Hilda - The Challenge

Hilda kept pulling at his arm.

  "You know," said Hilda, "I am going to do this the old fashioned way. Such a great time calls for something special."

  William wondered what she called the old fashioned way, so he put the two arrows on the table and followed her to the kitchen, to see what she was going to do.

  Hilda went to the worktop and stared at the cupboards.

  "Right... glasses..." She opened a door. No glasses. She snipped her fingers and there were two glasses on the worktop.

  "Now... where did I put the wine..." A peek behind another door yielded no wine. Snip. "Ah, of course you were there," she said to the bottle in her hand. She then simply blew the cork away and filled both glasses. One with just wine and one for herself.

  William quickly retreated and sat down on the couch, looking very surprised as Hilda came in with the glasses of wine.

  "Here you are, sweet man, a glass of wine, all done by hand." She sat down next to him. "Did you have fun also?"

  "Oh, definitely. I had a lot of fun. It was stunning to see you in action and how you can handle your magic." He kissed her cheek. "Thank you again for coming to my rescue."

  "That goes without saying, but I would not decline another kiss," she said, the blue sparkles in her eyes again.

  William was more than willing to acquiesce.

  Hilda then put her hand on Williams arm. "I really was afraid that your arms would break, William, the way you held up these boys. But it looked great."

  "I could not let you do all the work alone, could I? I loved the thing with the fish that you did on them." He laughed at the memory. "I wonder if the fish monger will make them pay for those fish."

  "I don't know. These people always settle things like that among themselves. Not my business." Hilda sipped from her wine. "Hmmm." Her wand popped up and a moment later there was a very convenient table in front of the couch. She put her glass on it. "That's better."

  William also put his glass on the table, which for Hilda was the green light to sit in his lap.

  "You really find me very convenient to sit on, don't you?"

  She nodded. "Yes. And to lie on also."

  He laughed.

  "What! No laughing at the resident witch, do you hear me? There is a severe penalty for that!"

  "And what might that be?", William was curious to find out.

  "Hmm. Kissing me would be a good start."

  Gladly he took that part of the punishment.

  "Ooohhh...", sighed the witch after a while, "I could get used to this."

  William chuckled. "Maybe we should light some candles, otherwise I might be kissing the wrong parts of you." As he had expected, there were many blue sparkles in Hilda's eyes.

  "I may keep you to that sometime," she grinned. Lazily she waved around, and light spread through the already darkening room as more and more candles lit themselves. She slipped off his lap and reached for her wine. "Now to the real world for a moment. Did I see that you took in some arrows?"

  "You saw that, indeed, which surprises me," William acknowledged.

  "Oh, shush, you..." With her wine in hand Hilda walked to the table and started to unfold the first message. "Oh, this is nice. I think. It is for us."

  "For us??" William got up and went to see what she meant.

  "Yes. Not sure if this is a good thing, but..." She handed him the paper. It was a note from Calandra, wishing Hilda and William all the luck together. As William read the first note, Hilda unfolded the second one and tossed the arrows in the basket.

  "Oh... crap..." She dropped the paper on the table. "If ever there was crap, then this is it. I am now officially finished." She let herself fall onto the closest chair and drank down her remaining wine. "And I need another one..."

  William frowned. "Go easy on yourself, sweetheart, what's the big problem?"

  Hilda first downed the second glass of diluted wine, then she pointed at the paper. "That is the problem. See for yourself."

  The note read: Grimhilda. I have decided on the location for our small encounter to take place. It will be held at the labyrinth of Gurthreyn. Do bring your false wizard with you. I will even allow him to help you. But know that if he does, he will suffer the same fate as you will.

  "Does not look inviting," William said, putting the paper down on the table. "Hey, whoa, stop right there!" He saw that Hilda had conjured up a third glass of wine already and was aiming for her mouth with that. "I don't think that is the answer, Hilda."

  The wicked witch looked at him as he kneeled down and took her free hand. "You don't know Lamador, William. And you don't know the labyrinth of Gurthreyn. That place is evil. Going there is like voluntarily stepping into your grave after digging it yourself. Now let me drink. I don't want to remember this note."

