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  The wrong impulse leads him to imprisonment in the right place. Meet the newest Match Mage of the Enchanted Crossroads.

  Tomas has lived a carefree life, his family is gone, and he has no one to cater to but himself, so he spends his nights drinking and paying for it with magic.

  It was supposed to be a small spell to let young lovers have a night together without the interference of the lady’s fey godmother. It was little enough to do; he simply waited until the appointed time and opened a rift in the wall of magic around the woman in question.

  He really should have asked her first.

  His client tried to kill her, and Tomas ended up sentenced to having his magic bound to him for fifty years. Only one spell would come when he called, and it was the balancing spell. He was now a servant of the Crossroads, glyphed and bound.

  Trill is assigned to keep an eye on his adjustment to the Crossroads, and a more reluctant parole officer has never been seen.

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  Match Mage

  Copyright © 2019 Zenina Masters

  ISBN: 978-1-4874-2688-0

  Cover art by Angela Waters

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by eXtasy Books Inc or

  Devine Destinies, an imprint of eXtasy Books Inc

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  Match Mage

  Enchanted Crossroads, Book 1

  By

  Zenina Masters

  Chapter One

  “Tomas Marquiset, you have been brought here today to answer to the charges brought against you by the fey court.”

  Tomas stood in the shackles that the bounty hunter had placed on him, and he lifted his hands. “I am sure it was nothing but a simple misunderstanding.”

  A figure in a cloak stood up and moved to the center of the chamber, a few feet in front of him. The voice that emerged was feminine, and she was not happy.

  “On the sixteenth of this month, you, in a drunken state, agreed to help a suitor lift the protection of a fey godmother from her charge.”

  He thought about it and shrugged. “It sounds like something I would do to get a woman out from under over-protective parents.”

  The woman waved her hand and displayed the image of a young woman who had a black eye, a split lip, and a slash that ran from forehead to the left edge of her jaw.

  “The so-called suitor was a stalker. The child was one night before assuming freedom over her own magic. You left her unprotected and nearly cost her her life. I will spare you what happened to the rest of her body.”

  His amusement faded. “I had no idea.” Nausea and fury rose in him. If he could get his hands on that asshole, he would tear him limb from limb. He focused on the woman speaking and plotted his revenge.

  “You did not ask. Your ignorance and arrogance have cost her her confidence, her ability to control her magic, and her trust in her fey godmother. Those challenges were given to her on that night, and they were delivered by you. I have discussed a few possibilities with the guild masters, and we have come to a pleasant and equitable agreement.”

  He lifted his head. “I will make amends in whatever way I can. If I am allowed, I will enact vengeance on the one who asked for my spell.”

  There was a ripple of laughter from the shadows, and he could feel the power of fey suddenly making themselves known.

  “The vengeance is not needed. Our girl fought hard, and she destroyed the one who attacked her. The fey nearby came to help her, but she did not need our help. He was in pieces, and she was injured but alive. He should not have tried to cut her up for parts. Her beast was able to rise.”

  Tomas bent over, and he threw up.

  * * * *

  Denla looked down at the mage who had just passed out, realizing the fullness of what had happened.

  She looked around at the guild master and the other mages present. “Shall we continue?”

  The guild master waved his hand, and the mess at her feet was cleared up. “He needs to be awake to hear the sentence.”

  Denla reached down and touched the man’s neck. She caught a flash of his future and reached back for a moment before touching his neck firmly and healing him while sobering him up.

  He groaned and slowly sat up. She spoke softly. “You have to wake up and stand up. It is time for sentencing.”

  He blinked and got to his feet, his hair slipping down to hang over his eyes.

  The guild master looked at him and shook his head. “Tomas Marquiset, you have shown disregard for magic, for safety, and for the well-being of those around you. That disregard is going to cost you.

  “You will be bound. Your magic will be bound. Fifty years of magical containment will bind your magic to your flesh. You will know what it is to be vulnerable and what it is to lack the ability to defend oneself. You will be powerless.”

  Denla lifted her hand. “With one exception. He will be allowed one spell, but it will be a spell of my choosing.”

  The guild master paused but nodded. “As you wish. It was the fey that suffered the greatest injury.”

  Denla didn’t argue that it was the shifters who had suffered. The mages knew who the girl was. Everyone knew who the girl was, except the drunk that was standing in front of her. He would learn her identity soon enough.

  “Guild Master, make your binding. I will keep the opening for the balancing spell.”

  The mage stared in her direction. “Balancing spell? Isn’t that used for matchmaking?”

