Irresistible Forces

1

The Tower of London, July 1588

Though the chambers were spacious and furnished as befitted a prisoner of rank, the cold stone walls were saturated with pain and death. Sir Adam Macrae paced his prison, shackles rattling, wondering if he would be granted the formality of a trial before he was executed. Or would he be kept here forever, quietly rotting as his spirit and body withered away?

The heavy door squealed open. He turned warily, knowing it was not time for food to be delivered. His expression hardened at the entrance of two men in dark cowled cloaks. So the Virgin Queen and her counselors had chosen to silence him by assassination rather than risk beheading a prominent Scot.

Well, by God, he'd not be taken down without a fight. He gripped the length of chain that connected his manacles. Though the damnable iron curbed his power, the heavy links would make a fair weapon.

The taller of the men pushed back his hood, revealing a long white beard and piercing eyes. It was John Dee, the queen's own sorcerer.

Macrae caught his breath. Dee had true power as well as influence with the queen, but he would not be sent here to perform a simple assassination. "I thought you were living on the Continent, Master Dee. Tis said that you might end your days in Bohemia, where your work is so much valued."

Dee gave a dry little smile. "Officially, I am in Bohemia still, but my queen has need of me, for a great crisis looms."

"England is threatened? Splendid." Macrae applauded, the manacles jangling. "I pray strength to her enemies."

"Don't be so swift to invoke destruction. There are worse fates than Elizabeth, no matter how little you like her."

"She murdered the Queen of Scots," Macrae said flatly. "She deserves everything I said, and more."

"No one regretted Mary Stuart's death more than Elizabeth. She stayed her hand for years — decades— despite all the evidence that your queen was involved in treasonous plots. The necessity of executing her own cousin and fellow sovereign drove Elizabeth half-mad with grief."

"Nonetheless, murder her cousin she did."

"Couldn't you have waited until you returned to Scotland before cursing Elizabeth's name and predicting that the wrath of God would strike her? She had no choice but to imprison you." The old sorcerer shook his head dourly. "You supported Mary at the risk of your own life, even though she was Catholic and you a Protestant. Though your loyalty is commendable, one must wonder about your sense."

As a stubborn Scot, sense had never been Macrae's strong point. "What is a man without loyalty? She was my queen, and Elizabeth had no right to execute her. Did you come here to taunt me for my foolish tongue?"

"No, Sir Adam." Dee's gaze was steady. "I've come to ask if you would like to earn your freedom."

Freedom? A vision of Glen Rath washed over Macrae. The most beautiful place on God's green earth, with wild clear air where a man could breathe…

He clamped down on his longing, knowing it would weaken him. "Of course I want to be free, but it's possible for freedom to come at too high a price."

" 'Tis said you are the finest weather mage in Britain, Sir Adam." The shrewd eyes glinted. "I want you to conjure me a tempest."

So Dee knew of his powers. That would explain why Macrae's jailers had known to keep him bound with the iron that curbed his magic. He had wondered about that, since rarely were prisoners of rank manacled. The fact that the queen's soldiers had burst into his lodgings at night and slapped irons on him before he could fight back had made him wonder if he had been betrayed by another Guardian, but apparently not. The formidable Dee had his own ways of learning. "Perhaps I could, but why should I?"

"To save Britain from a great evil." Dee moved stiffly to one of the chairs, shadowed by his attendant. "Do you mind if I sit, Sir Adam? My old bones ache from the journey across Europe."

Reminded of his duties as host, Macrae took wine from a well-stocked cabinet and filled three goblets. Dee accepted readily, but his companion hesitated before taking a goblet and withdrawing to the darkest corner of the room. He moved with the suppleness of youth. An apprentice sorcerer or a body servant? Whichever, he had Dee's trust. Macrae must hope the boy also had discretion.

Macrae took the chair opposite Dee, stretching his long legs out before him, a portrait of ease despite his chains. "You say you want a tempest."

"Spain and England have been at each other's throats since the death of Mary Tudor. Now Spain is gathering an Armada, the greatest fleet ever seen — more than one hundred thirty ships and thirty thousand men. Far more than England can muster." Dee stared into his wine. "I want you to call up a storm that will destroy the Spanish ships and save England from invasion."

Macrae gasped. "Have you any idea what you're asking? The greatest weather mage who ever lived could not conjure such a storm. Particularly not at this season. Magic must build on what exists in nature, and the light airs of summer offer little of the power I would need to spin a small storm into a great one."

"I know it will not be easy, but if any man can, it is you."

Macrae let the metal links slide between his fingers, the weight of the chain crushing his mind. "After more than a year of cold iron, I don't know if I still have power. Even if I do, I'll fry in hell before using it on Elizabeth's behalf."

"This is not about Elizabeth, but about Britain. That means Scotland as well as England. Do you really want the harsh hand of Spain to fall over this island?"

Macrae shrugged. "They may plunder London, but I doubt they'll touch my people in the wilds of Scotland. Let them come. It matters not to me whether English Elizabeth or Spanish Philip rules here."

"Not even if refusing my offer costs your life?"

His mouth twisted. "I've lived in daily expectation of my death for fifteen long months, Master Dee. How is this day any different?"

With a muffled oath, Dee's hooded companion swirled from the shadowed corner. "If you think a Spanish invasion doesn't matter, you are as ignorant as you are foolish, Macrae. Put aside your prejudices and think."

The whiskey-rich voice was female. Sweeping back her hood, the woman revealed blazing black eyes in a narrow, Byzantine face of fearsome intelligence. In her late twenties, she was not pretty. Instead, she was beautiful in the manner of a glittering, deadly sword.

"Sir Adam, meet my associate, Isabel de Cortes," Dee said dryly. "If you need persuasion or assistance, she can provide it."

Macrae studied the woman. Even his iron-crippled inner vision could see that she burned with a mage's power now that she was no longer masking her abilities. "Isabel de Cortes," he said musingly. "A Spanish name, and a Spanish face. Do you hate your own country so much, Mistress?"

"Spain birthed my ancestors, but it is not my country. England has my loyalty." Isabel's dark eyes narrowed.

"You think a Spanish invasion will not affect Scotland, but you are wrong. When Mary Tudor reigned, Philip of Spain was her husband, and the burning flesh of Protestant martyrs fouled the air of Smithfield. That was nothing compared to what will happen if the Inquisition comes to Britain."

"That will never happen."

"You think not? Your Queen of Scots bequeathed Philip her claims to the English throne, and his soldiers are coming to seize that bequest by fire and steel. Even your northern wilderness will not be distant enough to protect you."

"You do not know Scotland or the Scots."

She made a sound that reminded him of a wildcat. "As a mage, you must have some scrying ability. Take a long, true look into this, and then tell me it doesn't matter if the Spanish come." Delving into a pocket of her robe, she brought out a disk of polished obsidian perhaps four inches in diameter.

He refused to take the scrying glass. "You forget that iron chains bind me."

"The touch of iron curbs all your powers, even the smallest?" Isabel looked shocked. Worse, pitying. "Most mages are not so sensitive."

"I am." His voice was flat. For fifteen endless months, his inner senses had been blind and deaf and dumb, leaving aching emptiness that might never be filled again.

"Master Dee, you have the key to the shackles," Isabel said. "Give it to me so I can free Macrae."

Dee produced the key. "Sir Adam must swear not to use his power to harm."

"If you know anything of the Guardians, you must know that we are pledged to protect, not destroy." To be free of the chains… Macrae eyed the key longingly. The conjuror was old, and it would be easy to take the key from him — no. He had not yet fallen so far as to attack an old man.

Deciding that Macrae had tacitly agreed to Dee's condition, Isabel collected the key and came to unlock the shackles. Heart pounding with impatience, he held out his wrists, trying to keep his hands from trembling. She bent her head over the chains as she wrestled with the crude locks, which had not been opened in more than a year. Her fingertips brushed his wrists, searing the chaffed, tender flesh with her mage's energy.

One hand released. He had to exert all his control to hold steady while she twisted the key in the other lock. Her hair had the dark glossiness of a raven's wing.

The lock opened, and the shackles fell across his lap. He lifted the murderous chain that had imprisoned his mind even more thoroughly than his body — then hurled it into the cold fireplace with crashing rage. As he rubbed his wrists, he was painfully aware that his numbed mind felt no different. Had fifteen months of paralysis hammered his power to uselessness?

