“Precisely,” Lady Barb said. “It would also give you a chance to learn how to do certain things outside Whitehall.”
Emily nodded.
“You don’t have to decide at once,” Lady Barb told her, “but I would like to know a month before Whitehall closes down for summer. That’s when I have to make arrangements with the White Council.”
“I’ll let you know,” Emily said, although she had already made up her mind. The chance to spend some time away from Whitehall—or Zangaria—would be very welcome. “And thank you for your support.”
“I was surprised that your guardian hasn’t shown himself,” Lady Barb said. There was a dark tone in her voice, a reminder of what she’d told Emily about Void, several months ago. “It is always worrying when he does what I want him to do.”
Emily shrugged. One thing she had learned about Void was that he appeared and disappeared as it suited him. No one, as far as she knew, could summon him, even when his ward was in serious trouble. Or had the Grandmaster actually tried to call him when Master Tor was threatening her with expulsion?
“I’m sure he knows what he’s doing,” she said, dryly.
The look on Lady Barb’s face suggested that she wasn’t convinced.
“Leaving him aside,” Emily said, changing the subject, “has there been any sign of Lin?”
“None,” Lady Barb said. “But she was clearly a very well-trained magician. Unless she does something stupid, she can avoid detection and make her way back to Mountaintop—or wherever she is going. We convinced Dragon’s Den to make a search, but they turned up nothing. The Grandmaster is still investigating. I dare say that he will tell you what he finds out when he knows what it means.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What—precisely—did Lin take with her?”
Emily hesitated. “Concepts,” she said. The problem was that she wasn’t entirely sure what Lin had seen. If she’d been poking around Emily’s desk since the first day they’d met, she might have seen almost everything. And what if she’d managed to get into the trunk? “I don’t know for sure.”
She scowled. If Lin had been looking for technology alone, she might have gunpowder, steam engines and a dozen other concepts Emily had been reverse-engineering. She would have the diagrams for basic cannons, muskets and other weapons. But if she’d looked at the magical notes, she might well have the pocket dimension batteries too...if she could make them work. Emily’s experiments had never reached the next stage...in hindsight, channelling that much power might be very dangerous. And yet Lin had already proven herself to be a sneaky opponent.
“I’ll be asking you for details later,” Lady Barb said. “And so will the Grandmaster.”
And King Randor, Emily added, silently. She didn’t know how much King Randor knew of the gunpowder project, but she doubted that Imaiqah’s father had hidden it from him. Not when he was a noble himself now.
She shook her head. How far could Lin and her backers go with what they had? Emily had already been surprised by how fast Zangaria had advanced from what she’d told them. How far could others go without her help? There was no way to know.
A sudden rustle ran around the Great Hall as the Gorgon entered. Instead of wearing robes, or a human-style dress, she was wearing a long tunic that seemed to show off her inhuman attributes. It seemed to be made of snakeskin—Gorgon scales, Emily suspected—and showed her bare arms. They too were a strange blend of human skin and scales. Her snakes, fanning out around her head, seemed to be smirking at the crowd.
“Your friend seems to have decided to abandon her attempt to pretend to be human,” Lady Barb said. She sounded approving. “Good. We need more contacts among the Gorgons.”
Emily looked at the Gorgon, then smiled.
“Go enjoy your party,” Lady Barb said. “You earned it.”
Emily nodded and walked over to join the Gorgon, noticing the half-admiring, half-fearful glances some of the male students were directing at her. It was impossible to avoid noticing that the Gorgon had a kind of eerie glamor, a beauty that drew their attention towards her scales—and snakes. She couldn’t help wondering which of the boys would be the first to ask the Gorgon to dance.
“Thank you for coming,” she said, as she took the Gorgon’s hand. “It wouldn’t have been the same without you.”
The Gorgon winked at her, then nodded to a stuttering third-year who was trying to ask her to dance. Emily couldn’t tell if he was merely immature or if he was scared of the Gorgon as well as being attracted to her. She fought down a laugh as the Gorgon led him onto the dance floor, moving with a grace that rivalled Alassa’s.
“Come and dance,” Alassa said. “This day won’t last forever.”
“You taught her,” Emily muttered. “Didn’t you?”
“Father taught me that you can either apologize endlessly for being what you are or you can just rub their noses in it,” Alassa said, with a nod. “I decided to show her how to do the latter. She doesn’t need to pretend to be human. And look! They’re all falling over her.”
Emily felt her smile widening as her friend pulled her over to a group of boys. Maybe it was strange to wish otherwise, to wish that the day would last forever, but—despite everything—she was content.
She was home.
The End
About the author
Christopher G. Nuttall is thirty-two years old and has been reading science fiction since he was five, when someone introduced him to children’s SF. Born in Scotland, Chris attended schools in Edinburgh, Fife and University in Manchester before moving to Malaysia to live with his wife Aisha.
Chris has been involved in the online Alternate History community since 1998; in particular, he was the original founder of Changing The Times, an online alternate history website that brought in submissions from all over the community. Later, Chris took up writing and eventually became a full-time writer.
Current and forthcoming titles published by Twilight Times Books
Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire SF series
Barbarians at the Gates
Schooled in Magic YA fantasy series
Schooled in Magic book 1
Lessons in Etiquette book 2
Study in Slaughter book 3
Work Experience book 4
Chris has also produced The Empire’s Corps series, the Outside Context Problem series and many others. He is also responsible for two fan-made Posleen novels, both set in John Ringo’s famous Posleen universe. They can both be downloaded from his site.
Website: http://www.chrishanger.net/
Blog: http://chrishanger.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherGNuttall
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Study in Slaughter (Schooled in Magic) Page 39
