Divided against Yourselves (Spell Weaver) (18 page)

“Since Carla is in a coma anyway, it would not be hard to substitute an illusion of some kind.”

I couldn’t really say I liked the idea, but it did have some merit. Right now, all Morgan needed to do was assemble strong enough casters, and she could awaken Carla herself—and make sure Alcina got the upper hand. True, Vanora had warded the hospital and I had warded Carla’s room, but Morgan would keep picking away at the defenses once she discovered them, and she would have the luxury of picking away at them full-time if necessary.

“What do we do with Morgan once she realizes she’s been deceived?”

“That’s still a work in progress,”
thought Nurse Florence cautiously.
“But that’s going to be a problem no matter what we do with Carla—unless we do exactly what Morgan wants.”

I shifted uneasily in my chair.
“How do we get Carla to Wales?”

“Water portals would be too tricky with someone in Carla’s condition. We’d have to use Annwn.”

I raised an eyebrow at that.

“I know, I know, that isn’t ideal, but Vanora is working on securing Gwynn’s permission to use his territory. If we calculate the route correctly, we can travel from Santa Barbara to Wales without ever leaving his territory. You, Vanora and I, plus the guys and a few of Gwynn’s warriors should be enough of a force to keep routine menaces away.”

I nodded. Gwynn ap Nudd, the king of the Welsh faeries, respected me and the guys and did regular business with Nurse Florence’s Order, so he’d probably be willing to give us safe conduct and protection. Still, the idea of carrying Carla that distance, even through the relatively flexible geography of Annwn, was daunting. Then again, what other options did we have?

“I don’t like it, but it may be our best bet. If Vanora gets Gwynn’s support, let’s go ahead.”

“OK,” replied Nurse Florence, switching back to voice. “You’d better go, Tal; your next class is starting soon.”

My mind wasn’t much on school for the rest of the day. I did try to pull myself together for the soccer game, mostly because I would catch hell from Dan, our team captain, if I didn’t. Soccer games, since my parents usually came, were also occasions during which I had to at least appear to be happy and untroubled. I had put my parents through too much already; I owed it to them not to create more worries for them if I could possibly help it.

Fortunately, today’s opponents, Saint David’s Episcopalian High School, weren’t exactly strong opponents, so the fact that I was a little off my normal game wasn’t even noticeable. Dan was brilliant, as he always was, the team as a whole performed well, and Saint David’s never knew what hit them. OK, so I did actually fumble a relatively simple pass to Dan at one point, and he noticed, but he knew what kind of problems I had on my mind. OK, so one of my chip passes almost hit one of the Saint David’s players in the head instead of going above it. Even the Saint David’s coach said it was obviously accidental. OK, so one of my attempts at interception only ended up shifting the ball to another Saint David’s player. OK, so I wasn’t likely to be MVP at this rate. OK, so Coach Morton must have been beginning to wonder if putting me on varsity after four years of not playing soccer was really such a smart move after all.

Frankly, as long as I could somehow take care of Carla and Stan, and at some point my newly psychic mother, I couldn’t care less what happened on the soccer field. Well, that wasn’t quite true. I didn’t want to let the other guys down, and on those rare occasions when I didn’t have fourteen different things to worry about simultaneously, I actually enjoyed soccer; it reminded me of the old days, when I could just be a normal kid.

I really hadn’t paid too much attention to the stands today, but I did look around a little as the game was ending. Predictably, there were my parents, sitting as always with Mr. and Mrs. Rinaldi, and naturally Gianni. It took me a minute to recognize that the other kid sitting next to Gianni was
Khalid
, but not the ragged thief from yesterday. Instead, he was clearly wearing part of his new Sassani wardrobe. Even from a distance, he looked like a commercial for one of the exclusive clothing stores on Rodeo Drive. If Mrs. Sassani wanted to pass him off as Shar’s cousin, she was certainly doing a good job.

