Hilda - The Challenge (28 page)

"Who does he think he is," she told off one
of the trees, "the guy can barely hold on to a broom and he is
telling me about how to go against Lamador. Hah! Everyone knows
that you play by the rules." Her rant went on until she got a tweak
of severe worrying. It hit her so hard and deep that she stood
still and stopped yelling.

Hilda looked around and bit her lip for a
moment. All her anger was forgotten. William seriously worried
about her! "Argh... that man is getting to me too much! Now he
worries about me and I can't even ignore it! Crappedy crap!" She
grabbed her broom, walked over to the only spot from where she
could fly away and lifted off, heading for home.

The witch circled over the house. William's
broom was there, against the wall, so he couldn't be far away. She
landed, put her broom next to the one already there and entered the
house. There she found William staring at his own crystal ball.
"So, what are you trying to do?"

William had not heard her come in and jumped
up as he heard the sudden sound. In a reflex his wand appeared.
Then he saw who had come in. "Hilda!" He walked over to her,
quickly, his wand disappearing. The emotion that flowed from him
nailed her to the ground, so she was wrapped in arms before she
realised what was going on.

"Hey, whoa, that's enough for now, okay? You
had me worried sick when you couldn't find me!"

"No, really, how about that? I come home,
you're not here. What should I do? Sit down and read a book?"
William put his hands on her shoulder and held her tight.

Hilda looked at the hands.

William didn't care and held them where they
were. "Hilda, please listen. I do not want another fight. You know
how I feel about you, and I know how you feel about me. We're not
seeing things about Lamador in the same way, but let's forget that
for now, okay? Just for the evening."

"Hmmf," was her reaction. "And then what,
tomorrow? We start this all over again?"

William's hands moved from her shoulders to
her face. "No, silly witch. We will work out something that will
work for both of us."

Hilda covered his hands with her own.
"William, please, I don't feel-"

That was all she could say before his lips
prevented her lips from saying more. After a while she started
tapping him on the shoulder, and he broke the kiss. "Man, are you
trying to suffocate me?" The blue sparkles in her eyes told him
that she meant something entirely else.

"No. I couldn't.'

"Can't you try?", she asked, reaching up and
locking her fingers behind his neck. "You know... when we were
shouting at each other before... I never felt something like that
before. That I would have someone who loved me enough to scream at
me. Nobody dares that."

"Perhaps Babs does," William grinned as he
lifted her up in his arms.

"Babs is different," she grinned. Those were
the last words that were spoken in the living room, as soon after
that they were in the bedroom. They did not come out anymore that
day, leaving it to the house to close up.

The next morning William and Hilda both woke
up hungry. Not eating the evening before proved to be a dumb idea.
Arguing about who was going to make breakfast, they came down the
stairs. In the end they were side by side in the kitchen and
breakfast was done very quickly.

Once at the table, William frowned at Hilda's
teacup. "One of the fish is gazing at me again," he said.

"The other one is keeping its eyes on me,"
Hilda reported from her side of the cup.

"Any idea what they want?"

Hilda shook her head. "I know what I want.
Some of that coffee of your world."

William nodded. "I could do with some of that
too." A slight wrinkle travelled over his forehead. "You know...
maybe... now I have this..." -his wand appeared in his hand- "...I
might give it a try."

"I like that idea. I would also like it if
you try it first." She smiled her sweetest smile.

"Okay."

"Let me help you," she said. A cup of hot
water appeared before William. "It is easier to transform something
than to make it materialise."

William grinned. He pointed his wand and
thought of coffee. With cream. The liquid in the cup turned brown.
Surprise on his face showed he had not really expected it to work.
Carefully he took a sip. "Uhm... almost right."

"What's wrong with it?" Hilda already reached
out for the cup.

"It looks like coffee. That's all." The stuff
tasted like hot water.

Hilda grinned. "That is a problem, you have
to consider every aspect."