  "If you are really set on drinking yourself silly, why do you take the diluted detour? If you want to have a painful head in the morning, then take this." He put his own glass in front of her. "And let me fill it up for you."

  Hilda looked at the glass in obvious horror.

  William took her face in his hands. "Hilda, listen. Getting scared is exactly what he wants us to do. And I am not going to let anyone do that to you, witch of mine, even if I have to learn magic myself, although I wouldn't know where to apply for a crash course."

  Hilda put her hands over his. "You really would, wouldn't you?"

  "Yes. That and more, if need be. Remember that I said I love you? That does not just mean fun and kissing and sex. That goes all the way for me. Because you matter."

  "You are so sweet, William, but also so innocent about this world. You have no idea what you are up against," Hilda said, slowly shaking her head a bit.

  "A good thing is that Lamador doesn't know either." William bent forward, touching foreheads for a moment. "Listen, woman. I am not going to sit by and watch you fall to pieces. Nor will I let you get yourself killed in a challenge with some oversized ego. No, listen," he added as Hilda tried to say something. He put a thumb over her lips for a moment, risking being bitten. "I am very much aware that he is powerful and he could wipe both of us away with a sneeze or so, but that is something we are not going to worry about now. That is something he will try on the third new moon from now, he wrote that himself. Until then we have time to prepare ourselves as much as we can."

  There were no sparkles in Hilda's eyes. After a while she slowly nodded. "Okay. We'll try it."

  "We'll do it," William corrected her. "Now you go and put these glasses of wine into the kitchen. And then we're going to bed and tomorrow..." He got up, taking her hands, and pulled her to her feet.

  Hilda looked at him. "Do you know that you are doing it all wrong? I am the wicked witch. I should be the one with the big mouth and the ideas and heroic attitude."

  "Perhaps," he agreed, "but there seem to be times that even wicked witches are a bit overwhelmed by events, and can do with some mental support."

  Her smile told him that she was giving in. For now. "Very well... I do maintain that you're an idiot, William. But you're my idiot. And I hope that makes a difference." She picked up the glasses and walked towards the kitchen. Just before reaching that, she frowned and turned around. "Suck an elf... how come I take the glasses when you tell me to?"

  "Must be my dazzling charm," William grinned.

  "Is that so..." Hilda threw the glasses into the kitchen, one by one. There was no magic that caught them, the sound of shattering crystal was evident. "Must be my impulsive character." The witch walked to the staircase. "I'm going to lie in bed and won't go to sleep until you wrap me in your arms. I am telling you this, because that is how it should be. The witch is in, remember that." Satisfied that she had made a point, she marched up the stairs.

  William grinned and put a hand on his special book for a moment, to find out if it would hit him again. It did not spark, it only wiggled a bit. As that was unusual, he picked it up. Beneath it lay the wand that had been Gerdundula's. Not in two pieces,
but whole. He raised an eyebrow. "I thought she said..." With a shrug he picked up the red and white wand and put it on the book. It was too late for deep thoughts. He went around the room, blowing out the candles and then headed up to the bedroom, where Hilda was already sound asleep. He wrapped her in his arms anyway.

  24. Did I wand this?

  "Hey..." Hilda was awake. She also was tapping William on the arm.

  "Hey what?", the victim asked without opening his eyes.

  "Hey you. Wake up."

  "Any good reason for that?" William felt drained for no reason at all. His attempt to put an arm around Hilda was easily warded off by the wicked witch.

  "Yes, because I tell you to."

  "Okay. I am awake. Speak." He held his eyes closed.

  "Not like that, you won't."

  A few moments later a small trickle of very cold water ran down William's neck. It took him the better of two seconds to open his eyes and jump out of the bed.

  "Good. Now I know that is effective," Hilda said with a wicked grin. She held up what she had in her hand. It was the red wand with the white spirals over it. "I have a simple question, William. Who did this?"

  "I really don't know, Hilda. I found it like that under my book before I came to bed and wondered about it as well. You had said it couldn't be done, so it stumped me also." The salesman was still rubbing his neck, the water had been icy cold.

  "This wand woke me up, William, as it is screaming for an owner. I do want to get to the bottom of who put it together again, but for now I want to shut it up as it is