He stalked to his single barred window and stared out at the sky. Through his long captivity, he had envied the gulls that soared over the Thames. If he were a shape-shifter, he would have transformed himself and flown home to Scotland. But he had no such power, so he had remained earth-bound, deprived of his deepest self.

Invoking the discipline of his training, he visualized light pouring through his body, burning away poisons of fear and frustration. Deep within stirred a small flex of power, like a firefly sparking in the night. Torn between wanting to seize and wanting to savor, he nurtured that spark, delicately reviving what had been frozen so long.

Like the spring ice break in a Highland burn, power surged through him. Giddy with the rush of magic, he threw the rage of his captivity into a cloud drifting across the sun. Swiftly it grew and darkened until a storm struck the Tower of London with a fury that rattled the rooftops. Slanting rain swept between the bars, cold and refreshing. He laughed aloud at the heady joy of once again shaping the wind.

"A good use of anger," Isabel remarked. "Now you must learn to hate the Spanish fleet."

Macrae had half-forgotten his visitors, who had been waiting in silence. Releasing the cloud, he turned back to the room. The rain began to diminish. In five minutes, the squall would be gone.

"Look now." Once more Isabel offered her scrying glass. She had removed her cloak, revealing a strong, sensual body. He had not been in the same room with a woman since his imprisonment, and he found himself shamefully aware of her femaleness. Her scent sparked thoughts of starlight and desert spices.

He accepted the glass with reluctance. A gifted scryer could see in any reflective surface — water, wine, glass, a gemstone — but this smoky obsidian pulsed with its owner's energy as if it were a living creature.

During his captivity he had been darkly glad the iron had blocked his vision, for surely scrying would show his doom. But even though he feared it would reveal more than he wanted to see, the time had come to look beyond his cell. He closed his eyes, clearing his mind as he formulated a question. What might a Spanish invasion bring? Then he gazed through the glass with unfocused eyes so images might appear.

Dunrath was burning. His fingers spasmed around the disk. Dear God, his mother was leaping from the tower window, choosing a swift death to the slow horror of burning alive! Why would Spaniards attack his home?

The answer formed in his mind as easily as the image had formed in the obsidian: because his younger brother was another stubborn Macrae who would refuse to foreswear his faith or bend his knee to foreigners. Dunrath would be razed as a lesson to other clans.

Macrae had accepted the imminence of his own death, but he had believed his home was safe. His brother would become laird, the girl Macrae was to wed would find another husband, and his family would continue in health and prosperity. But this…

Could Isabel de Cortes have planted false images in the glass? He rejected the idea instantly. True as the blade she resembled, she would not spin lies to make her case even if such a thing were possible.

Temples throbbing, he looked at the scrying glass again, hoping to see some mitigation of the horror of his first vision.

Sweet Jesus, no! The image that formed was of Edinburgh Castle looming majestically over the city — a city that looked as if the wrath of God had struck. No, not God, but men of hatred who would force others into their own mold and destroy when they could not persuade. Smoke began pouring from the castle itself. The pride and history of Scotland were being put to the torch while Spanish soldiers ran wild, raping and pillaging.

He didn't need Dee or Isabel de Cortes to tell him that scrying was not Truth, but rather Possibility. Grimly, he forced himself to watch as other horrors shimmered before his eyes. A group of martyrs singing to God as flames consumed them. The Virgin Queen on the scaffold, going to her death with steely courage. Armed soldiers breaking in on Protestants who worshipped in secret, the flash of blades contrasting with gouts of crimson blood.

How long Macrae watched the glass he did not know, but when he looked up his body was chilled and the room was darkening. Isabel rose to light candles against the approaching night. "It is not a good future," she said quietly.

"No." Though he disliked the idea of working with these Sassenach, he could not stand by while wolves prepared to ravage Britain. "I'll do what I can to thwart the Armada, but I warn you that conjuring such a tempest may be beyond my abilities." His lips thinned as he returned the scrying glass. "It will be bitter to harm so many men when I am oath-sworn to protect."

"I have no more desire to take life than you, Sir Adam." Dee looked old and very tired. "The intent is to disperse the ships, destroy their fighting effectiveness, not to kill. A storm in the Narrow Seas would drive the ships onto the Flemish coast, and God willing, most of the sailors and soldiers will survive."

It was a lawyer's quibble — even if the intent wasn't to kill, a tempest powerful enough to scatter so many ships would surely cause the weakest to founder. Men would die — Macrae could not delude himself otherwise. But if he saw true, action on his part might save many more lives than it endangered.

Power was a chancy, dangerous gift. Guardians were trained in ethics and morality from childhood, but no teacher could anticipate all possibilities. When a situation was critical, the Guardian involved must decide what would be best — and may God send wisdom to choose the right. "I shall do what I can, but I will need help."

"Whatever you wish, Sir Adam," Dee said. "What are your requirements?"

"First, get me released from this poxy prison. I want a letter signed by Elizabeth herself saying that all charges against me have been dropped and I am a free man. Explain to her that on my oath I will do my best, but I cannot guarantee that I will be able to conjure a storm great enough to destroy the Armada."

Dee nodded. "Understood. I am authorized to grant that. What else?"

Macrae rubbed his throbbing head, trying to imagine what he would need for an undertaking of this magnitude. "I must have a location within sight of the Channel, preferably in a place of power."

Isabel said, "My family has a small manor in Kent that fits that requirement. What else?"

"I haven't enough power to create such a tempest alone, so I will need your assistance in the working, Master Dee. If I can draw on your magic, there is a chance I may succeed."

The old man exchanged a glance with the woman. "Isabel will be your assistant."

Macrae's gaze swung to her with dismay. He was to work with this dangerously alluring wildcat with her obsidian eyes? Keeping his voice level, he said, "I prefer to work with you. Our energies will blend better."

The old man shook his head. "I am a noteworthy scholar, an astrologer, and a student of ancient wisdom, but my magical power is only moderate. Isabel is the best scryer and most powerful mage I've ever met — except for you, perhaps. She can contribute far more than I."

Macrae wanted to protest but couldn't. His inner senses told him that Dee spoke the truth: For a great magical working, Isabel de Cortes would be a far better partner. More powerful, and more dangerous.

He closed his eyes with weariness and once more saw Dunrath burn.

2

Kent, August 1588

It was midafternoon when the dusty party of travelers arrived at Leighton Manor. The sea wasn't visible, but the scent of it was borne on the wind.

As soon as the half dozen horses pulled up by the Leighton stables, the Scotsman vaulted from his mount, tossed his reins to one of the servants who accompanied them, and strode off toward the shoreline. As his long legs carried him swiftly away, Isabel dismounted and crossed to Master Dee. "Do you think he'll try to escape?"

The old man came off his horse with a groan of fatigue. "No, he's given his word, and Guardians never break their word. They believe it compromises their powers."

"I would like to know more of the Guardians."

Dee gestured in the direction Macrae had vanished. "There's the man who can tell you."

"He could, but he won't," she said dryly. "Macrae has done his best to avoid talking or looking at me ever since we started this journey."

"He is not comfortable knowing how closely he must work with you. Sharing power is a very intimate process, and you are a stranger."

"And like to remain so."

"Go after him."

"Perhaps I shall, after you are properly settled." She beckoned to the housekeeper, Mstress Heath, who had emerged from the house to greet the guests.

Dee smiled a little. "Don't worry about your hostess duties — the servants will see to my comfort. It is more important that you weave a bond with our weather mage."

Isabel let herself be persuaded because she wanted to follow Macrae. The man intrigued her. He moved like a panther, barely tamed. And though he might dislike her, he was a mage himself so didn't fear her as most men did. She could learn much from him.

Lifting her skirts clear of the tangled wildflowers, she left the cluster of buildings and followed the lane Macrae had taken. The manor house was set in a fold of hills to shelter it from the scouring winds, but the sea was only a short walk away.

She located her quarry in the ancient stone circle set on a bluff that rose a hundred feet above the crashing waves. Local legend said the circle had been built by Druids. For those with the vision to see, three faintly glowing ley lines crossed at the site, creating a starburst of earth energy. As Isabel had promised, it was a place of great power.