"I'll try this again then..." William closed
his eyes and let his mind drift back to the best coffee he had ever
had. As he almost felt it in his mouth, he let his wand do the
work. Seconds later the smell of coffee drifted up to his nose.

"Oh!"

The sound made him open his eyes. What he saw
was Hilda holding the cup of coffee and smelling its contents, a
blissful smile on her face.

She sipped some and then her face was a
picture of happiness. "You made coffee!" She snipped her fingers
and made a second cup with hot water appear. "For you," she said,
smiling.

With a grin he repeated the process. This
time it was easier, he found, and soon he too was enjoying some
coffee. Real coffee.

"Oh! Finished already!" Hilda stared at the
cup. She put it down in front of William. "Will you make me more?",
she asked, batting her eyes at him.

He made her more coffee.

After breakfast and a lot of coffee, Hilda
sat at her crystal ball and alerted all available witches in the
area about what had happened to Fidelma. They all were shocked
about what was generally accepted as Lamador's behaviour, but not
surprised. Everyone promised to keep a lookout for the missing
girl.

Without high hopes for the girl's return,
Hilda turned to William who was at the table, reading a book.
"Well, they know now. Some asked about you and me also. Urgh."

"And what did you tell them to that?" William
had a suspicion.

"That it's none of their bloody
business."

The wizard in training nodded. That was Hilda
on high defense and also giving away that there definitely was
something about her and William. "I assumed so much," he said.

"And what are you doing?", Hilda asked as she
came over and leaned on his shoulder. "Oh, studying again. Good
little wizard. Do you think you have time to come and do the rounds
with me?"

"I am sure I can find some time for that,"
William grinned.

The flight around part of the kingdom was
good. Nothing remarkable happened. They tried to find a few traces
of Fidelma, but as they had nothing to start with, that was doomed
to fail. They did try it though, as sometimes dumb luck could throw
something in one's lap. Dumb luck, however, had a day off.

As they were on their way home, Hilda said:
"You know, I am almost getting some confidence in you becoming
somewhat of a wizard."

William almost dropped from his broom over
this sudden and unexpected compliment from his witch. "Why thank
you, sweetheart. I am glad that I am at least living up to the
lower limits of your expectations."

She gave him the look. "Normal words,
William. Normal words will do. But yes, I am a bit proud of your
progress." Hilda allowed herself to think that perhaps the
challenge might not be the total loss she had originally thought it
would be. With William's help, the way he was improving lately,
they might even last longer than just the time it took to enter the
labyrinth. She was scared to share that with William though. She
was afraid that he would start to feel too confident. It also
worried her that she was actually beginning to rely on him. She was
the witch who had handled her life herself all the time, and
now...

"I really wish there were a library here,"
William sighed, after they had come home.

"Oh?" Hilda pushed herself into his lap. "Am
I becoming boring already?"

William, his arms having a mind of their own
and slipping around Hilda, shook his head. "No, you don't have to
worry about that, sweetwitch. For now I am still tensing up when
you jump around or so. You and boring do not go together."

"Good. I have to know that. Tell me that
every day." Hilda pressed her lips on his forehead. "So why the
library?"

"The labyrinth. Gurthreyn's labyrinth. It
keeps bugging me that we know nothing about that place and the man
who built it. Or designed it."

"Oh. That again. Didn't I show you? It is a
spooky place, one that transforms itself." A shiver ran down her
back, and she was unable to catch it.

William sensed it. "It must really be bad,"
he said as he pulled her closer for a moment.

"Yes." Hilda struggled herself from his arms
and got up again. She did not want him to know she felt vulnerable
about that. Not more than he already did, anyway. She sat down on
the other side of the table. "There is a library."

William waited, his face showing what he
hoped to be an invitation for her to go on.

"It is in the castle of the king. We could go
there and have a look around."

"After asking him if it is okay, I
assume?"

"No," Hilda said. "After telling him we want
to have a look around."

"Oh." William was not used to that approach,
but if it worked, why not?

