Chapter 13: Sarah

Things were hectic once we got back.

We both had to learn new job roles. We meet for dinner each night, and Beth started joining me for practice in the morning. We’d kiss goodnight and have a cuddle but as I wasn’t pushing for sex and was happy to wait until after she had her next period, so she didn’t stay long.

Oh! Condoms were out. Apparently, she was allergic to the spermicide used in them and always ended up with rashes and thrush. Trust my girl to be one of the rare ones.

With her not staying over, I was able to disappear to the caves every night for the rest of the week. I had wondered how long the old mage had been working on making the magical items. I suspected it was a long time, even before he came here. So, I searched his older diaries for information, and I found that few of them did date back further than his time here on the island.

I learnt that he had been working on the magical items for most of his life as he had been trying to make them for his children and their partners. The two books I had been working from and the one I had that was called ‘Odd Spells’ were his oldest books because he had kept them in his mage’s box before he moved here.

He made mention of the fact that the making of magical items had been the privilege of Lord Wizards. He lamented that the wizards were gone. According to him, they had all disappeared about eight hundred years before he had been born.

He mentioned that he knew of about six other mage’s boxes in his youth, but he had no idea where in the world they were after he left Greece. He was angry that he hadn’t been able to retrieve his wife’s magical box or the items that he had previously made.

The Captain of his ship had spirited him off his island home when the Captain had found him dying from the wounds that he had received. He had been badly burnt when he tried to put the flames out that had been consuming his wife. The invaders had tied her to a stake and set her alight because they thought that she was a witch.

My predecessor made mention of the fact that mages could be killed more easily than wizards could. He had hoped that when he called his box that his wife’s box would come too, but it didn’t. They hadn’t been linked together. It was probably, still buried in the rubble on the island.

I wondered if at some time it would be worth going for a look to see if I could find the other box. I’d put that holiday on my, to do list. For now, I needed to learn enough to get Beth’s magical box, and her items of power finished. An interesting thing I had noticed since I had been working on her bling was that if I thought of her, then specific spells came to mind that I found I was putting in the items.

Beth’s gems were a diamond, an amethyst, a topaz and an opal. According to the books I had, she was a Lore Mage. I already knew she was smart, so this made sense to me. Her other gems, however, meant she could affect the weather, and she was linked to Nature magic. I might have to be careful if I got her cranky.

The other diadem I had, supported an opal, a diamond, a ruby and an amethyst. Our missing partner was a Nature Mage who could also manipulate liquids and energies. I had no idea what sort of job this person would do.

My best guess from what I had read was they would possibly do well in a medical profession or even the sciences. I thought of Paul. Being a plumber, he might do well with this bling, but I knew he wasn’t the person that we were looking for.

I’d had to grab Paul on the Tuesday after we got back to chat about my situation with Beth. I told him that I hadn’t discussed my sexual preferences with her yet, and since we were taking it slow. I didn’t feel right being with him if she didn’t know about it.

Paul said he understood and to be honest, he had been planning to talk to me to explain that he and Shorn had become a couple. I think we were both relieved to not have upset each other. If anything, we were even more comfortable with the other since we didn’t have any sexual expectations. We could just be good mates, and we did enjoy working together.

Paul was also fun to socialise with, as I loved his dry wit. Beth liked him straight of the bat, and he often joined our table with the other two couples, as I seemed to spend more time with them than I had before. David and Brandon both liked Paul, and he joining us wasn’t a problem, as they knew he had been my mate before he started here.

On the Thursday, I rang Ryan, and I told him I’d be home the following afternoon, and I was bringing a friend. His first question was male or female. I had to laugh and told him it was a she. Her parents also lived in Airlie, so she may not be staying with me. He was intrigued by this and said he couldn’t wait to meet her. We didn’t chat much longer since it was a work phone.

Beth and I headed back to Airlie Beach Friday morning.

I introduced Beth to my brother and my flatmates.

Nina had moved downstairs and in with Brian. I told Beth if she stayed over, she could have my old room. I think this surprised the others, but they didn’t say anything. I guess they thought she was another stray that I had picked up.

I reclaimed the keys to Snow and took Beth home. I was in for a surprise. When I drove up to the drive that she indicated, I smiled at her. “I know the lady who designed this house,” I said.

