42: The Best Mage In Kreatier

Except Lady Higgins wasn't in her chambers. Or in the castle at all.

"Where did that damn old hag go," Philip muttered. His eyes suddenly lit up and he sighed.

"Did she leave again?" I asked.

He laughed dryly. "No she's back alright. She's just at her usual spot."

"And where's that?"

He winced and shook his head. "Sweet innocent Mo..."

"Philip!" I groaned.

He grinned as his gaze lingered on my face longer than I felt comfortable.

I squirmed and looked away. "What is it?"

He chuckled. "I love how you say my name."

"Philip," I growled.

He shrugged innocently. "Or maybe its just your voice."

I met his eye, shaking my head, not saying a word.

For the rest of the walk there, wherever it was Philip insisted Lady Higgins was, I refused to speak to Philip, lest he said more strange things.

Our journey halted before the entrance of a place I would never voluntarily step foot in, a brothel.

"Are you sure she's here?" I eyed Philip.

"If you've had this perfect image of the great and powerful head mage of Kreatier, then I hate to break it to you, but the woman's as horrid as the witch she is, and I don't mean the magical kind." He stepped forward, but I took his hand and held him back. He smirked as he looked from our hands to me. I dropped his hand immediately.

"I don't feel comfortable going in there," I murmured.

"Oh," he let out. "Why don't you wait for me out here then. Promise I'll be back in a jiffy."

I nodded and watched him leave behind the brothel doors. As I stood and waited, I was passed by drunk men who could hardly walk on their own two feet accompanied by young pretty women. What they would do and what they had done, I dreaded to even fathom. I didn't know why Lady Higgins, a woman of her stature, would ever step foot in such a place, but I only hoped she was fine.

As my wait prolonged, I became uneasy with the thought that something could have happened to Philip. And one of those things was him being sidetracked by some 'babe' as he would say. But just the thought of that made me feel uncomfortable in more ways than one. When did I become so used to him? When did he begin to matter so much to me? And when would I get my heart crushed when I lose him?

"Hi there, little lady," slurred a sweaty potbellied man, whose chest hair spilled out his shirt and whose awful breath I could smell even five feet away. He drew near to me, his eyes travelling shamelessly up and down my body. I stepped back, but my back hit the wall and I was trapped. Placing a hand on the wall beside my head, he blocked my path. He leaned towards me, a malicious grin stretched across his face. "How much you worth?"

A hand gripped his shoulder from behind and before I knew it, he was swiveling. Philip swung a fist that clashed with the man's jaw and knocked him to the ground.

In one step, he reached me, lifted my arms and took in every inch of my skin. "Did he touch you?" He demanded, his voice low and steady. His eyes dark and distant. I searched every crease of his countenance for the playful, flirty, Philip. His jaw locked. Fists clenched, he turned to the unconscious man.

"Philip," I said. And he froze.

A woman tripped and fell and exited the brothel, easily cutting the tension in the air. She was tall and fair-skinned, her brown hair cascading down her back in waves, dressed only in a robe, she walked with unsteady steps, eyes half-closed, muttering under her breath. Philip went over to her, threw her arm over his shoulder and held her up with a secure arm round her back.

I gulped and stepped forward. "Is this Lady Higgins?" I whispered.

Philip sighed. "The one and only."

"Is she alright?"

"She's just fine."

I gaped at the beautiful young woman who happened to be the best mage in Kreatier. Appearances are definitely deceiving.

"Younger than you thought she'd look?" Philip said, a small smile on his lips. The Philip I knew was back.

I nodded. "With all you've said so far, I was expecting someone older and well, less attractive."

"Well then you've also heard that she's a wicked old woman, who deceives young men into buying her a drink only to take advantage of them and feast on their hearts."

"No." I cringed.

"She uses magic to make herself look so much younger than she actually is. Such a spell is nothing when you're the head mage."

She squirmed, as her head hung forward.

"Keep still woman," Philip grunted.

Groaning, she rose her head, her eyes slowly prying open. Our gazes met and her eyes expanded. "You!" she shouted, pointing a finger at me as she leaned my way. She pushed Philip off and stepped towards me, tilting her head from side to side as she gawked at me. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh," I looked from her to Philip, silently requesting his assistance. He shrugged.

She poked my shoulder and that touch was enough to push me back. "Aren't you supposed to be with my best friend? Was she not enough for you!"

I raised my hands in surrender unsurely.

"I knew I never should have let her marry you! You no good bastard!" She went on. "She was the love of my life!" And then she began to fall face first when I caught her. She chuckled, as I held her forward by the arms. Her eyes fell to my cheeks, and her face creased. "What happened to your face? You look different, since I last saw you. When did you turn into a woman? And a strange looking one too?"

"Okay that's enough," Philip said. He took her arm but she pushed him away.

"I have some catching up to do with this dirty little bastard," Lady Higgins muttered. "Get away human mosquito."

"What did you just call me woman!" Philip demanded.

I placed her arm over my shoulders and circled an arm round her back. She made no objection.

"I think she likes you," Philip said, like one would say about a pet.

We began our journey back to the castle.

"What was she doing at the brothel?" I asked at the same time afraid of the answer.

"What is it that people do at brothels?"

I groaned. "Never should have asked."

From the corner of my eye I caught him smirking. "Thought you could handle it but obviously your innocent young mind, can't."

"We're almost the same age, don't treat me like a child," I grumbled.

"You sure you can carry her all the way back?" Philip asked and would ask for another three times before I snapped at him.

I managed to get to the castle without being driven mad by a certain grinning moron. We delivered Lady Higgins safely to her chambers, which seemed to have been visited by a tornado. After tucking her in bed we agreed to visit her again the next day when she was in the right state of mind. But as we were leaving, she murmured these chilling words, "why did you let her go? I trusted you, why did you let her die?"

We left with these unanswered questions hanging in the air, demanding our full attention.

"You wouldn't happen to know, who she could be talking about?" I said softly as Philip and I descended the spiraling staircase of her tower.

He remained silent for a moment. "I heard she was good friends with the queen since they were young."

"So, she thought I was..."

"The king," Philip finished. "Don't worry yourself over this, she says the most bizarre nonsense when she's drunk."

I hesitated to speak my thoughts. But the curiosity threatened to drive me mad. "Am I allowed to ask, how she passed?"

Philip stopped walking. "The queen passed many years before I became a king's guard, and a knight. Some say she was kidnapped. Some say she was assassinated. No one truly knows what happened to the queen. She just disappeared."

"Then could she still be alive?"

"The king would turn the kingdom upside down to find his wife. And that's what he did. It's said that her going missing was one of the things that drove him to attack Ogalsia and initiate the war. But it's been many years since and the king still hasn't found his wife."

What is love if not what gives us purpose? Some let love sway their judgement to the brink of their own conscience. Some will let the world burn for love. Some let themselves go completely when they lose love. Some will break all the rules for love. Some let love change them for the better. Some don't realize they have love till they lose it. Some live longing for love unaware of its brutal consequences. Love is beautiful but love also creates a fool.