Chapter 3
No one in the history of Seibjerg was more surprised than Rhys when he woke up lying on a lawn surrounded by tall, whitewashed buildings. Judging by the surroundings, it looked like he was in the courtyard of an aristocratic castle. He looked around and saw Jade and Katarina waking up and similarly looking around. They were all dressed in white gowns with bare feet. The sky above their heads was blue, and a gentle wind blew the warm air around.
"Is this the Land of the Ancestors?" he wondered aloud. "Am I dead, and my spirit has come here?"
A strange voice laughed. "Not your ancestors, anyway." Rhys looked around again. An older man was standing in the doorway to one of the buildings. If ever there was a person who looked like an archetypal wizard, this was him. He had a long grey beard with a red cap and gown. In Rhys's imagination, the only thing missing was his gown's star and planet motifs. And a wand.
Katarina, Jade, and Rhys were now on their feet, moved together, and put their arms around each other, hugging tightly. The older man approached and cleared his throat. The group hug broke up, and they looked at him.
"I expect you have questions?" he asked.
The three new arrivals looked at one another. "No kidding!" exclaimed Jade.
The older man sat on the grass, crossing his legs before him. The other three did the same. "My name is Cadellin Wildwood", he said. "And I am or was, Katarina's great-great-grandfather. I had a dalliance with one of my servants, Katarina's great-great-grandmother. This," - he waved his hands around him - "was part of my gift to our daughter and all her descendants."
"Where are we? Are we dead?" Jade asked.
"To answer your second question first, no, you're not dead. You were a heartbeat from being dead, but Katarina brought you all here instead."
"I brought them here?" asked Katarina in wonder.
"The way to this place lives within you and has done all your life," Cadellin said. "The problem has been that you didn't know it existed and therefore didn't know how to find it. I sense that your friends here have talent. So do you, young Katarina, but that will all be revealed. Jade channelled the natural flux from this world; Rhys focussed it; Katarina provided somewhere to go. It took all three of you to save yourselves and to, ah, travel here."
"Where are we?" asked Rhys.
"That is a difficult concept to explain but one you will learn," said Cadellin. "Put simply, you're in a place parallel to your familiar world. A different plane of existence, if you like. This is the place where magic comes from. Everyone with magical talent has a connection to here, of one type or another. Katarina has a special connection to this specific part of the plane because I created it for her family. You and Jade have a more general connection that drives your talents. You both inherited connections from one or both of your parents, just as Katarina inherited a specific connection to this, her family home, from her mother.
"But now that you've found your way to the magical plane, your connections here have strengthened. Jade, you'll find you can channel and store flux better than before and even focus it, although you'll never be as good at it as Rhys. The ring he wears helps him, too. Rhys, you'll be able to channel and store flux better, but you'll never be close to Jade's talent. And finally, my little Katarina, you now can do both. And now, all three of you can find your way back here whenever you like. It will no longer need you almost to die." He laughed at his joke.
"My dear Katarina, you're from my line and already have some of my talent. But I will show you how to use it and increase its effectiveness. Please sit behind Jade and put your hands on her shoulders. Jade, could you please hold your hair on top of your head?"
Both women did as he asked, and Rhys shuffled around so he could better see what was happening. He noticed that Jade had a mark on her neck hidden by her hair. Cadellin was now kneeling behind Katarina but didn't touch her.
"Katarina, touch Jade's bare shoulder, please. Concentrate now!" said Cadellin quietly.
"Oh, my goodness," squeaked Katarina, "I can feel her heartbeat." She closed her eyes and frowned as she concentrated. "And she has a badly healed break in her left arm!"
"Jade," asked Cadellin, "can you send her some flux, please? It's her first time healing, so your power will help her. Katarina, can you feel that?" Katarina nodded. "Now concentrate again on her arm. Imagine the old break is as strong and smooth as the rest of her bone. Good, good. Jade, can you feel anything?"
"My arm's sort of tingling, like it does when I lie on it too long?" she said.
