of my time here." She runs her hand along the bark of an oak tree.
We wander to the pond that sits like glass, not fifty yards to the right of the house.
Strolling along its bank, she looks right and left. There's a gleam in those green eyes that I can't decide if I love more than life itself, or if I'm wary of the mischief there.
She grins. "Shall I show you a bit of magic then, Sir William?"
"If you'll not use my title when we're alone, Esme, you may show me any manner of thing." The bells of danger ring in my head, but I push them aside.
A gentle blush makes her even more lovely, if such a thing is possible. She turns to the water, reaches out a hand, and mutters a few words under her breath.
A few drops of water scatter as if a pebble had been dropped in the middle of the pond.
Eyes locked on the spot, Esme keeps her hand outstretched. Her gaze is steady, while her face flushes joyfully.
I turn to the water as a fountain begins to gurgle up from the center. It spins and sprays water across the stillness before it shoots up into a geyser. The violence of it fades to a calm wave that crosses toward us.
Esme puts her hand palm up, and the crest of the wave touches her middle finger. Water slides down the finger, into her palm, where she cups it, then sends it back to the pond.
A moment later, there's not a ripple again. It's as if the magic never happened.
Stunned, I sit in the soft grass and look over the still pond. "How did you do that? Is it a spell?"
She sits beside me. "No. Most witches do not need spells to manipulate the elements. We are of the elements, therefore asking is usually enough. Spells are to create magic on a grander scale."
"When you removed the bullet from my leg, was that a spell?" It makes me think of her hand on my leg, which already has my shaft responding.
She sighs. "I thought manipulating the elements would be enough, but the severity of the injury was worse than I anticipated, and I had to use a spell to complete the task."
"I don't think I understand." I pull out a bit of grass and place it between my thumbs before using it to make a loud whistle. I abandon the grass.
A breeze blows out of the south, and the water ripples. Esme points to the effect. "The water responds to the air. When it reaches the earth, it recedes. If there were fire, it would extinguish. The four work together. Because we are of these elements, we can ask that they go against what they are meant to do."
"But water will cut through the earth." I point at the few feet of erosion to the north side of the pond.
"That too, is meant. For what reason, we don't know, but the earth is always evolving for some purpose. When I asked the water to come to me, it did. If I ask the fire to dance on top of the water and the water not to extinguish it, it would. If I want something more specific, like fire to turn to water, I would need a spell."
"Because it's against their nature."
Her grin makes me feel as if I've solved the problems of the world. "Exactly. You learn quickly, William."
Lord, but my name sounds like a prayer falling from her lips. "I don't know what good this does me."
"Let’s say you had a splinter," she begins. "I could ask the splinter, which is earth, to lift out of your skin. As a healer, I can ask your skin to close over the space where the splinter was. Your body already knows how to heal, so I would only be asking for a quicker response to what it already does naturally."
"Can I move the water in the pond?" My fingers tingle.
"You won't know until you try."
I continue to stare at the water. "I don't know how to begin."
Esme takes my hand in hers and opens it, palm up.
My pulse ticks harder at her touch. Her hands are soft and strong, with narrow, elegant fingers. It's hard to concentrate, but I focus on what she's telling me.
She traces the deepest crease in my palm. "Inside each of us is water, so water is always a good place to begin. Focus on your magic and release it from the bubble you've put it in."
"I'll glow." I'm at once tempted to pull my hand away, and also hold onto her forever.
She shakes her head. Her voice is even and soft. "I think you glow because of fear. Do not fear what you are, William. Find your magic, and let the bubble go."
Closing my eyes, I let myself acknowledge the bubble of blue power just behind my heart. I poke at it with my mind.
"Let it go, William," Esme whispers.
"I don't know if I can." My heart races, and I gulp for air.
Her hand skims the side of my face in the softest caress. "Of course, you can. You have done much harder things than this, if the newspapers are to be believed."
Opening my eyes, I meet her mossy gaze. "Those acts took only cunning and strength. This is not the same."
She cocks her head. Lord, but she's beautiful. Hand still on my cheek, and the other holding my hand, she asks, "When you were in France, was there never a time when you should have been killed, but for reasons you cannot explain you were spared?"
A half dozen instances clash in my memory.
Her grip on my hand tightens. "Gently, William. Just pick one and tell me."