Sunlight glowing on his dark red hair, the Scotsman walked the circle, touching each of the irregularly shaped stones in turn. "It didn't take you long to find me, Mistress de Cortes."

"I knew the circle would draw you. It burns with power." She had spent endless hours in this place, meditating, studying, experimenting to find the shape and limits of her talent. Though it was disturbing to see her sanctuary invaded by such restless male energy, the circle was the logical place to hold the ritual. She could cleanse it of his presence when their work was done.

"You said your family owns this manor?" While his tone was brusque, at least he was speaking to her.

"Yes, but I'm the only one who comes here." Leighton was her home, far more than the grand London house where her parents and brothers resided. Here she could be her prickly, stubborn self. "What does it mean to be a Guardian? Is it a secret society?"

He hesitated, then shrugged, as if deciding that her abilities gave her a right to know. "We are not so organized — merely a collection of families in which power runs strongly. We know one another and often intermarry, but usually we go our separate ways. Our homes are in the fringes of Britain, where the ancient magic is strongest. Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, Ireland — you will find us in all those places. We are sworn not only to protect but to keep our powers hidden for safety's sake."

"Are you all weather mages?"

"Power comes in many forms, and weather mastery is rare." He smiled wryly. "Specific abilities don't manifest until a child approaches maturity. My first sign of weather work was blowing the roof off a cowshed. My father was not pleased."

She hadn't seen him smile before and was surprised at how attractive his craggy, bearded face was when he wasn't scowling. "How long have the Guardians existed?"

"No one really knows — certainly since before the Romans came to Britain. In ancient times the great mages engaged in a struggle for power that nearly destroyed us all. The survivors met in council and agreed that we must use our abilities for peace and protection." He gazed out to sea, his expression haunted. "We do our best, but the struggle, is unending."

So the name Guardian was literal. How strange and beautiful that these people of power pledged themselves to serve and protect. What would it be like to come from such a family? "You must all be saints if you can agree on what is best."

"I didn't say we always agreed, but we try to do the right thing. We… don't always succeed." He bent to pick a wild-flower. "I wish my mother was here so I could discuss this undertaking with her. She has the clearest mind of any mage I know."

"Women are accepted as equals in your councils?" she said, startled.

"Of course — some of the most powerful mages in Britain are female."

"What a wonder!"

"Your family is not like that?"

"A few of my de Cortes ancestors had minor gifts, but there has never been one like me." Her parents despaired of her. They had wanted a pleasant, submissive daughter who would marry within their circle. Instead they had birthed a child too strange, too independent, for normal life. "When I began showing signs of unusual power, my father engaged Master Dee to be my teacher so I would learn to control my abilities. He has been my salvation. I never once heard of your Guardians."

"Master Dee has suffered because of his public reputation as a conjuror and astrologer. The abuse heaped on him illustrates why we prefer to stay in the background." He raised his head and gazed out to sea, as if scenting the wind. "The fleets are skirmishing near the Dutch shore. Men are dying just out of sight and sound."

The reminder of their mission destroyed her pleasure in the perfect summer day. "You can see that without scrying?"

"I hear their cries on the wind."

She pulled out her scrying glass, which was always with her. In the smoky depths, she watched the vicious recoil of cannon as two ships blasted silently away at each other, sending smoke and flames billowing. It was a scene from hell. "The English squadron is well-commanded and seaworthy but vastly outnumbered. The danger is great. We must act quickly."

"No doubt you are right, yet it is hard to undertake a working that will cost so many lives if I am successful."

Her lips thinned. "You do not seem wholly committed to our cause, Macrae. Has your detestation for the English blinded you to the probability that the Spanish will murder your own mother?"

His head whipped around, his eyes sparking dangerously. "How do you know what I saw in your glass?"

"As your gift is weather, mine is clear-seeing. After you looked into your future, I was able to see the images you had invoked." She shook her head. "Passion fuels power. You need more anger, Macrae. This is not a game, but a life and death struggle. What will make you truly wish to destroy our enemies?"

"If I have too little anger, you have too much, Mistress. Your loathing of the Spanish is like a burning brand. Surely Master Dee taught you that hatred is dangerous for those with power. You run the risk of destroying not only your enemies but yourself. In this case you are hating those of your own blood."

"These Spaniards are not my blood!" Her anger flared, not only at the Spanish but at Macrae for reading her so easily. "It has been almost a hundred years since my people left Spain. We were tortured, murdered, robbed, and exiled forever from the land that we had served loyally. They called us marranos , swine. I care nothing for what happens to me, as long as we prevent those Spanish beasts from invading England."

He studied her face, his hazel eyes golden in the afternoon sun. "So you are a Jew. I have heard that a few Jewish families took refuge in England after they were expelled from Spain and Portugal. Did your family forswear the Catholicism they were forced to embrace and return to the faith of their fathers?"

"We are good Protestants now, but our memories are long." And if some Jewish practices lingered still in the privacy of their homes, well, that was no one else's business. They did what was necessary to survive, and to keep the Covenant in their hearts. "You accuse me of hating, yet you hate Elizabeth. Why? She is a just and fair-minded ruler. Her wisdom in balancing Catholics and Protestants has kept Englishmen from spilling one another's blood. Why do you despise her?"

"She executed my queen. For that, I cannot forgive her."

"Mary Stuart, a Scot raised at the French court, who spun plots from her prison and sought to have Elizabeth assassinated," Isabel snapped. "Even a Scotsman as loyal as you cannot deny Mary's treachery."

His jaw tightened. Stubborn man. Knowing they would never agree about politics, she said, "Master Dee tells me you have given your word to conjure a tempest, so let us begin. There is no time to waste." She started to turn back to the house.

He caught her wrist. They both froze as energy surged between them. She felt as if all her breath had been blasted from her body. So this was passion — uncomfortable, inappropriate, undeniable. He felt the same — she could see it in his eyes.

He released her wrist, his breath roughened. "The preparations are complex, and Dee must cast a chart for the best time to proceed. If we don't harness every available wisp of power, there will be no chance of success."

She retreated a step, not wanting to meet his gaze. "Very well, do what you must, but be quick about it, before it's too late."

"As you wish, Mistress Witch," he said with heavy irony. "Perhaps I can conjure a swift squall to end the fighting for the moment, so the English will be able to regroup."

"If you can do that, why haven't you?" she asked with exasperation.

"Because I fear the cost to my soul. But you're right. I cannot hold back any longer, no matter how much I dislike this task." He turned and rested his hands on the largest stone, the one closest to the sea. As he concentrated his energies on the task, he became absolutely still except for the movement of his lips chanting soundlessly.

Keeping her distance from the vortex of power swirling around him, Isabel used her glass to monitor the battle. Skies darkened, vicious rain swept through the warring fleets, and the fighting broke up. The Spanish fell back, and one of their damaged warships foundered and sank.

While Isabel whispered a soft prayer of thanks, Macrae expelled a long, rattling breath and released his spell. His face was gaunt, drained of its usual vitality.

Knowing how demanding weather work was, she silently asked the obsidian what would become of Macrae. The battle images dissolved into swirling fog.

What about her fate? She cleared her mind and tried to draw her own image from the glass.

Still nothing.

She felt chilled, even though the inability to scry could mean many things. Most likely she couldn't see because she was too closely involved in what was about to happen to have the necessary clarity. But it was also possible that the demands of stopping the Armada would be so great that neither of them would survive.

Concealing her foreboding, Isabel said, "Well done. You succeeded in ending the battle before the English fleet could be badly damaged. I begin to believe you can produce the great storm we need."

His eyes opened, and he turned to lean against the stone, folding his arms across his chest. "I was fortunate. There was the beginning of a summer squall near the ships, so all I had to do was strengthen it. The spell required for that was to a great tempest as a barn cat is to a tiger." His mouth twisted. "Surely you know that magic always has a price, and the one I pay will be high. Are you also willing to pay the cost of this conjuring?"

She thought of the clouded obsidian. "I am willing."

Even if the price demanded all that she had.

3

Calling the winds…

The air tingled with power as Macrae and Mistress de Cortes took their places in the ancient stone circle. Man and woman, ever opposite but complementary. Dee was not present, since he would be unable to help and he feared his presence would be a distraction. The old man had cast a chart for the best time, but his face had been somber when he studied the planetary positions. It hadn't been necessary for him to say that the chart did not guarantee success.

