Corbin

by Melanie Karsak

  Lucas waved to me as he headed out with another group of students.

  Looking mildly overwhelmed, Nova joined me.

  “What do you have?” she asked.

  “Necromancy.”

  “Thank god. Me too. Let’s go. Martian Hall, B357. Martian…do you think?”

  “Wonderland is weird enough without aliens.”

  Nova laughed then pulled out her campus map. “Here,” she said, pointing. “Not far from the library.”

  We headed out of the chambers and back across campus.

  “You disappeared last night,” Nova said.

  “Not my scene.”

  “Weird-ass shit, that’s for sure. But that blue cupcake was delicious.”

  “I’ll take your word for it.”

  “What’s with everyone’s fixation with tea?” Nova asked, gesturing to a group of students, all of whom were wearing teacups on their belts.

  “They do tea magic here.”

  “A what-what?”

  “Teamancy. They use cups like wands.”

  “Right.”

  I laughed. “There are skeletons walking the hallway of our dorm, and you’re questioning tea magic?”

  “You’re right. Nothing weird about that,” Nova said with a wink.

  We headed across the green of the Quad then into Martian Hall. Despite my joke to the contrary, I was relieved to find there was no sign of alien life. Checking out the building map, we realized that room B357 was a third-floor basement-level classroom. Nova and I took the lift down.

  When the doors opened, we discovered we were in a space that was reminiscent of our chambers. The walls were made of stone and lined with torches.

  “So, do they consider electricity optional here? Like…who decides? This room gets electric, this one gets fire, this one gets magic…” Nova said, pointing.

  I shrugged. “Something tells me that if you want things to make sense, you’ve come to the wrong place.”

  “Oh no, I’m weird enough to be here too. I’m just trying to make sense of the weird.”

  We turned and entered the classroom. At the front stood a professor whose appearance reminded me of the Queen of Spades: blue skin, glowing eyes, and dark hair. This man, however, had part of the flesh in front of his jaw missing. You could see his bones and teeth. He was undead, just like Queen Cahya.

  “Speaking of weird,” I whispered.

  “Let’s sit in the back,” Nova said, motioning to two seats closest to the back.

  The ceiling of the room was concave, much of it engraved. Jars lined the walls. The contents floating inside looked like preserved bits of I didn’t know what.

  “Something tells me that isn’t jam,” Nova whispered.

  A pair of chatty girls entered. One of the girls was complaining loudly.

  “I just don’t see why they put me in this class. This is so disgusting,” she said.

  I looked over my shoulder to see the brunette from orientation who Lucas said was named Amber, the Princess of Hearts.

  The professor looked up at her, his yellow eyes glowing. “Your father requested this class for you, Princess Cerise,” the professor said as he shifted some books on his desk. “And since his Royal Highness asked…” The man’s voice had an ancient ring to it, the tone giving him an air of authority.

  The girl huffed then sat down, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

  It was a small class. Other than me and Nova, I spotted two students from Clubs, another from Diamonds, the princess and her friend who looked equally disgusted at being here, and two upperclassmen from Spades I hadn’t met yet.

  The professor pulled out a long, slim bone then pointed it at the stack of books on his desk. A blue spark shot from the books then lifted them, distributing them around the room. The professor came and stood before the class, his arms behind his back.

  “I am Professor LeBlanc, and this is Necromancy 100,” the man said, surveying the room. “In this class, you will learn the value of the devalued. You will learn the ancient art practiced by many of the great houses of Wonderland—the study of the dead. While life is a gift, death is an inevitability. Thus, in this class, you will learn how to make death your friend. And for those of you who advance to upper levels of this course, how to become its master.

  “If you have any question on my authority over this matter, know this. I was one of the first professors to teach at Wonderland Academy. And I have been teaching in this room ever since.”

  The princess leaned over to her friend and whispered something. They both giggled.

  Professor Le Blanc turned and looked at her, his glowing eyes fixed on her face. “Your father was one of the brightest pupils I ever taught, Princess Cerise. He was a Spade through and through. Let’s see if his daughter possesses even a fraction of his talent,” he said sharply, then turned around. “Open your books to chapter one, please. Page fifteen.”

  Nova swallowed a laugh.

  I raised and lowered my eyebrows. But said nothing.

  The princess, having been put in her place, grabbed her notebook from her backpack. When she did so, she surveyed the room.

  I could feel her gaze linger on me, but I kept my eyes on my book.

