Chapter 34

Part 4

“All right.” Yazadril released his hand. “Now take off the velvet envelope, and pluck the tines. Tell me what you experience.”

Mark did so. “Whoa! It’s very loud when you’re wearing it! It kind of sounds nice, but it kind of sounds scary, and in a way it seems to be rattling my skull. But I can see the magic candle! Though it doesn’t seem very, uh, substantial. And like you said, it’s kind of fading away with the sound.”

“About what I expected. Now strum the tines. Try to keep the sound constant and even, so that the image of the candle is also constant and even.

Mark experimented with it a few moments, until he had selected a technique and stabilized it. “That’s about as good as I’ll be able to do without a lot of extra practice at it.”

“It sounds very smooth.” Yazadril nodded. “This is the important part. Maintain the strumming, while I hold your finger exactly the same distance from the magic flame as I held it from the mundane flame for the first heat tolerance test. It will take a lot longer for you to feel the heat this time, so just keep concentrating on keeping the strumming constant.”

They conducted the test, and the moments passed, until finally Mark gave a yelp and jerked his hand away.

“Two minutes and four seconds.” Yazadril stated thoughtfully. “Here’s what we’ve learned, children. Within the margins of error for this test, it is safe to say that while strumming the tines, Mark is affected by magic at about one twentieth the normal amount, all other things being equal. That should hold for all types of magic.”

“I have a spell of another type I would like to try.” Talia giggled.

Mark gave her a bit of an apprehensive look.

“Don’t worry, it’s harmless!” she re-assured him. “And I think you’ll like it. Kneel down please.”

“Remember, you’ll need to use twenty times the power you normally would.” Yazadril cautioned. “Be careful of the consequences of either overpowering or underpowering the spell.”

“Yes Father.” Talia nodded.

With a shrug, Mark knelt and strummed the tines.

Talia put her hands on his shoulders, whistled a complex melody, and gave a jerky nod. “That’s it. You can stand up.”

He did. And every hair on his body below his neck fell out.

“It worked!” Talia laughed, clapping her hands. “I can’t believe it! You are even more handsome without all that coarse fur!”

“Thanks!” Mark chuckled in amazement as he brushed off loose hairs that still clung to him.

“Can I do one more?” Talia eagerly asked.

“What?”

“Where you were covered by your hair and beard and clothes, you’re quite white, while your hands, shins, and around your eyes are quite tanned. I would like to make you evenly and lightly tanned all over.”

“Oh, well that would be okay.”

He knelt down and strummed, and in a moment it was done.

“Perfect! Now you could not possibly be more handsome!” she laughed as she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.

“And you found the twenty to one power requirement ratio to be consistent?” Yazadril asked.

“Yes Father, as near as I could tell.”

“Well my boy, that is all I can do for you that way today. There will be five times as many guests as we expected at Talia’s wedding, and since Alilia is inviting the most powerful eight thousand from her people’s hundreds of thousands, the average Power of the guests will be much higher as well. If they are all four times as powerful on the average as a typical elf of The High People, your vows should affect you equally as powerfully as most elves of The High People are affected by their vows. What will actually happen is impossible to say. It’s your choice whether to wear this and strum it, or not, as you take your vows.

“Now, behind that door is a privacy, and you should go there and shake all that hair out of your new clothes and sandals!

“While you do that, I will cast invisibility and inaudibility on this tine band, keyed to Talia and I. Only we two will be able to see it, or hear its sound through the air, and of course while you are not wearing it and strumming it, you will see it and hear it as well, since those spells will not affect you. But, I cannot key it to you unless you are wearing it and strumming it at the same time that I’m keying it, and that could be dangerous. So, when you wear it and strum or pluck it and are thus affected by magic, if you look in a mirror you will not be able to see it. Also, while wearing it and strumming it you will not be able to hear the sound of it through the air, but that is of no consequence, because most of the vibration, and the only part that matters, is the vibration you’ll hear through the bones of your head.

“The point is, you’ll be able to use it without giving your secret away or anyone realizing it, if you so choose. Except that they will see your fingers move as you pluck, so try to keep that unobtrusive. If you wear it too long it will make a slight red mark from the squeeze on your skin. As for carrying it without using it, I suggest you put it on your upper arm, it should hold there firmly.

“Thank you Yazadril!” Mark said as he took the band off. He slipped the velvet envelope over the tines, and handed it over.

“You’re welcome.” Yazadril absently acknowledged, already reviewing his spells.

Mark shared a smile with Talia and turned to go to the privacy.

Half a minute later Yazadril finished, and handed the tine band to Talia. “And now I must go make ready before Nemia comes looking for me! Talia, bring him upstairs when he has the hair off him.” He tossed that last over his shoulder as he jogged out the door and up the stairs.

Mark soon returned from the privacy, a bemused smile on his face. “There’s a big mirror in there, though not full length.” he said as he went to one knee and gave her his hands, and she placed her tiny ones within them. “Thank you very much. I hate to sound egotistical, but I am honestly so surprised at how nice I look!”

“You’re welcome. You do look wonderful.” she shyly smiled.

“So do you.”

“Thank you. Could I have a kiss? A very, very nice one?”

His smile was just as shy. “I’d like that.”

She slowly leaned forward, and softly brought her lips to his as she closed her eyes.

A minute later she leaned back, and they were both a little short of breath. They relived the experience for a moment, then their eyes re-focused on each other. They grinned like schoolchildren as she took the tine band from the back of her neck where she’d placed it, slid it onto his bicep, and they went up the stairs.

When they reached the landing at the top, she stopped and turned to him without opening the door. “It seems incredible, considering everything that’s happened, but I think I am starting to fall in love with you, Mark Longstrider.” She informed him with an excited smile. He was still three steps below her, so she didn’t have to look up at him quite so much.

“And I have fallen completely in love with you, Talia.” he returned with the same smile as they joined hands.

“Oh? So soon? Are you sure?” she teased.

“Oh yes.”

“Should we cancel some of the plans to have so many reinforce your vows? It is an unknown, a danger, and since you love me already and we have Father’s latest invention, we might not need so much.”

“It’s probably too late to cancel any plans. Besides, I think it will work, I think the danger is small, and as you said, eternity is a very long time. I think we should take every little bit of help we can get.”

“All right.”

With a twinkle in her eye, she subtly leaned forward and raised her chin.

He understood the gesture immediately, and leaned forward to give her another kiss.

“Ah, we are all so lucky you came here yesterday Mark, in so many ways.” she chuckled a few moments later. “Especially me.”

She caressed his face with one hand, then opened the door and led him through.