  “Close. It is used to blend mages, fey, and shifters on an even footing. The magic is combined and divided, given equally to both joining parties. The magic covers all levels, and the shifters offer up their beast for duplication. The magic that they hold is never to be underestimated.”

  He looked appalled. “Match mages are the lowest of the low. They are one-trick ponies.”

  She leaned forward and tapped him on the cheek with stiff fingers. Okay, it was a slap. “It is the only trick you will have to use for the next fifty years.”

  The contact with his cheek left a glyph along his jawline that flared and then receded. “The lock is set. Guild Master, he is all yours, and then, I will take him to serve out his sentence.”

  “What? Am I not going home after this?”

  She looked him in the eye and watched his shock as her gaze turned crimson. “You are going to have to make your own home when you arrive. I will not tell the shifters why you are there, but the fey will know, and you will see that in their eyes as you serve them and their mates. You have to give back now. It is your turn.”

  The guild master lifted his arms, and she watched as Tomas Marquiset had his magic bound into his skin, with the exception of that one, little opening. The one spell he could perform. The one that could not be used for evil as all parties had to a
gree before a match could occur. There would be no spells cast on unwilling recipients in his future.

  His eyes went wide, and he was wrapped in fifty small glyphs that pressed into his skin, locking his magic inside.

  He fell to the floor, and Denla looked down and sighed. “I will take him to his new home.”

  The guild master nodded. “Thank you. We deeply regret his involvement in this event. Is the bride well?”

  “She is recovering quickly. Her fiancé is rather agitated, so I convinced him to let me come instead. I am sure you would not care to have him here.”

  The guild master’s eyes widened. “No. Please, take Mage Marquiset to the Crossroads to begin serving his time.”

  “Of course. Would you like to check in on him from time to time?”

  The guild master shook his head. “We will leave him to immerse himself in the unique environment of the Crossroads. I believe that being surrounded by those who are seeking a future might be good for him.”

  Denla leaned down, picked up the unconscious mage, and flipped him over her shoulder. “Thank you for your cooperation.”

  She waved her hand and moved them to the interdimensional space in one burst of magic and a lot of trepidation.

  Teal and Tony were waiting for her. Teal smiled and bowed with one hand to her chest. “Limaha Denla, it is good to see you again. Is that him?”

  “It is. I am laying protective glyphs in amongst the other ones. I don’t want visiting fey or shifters to try and kill him. There will be an obfuscation of his identity. He is simply the new mage at the Crossroads.”

  Teal nodded. “Does he understand what he did?”

  “He vomited and passed out, so I am guessing that he has grasped the gravity of the situation.”

  Tony nodded. “Good. We will explain things a little more fully to him when we have him in his quarters.”

  “Excellent. The lady in question is not pursuing charges. She has more beneficence than most of us would have in her position.”

  “How is she doing?” Teal’s expression was concerned.

  “She is working hard to recover her composure. Her beast has already healed her body. The pieces of her attacker are still being found.” Denla nodded.

  “How did you come to be involved in this, Limaha?” Tony gestured for her to follow him.

  “My daughter is assigned as one of the Queen’s Guard. She was supposed to study with her that night and heard the attack while it was happening. She ran in, and when she found her lady lying senseless, she called me. The young lady was nearly healed by the time I arrived.”

  Teal whispered, “Why was she alone?”

  Denla sighed and glanced at Teal. “She is an adult. Her parents were out shopping, and she was alone for less than an hour. The lady needs a life of her own. The only question was why the wards had come down. Why had her fey godmother gone blind for those few hours? I have the answer with me.”

  They exhaled slowly. Tony muttered, “He didn’t ask why.”

  Denla nodded and followed them. “He had his reasons. They are not particularly logical reasons, but his mind was not focusing on anything other than getting paid so he could continue to imbibe. He is under a number of binding spells, including one that I thought was rather a clever thought on my part. No alcohol shall touch his skin. He cannot drink it, inject it, insert it, or bathe in it. He is spending his next fifty years sober. It is a requirement for my letting him live.”

  Teal asked, “Why?”

  “Part of it is punishment, and part of it is so that he can learn to see the world as it is. He needs to cease blurring his reality. It is imperative that he learns his place in the world.”

  Teal spoke softly. “It matters to you.”

  “Oh, it really does.”

  “Why?”

  Denla shifted the man on her shoulder, and she spoke softly. “When I touched him at his trial, I read his past, but I also got a glimpse into his future. One of my three daughters will choose him as her mate. I don’t know which one, but if I want to honour that future, I must make sure that it is possible. So, I have wrapped him in protections, bound him to the Crossroads, and am sobering him up to hopefully let him deal with his issues. By the time my daughter meets him, I want him to be ready.”