But it was the best time available without waiting for days, so Macrae must make of it what he could. Despite his initial reluctance to undertake this task, the images of Dunrath and Edinburgh haunted him. Now he was as determined as the woman who faced him across the circle.

He inclined his head to his companion. "Mistress, let us begin."

"As you will, Macrae." Her demeanor was reserved, though nothing could diminish the snap of her black eyes or the allure of her lush female figure.

He began by casting a circle of protection, using the familiar ritual to focus his mind. As his concentration increased, his inner vision recognized the essences around him. Isabel de Cortes was the most vivid. Deep and intense, she was a beacon of power.

He reached out and touched her energy. Silently, she acknowledged his presence and granted him access. Another time he would have been tempted to explore the riches of her mind and spirit, at least until she clamped down her shields and expelled him, but now he had more important work.

Widening his perception, he felt Dee's energy in the manor house. The old man's pattern was a structure of immense complexity with a blazing mind at the core. The servants were sparks of light, each unique if one chose to study it closely. He did not so choose, not tonight.

He tuned himself to the earth and the ancient force that resided there. Isabel was right, this was a place of great magic. When he was fully oriented, he flung his consciousness high into the sky, soaring toward the sun like a giant hawk. The circle, the two human figures, the coast, and the rolling seas — all dropped away below at a dizzying speed. With Isabel's power to fuel his flight, he soared higher and higher until his awareness stretched east across the Channel, north to Scotland, south to France, west as far as Ireland.

The day before, Isabel had scryed the English sending fire ships into the Armada. Little damage was done, but only because the Spanish ships had cut their anchors to escape swiftly. Though doing so had saved them from burning, without good anchors the ships were vulnerable when close to shore.

Yes

, that was the answer. The Armada was now boxed between the harrying English and the sandbanks off the Dutch province of Zeeland. If he could force the ships onto the shoals, many would break up, but the shallow waters and nearby mainland would minimize the cost in lives. He would find no better location to fulfill his mission.

He cast the net of his mind outward to gather the winds and discovered why Dee's chart had been equivocal about this time. Throughout the British Isles and the Narrow Seas the airs were light, giving him little to work with.

But there was always weather, even when times were mild. He narrowed his vision to identify wind patterns strong enough to shape to his purpose. Over Holland he found a choppy, gusting breeze. He gathered it in and added a series of light winds from Scotland and northern England. Then he captured an energetic sea breeze from the coast of Cornwall. On the edge of his awareness he sensed a storm over Bavaria, but it was too distant for summoning.

Each of the elements had its own essence, qualities that made him think of rainbows and musical notes, though in his mind there was neither sound nor color. Meticulously, he wove the winds together into a single powerful chord. Then he shaped them into a northwest wind that hammered inexorably against the ships of the Armada.

As he drove the ships eastward, he sensed sailors frantically trying to beat against the wind while priests knelt to invoke God's help in avoiding the waiting shoals. The water beneath the hulls changed color, and the waves turned choppy as the seas became shallower and shallower.

He dimly recognized pounding pain in his temples and trembling in his limbs. The first ships were minutes from striking, but could he maintain his control over the increasingly rebellious winds he had assembled? He reached for Isabel again. Maddeningly, he could channel only a small part of her power. But surely he was strong enough to finish the job he had begun.

The Cornish gust, the strongest and most rebellious element of his coalition, cracked its way loose, weakening the whole. Savagely, he worked to force it back into his pattern. He almost succeeded.

Then the Scottish winds, notoriously chancy, broke away. His painstakingly constructed northwest wind disintegrated like splintered glass. Desperately, he reached again for Isabel, but he couldn't find the key to unlock the deepest reservoirs of her power. It stayed tantalizingly beyond his grasp.

Gasping for breath, he tried again to exert his mastery over the winds bucking against his grasp. As he stretched his mind to keep them in line, his power thinned to the snapping point. Only a few moments more, only a few…

Clashing like silent thunder, the spell shattered with a violence that pulsed through his skull. He cried out in agony and fell to his knees.

The last thing he saw before falling into blackness was Spanish ships turning sharply to port as they sought the safety of deeper water.

Macrae's collapse slashed Isabel's mind as viciously as a sword lacerated flesh. After an instant of paralysis, she reached out mentally to steady his convulsing spirit even as she raced across the circle to his sprawling body.

She dropped on her knees beside him. His face was corpse-white, and he wasn't breathing. Moved by sheer instinct, she inhaled deeply and bent over to share her breath with him. Placing her mouth on his, she forced air into his lungs. He was a master of wind and air, surely all he needed was more breath.

Once, twice, thrice… She was growing dizzy with exertion when he coughed and twisted under her hands. Finally he was drawing great ragged breaths on his own, God be thanked.

Dee joined her, panting. "I felt the spell go awry. How is he?"

"Breathing now. Beyond that…" She shrugged helplessly.

Dee frowned as he rested his hand on Macrae's forehead. "He's burning with fever. Pray God he has not destroyed himself with his exertions."

Getting to his feet with effort, the old man signaled to the pair of male servants who had followed him from the house. Carefully, the servants lifted Macrae onto the battered pine door they had brought, struggling with the Scotsman's deadweight. Then they set off toward the house.

Isabel started to follow, but Dee stayed her with a gesture. When the servants were out of earshot, he asked quietly, "What happened, child? Why didn't you save him from such a disaster?"

"I tried!" Tried desperately, and had been seared by the backlash when his power and concentration failed. "He tried also, but we could not fully connect. Our energies are too unlike. Too clashing."

"That clashing can be a source of strength, not conflict."

She rubbed her temples, too drained to understand. "What do you mean?"

"Think of your astrological studies — opposite signs are both natural enemies and natural complements. Men and women are opposites, and sometimes conflict between them is attraction that will not admit itself. Yet if opposites find balance in each other, they can create a whole greater than the sum of their individual powers."

She thought back to Dee's lessons, when he had poured rivers of information into her eager mind. "Is this the alchemical marriage you once spoke of?"

"The alchemical marriage is a philosophical principle, and it can be seen on many levels. One is male and female." He eyed her speculatively, then shook his head. "The point is moot. Macrae may be out of his senses for days. Or… worse. Do you know what has happened with the Armada?"

She had been too upset to even wonder. Wearily, she drew out her scrying glass and conjured the scene. "The Spanish ships are escaping the Zeeland shoals and heading north. The English pursue, but they are still outnumbered. Once the Spaniards regroup, they will be able to resume their plans for invasion."

Dee's face tightened, adding ten years to his age. "I must go to London and report to the queen."

"Perhaps Macrae will recover and try again," she suggested without much hope.

"He will be lucky to escape with his life and his sanity," Dee said bluntly. "Even if he survives, today's work may have destroyed his magic forever."

Having felt the cataclysmic collapse of Macrae's power, she knew that Dee spoke no less than the truth. "I will stay here and care for him. My housekeeper is experienced at nursing. God willing, we will save at least his life."

"He may not thank you for it if he survives deprived of his deepest self." Dee raised his gaze to the restless sea, where Spanish ships were sailing north around Britain. "I once had great power. Not so much as you, but enough to make me a true sorcerer. In my arrogance and lust for knowledge, I pushed my abilities too far and nearly died of it. Since then, I have had to content myself with small magics and scholarship."

The naked longing in his face made Isabel look away uneasily. What would it be like to lose her power? Though her abilities made a normal woman's life impossible for her, the exercise of magic was also the purest delight and satisfaction she had ever known. To be deprived of it would be like losing her limbs. Macrae had been bound in iron for more than a year. Now, after only a few days restored to his full self, he had risked his life and his power to stave off the Spaniards.

Though she had scarcely noticed at the time, she had a sharp flash of memory of how his lips had felt under hers when she had breathed for him. Embarrassed, she said, "If the body is saved, perhaps the spirit will also heal. We will do what we can." The world needed Adam Macrae.

And she needed to know that somewhere he would be living under the same sun as she.

4

He had been lost for so long among the cinders of his mind that at first he didn't recognize returning awareness. All he knew was cool darkness, a soft night breeze redolent of country flowers, a gentle hand on his forehead.

