Page 67 of Magic Touch
"Was there anything else before you awoke on the bank?" Prudence's voice is kind and soft.
"As I told Esme, there was a voice telling me that it was not yet my time, and I should return. My chest screamed with pain, and I expelled the water."
Prudence and Esme both look concerned.
"What don't I know?" I ask.
Esme says, " Goddess does not often speak to anyone. I also heard her yesterday. When I prayed for her not to take you, she told me that it was not she who had tried. In my life, I have prayed to Goddess thousands of times, and it was the first time she answered."
"And you think that means something of note is about to happen." My chest tightens.
"We should return to Windsor by week's end." Prudence stands and places her hands on the table. "Whatever is going to happen, and whoever is behind it, does not want you there."
"I'm not ready to do battle with a witch, good or evil." I don't disagree with Prudence's assessment, but doing no good and getting killed doesn't sound that great to me.
She raises her hands helplessly. "It cannot be helped. Now is when this is happening. You will have to rely on the ability to see and make the outcome you want."
My stomach twists and I wish I hadn't eaten so much. I rise, and with a bow, leave the room.
Tired from caring for me, Esme said goodnight two hours ago and went to bed early. My mind is too full to think about sleep. The entire house is abed as I enter my room. I wish Esme had gone to sleep in my room, but the bed is empty.
As much as I want to hold her and make love with her, I respect that if she wanted me, I would have found her in my room. Her rest is more important.
Sliding between the sheets, I yawn and close my eyes. Sleep is about to take me when I'm slammed with fear and anger. My heart races, and I sit up.
Even though I feel as if I'm on the battlefield staving off an attack, there's no danger present in my room, and I'm not dreaming.
I get up and push my mind outward, as Esme taught me, looking for the approach of an enemy.
Esme's mind bursts through, screaming, but I can't make out the words.
Before the full image can form in my mind, I'm running from my room. Her door is locked, so I kick in the heavy wood, and it crashes to the floor.
Esme and Trina are in a kind of bubble around Esme's bed. Trina is holding a silver-handled knife in both hands, the tip pointing toward Esme's chest.
Fighting back, Esme holds Trina's wrist.
They both appear to be screaming, but nothing permeates the bubble.
I pound on the bubble, to no avail. "Esme!"
Remembering what Prudence said about seeing the outcome, I think of the bubble only around Trina. "Let her protection from outside become her prison. With no escape to see, as I will, so mote it be."
The bubble flashes red then blue. Trina glows with a red aura inside her prison. Her weapon falls to the mattress.
I push the cage away from the bed and pull Esme into my arms. "Are you hurt?"
Henry, Anne, Samuel, and Prudence stand at the door.
From outside, Simon jumps through the window and hisses at Trina.
Prudence, in a voluminous nightgown, sits on the opposite side of the bed and pulls Esme from my arms. "What happened?" She runs her hands over Esme's body looking for wounds.
Catching her breath, Esme says, "She had an athame and was about to strike when I woke. My magic was dampened by whatever she had around us. I'm sure it was meant to hide what was happening from the house." She turns to me. "How did you know?"
"I felt as if I was back on the battlefield. My heart raced with terror. When I realized it wasn't in my room, I looked for you, and you were there but apart." I don't care about the audience. I pull her back into my embrace.
Prudence's hair is in a long plait, swinging over her shoulder, and she picks up the athame. She stands and studies Trina in the cage. "How did you do this, William?"