  Teal exhaled. “So, you have a lot at stake.”

  “There are grandchildren. Bright and happy grandchildren.”

  Tony paused and looked back at her. “We will take care of him and help him when we can, even if he is an ass.”

  “He is careless, but care can be taught. If he ever offers to tell his story, listen to him. It is a fascinating story.”

  Denla carried her burden to the Open Heart Bed and Breakfast. Teal and Tony gave the ancient dragon in charge the breakdown of the man that Denla was holding, and Dira smiled.

  “We will keep him alive. His potential is in him, he just hasn’t tapped it. I will make sure that those around here give him the time he needs to reach it.”

  Denla handed her burden over to the woman with the bright green eyes and rippling black hair. “Thank you.”

  “Poor broken mage. We will let him heal, and then, we will put him to work. Do not worry, Denla. He will be here when fate needs him.”

  Denla left him in the custody of the creator of the Crossroads, and she returned to the Meditation Centre to transport herself home. She hadn’t met her husband at the Crossroads, but twenty years ago, she and Arturix had come here, and their power had been balanced, spreading that balance through their adult children. Light elves and dark elves rarely mixed and mingled, but the balancing ceremony was one that she would remember for the rest of her eons of life.

  She wished the same for her daughters.

  Chapter Two

  Tomas lifted the log into position and held it while the shifters to either side pinned the pegs into the wall, locking the shaped log in place.

  “It is good, you can let go now.”

  He stepped back and looked at his cabin. It was taking shape, day by day, one or two logs were added. The beavers could have had everything ready in a day, but he wanted to do it himself. It was important that he had one thing that was his alone but built with cooperation.

  Danner smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. “It is coming along. So are you, Tomas.”

  Tomas chuckled. “Thank you. Seriously. This wouldn’t be possible without your help.”

  Molly grinned and put her hands on her hips. “It is kind of fun to do it in the human way. It makes you appreciate the swarm of family that can do it overnight if they want.”

  Tomas grinned and wiped sweat from his eyes. “So, how much longer do you think it will take me?”

  “At your pace? Eighteen months.”

  He groaned and stepped back, admiring the progress. “If I could use magic, it would be done.”

  A new voice chimed in, “If you could use magic, you wouldn’t be here.”

  He turned and saw a woman who was everything average and stunning at the same time. Her hair was brown, her eyes were a dark amber and green, and she walked with a cane in her grip. “Oh, hello, miss. Are you lost?”

  The beavers looked at him, bowed low to her, and they left him.

  “I am not lost. I am here to speak with you.”

  Tomas narrowed his eyes. “Who are you, miss?”

  “Eilonwy Twinnings.”

  He stood and fell back on his ass. “You are the woman.”

  “I was the girl. I am now the woman, soon to be the bride. Now, I want to have a chat with you.”

  She nodded toward a pile of trees that were waiting to be shaped, and she daintily took a seat. She patted the spot next to her.

  He sat and hung his head for a moment before turning to her. “I am so sorry. I didn’t... I couldn’t...”

  “You did not ask. You assumed he had innocent or romantic intentions because that is what you have. I survived, and I am a little wiser than I
was before that day.”

  “You walk with a cane.”

  “Sure. I am never unarmed now. Magic can slow my access to my beast, so until she can rise, I use the sword.” She sighed. “But, I did lose my freedom that day. I am also never without a bodyguard now, either shifter or fey.”

  “Wait. Fey?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I can’t believe they didn’t tell you.”

  “What? All I know is that you are intensely powerful and important to the shifters.”

  “I am the fiancée to King Larion of the fey. When we finally wed, I will be queen of the fey on this continent. Many are not happy about it, and that is what put the price on my head.”

  He was shaking at the implications. “Why am I still alive?”

  “I didn’t want you dead. You are a human mage, with tremendous power and potential. Your life didn’t start out too well, and your family is gone. You had to make your own rules, and aside from getting wasted every night, you had a deep romantic streak. It made you a tremendously easy target. You were deceived but did not act in malice. That didn’t deserve death. I recovered, after all.”

  “But you were hurt.”

  “I was able to defend myself. That counts for a lot.” She smiled. “So, now, on to you. I hear that you are competent as a balancing mage.”

  He ran his hands through his hair. “Thanks.”

  “I want you to give that a second thought. I want you to become an enthusiastic and entertaining balancing mage. I want you to meet with the people before joining them, I want you to see how they see their partner before they accept all that their lover has to give and gives everything else in return.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you are lacking attachment to the people around you. The people here at the Crossroads are amazing. They literally live for love. If you are not taking advantage to learn some of that delight in watching others find happiness, you are missing out.”