A woman's hand? He forced his eyes open. He was in his bedroom at Leighton Manor, the canopy above him barely visible in the dim light. Isabel de Cortes was perched on a stool beside him, her eyes narrow with concern.

"So… I did not die," he said in a rasping voice.

"Not for lack of trying." Despite her acerbic words, she gave him a smile that softened the austere beauty of her narrow face.

He closed his eyes again. "How long has it been since I conjured the winds?"

"Eight days. Master Dee has returned to London to confer with the queen."

Seeing her expression brought back the last disastrous memories that preceded his collapse. He exhaled roughly. "I failed."

"Perhaps not." Her gaze slid away. "Your efforts have given more time to improve the coastal defenses. Surely that will help if — when — the Spanish invade."

Absurd. Britain's coastline was far too long for defenses to be adequate everywhere, and they both knew it. As his vision cleared, he realized that she looked different tonight. Defeated. Unbowed, but preparing for the worst. "Give me your scrying glass."

She looked doubtful. Guessing she thought him too weak, he repeated, "Give it to me! I must know."

She reluctantly produced the obsidian disk and laid it on his right palm. He was so weak he could barely raise the glass high enough to see the surface, and he couldn't sense the glow of her energy as he had before. As the surface remained blank, he recognized that the center of his spirit was numb, devoid of power.

Sweating, he closed his eyes and tried to shape the slight breeze that fitfully stirred the curtains. It pulsed, then faded. Had he done that, or was the movement only the normal volatility of the night airs?

He tried again. This time he was almost sure that he had briefly strengthened the wind. His power was only strained, not dead. He refused to believe otherwise.

Opening his eyes, he tried the scrying glass again. What might the Spanish bring? This time he saw a flickering image of Edinburgh Castle — burning. May God help Scotland, for the Spaniards would come with torch and steel.

Grimly, he tried to conjure a vision of Dunrath, but the glass would show him no more. Trembling, he let his head fall back against the pillows.

"I won't tell you not to overexert yourself, for it would be a waste of breath," Mistress de Cortes said dryly. "But you might consider the fact that you have been out of your head with fever for days. It is normal to be weak as a newborn kitten."

"I have no time for weakness. We must act before it is too late." He struggled for more breath.

"You think it still possible to change the course of events?"

"Aye. Not easy, but… possible." Throwing back the covers, he swung his legs over the side of the bed. He was garbed in a coarse nightgown, borrowed from a servant perhaps. He leaned forward to stand— and his knees buckled beneath him.

She swiftly moved forward and caught him around the waist. For an instant they were pressed together as she struggled to prevent his sagging body from falling to the floor. Her breasts were soft and womanly against his chest. Desire blazed through him like storm lightning, and with it came a shadow of renewed energy.

Before he could gather his wits, she managed to shift him back onto the edge of the bed. "You're a damned fool, Macrae," she said a little breathlessly. "Content yourself with talking for tonight."

She expertly lifted his legs onto the bed, which pushed him back against the pillows. His brief energy faded again, but not his memory of it. Angels above, she was enticing. An embrace with her would make a stone saint dance. "We must learn to work together on all levels, Isabel. You must be able to use my gifts as a weather mage, and I must be able to draw fully on your strength." It was the first time he had used her Christian name when speaking to her.

Acknowledging the intimacy, she said, "Does that mean I should call you Adam?"

He smiled a little. "I like the way you growl 'Macrae.' "

"I'm gifted at growling. How are we to accomplish such closeness?"

If she had been raised a Guardian, she would know such things. Groping for the right words, he said, "To share energy fully, there must be absolute trust and a willingness to reveal oneself with naked honesty, flaws as well as virtues. Earlier, time was short and neither of us wished to drop all our defenses, so we did not delve so deeply. If we had" — his mouth twisted—"perhaps I could have maintained the wind long enough to force the Spanish fleet onto the Zee-land shoals. I was so close…"

The silence was long and painful before she said, "I have never done what you are describing. Is it even possible? We have little in common."

"We are both disciplined and know how to wield power." He caught her gaze. "And we will both pay any price to stop the Spanish. That should be enough."

She bit her lip. "The prospect of completely lowering my shields is… troubling, but it seems we have no choice but to try."

"This will be hard for you, since you have had little contact with other mages," he admitted. "Even among Guardians, complete openness is rare." Most often it was seen between husband and wife, but sometimes between mages who worked together closely.

"Master Dee spoke of the alchemical marriage, the mating of opposites to create strength and harmony," she said. "Is that what you are speaking of?"

"I am no alchemist, but, yes, that is the sort of closeness we must forge. Usually it takes a long time to develop, but we don't have time, so we must do the best we can."

"Let me try this, and tell me if you experience anything." She closed her eyes, and for the space of a hundred heartbeats there was silence. She gave a quick, frustrated shake of her head, then laid her hand on his.

Immediately, he felt a feather-light stroke of her energy. It gently flowed through him, sliding behind his weakened defenses and soothing scorched places in his spirit. He had felt nothing comparable since his training with his grandfather when he was a boy.

But his grandfather was stern and male, while Isabel was profoundly female. An object of desire whose touch sparked reactions that fizzed through his body. He moved involuntarily, for the effect was as alarming as it was exciting.

Masking his reaction, he said, "You reached very deeply. It is a good beginning."

She sighed. "So little time."

Feeling stronger than when he first woke, he asked, "Are you a healer?"

"Only in a small way." She rested her palm on his forehead again. "Sleep, Macrae. Tomorrow we will begin our second campaign."

He slipped into deep slumber, dimly aware that she had begun to heal the source of his power.

Since Macrae's fever had broken and his wits were well on the way to mending, Isabel left him alone to sleep. He needed the rest, and so did she.

Nonetheless, her night was troubled. Macrae was disturbing at the best of times, like a barely leashed lion. To allow him access to the darkest secrets of her soul — she shuddered at the thought.

The prospect of knowing his darkest secrets was even worse. Raised by protective, baffled parents, her life had been a sheltered one despite her studies. With Dee's guidance she had learned the disciplines of power, and her scrying ability had given her rare access to the workings of her society. But that knowledge was of the mind; Macrae was of the earth, intensely physical and experienced in matters beyond her imagination. The depths of his mind would not be… safe.

She should think of their joint endeavor as an opportunity to broaden her knowledge and understanding. Certainly the work was vital, for the Armada was a sword poised over Britain. Nonetheless, she felt like a mouse about to be seized by a hawk.

Reminding herself that she was a mouse armed with powerful fangs, she rolled over and forced herself to relax, one muscle at a time. She must hope that a hawk and a fanged mouse could between them stop the Spanish.

She was rising after a night of restless dreams when her housekeeper entered the bedroom in a rush. "Sir Adam is gone!"

Isabel muttered an oath under her breath. "I think I know where he might be. Don't worry — his fever broke last night, and he's as sensible now as he's capable of. Pack food in a basket while I dress."

Reassured, Mistress Heath left to do her mistress's bidding. After donning a plain country gown of cream-colored linen and dressing her hair in a simple knot, Isabel collected the basket and walked down to the stone circle at a leisurely pace.

As she expected, Macrae was there, sitting on a stone as he looked out to sea. His beard needed trimming — he looked more pirate than gentleman.

Her relaxation vanished when she saw his despair. "What has happened?"

"There is even less time than I thought."

She settled on the stone beside his. "Tell me."

"If events are not changed, the Spanish will sail into the Firth of Forth to provision and regroup, and end by razing Edinburgh."

Isabel frowned, wishing she had spent more time scrying Edinburgh. "Surely Scots and Spaniards are allies — both hate the English enough."

"The intent will not be war, but tempers will clash. The Spanish commander, Medina, will infuriate my countrymen, and soldiers will become drunk and riot. The city will be left a ruin of blood and bones and ashes."

She shuddered at the images he conjured in her mind. "When will this happen?"

"In two days, the first Spanish ships will moor at Leith. No more than two days more before trouble breaks out."

Less than four days for them to change the course of a great Armada. "I did not know you had such skill in seeing the future."

"Usually I don't, but Scotland is bound to my blood." He drew a rough breath. "I'm glad I seldom see the future. It's a terrible gift. My attempt to drive the Armada onto the Zeeland shoals might have increased the danger for my countrymen."

