like the way you folks think. Really." Walt toasted them with his orange juice. "But it looks like you angered someone in a very intense manner. And Herald asked me to send you over so you can be punished for that. That's the part I don't really like so much."

  "Nor do we, King", said Hilda. "Punished? Just because we did something he was not prepared for? That is a low trick."

  William agreed. "I would first want to see evidence of this, and if possible hear some witnesses or so."

  Hilda and Walt looked at the former book salesman.

  "What are you talking about, William? We have to go there and tell them Lamador's lying through his teeth." Hilda shook her head. "Sorry, King, he sometimes has these moments of not making any sense at all."

  "Then what is the plan? Go there, walk into the lion's den and be eaten?" William got up and paced the room.

  "William, sit down. I will explain this to you later," said Hilda.

  King Walt looked at the witch. It sounded odd to him that a wizard would not know how things were done in the magical world. But then, he thought to himself, this wizard was strange in more than one way, so probably things were done differently where he came from. The witch would iron it out.

  William sat down. "Okay. I'll leave it to you. For now."

  King Walt looked relieved. "So, you will go there? Should I send an escort of guards with you to make a bigger impression? You know I value you and I don't want anyone to think differently."

  Hilda thought about that offer. "That might be a good idea. We can travel slow then and think about things on the way. Yes, thank you for that, king."

  "Very good. Would a group of twenty-four be enough?" King Walt sometimes liked to deal with things pragmatically and swiftly.

  "That many? Would look good though..." Hilda grinned.

  William had a very undetermined feeling about all of that. Going to Lamador and his king over some dumb accusation, with a bunch of guards that probably were useless against any halfway decent witch or wizard? He wondered if he would ever understand this world.

  Hilda and Walt talked about the arrangements of when they were going to go to king Herald's country and how the transport would be arranged. There would be luxury carriages, plenty of food and water, and Walt would make sure they had all the necessary letters of reference with them to assure a free and safe passage through all the lands they had to cross.

  After dealing with all that, the two magical people were escorted to the main entrance again. Not because they were considered dangerous, but it would prevent them from getting lost. Walt walked along with them.

  "I'll miss you while you are gone," he said, "it is very entertaining to try and hit you with my fountain. So if only for that, I hope you will return soon."

  "It won't be us that will delay our return, king," said Hilda. "In three days we'll be here and leave with the guards. No telling what will happen from there on, but we will just hope for the best."

 

  Walt nodded and insisted on shaking their hands, something he would not do in a normal situation. "Take good care," he said. Then he watched as they got on their brooms and flew off towards their house. "Remarkable people," he mumbled to himself. "Very remarkable people."

  53. Beginning the journey

  On the way home, Hilda turned to William. "I don't like this at all," she said. "There is not much time anymore before the challenge Lamador set us. Me. Us. Whatever. And now this. It won't give us much remaining time to prepare for it."

  William agreed. "We may not even have time to go to Gurthreyn again. Not a place you go to for fun, but to see it and get accustomed to the feeling helps. To some extent."

  "Hmm... if you put it like that, I am not sure that going to Lamador is such a bad idea." Hilda looked serious. "But we will take things one at the time. Good thing we have a few days before we leave, we can look at what we want to take with us."

  Once home, they sat down and Hilda explained about the way that this whole extradition thing worked. "I get the feeling that you think this is some kind of prison deal, William. It isn't. Yes, Lamador is certainly angry about what we have done. And he wants to show that. After all, he is the Great Lamador, and he wants to piss us off with this. He'll start throwing accusations at us and we have to counter those."

  "And what is the worst thing that can happen?", William asked.

  Hilda's face turned gloomy. "They throw us in prison."

  "Right. I see. And it is not a prison deal, right?" William wondered about that detail.

  "No. In a prison deal you get thrown into prison without the option of defending yourself."

  "That sounds bad. Not the way I am used to. Well, used to. Uhm, know. You know what I mean." William felt like a fool, stammering and blundering through his words.

  "Are you upset, my sweet man?", asked Hilda, wrapping her arms around him.