"When I first arrived in France, I had command of a small band of men meant to spy on French troops. We were to cross enemy lines, and if any of us lived, we would bring the information back to the general. It's dangerous and, often, inexperienced soldiers are used for these missions. It seems less wasteful to risk a man who hasn’t amassed the wisdom of war yet." I know this must sound barbaric to her. I never speak of war, because it sounds just as barbaric to me. "I took my men through the killing fields, and as we reached the edge of the woods that separated the French encampment from our position, the world seemed to explode." Trying to banish the sounds of screaming men, I close my eyes.
"It's in the past, William. No need to go back to it, just tell me what happened." Her soft caress on my cheek chases the memories away.
Opening my eyes, I cover her hand with mine. "It was a cannonball. It landed so close, my entire squadron was ripped to pieces. All but me. I lay in a hole almost as big as this pond, covered in mud and..." I break off from describing the rest of the grime that covered me. "I had no explanation for how I survived. Unhurt and alone, I strode into the enemy camp, stole a French soldier’s cloak, and gathered the information. I only told my superior that I was the only one to survive an attack."
"Oh, William, what you have suffered." A tear slides down her cheek, and then another.
"I didn't mean to upset you." I wish I could take all my words back. Anything to keep her from sorrow.
"I'm fine." She draws a long breath and meets my gaze. "Can you see that the earth protected you, wrapped you in its embrace and kept you from harm, even as the cannonball maimed it with its power?"
Strangely, that was exactly how it felt. I was an inch under the dirt and mud, and above, my people were barely recognizable. It wasn't possible, but it had happened. Magic. "I've never told anyone that. Even Henry Dove, who was my closest friend in war, and a loyal man to me now, does not know that story."
She drops her hands to her lap. "I'm honored by your trust in me, William. I cannot tell you how much I wish I could take all these pains from you."
"Who would I be if my memory of pain were gone, and who would I be if I didn't remember the men who fell that day?" I swallow down the ache of it and focus on the time before the cannonball, when we were all laughing and joking together.
Esme looks as if she might lean forward and kiss me, but she brushes passion aside an instant later. She sits up straight and looks me in the eye. "Find your magic and set it free, William. Then we will see about water magic."
She's right, of course. I know we can only be friends, and friends are nothing to scoff at. I lost so many in the war, I'm extremely covetous of a good friend. While I have a few, I feel at my core that Esme's friendship will be the most significant of my life.
I take a deep breath, let it out, and close my eyes. Behind my heart, the bubble of blue light shakes and bounces like a puppy that knows it's about to be let out for a run. I give my permission, and lights explode behind my eyelids. Energy blooms in every drop of my blood. I'm frozen and on fire all at once. Pleasure and pain merge as magic fills me until I'm taut with it.
When I open my eyes, I’m on my back, floating, staring into the blue sky. Solid earth bangs against my back, and the grass tickles my skin.
"Easy now, go slow. I thought you'd fly off for a moment there, and I'd have to show all of the neighbors what we're about."
Pressing against my elbows, I sit up. "What happened?"
"You shot blue light for an instant, floated about five feet in the air, then settled down to the ground before your magic slid back inside you." She shakes her head.
"Is that normal?"
Raising both hands, she shrugs. "You are the first I've seen with repressed magic, William. But I'll tell you this, it was a sight to see."
Feeling more myself, I look around, and the world seems crisper. My senses are more acute. I let a blade of grass slide between my thumb and forefinger and can sense the life inside. "I think the world has changed for me."
"How do you mean?" She studies my hand then my face.
A squirrel dashes from the trunk of one tree, across the grass and up another. It's tiny heartbeat echoes in my mind, and I know it’s searching for nuts. "I feel life all around me in a way I never have before. Do you hear the trees and animals all the time, Esme?"
"I don't, no." She closes her eyes and breathes in until her breasts stretch the front of her dress.
Forcing my eyes to her face, I hear her heart beating and the blood flowing through her veins.
She smiles, and I hear the pulse of the trees, flowers, a deer close by, and so much more. I hear it all through her mind.
It feels wrong to know more of what she feels and thinks, so I push back from searching her mind.
"It's lovely to open to the world around you." She opens her eyes. "Perhaps I should do so more often. In the city, it's hard to open one's mind without hearing humanity for all it lacks and suffers, as well as the good."
"I can see how that would be uncomfortable." I set aside the fascination with all the life around us. "What would you have me do with my magic now that it's free, and I'm happily not glowing?"
She taps her finger on her bottom lip.