I remembered that Gianni had already met him, which probably explained why Khalid was sitting with Gianni’s family. Then I realized abruptly that Khalid’s earlier meeting with Gianni was problematic, since Khalid was pretending to be Shar’s just-arrived cousin. However, the two of them were chatting happily, so I had to assume that Khalid must have given Gianni some plausible explanation. Anyway, there was time enough to worry about that little glitch later.

Sitting some distance away from them was Eva O’Reilly, once my girlfriend, but Dan’s for the last four years. She was still every bit the strawberry-blond sex goddess she had always been, but I no longer felt a throbbing ache when I looked at her. Ever since I had fallen in love with Carla, my feelings for Eva had dissipated like thin smoke in a high wind. Oh, we were still friends, and she was one of the few people who had been through Samhain with us and therefore knew my secret, but there was no longer any possibility of a romantic entanglement that could jeopardize my ability to work with—and remain friends with—Dan. When she saw me looking in her direction, she gave me a friendly wave, mercifully oblivious to all the turmoil she had caused me just a few weeks ago. I waved back, knowing that at least I didn’t need to worry about her any more.

Then I froze. Sitting only a short distance from Eva was a familiar figure in white samite with pale skin and long, lustrous black hair.

Yeah, that’s right—Morgan Le Fay herself…and drawing quite a bit of attention, I might add. Morgan was good at many things, but clearly disguising herself as a soccer mom was not one of them. By now I would have thought Morgan would at least dress modern for public appearances like this, but apparently not. Well, at least some of the soccer dads were getting a cheap thrill out of the situation.

She winked and blew a kiss at me. Dan trotted over to me as soon as he noticed her.

“Is that who I think it is?” he asked worriedly.

“I’m afraid that’s exactly who you think it is, and the way my luck is running, she’s either here to kill someone or to force herself on me in the showers.”

Dan raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like there is a story I haven’t heard yet, but that can wait. What do you want us to do about it? Did you summon the rest of the guys?”

“She hasn’t really done anything yet, and we can’t go into combat mode with an audience like this. I’m afraid the next move is going to have to be hers.”

At that point most of the other players were heading for the locker room, and Coach Morton was headed my way, no doubt to tell me to get my head in the game. As it turned out, I was right, and the coach distracted me from watching the stands for a minute. When I looked back up, I saw to my horror that Morgan had walked over and introduced herself to the Rinaldis and my parents.

Quickly I adjusted my eyes and ears for greater acuteness. The introductions among the adults would have sounded mundane if I had not known the context, except for Morgan’s interesting explanation of her unorthodox style of dress. Morgan presented herself as a recent immigrant from the small European nation of Cymru. Within the group she was talking to, only my parents might have recognized Cymru as the Welsh name for Wales, but they didn’t seem to pick up on that. Morgan had a fifth-century Celtic accent that would not be recognizable even to my parents, despite their Welsh ancestry.

Mrs. Rinaldi, who would have tried to make a leper feel welcome if one had shown up at the game, launched into a discourse about how her parents and her husband’s parents had all immigrated to the United States, so she knew a little bit about how that situation felt, and she would be happy to show Morgan around any time, maybe go shopping for some American-style dresses—oh, and really, Morgan simply must come over for dinner some time soon.

While Morgan was feigning interest in Mrs. Rinaldi’s friendly banter, I glanced over at my mom, who was not looking friendly at all. In fact, she had taken a step or two away from where Morgan was standing. Her expression, if not actually fearful, was profoundly uneasy. My dad hadn’t noticed yet, but I was betting Morgan would notice if she looked in that direction, and the last thing I needed was Morgan realizing that my mom was developing some magical ability.

Dan had maneuvered over to the fence separating the stands from the field, ostensibly to talk to Eva, but really to be closer to Morgan if the situation required it. Shar, whom I hadn’t noticed earlier, had appeared from somewhere; probably he had come to give Khalid a ride home and spotted Morgan. Of Khalid himself, there was no sign. Since he had been trying to avoid Morgan, he had probably taken off as soon as she moved in his direction.