"Don't think about that!" They could not afford for him to become weakened by guilt. "You already had fears for Edinburgh. Perhaps what you foresee now will be less terrible than what might have happened. We cannot be sure."

His mouth twisted. "How arrogant we mages are, to think we can make the world better by wielding our powers. Perhaps Britain would be better off without Guardians."

"It is human nature to seek and use power. At least you Guardians do your best to serve the greater good." She drew her knees up and looped her arms around them as she had in childhood, her gaze unfocused as she watched the waves roll into chalk cliffs. "I envy you for being raised with others of your kind."

"It would be difficult to be as alone as you, Isabel. Yet it has made you strong."

She felt him in her mind, closer than was comfortable. She wanted to slam the doors and hurl him out. Instead, she forced herself to accept his demanding male presence, proud that she could say calmly, "Though the hours are few, there is time enough to eat, and you'll be stronger for it."

She investigated the basket. Fresh bread and cheese and ale, all made on her estate. Pulling out her knife, she sliced the bread and cheese, then poured ale into the pewter tankards.

His expression eased as he accepted the food, "You're a practical woman. That is no bad thing."

"Someone has to be practical, and usually it will be a woman," she said tartly.

Macrae's amusement reverberated within her mind, a surprisingly pleasant effect. As they ate, she cautiously experimented with this unwonted closeness. She could not read his thoughts, and for that she was grateful, but she could sense his emotions with increasing accuracy. As they spoke, his mind shadowed his words with extra richness.

She also could enjoy his ravenous hunger. His startlingly sensual enjoyment of the simple food was so intense that it distracted her from her own meal. As he swallowed the last of his ale, he said, "Sunshine, a fresh breeze, and plain country food. When I was in the Tower, I never thought I would know such simple pleasures again. A pity that my freedom was granted for such a dire reason."

She stopped herself from saying that he might as well enjoy while he could, only to have him say, "You're thinking I might as well take pleasure while I can, since my next attempt at weather working might send me to an early grave."

She flushed and glanced away. "Can you read my thoughts?"

"Only your emotions, but they are clear enough." He set his empty tankard in the basket. "Now it is time for work. Do you see that dark cloud in the middle distance?"

She shaded her eyes against the bright sky. "Yes."

"We are going to make it rain." He laid his large hand over hers. "The thought intrigues and alarms you. Well enough. You will enjoy this, I think."

And she did. Though his mental powers had not fully recovered from his collapse, his instinctive understanding of wind and cloud was glorious. If he was a hawk, she was now his companion, swooping through the air, feeling the cool damp of the cloud, then disintegrating into a swift shower of raindrops.

She laughed aloud when he drew her back to normal awareness, delighting in the new sensations. "Wonderful! I felt this much more clearly than when we worked together before." Catching a sense of his sadness, she said more soberly, "But it's a very small achievement compared to what will be needed."

Though his face was controlled, she sensed that he was trying to shield her from his doubts. "It is much more than I could have done on my own," he said. "We are blending our energies well, so far."

Her pleasure in what they had accomplished faded in the knowledge of how much further they had to go — and that they had only another day to prepare.

They spent the rest of the long day delving into ever deeper levels of intimacy and sharing. The power of Isabel's mind and spirit amazed Macrae. Her commitment was also profound, but the deeper he probed, the more she resisted.

The last exercise of the day took him for an instant to an area of her emotions he had not yet explored. Raw passion exploded like the devil's own fire, triggering his own passions — and then she hurled him from her mind with numbing power.

Gasping, he bent and buried his throbbing head in her hands. "You have a kick that would do a stallion proud, Isabel."

He could feel her distress when she laid her palm on his brow. "I'm sorry, I–I could not control my reaction."

He closed his eyes, welcoming her soothing touch. "I am trying to teach you in a day what a Guardian learns over years. You are progressing remarkably well."

"But not well enough."

He wasn't sure if her soft words were thought or spoken aloud. "Perhaps tomorrow we will find a good summer storm to work with." He tried to project confidence. "That will do most of the work for us."

She didn't believe that any more than he did, but she didn't argue the point. The two were joined in fatalism.

They had no choice but to try another major spell in the morning, this time at a much greater distance than the Zee-land attempt and with no major storm available to build on.

Isabel knew the dangers — after all, she had nursed him through near-lethal brain fever when his first attempt failed. She had accepted the fact that they might die trying. In fact, she accepted it better than he.

When he fell into his bed, exhausted, he uttered a silent prayer. May God grant them success for the sake of Scotland — and if a life must be forfeit in the process, let it be his.

5

Macrae jerked to wakefulness, heart pounding as he picked up a distant note of changing weather. Clouds, rain, and wind were sweeping in from the Atlantic.

How long had he been asleep? Only a few hours, he guessed, since there was no sign of dawn. He lit a candle and scrambled into his clothing, then made his way through the silent house to Isabel's room. As he opened the door, he said, "Isabel, rough weather is approaching quickly from the west. Not a major storm, but enough to give us a better chance if we start work immediately."

He swept back the bed curtains. His candle revealed Isabel blinking sleepily as she pushed herself to a sitting position. Her dark hair fell over her shoulder in a thick braid, and she looked younger and more vulnerable than her daytime self.

He froze as he realized that she was dressed only in her night rail, and the lightweight fabric did little to disguise her softly curving body. Knees weakening, he stepped back, putting the heavy carved bedpost between them. Damn the successful effort to lower barriers between them, for now it was impossible to conceal his desire. Isabel would justly see him as a great randy brute.

She flushed scarlet as she read his reaction. Emotions reverberated between them like images in opposing mirrors, and the hair prickled on his arms at the sheer erotic tension in the room.

Recovering first, she yanked the blankets to her shoulders. "Very well, we shall begin. I will meet you in the stone circle."

Grateful for the excuse to retreat, he ignited one of her candles with his, then bolted. He was a fool for allowing attraction to muddy the waters when all their attention must be fixed on their mutual goal.

He was bleakly aware that, even with the changing weather, the odds did not favor them. Though he was recovering well from his earlier collapse, he was still far below his normal strength. Despite Isabel's enormous power, she hadn't an inborn talent for weather working. If he was unable to weave the spells well enough, they would fail.

Worse, though they had lowered the barriers between them enough for embarrassment, they were still woefully short of being fully capable of sharing energy. If he needed more than Isabel was ready to give, she might lash out at him instinctively, with disastrous results.

But try they must. The Armada was critically near Edinburgh, and if they didn't act right away, it would be too late.

His mind still chasing itself, he stopped in the kitchen for a quick meal of bread and cheese, then picked his way down to the stone circle. It was a night fit for witches, the ley lines that intersected at the circle a glowing spiderweb of power. The wind was rising in fitful gusts, shaping and tearing clouds so that footing on the lane was uncertain. The sea beyond the bluff was lighter than the land, and he could hear the harsh beat of waves against the shore.

He felt a curious fatalism as he cleared his mind and began to lay the foundations of his spell. He would do his best; no man could do more. If he did not survive this last great working, may God defend Scotland and those he loved.

Silent as the wind, Isabel joined him, almost invisible in a dark cloak. She handed him a similar cloak. "Wear this. The night is chill, and fair weather will not return soon."

He accepted the cloak but said mildly, "A sorcerer should be able to rise above heat and cold."

"Why waste energy suppressing discomfort when it can be used on your weather working?"

He smiled into the darkness. A practical sorceress. The contours of her face were barely discernible. He had thought her austerely beautiful from their first meeting, and the intimate knowledge he had gained during their work together had multiplied her beauty a thousandfold. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I can be."

Knowing he might not survive the night's work, he made a formal courtier's bow to her, the cloak flaring around him. "It has been a pleasure working with you, Isabel de Cortes." Then he buried personal thoughts, grounded himself in the circle's earth energy, and reached for the winds.

As his awareness spiraled upward, he saw that the North Atlantic was blanketed with a vast patchwork of choppy clouds and gusty rain. The Spanish ships were strewn along the Narrow Seas, the leading wave already approaching the Firth of Forth, the gateway to Edinburgh.

He started by sharpening the winds across Scotland, making it difficult for the Armada to sail up the estuary. But that was only a temporary measure to delay them while he constructed a tempest.