That lip is completely distracting. I long to pull it between mine and kiss her until we're both senseless. I don't know how I'll bury these feelings if we're to be together all the time.
"Perhaps you might try to lift a drop of water from the pond. Water magic is usually a good place to begin, as you won't burn down the county." She grins.
Confused, I stare at the pond. "I don't know how to begin."
"Focus on the water and ask for one drop to rise out of the whole. The water is part of you, as are all the elements. When you ask, the water will respond." Her voice is soft, like a lullaby.
I want to wrap myself in that tone for a lifetime. Lord, but she's a distraction.
Staring at the water, I think about one drop, and in my mind, ask for that drop to rise up.
The pond rises out of the ground as one.
"Too much, William." Esme sounds half panicked. "Ease it back down."
Behind us, the kitten hisses, then growls.
"No, Simon," Esme calls.
Distracted, I let the water free. It splashes to the earth in a vertical wave that soaks the ground around the pond, and us with it.
Simon hisses again and runs back toward the cottage.
Esme sputters and pushes her sopping hair back from her face.
I'm soaked through.
About to apologize, I'm shocked when she laughs. It rolls out of her, musical, gets louder and continues. Holding her stomach, she rolls to her back. "Oh, dear, we shall have to work on your control."
Lying beside her with my head propped on my hand, I look into those green eyes, and I'm lost. I tuck the wet curl on her cheek behind her ear. "I'm so damned attracted to you, Esme. It's hard to think of anything else."
Her laughter fades, and she cups my cheek. "You've been in my heart since long before I met you."
"Have I? In what way?" I thumb the water away from the soft skin under her eye.
She lifts her hand, and with a wave, warm air dries us both. "I read all about you in the paper and saw your portrait. I fantasized about the hero you might be. Then we met, and you are even more than my imagination conjured."
Being called a hero never appealed to me, but having her admiration makes the idea more bearable. "It's distracting from things more important, but I want to kiss you now more than I wish to draw my next breath."
Her chest lifts and falls with quick breaths. Desire courses through her eyes, and I don't need to use magic to feel her want. Maybe it is magic, I don't know. She lifts her head from the warm grass. "You should kiss me, as I can't resist, and honestly, it’s all I've wanted since meeting you."
"Will you believe me when I tell you my motives are honorable?" I let my lips ease an inch closer to hers.
She threads her fingers through my hair. "I believe all that is good about you, sweet William."
No man could resist the longing in her eyes, and I have no desire to push her away or keep her at arm’s length. Too much thinking at this moment is unpardonable. I lower until my mouth touches hers. Energy pulses around us, and the earth seems to vibrate. I nibble her bottom lip, and then her top. I press my tongue against the seam, and she opens for me.
Her fingers grip my hair while her other hand hugs around my back.
In the damp grass, I shift so my hip presses against hers and make love to her sweet mouth. Passion rises as our tongues slide against each other, over and over again.
I caress down the side of her breast to her waist, and then grip the swell of her hip. My shaft is rock hard, and I have to force some sense into my brain. Breaking the kiss, I spread light kisses on her cheeks. "I swear I have never wanted anyone as I want you, Esme. It's as if my control is lost whenever you are near. I'm a gentleman, you must believe me."
Gazing up at me, she looks like an angel. "I know you, and there is no need for you to defend yourself. I, too, have never felt so compelled to be near someone. I'm no virgin, William, nor do I randomly take lovers. I decided some years ago that lovers were more trouble than the pleasure is worth. Still, desiring you as I do is beyond my control."
Cupping her cheek, I kiss those full, mind-altering lips once more. "I don't know how this can be more than an affair, and I don't want that for you, or from you."
She smiles, but sorrow fills those eyes where I only wish to ever see joy. "Perhaps it's best to not think about the future. We have until you are trained."
Her mention of a time limit on my feelings sits me up. I face the pond, now still after my meddling. "And then we are to be strangers?"
"I hardly think that is possible." She presses her hand to my shoulder. "We are not strangers now."
My temper is rising, but none of this is her fault, so I have only myself to be angry with. I could rail at society, but who would care? "I am not the sort of man to dally with a woman."
"A dalliance is all we can hope for." She sighs. "You must act as your conscience demands, William. I want you and will not turn you from my bed. However, we also have a duty to our magic. You need to learn, and if Prudence is right, there is some purpose to your magic awakening at this time. Danger is coming, and we have limited time to train you as a witch. If making love with me will be a distraction, I think it best to keep our distance."