She looked at me in amazement. “Seriously, dad said she was wonderful to work with. Mum said he let her do what she wanted because dad was half in love with her. I think mum had a thing for her too, she gushed when they spoke about her.”

“Well, hopefully, Toni can control her effect on people a bit better now. As far as I know, she is still sleeping with Brian and Nina so you may meet her over the weekend,” I told Beth.

She looked at me with raised eyebrows, but I didn’t elaborate. I’m sure the others will fill her in if she asked. I considered my past an open book, and she had to want me warts and all. I can’t help the way I am. We hadn’t really talked about my bisexual nature in detail, but I had hinted at it several times in the previous week.

Beth had given me a strange look when I gave Shorn a hug and a kiss. I probably shouldn’t have kissed him on the lips. I told her he was Paul’s special friend, and she nodded in understanding. Shorn told her I had dragged a couple of hitch-hiker’s home and they hadn’t left. She made a comment that I seemed prone to rescuing strays and we had all chuckled.

Beth introduced me to her mum, and I had little trouble charming her. I could see some of her in Beth, but she didn’t make me think of my mum. Beth got her looks from her father. He reminded me of pictures of my mother’s father.

However, when Teresa and her mother told me a little family history, I couldn’t think of an immediate family connection to the Walshes. If we were related in any way, it was at least several generations back and/or across.

My dad said us Watsons were a diverse family and the Carpenters, my mother’s people, were just as bad. They had cousins and second cousins all over the country and in New Zealand. Teresa mentioned the Walsh family was similar.

I was invited to dinner and learned that Beth’s father, Graham, had been in the Army, but he was now retired. Eddie, Beth’s younger brother, was still serving his country and he was currently based in Townsville. Beth had done six years and had only been out a couple of months.

She had joined at seventeen and completed her degree courtesy of the Army. She had been an officer and worked in Procurement. It wasn’t surprising as to why Anne had offered her the job since she spent a lot of time doing a similar role.

I liked Beth’s people and told her so. I didn’t stay late and headed home. I spent a quiet night in as I didn’t wish to go to the bar the boys worked at, I was happy for some personal time. I spent a lot of the time studying my magical books, and I worked on my jewellery while I thought about the changes to me.

I decided that the old mage must have got a bit erratic towards the end. I found some interesting references to historical events and hurriedly scrawled spells that he must have written when they came to mind. These were some of the spells in the book he had titled, ‘Odd Spells’.

Some of them were interesting, but I couldn’t see any use for others, or I doubted that I had access to the ingredients he recommended. He had also used this book to put his odd thoughts, and he wrote about strange dreams that he didn’t want to put in his other diaries.

When I read the inscriptions, I had to smile and wondered if he had named the book as a pun, because it seemed to have an eclectic collection of spells and little stories that were not related, as if he’d had an ‘odd spell’ when he wrote them.

I finally learned his name at least. This had frustrated me because he hadn’t put it any of the other books. His name being Thyrsis was interesting to me as it could be a variant of my name, Tristan, as I rarely used my full name.

The fact we seemed to have a similar nature didn’t surprise me as we both had the same ability to claim the same mage’s box. I kinda liked the old mage and wondered if we were related way back in history and then thought that I was being a bit fanciful.

In his ‘Odd Spells’ book, Thyrsis had reminisced about his magic box and its history. I learnt that at one stage, a Lord Wizard had made magical boxes for the mages (they had three or four gemmed items) and novices (who had two or one gemmed items) in his family.

The wizard had, however, anchored the boxes to his castle and not told the others how to re-anchor them if they moved away and then died. This ensured the magical boxes returned to the wizard. Thyrsis has surmised that the wizard didn’t want them moving too far out of his influence.

Centuries later, when the new wizards and their families decided to leave Earth and their persecutors behind, they had caused an earthquake, and the beautiful cities they had created were reduced to dust when the magical shields that protected them exploded.

He didn’t seem to understand how the shields worked only that they had protected the cities and worked a little like the ones on the medallions. He went on to say that the survivors made their way to the Lord’s Castle that was supposed to have its own special defence inside the larger shield.