  "Does it show? I thought I was getting a grasp of this world of yours, and then this happens. Makes me feel like I am back to square one."

  "You're not. You can do magic, William, and that is good. For me, anyway. And the best thing is that others don't sense that in you, which is extremely good."

  "I wonder what good magic will do us if they are sticking us in some dungeon. I'll bet you that they won't have ordinary guards there." William still felt very bad about the whole trip to see king Herald and the sorcerer they had humiliated so terribly.

  "William. Stop it. Shush you." Hilda put a finger over his lips for a moment. "You are not making things better with all that, okay? It is hard on me as well, I have to deal with it also."

  William looked into her eyes and twitched his lips so she would remove the finger. "You're right. I'm sorry. It became a bit confusing and... much."

  "Okay. I can understand that. When I think of how I felt in your world after a few days. I was going insane there." She rested her head against his shoulder. "And so far you have not gone mad yet. There still is hope for you."

  "I'm glad we're not giving up, Hilda." He held her for a while.

  "Come. Let's find some things to take along for the trip. Books and such." She grinned at him.

  They started to gather things together.

  Several days later, a carriage halted at the house of the wicked witch. The driver looked a bit nervous, it was not every day that he was sent to pick up a witch and a wizard. And he had already been sweating as he tried to imagine all the things they would be bringing along. He had heard stories about witches...

  "There is a cart in front of me," the house announced.

  Hilda and William were drinking coffee as they heard that. "Well, that is nice, to send a cart over."

  Hilda peeked out the window. "Shiny, that is a whole carriage!"

  William picked up the three dice that were their luggage and the stack of books they had prepared to have handy at all times, then they walked outside.

  "Honourable witch, honourable wizard," the driver said, hat in hand. "King Walt has asked me to come and collect you, and your luggage."

  "Oh, the luggage is all taken care of," said William, patting his pocket.

  "Uhm." The driver tried to keep a straight face. Hilda putting the chains around the house made that impossible for the good man.

  As she finished up, she looked at the driver. "Is there a problem?"

  "Uhm. No. Uhm."

  "Come, William, we'll go sit in the carriage and at some point the driver will take us to the castle." She pushed him to the carriage and they both got in.

  The driver slowly trotted after them, occasionally looking at the house and the chains. He climbed to his seat and made the horses turn the carriage, after which they rode off, to the castle.

  The carriage was very comfortable, which was a good thing. The ride to the castle took quite a lot longer than by broom.

  "How many days do you think it will take like this before we get to where we are going?", asked William.

  "I am not sure, but with so many soldiers along also, it will tak
e three days, for certain. Brooms go faster than carriages and such." Hilda rested against him. "Sorry, sweet man."

  After a long time of bobbing on the road, the carriage pulled into the castle yard, the hooves of the horses making a sudden noise as they pulled their load past the thick entrance wall.

  "Sounds like we're there," Hilda grinned. "Do you bring the luggage?"

  "Sure. Do you take the books?", William asked.

  "No way! I'm the girl, you're the boy!"

  Laughing they exited the carriage as it had come to a halt.

  The yard was full of carriages and soldiers. It was a bit unsettling for William, seeing so many people were involved in getting them to Heraldion in one piece.

  King Walt appeared from somewhere, a dim smile on his face. "Welcome. Good to see you." He then frowned as he saw the driver step from the carriage. "No luggage? It should be on top, somewhere..."

  William shook his head. "All we need is in here." He patted his pocket again.

  Walt frowned as he looked at the clothes. "You witches and wizards..." Then he addressed Hilda. "Dear witch, as you see I have kept my word. These are twenty-four reliable men who will make certain that you will reach your destination safely. Messengers have been sent ahead already, with papers announcing your passage. I have taken the liberty of making reservations for the night in a few renowned stations along the road."

  "Dear king, we do thank you for your kindness," said Hilda. "You are going through far too much trouble for us."

  King Walt raised his hands, shaking his massive head. "No, no Grimhilda. The things you do for us are worth tenfold