Piece by meticulous piece, he began to weave vicious winds, drowning rain, and lightning that could rip the sky and blaze through rigging. It must be so powerful, so well-wrought, that it would continue onward even after his own strength failed. The storm must rage for days, sinking ships, driving others onto rocky shores and into the grip of deadly North Sea currents. The Armada must be destroyed to the point where it offered no threat — and may heaven have mercy on the souls of the sailors.

Already he was drawing heavily on Isabel's deep reserves of power. Her bright awareness followed him as he spun the winds into a pattern that fed on itself. She helped him concentrate the rain from many thousands of square miles into a smaller, more lethal storm. And she soared with him when he forged the lightning.

A dark, sullen dawn was breaking, the sun only a dim glow on the horizon. The overall spell was complete, but the structure was fragile. He needed a massive infusion of energy to set the pattern so that the tempest could become a force in its own right.

A gust of rain knocked him to his knees. Gasping, he reached for his partner, but for the first time he was unable to tap her strength. Though she had reserves still, they were beyond his reach.

"Isabel…" He tried to call, but his voice was a thin whisper lost in the rising wind. He was on all fours, most of his strength and awareness devoted to stabilizing the tempest with none left for holding him upright.

Her arms came around his shoulders. Though her touch stirred a wisp of energy, it was nowhere near enough to seal the spell. He tried harder to connect with the silvery pool of her power. She was struggling equally, he sensed her frantic effort, but there might have been a glass wall between them. Impenetrable. Impossible…

"Macrae." Her husky voice whispered in his ear. "The alchemical marriage — the mating of opposites to form a greater whole. It is the only solution left."

With shock, he realized that she meant a physical mating. His dazed mind tried to evaluate whether her proposal had a chance to work. There had been strong attraction from the beginning. In another time and place he would have courted her, or perhaps swept her onto his horse and carried her off to the Highlands, but he had buried such thoughts as inappropriate to the work they were doing together.

She might be right that passion could forge their spirits into a single invincible blade, but the cool voice of his conscience pointed out that he wanted desperately to believe that surrendering to lust was the key to victory. Was he a Guardian, a man of honor, or a randy male who would lie to gain what he desired?

Her lips touched his in a hesitant kiss. Her scent was of rain-washed roses.

His numb body began tingling to life. Sensing the change, Isabel's kiss became fierce, a demand laced with power.

Primal passion exploded through him, bringing every fiber of his body to blazing life. Be damned to his doubts — he wanted and needed Isabel more than reason, more than conscience, more than honor.

As he kissed her back, the shields he had borne from the cradle dissolved, allowing her access to the depths of his soul. Her fierce determination to conquer entered into his own soul, making them the invincible sword he had imagined. The gentle rain intensified into a downpour, fluid and fertile as it mated with the earth.

"Isabel, my enchantress…" He rolled above her, pressing her long body into the wet grass as he kissed her hungrily, blending his essence with hers.

Their lovemaking shattered the skies as the last barriers collapsed. Power was abundant, limitless, flowing through them and into the tempest, stabilizing the intricate structure of the spell. Lightning blazed until he was unsure if they were in Kent or soaring high over the North Sea in the heart of the storm.

As their spirits melded, he discovered that at the heart of her power was a lonely child who was an outsider among those she loved, convinced she was too strange, too unattractive, to ever find the closeness she craved. Even John Dee, greatest alchemist of the age, had found his student disconcerting.

Tenderly, Macrae showed her his vision of her unique, bewitching beauty. How she was a paragon among women, a mistress of mages. In return, she mirrored him back to himself. Was he really so darkly intimidating? Yet she was drawn to his strength, intrigued by his contradictions, so he gloried in his darkness.

He was distantly aware of Spanish ships foundering, sails shredding and masts snapping. Without the anchors they had shed near the Low Countries to escape the English fire ships, they were helpless before the tempest.

With a last paroxysm of power, the hurricane crystallized into a living entity, no longer dependent on its creator. They had succeeded. Against all the odds, they had won.

Drained of every shred of strength and passion, he fell once more into darkness.

Exhausted to ashy numbness, Isabel cradled her lover to her breast as the rain drummed into their panting bodies. She had not known the cosmos held such pleasure, or such pain, as she had discovered with Macrae.

Part of her would have been content to lie there and drown, but now that passion had burned out she was aware that the soggy ground and cold wind were wickedly uncomfortable. She managed to pull herself out from under his dead weight.

Dead? Alarmed, she laid her fingers to his throat. His pulse was strong. With effort she invoked subtler senses to look more deeply and decided that he was not profoundly injured as he had been by his earlier attempt on the Armada. Only… expended. He would sleep at least a day, perhaps longer.

She tugged his cloak over him, shielding his face from the rain, then stumbled her way up the long lane to the house. Luckily, the torrent disguised her dishevelment. Her household was used to odd activities from her; they would not suspect her of anything so plebian as coupling with a handsome stranger.

A stranger? Her mouth twisted. She knew Sir Adam Macrae to the depths of his stormy, impatient, generous soul.

As her numb fingers fumbled with the kitchen door, it swung open, and Mstress Heath pulled her into the warmth of the kitchen. "Thank the Lord you be all right, m'lady!" the housekeeper exclaimed. " Tis worried I've been."

Terrified, more likely, but all Isabel's servants knew better than to disturb her when she was working. "All is well, Mstress Heath, but send the men to the stone circle to bring Sir Adam to the house. He… he has not fully recovered from his illness and has been overcome by… his exertions."

The sodden cloak was swept from her shoulders and a mug of warm beef broth pressed into her hands. "Drink this, m'lady," Mistress Heath said briskly. "By the time you're finished, a hot bath will be waiting. Then it's to bed with you. I'll see to your Scottish savage."

Grateful to be cared for as a child, Isabel drank her broth, then allowed herself to be led to her room. Macrae was being carried in as she left the kitchen, water pouring off him and the servants who had collected him. When she cast a glance back, Mistress Heath firmly tugged her onward.

The hot bath was spiked with lavender, the healing herb soothing her frayed spirit. Isabel closed her eyes and willed herself to tranquillity. What mattered was that they had succeeded. They had forged an alchemical marriage that generated the power they needed, and England would never again be threatened by Spain. Even without her scrying glass, she knew that with absolute certainty. She uttered a prayer for the souls of the Spanish sailors.

Wearily, she rested her head against the edge of the wooden tub. She had sworn she would pay any price, and her virginity was small enough as costs went. Much harder was losing half of her soul — it would have been easier to give up her life. But that loss was not something that could, or should, be undone.

She had found pleasure almost beyond bearing in their joining. Now she must face the anguish of knowing they must separate. Deep in Macrae's mind she had seen his distaste at the prospect of being fettered by marriage. But Guardians were subject to great pressure to wed, preferably to other Guardians so the blood and the power would remain strong. He had accepted marriage as his fate.

Before his intemperance had landed him in the Tower of London, he had been ready to offer for a gentle Guardian maiden called Anne, a blonde as sweet-natured as she was beautiful. Best of all in Macrae's eyes was that Anne was a Scot when most Guardian daughters were English. He could not have tolerated an English wife — his disgust at the prospect had been achingly clear.

Isabel clambered from the tub and began toweling herself dry. Her body was warm now, though her soul was chilled. She had a sudden yearning for her mother, who had never truly understood her strange daughter, but who loved her anyhow.

As she donned her night rail and crawled into her bed, Isabel forced herself to accept that Macrae was intended for another woman. Even if he was not, his taste did not run to black-haired harridans, especially English ones. So be it.

They had won a great victory today. It was enough.

It must be enough.

The sun was shining when Macrae awoke. Outside the diamond-shaped windowpanes, two larks perched on a branch and warbled to each other. He listened in lazy peace, scarcely able to believe that they had triumphed, and survived. Of Isabel's survival he had no doubt; for the rest of his life, he would be aware of every breath she drew. He was climbing cautiously from the bed when the housekeeper entered. Eager to see Isabel, he said, "Tell Mistress de Cortes that I wish to speak to her."

The housekeeper's brows arched. "You'll have a wait, then. My lady left for London yesterday."

He stared, unable to believe that she was gone. "Why the devil did she do that?"