It would have been harder to play soccer while wearing a sword, so Dan and I had left ours in the locker room, but I now realized that might have been a mistake. Shar was armed, though, and Zom was the most effective weapon against Morgan we had. He had inserted himself into the group Morgan was chatting with and had his hand on his sword, a clear enough signal to Morgan that the group was under his protection, and by extension, under mine. Of course, Morgan knew that. I was sure her presence was a none-too-subtle threat.

I did a quick mental check. Gordy and Stan were still in wrestling practice, and Carlos was still in swim practice. I sent them a quick message that Morgan was in the stands near the soccer field and that they should come as quickly as they could. I also sent a quick SOS to Nurse Florence. Then, not waiting for her response, I went through the gate and up into the stands, nominally to say hello to my parents, but really to find out what Morgan was up to.

Morgan feigned surprise when she saw me approach. “Why, isn’t that Taliesin Weaver? I have heard so much about him.” My dad looked pleased; my mom, something close to horrified; her maternal instincts, now magically reinforced, were clearly sounding the alarm.

Faking courtesy, I extended a hand and said, “Pleased to meet you, Ms.—?”

She took my hand, playing with my palm in a flirtatious way nobody else could see. “Call me Morgana, Taliesin.”

“What brings you here, Morgana?” I asked in my best innocent tone.

“I have family in the area. I came for a visit and thought I should try to experience some of America while I was here.”

Dan had tipped off Eva that something was up, and now he was moving in our direction. Eva had taken off, possibly to get help. Without even looking, I could feel Nurse Florence getting closer.

“I have to say,” continued Morgan, “that the people here are so friendly, I’ll definitely stay until I’ve really had time to do some catching up with my family.” Translation: Until you give me Alcina, or at least agree to try, you’ll never have a moment’s peace, because I will find ways to threaten everyone you care about.

“What is she doing here?”
Nurse Florence’s thoughts resounded in my head. It was risky to communicate mentally with Morgan so near, since she could conceivably overhear, but I could feel that Nurse Florence was “broadcasting” very narrowly, targeting just me, so I did the same.

“As near as I can tell, making clear how much I have to lose if I don’t do what she wants.”

“What do you want to do?”

“There isn’t much we can do as long as she’s surrounded by innocent bystanders. I guess the short answer is get her alone.”

“Taliesin,” said Morgan loudly. “Is your mind wandering? I was just asking what you were going to do this afternoon. I thought perhaps you could give me a tour of the high school. I’ve never seen an American high school.”

“I’m sorry, Morgana, but I’m afraid I can’t today. I have…things to do.”

“Taliesin visits our daughter, Carla, every day,” said Mrs. Rinaldi. “She’s in a coma. He comes every day, without fail. He is an angel.” Normally I would be embarrassed by Mrs. Rinaldi gushing about me. Today I was too stressed-out to worry about it.

Morgan eyed me appraisingly. “Yes…an angel is exactly what he seems to be.” Gianni giggled a little at that, as if he had somehow picked up on her ironic undertone.

“Well, angel,” continued Mrs. Rinaldi, “I think Carla would want you to show this nice stranger around and make her feel welcome.”

“I’m sure Tal would be more comfortable giving the tour some other time,” interjected my mom, much more firmly than she normally would have. I glanced over in her direction and could tell she had realized that Morgan was the source of her uneasiness.

“Actually, another day might be better,” I cut in quickly, hoping to distract Morgan from my mom.

“Another day it is then,” replied Morgan. “But I will hold you to that.”

With the exception of my mom, none of the adults seemed interested in bringing this conversation to an end. That all changed with the sudden arrival of Vanora, playing Carrie Winn as usual. Just like Ceridwen before her, Vanora swept in, and all adult attention focused on her. She chatted for a few minutes with the Rinaldis and my folks, to Morgan’s obvious irritation, then introduced herself to Morgan and invited her on a tour of the city! As an exercise in turning the tables, that was pretty neat. Morgan could hardly refuse the invitation, though it would separate her from all the innocent bystanders she wanted to continue toying with.