Ruins of Camelot by G. Norman Lippert Page B

your father remembered a small lakefront hunting cottage in the eastern hills that his own father, King William Xavier the Second, had sometimes taken him to as a child.  It was remote, virtually forgotten by all save for himself and his mother.  Perhaps, he surmised, this was where she had escaped with you.  Desperate but hopeful, he himself led the search party, crossing the snowy wilderness and finally reaching the lake and the small cottage that stood by it.  He recognised the old building by the broken vane upon its roof, and sure enough, to the surprise and delight of all, he found you inside, both you and your grandmother, safe and sound."
    "I remember it as if it were happening this very moment," the King said soberly, reaching to cover Gabriella's hand with his own.  "My mother was weakened with hunger and the exertion of the journey, but she told me how you had cared for her even though you were barely seven years old.  She told how you had gone out each evening, dressed in your red hood and cloak, in search of winter berries and firewood.  She explained how you melted snow to make drinking water, warming it on the stove.  You cared for her even when it was she who was meant to protect you."
    "And she told of something else as well," Toph added seriously, "something that has been a secret for many years, known only to her, myself, and your father."
    He paused again, his brow low and thoughtful.  Gabriella waited for her father to urge the professor on, but he did not.  Finally, she spoke up herself.
    "That's a fine secret if you do not intend to share it even now."
    Toph blinked at her and then smiled slightly.  Gabriella noticed that, for the moment, the professor seemed neither shy nor silly.  His robes and tassels gleamed in the sunlight.  Finally, he lowered his eyes, dipped a hand into his inner pocket, and produced his black walnut wand.
    "You know the truth, I think, that I am not an actual wizard," he said, holding the wand up and turning it slowly between his fingers.  "I can perform some small magic with this wand of course, but the magic is not my own.  The power belongs solely to this wand as the symbol of my post.  Its enchantments can be performed by anyone with the patience and the dexterity to learn its use.  It was carried by Magic Master Gaunt before me and Leofrick before him.  In fact, the use of this wand goes all the way back to the time of Arthur the King himself, to the great Merlinus Ambrosius, who crafted it.  It was he who gave this wand its magic, and do you know why?"
    Toph looked from face to face, and Gabriella saw that he was not expecting a response.  He drew a deep breath and soberly answered his own question.
    "Because Merlin was no mere man like myself and the others before me.  Merlin was a true magical creature, a sorcerer.  Back then, there was living magic, practised by a society of witches and wizards that dwelt amongst us and beside us.  They had their own king, a noble wizard named Kreagle, and their own councils, courts, and colleges.  The world of men called upon the society of wizards in times of need.  Kings sought their wise counsel and magical assistance.  This led, of course, to the establishment of the official post of Royal Magic Master, and to Merlin himself, who walked these walls, the first and last true wizard to hold the title.
    "But jealousies bred between the kingdoms of men and their wizarding counterparts.  Magic began to be misused, even by the great Merlin, who was rumoured to hire out his services to any kingdom with enough coin to pay for them.  Finally, there came a breach.  Wizardkind broke ties with the world of men.  The kingdom of the wizards hid itself away from us, for our own good as well as theirs.  Their cities were clouded from our eyes so that we could not see them or even remember where they had been."
    "But they are not hidden completely," Darrick interjected as Toph paused.  "We all know of distant corners