"You really believe that will do some good,
don't you?" Hilda rested her head in her hands.

"I do. I know about the power of knowledge in
written things, when used in the proper way."

She considered his words. "Right. I suggest
we change into something impressive then, and pay Walt a
visit."

"Impressive stuff?" William wondered.

Hilda looked William over. She had supplied
him with an amazing outfit. It was dark blue, leaning towards
black. Again there was silver on it, in patterns that were
confusing when looked at too long. It consisted of a kind of tunic
with a jerkin over it, both the same dark velvet, and a very fancy
kind of baggy trousers. The jerkin stood out as it had no silver
embroidery on it. Black kneehigh socks and black shoes with silver
clasps completed the outfit. Over his arm he held the black hooded
cloak.

"Yes, you'll do just fine. How do I look?"
Hilda turned around for him. She wore her favourite impressive
bloodred dress that went up high to the neck. It had small white
lacy frizzles around the neck. The dress looked as if it had a hoop
at the bottom, or a stunning amount of petticoats. Her cloak was
the same colour red.

"You look breathtaking, Hilda. Really."
William meant it. He could look at her for hours.

"Shiny. Come on then, hop hop." She winked at
him and walked to the opening door. Her broom came running after
her, a trick William still had not yet mastered.

The dressed-up man stared after her as he
held out his hand and made his broom fly into it. "Impossible," he
grinned. "I'll never figure her out."

"Ohh!! He loves me!," he heard Hilda's voice
chime as she picked up the feeling he had for her as it washed
through him.

"And does that in any way affect you?",
William asked as he came outside.

"Of course not," Hilda said, her nose in the
air and her feet still on the ground. "I am the resident witch,
remember?"

He took the resident witch in his arms and
kissed her, disabling the unaffectable part of her for the
duration.

"If you have messed up my dress, William, you
will pay for it," she said when she was not affected anymore.

He looked at her. "Keep your cool,
sweetwitch, you look fine."

She grinned. "Good. Come, we'll go see Walt.
Maybe he has a bottle of wine for us."

"Uhm? Does he supply you with goodies also?"
William recalled the cart with groceries that had been delivered by
the villagers.

"No!! He is the king. He likes to give
presents." Hilda flashed him a big smile. "His wine is so good, you
wouldn't believe it. I sometimes drink it pure..." A blush appeared
on her cheeks. "Come, hop, hop. Let's go and see the king about the
wine -eh- the library."

They mounted the brooms and gently lifed off,
floating away towards the castle.

Hilda did not feel like racing. Calmly they
flew along, with her pointing out things in the area that she
usually had no time for. "See the strange lump of stone over there?
That used to be a fortress. I don't remember who built it, but I
have heard it belonged to a very brave knight."

There were rivers with beautoful names like
Troubled River and Moon River that had legends attached to their
origins. They passed over a forest with black trees which was aptly
called the Black Forest, and that also had a long story dedicated
to it. Hilda gave him the telegram-versions of each, as they did
want to make it to the castle that day, but William enjoyed the
stories.

"I hope that someday you will have the time
to tell me the stories the way they really are."

"Maybe. I am not such a good story-teller,"
she said, shaking her hair back and making it fly in the wind. "Oh,
there it is."

William had already seen the highest tower of
the castle appear behind the mountainous hilltop.

Hilda threw William by landing in front of
the castle gate, the official entrance. No harrassing guards, no
screaming or flipping over walls. Instead of all the fun stuff,
they walked to the guards, brooms bobbing behind them.

"We would like to see the king," said
Hilda.

William had never heard her like that. He
wondered what other surprises would be waiting for him.

"You're kidding me, aren't you?", the guard
asked.

"No. We want to see the king, and if you
don't find a way to announce us, we'll handle that ourselves. Suck
an elf, the guards here aren't only out of shape, they also appear
to be severely retarded." She pushed her way past the man with the
partly iron outfit.