Mistress Heath shrugged." Tis not my place to say."

She would surely go to her father's house. "Where does the de Cortes family live?"

Ignoring the question, Mistress Heath turned to leave. "One of the men will bring you hot water and food." The door closed hard behind her.

Isabel had left him. The damned Englishwoman had bloody left him! How dare she!

Swearing, he opened the wardrobe and yanked out his cleaned and folded garments. This could have been settled easily, but nothing about Isabel de Cortes was easy. She would pay for this insult.

Aye, she would pay.

6

As soon as her mother left the room, Isabel poured the latest tisane into the window box that hung from her sill. Though her flowers had been tattered by the great storm, already they were recovering. Perhaps the herbal brews were good for them.

In her mother's arms she had found the warmth and comfort she craved, but the maternal fussing was in a fair way to driving her mad, as were the incessant questions about what had happened. Perhaps someday Isabel would be able to speak of it. But probably not.

Master Dee had visited and given her a magnificent ruby ring from the queen's own hand in gratitude for what she and Macrae had achieved. But the visit was brief, for the royal conjuror was anxious to return to his family in Bohemia.

Isabel drifted to the window, wondering what more her life might hold. Her usual studies had no interest for her, and even her scrying glass was cloudy when she tried to see her future. She had been part of a great work that changed the course of nations, so perhaps it was greedy of her to want something beyond a long, desiccated spinsterhood. Though unlike the queen, she was no longer virgin…

She heard a distant pounding, as if soldiers were banging on the front door. Then an uproar broke out downstairs. Her blood froze under an onslaught of horrified ancestral memories of the Inquisition coming to take members of the de Cortes family away to torture and death. Surely not here in London, not again!

Heart racing, she darted from her room and to the stairs. She halted in shock when she looked down into the entry hall. Magnificently dressed and fierce as a wolf, Adam Macrae was holding two of her father's menservants at bay with a sword.

Her parents stormed into the hall. Seeing the sword, her father threw a protective arm in front of his wife as he barked, "What is the meaning of this, you insolent devil?"

"You should be grateful, Master de Cortes," Macrae replied in a voice of thunder. "I've come to take your stubborn spinster daughter off your hands."

Her mother gasped. "You'll not touch her, you great brute! My husband is a friend of the Lord Mayor of London, and you'll be hanged, drawn, and quartered if you assault a virtuous maiden."

"A virtuous maiden?" Macrae laughed out loud. "That is not the Isabel I know."

Her shock dissolved by fury, Isabel swept down the steps as if she were one of Macrae's own tempests. "How dare you force your way in and terrorize my father's household! Take yourself back to Scotland and marry that sweet bland blonde of yours."

His gaze snapped upward. "Isabel!"

With a smile like the sun at high noon, he sheathed his sword and galloped up the steps three at a time. Meeting her on the landing, he swept her into an embrace that bruised her lips. Thunder and lightning, a storm in the blood. Her desire to shove him down the stairs dissolved, and she kissed him back. The damnable man!

He murmured into her ear, "Did you think you could walk away from an alchemical marriage, my beautiful witch?"

"But… but Anne, the woman you are contracted to…"

"Likely wed to another by now." His long, clever fingers began stroking the small of her back. "Anne had no shortage of suitors, and she found me alarming, which is why the contracts had not yet been signed."

A man cleared his throat heavily. Face beet-red, Isabel looked down the steps to find that she and Macrae were the object of fascinated gazes by half the members of the household. Her father said sternly, "You know this rogue?"

"H-his name is Sir Adam Macrae, and he is a well-born Scot," she stammered.

"A Scot?" Her father snorted. "No wonder he behaves like a savage."

"Accustom yourself." Macrae raised his hand, revealing a sapphire ring in a setting that matched Isabel's. "Your queen herself has ordered Isabel to marry me, in return for my services to England."

"You called on Queen Elizabeth?" Isabel's eyes widened with shock.

"I wanted to make sure I held the high ground if you were so foolish as to try to refuse me." He wrapped one arm around her waist and gazed down at Isabel's parents. "I am wealthy enough to gladden any parent's heart, and brave enough to take on your hellcat. As it happens, she and I share certain… unusual talents and interests. Now, if you will excuse us, I wish to speak to my affianced bride in private."

Her father's eyes narrowed, showing the formidable merchant who had prospered in good times and bad. "I don't care how wealthy you are, or if God Himself has given you permission to wed my daughter. No man will have Isabel unless she agrees to the union, and if you attempt to force her, you'll face the swords of myself and my three sons."

Isabel's mother placed a hand on her husband's arm, a faint, knowing smile playing over her lips. "I doubt that anything is being done against Isabel's will. Give them the chance to settle matters in private, David."

Isabel's father started to protest, then subsided. "Very well, if Isabel is willing to speak with this rogue."

"I am willing. Matters between us must be settled." Although, she wasn't sure if she would accept Macrae or cut his heart out.

As he marched Isabel up the steps, she glanced back and saw that her parents were smiling. Smiling! As easily as that, this barbarian Scot had won them over.

He led her unerringly to her bedroom. "How did you know where to find me?" she asked as he bolted the door behind them.

"It would have been hard enough to hide from a mage, but it's impossible to conceal yourself from your bonded mate. For mated we are, Isabel. Accept it."

He spun her around so that her back was to him and began deftly unlacing her gown. With a swiftness truly magical he unbound her rigid leather corset, then cupped her breasts with his warm great hands.

As she gasped with distracted pleasure, his levity dropped away. "I love you, Isabel," he said softly. "Accept the fact that we are joined for life, and quite possibly eternity as well. Will marriage be so very bad? We've been granted a rare gift of passion and closeness, my love."

She pulled away and turned to face him. It wasn't possible to read his thoughts — the white heat that had joined them when they conjured the tempest was only a distant pulse, though it would always be there when summoned. But they were still in resonance with each other, and with dawning wonder she realized that she was no longer alone.

In his eyes, she saw the reflection of her own soul and the mad glory of his desire. Even, to her surprise, a fear that she would continue to resist him.

She had always had faith in her magical abilities, but for the first time, a pleasing sense of feminine power began to flow through her. Despite Macrae's bluster, he was well-aware that a mage of her power couldn't be brought unwilling to the altar. This great brash Scot was humbling himself. Humility was not one of his gifts, which was why he was doing it so badly.

Secure in her power as both sorceress and woman, she asked, "So you have demanded me as a reward from my queen, invaded my home, and terrorized our servants because you want to marry me even though I am neither Scottish nor a Guardian?"

He smiled wryly. "Aye. It doesn't matter that you are English and not of Guardian blood. You are Isabel — the most powerful sorceress in Britain and my bonded mate, and my family will rejoice when I bring you home. Must I terrorize anyone else to gain your consent?"

"My dear, foolish rogue." With a swift cascade of joy, she linked her arms around his neck. She didn't need her scrying glass to know that they would share passion and battles and unshakable love. Macrae was hers as she was his, bonded for eternity in an alchemical marriage. "All you had to do was ask!"

♥ ♥ ♥

Author's Note

The defeat of the Spanish Armada is one of those historical high points that just about everyone remembers from high school history classes. It was a watershed that established England's ascendancy as a great sea power and was also a signifier of Spain's decline. The expulsion of the Jews from Spain certainly contributed to that decline. It's ironic that the word marrano, which meant swine and was highly insulting, became Marranos, the term by which the exiles are now known.

John Dee is a historical figure, famous as the queen's conjuror. A metaphysical scholar, alchemist, writer, and astrologer, he cast a chart to pick the best time for Elizabeth's coronation. Given the success of her reign, he was obviously good at his work! It was said that he put a hex on the Spanish Armada, which is why the weather was unusually bad that summer and the English triumphed. The running battles in the English Channel did only average damage — it was the storms when the Armada tried to sail north around Britain that destroyed most of the Spanish fleet.

Dee was also a founder of the Rosicrucian Order, a Protestant response to the Jesuits. A devout Christian, he was both praised and vilified in his lifetime. It is said that he was the model for Shakespeare's Prospero in The Tempest. His library of more than four thousand volumes was the largest in England.

The Guardians are my own invention. Their descendants will appear in some of my future historical romances, starting with A Kiss of Fate, coming from Ballantine Books in summer 2004.