"Good, good," said Cadellin. "Well done, Katarina, that was excellent for a first try. Now, on your own, please remove her slave tattoo. This might be harder since the tattoo is imbued with magic from when it was created, but you should be able to manage it with help from Jade's flux. All you need do is concentrate on it and imagine it has gone."
Rhys watched Jade's neck closely and saw the symbols of her tattoo start to swirl and fade until her neck looked like the tattoo had never been there.
"And now, Katarina, while Jade is still sending flux, the tattoo on your neck." Rhys had only just noticed that she no longer wore her steel collar. Katrine concentrated again. "Good, good," said Cadellin, "Well done, Katarina, for an excellent first attempt. You will make a great healer if you practise. And practise you should. If you're unsure, think of me, and I'll help from here.
"Now," he went on, "Rhys and Jade. I know of your recent actions and how you extracted Katarina from that sinking ship. Without her connection here, you'd all have died in the sea anyway, but, as they say, the thought counts. So, you're welcome back to House Wildwood whenever you like. And when the time comes, I'll show you how to build a home on the magical plane for yourselves. They don't teach you that in university.
"You may have wondered if we four are the only people here. The answer is 'no'. Most of Katarina's relatives who have left your world are close by.
"That building is for your use while you're here." He indicated a low single-story house. "And it'll stay that way for as long as you want it.
"I'd be grateful if you'd allow me to take Katarina to meet her great-great-grandmother, great-aunts, and the rest of her family. They're all keen to meet her. You're both welcome to explore as much as you like, but please, could you give us a little privacy for a while? Feel free to come and find her afterwards, or she can come to see you. You'll find you all know where each other is.
"Before we take our temporary leave," said Cadellin, "you all know you're free to return to your world. I suggest you wait a few days until your ship is due to dock in Chatamor and then return together. You know how to go back already. Just think about it when the time comes.
"If I haven't said it already, thank you for making Katarina leave that ship. If she had died alone instead of being with the two of you," he indicated Rhys and Jade, "she would have come here but not been able to go back. So, for now, farewell and enjoy being our guests."
He turned, took Katarina's hand and led her away. As she was leaving, she turned around and gave them a massive grin and a cheery wave.
Jade turned to Rhys, threw her arms around his neck and burrowed her head into his chest. He kissed the top of her head, and they held each other for a long time. Eventually, she raised her head and looked him in the eye. "I heard you. I heard what you said when we were in the water. Did you say that in the stress of the moment, or did you mean it?"
Rhys pulled back slightly so he could also look at her. "I didn't want to leave it unsaid. I realised the worst part of dying might be that I'd be without you. I didn't realise that I loved you before then, but I do. I know it's only been a day or so, and it's not just my choice if we stay together past these next few days and weeks, but..."
He got no further as Jade pulled him into a passionate kiss. Eventually, they broke the kiss, gasping for air. "You are a silly, silly man," she said. "I love you too. No one knows what the future will bring, but I'm in this for the long term." She burrowed her head back into his chest again, and they held each other, just enjoying being safe, warm and, above all, together.
When they eventually broke their hold on each other, they held hands and walked towards the house Cadellin had shown them. There was a latch but no lock on the door, so they let themselves in.
They explored the house's three rooms: a kitchen with a dining table and chairs, a sitting room with a sofa and a roaring fire and a bedroom with a smallish bed and a wardrobe. The décor was simple, with white walls and exposed wooden beams.
"This décor makes it look spacious," Rhys commented.
Jade had a puzzled look on her face. She put her back to the bedroom wall and paced the whole length of the house. Then she went outside and did the same. She came back in with a smile. "Fourteen paces on the outside, twenty on the inside," she said with a smile. "The Plane of Magic indeed!"
Rhys's stomach rumbled. "Do you want something to eat?" he asked Jade.
"What is there in the kitchen?" she replied, so they wandered back to the kitchen.
Rhys opened a cupboard and saw a box containing straw and six eggs inside. The box was the only thing in the cupboard. He noticed that the cast iron range was lit and pans and pots hung from hooks in the wall. He was confident the range hadn't been lit when they had come into the house.
"Oh," said Jade. "How about omelettes? I was thinking I haven't had them for ages."
