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‘But what about now?’ I asked. ‘It’s all right me going back to the seventeenth century and reassuring the fae of that time, but how do I reassure them here in the twenty-first century?’
‘You show them the sword, and you tell them the witch has been returned to his own time, without either of the keys. Simple.’
‘And that will be enough?’
‘For most witches and fae, yes. The Pendragons, of course, are a different kettle of fish, but what you must hope is that support for their cause will rapidly ebb away when you produce evidence of who you are, and they’ll crawl off back under the rock they came from.’
‘And if it doesn’t?’
He sighed. ‘Then we’ll think again. But I’m not worried about that, and neither should you be. One step at a time, eh, Wulfram?’
‘I suppose.’ I sipped coffee and watched as he expertly drew an outline on the piece of wood. ‘This must bring back some awful memories for you,’ I said sympathetically.
He hesitated. ‘You mean Meri? You could say that.’
‘You must miss her a lot,’ I said. ‘I’m sorry. We haven’t really had chance to talk about any of this, but how are you doing? Really, I mean.’
He lifted his head and I saw a sheen of tears in his eyes. ‘Thank you very much for asking,’ he said gently. ‘I appreciate that. It’s been tough. Some days are worse than others. You’re right. I do miss her a lot and I don’t suppose I’ll ever stop missing her.’
‘She was a remarkable woman,’ I agreed.
‘She was. A woman who was far braver than she realised.’ He bit his lip, remembering. ‘Life, though, is full of hellos and goodbyes. Maybe one day I’ll get to see her again. Who knows? One day.’
He leaned against the work bench, suddenly looking shattered.
‘You’re tired,’ I said.
He managed a short laugh. ‘Tired? Oh, Wulfram, you have no idea. I’m exhausted. But on we go, eh? There’ll be time to rest when this is over.’
‘Will it ever be over?’
He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again.
‘Emrick?’
‘I don’t know,’ he said honestly. ‘Can we ever really know? I hope and pray that, once the sword and keys are found, there’ll be peace at last. But I suspect there’ll always be someone or something trying to stir up trouble. It’s the way of the world. Not just our world, mind. If you ever watch the news you’ll see humans are pretty adept at making a huge mess of things, too. I think there’ll always be something we have to watch out for. Still,’ he gave me a wry grin, ‘it’s a job, right?’
I laughed. ‘I suppose so. I hope…’ I trailed off, not wanting to offend him.
‘Go on,’ he said. ‘What do you hope?’
‘I was going to say, I hope you meet someone else. Someone who can make you as happy as Meri made you. You’re still only quite young. I mean, what are you, mid-fifties? You could meet someone and spend the rest of your life with her. I’m sure Meri wouldn’t mind that. She wouldn’t want you to be lonely.’
He put both hands on the work bench and leaned on it, as if needing the support. He was quiet for a long moment, and I wondered anxiously if I’d upset him.
‘Meri saved me,’ he said at last. ‘I’d been lonely for such a long, long time, Wulfram. I never expected to meet anyone who would change that. She saw through the madness—because, believe me, at times I thought Iwasgoing mad—and gave me hope, a home, and love. I don’t expect to ever have that again. I don’t believe I could be that lucky three times.’
‘Three times?’ I gasped. ‘You mean, there was someone else before Meri?’
‘Oh yes. And I loved her fiercely. But I lost her, and that’s why I was lonely. Meri was a miracle. I’ve had my share of love, and I can’t ask for more than that. I’ve been blessed. Now I focus on other things. I leave romance to other people.’
‘That seems—’ I’d been about to say it seemed like a shame, but at that moment Keely arrived in the barn.
‘You’d better come to the house,’ she said. ‘The Castle Clair lot are here and so are the High Council members. They say they’ve got news for us, and it sounds serious.’
I grabbed her arm, still not confident about my zapping abilities, and we all headed straight back to the house, wondering what had happened now.
Kendrew, Amlodd and Aveta were in the living room, but had apparently refused to be seated, preferring to stand as they gazed round at us all, looking distinctly nervous.