  “We shall begin at the end,” Professor Le Blanc said. “Let’s consider the meaning of death…” the professor began.

  Nearly an hour later, my pocket watch dinged. As did those of the other students in the room. The class was over.

  “Very well,” Professor LeBlanc said. “For the next class, please read through chapter five and bring to class with you a deceased insect.”

  Shaking her head, Nova scratched down the assignment, then rubbed her hand. “So. Many. Notes. My hand hurts. Where you off to now?”

  “Enchantments.”

  “I have something called Geomancy, whatever the hell that is. Later,” she said, then shoved her books into her bag and headed out.

  I slipped my book back into my bag. While I wasn’t keen on learning how to reanimate the dead, apparently, the course was also going to delve into the nature of death and how one might dodge that bullet. If such knowledge was known in Wonderland, why didn’t everyone practice it? From what I could see, only Professor LeBlanc and Queen Cahya were truly the living dead. I didn’t know what to classify the skeletons creeping around Spades Chambers. They were little more than reanimated guards. Did they think? Could they?

  I slung my bag over my shoulder then turned to leave only to find Princess Cerise—Amber—passing by. She met and held my gaze.

  “Hi,” she said, giving me a perfectly coquettish smile.

  I bobbed my chin at her.

  Without another word, she turned and left the classroom.

  So, apparently, she knew how to play this game.

  Hard pass.

  With a sigh, I turned and headed out of the room. Enchantments. Well, after a lecture on the undead and my homework of rounding up a dead insect. How bad could it be?

  19

  Enchantments

  The enchantments classroom, it turned out, was on the top floor of one of the classroom buildings. The room, which boasted wide windows, emptied out to a rooftop veranda. The classroom itself had one long, wide table at the center of the room. The rest of the place looked like a cross between a tag sale and an antique store. The shelves that lined the walls were filled with a wide array of oddities. From mixers to brooms to pots and pans to hats to fabrics and more. There was a little bit of everything everywhere. When I glanced out the window, I saw that the terrace outside was exactly the same. A hodgepodge of items were intermixed with the plants and flower beds growing on the roof. A few trees even dotted the terrace.

  As for the class, we were all seated at one long table in the center of the room. A book, syllabus, and a windup toy at each spot.

  “Students, take a seat anywhere, please. Anywhere is fine,” the professor called. I glanced at the professor then looked again. The professor was wearing a curled, white court wig and was d
ressed in an admiral’s coat and cap. The most intriguing thing about him, however, was that he was, in fact, some manner of bird. Wand in hand, he huffed around the room getting ready for the class.

  I slipped into a seat at the corner of the table nearest the door.

  I was never going to get used to seeing animals walking about. But even as I thought it, a sense of guilt washed over me. They were like this because Al had failed. They were people, humans, trapped in their shifted forms. These were the very people who I’d come here to help.

  Unlike my previous class, there were at least twenty students in attendance here. Many of them were upperclassmen. I saw students from all of the Chambers, including students from Roses. But no Lacey. I wouldn’t see her until the next class.

  “Students, welcome to Enchantments. I am Professor Aves. Please pull out your syllabus, and let’s have a look.”

  I grabbed the paper and sat back in my seat.

  “In this course, you will learn enchantments. As you can see from your syllabus, we will move through various forms and levels throughout the semester. But the very nature of the class raises a question: what are enchantments? What do they do?”

  A student from Diamonds raised her hand.

  The professor nodded his long bill toward her.

  “Well, some of them are illusions,” she said.

  “That’s true. What else?”

  A student from Hearts raised his hand. “You can also enchant items.”

  The professor nodded. “Very good. Anyone have an example?”

  A girl from Roses who had very purple hair raised her hand.

  “Yes, Miss Fawnbrooke.”

  “My mother enchants the broom…and mop…and vacuum to do the housework,” she said with a laugh.

  The professor chuckled. “Indeed. Indeed. Imbuing existing matter with magic to do your will is one of the most common forms of enchantment, and the one with which we will begin today. Now, please open your book to chapter two. You can finish the first chapter on your own. Today, we want chapter two.”

  I flipped open my book to find that chapter two was titled, Enchanting Everyday and Household Items.

  “How many of you have completed Teamancy?” the professor asked.

  Most of the students raised their hands.

  “Very well. You may use your teacups for this activity, if you find it useful. Anyone trained in wands or staves?”

  A single student raised her hand.

  “You may use your wand if you like,” the professor told her then turned to the rest of us. “Now, you do not need any of the magical tools of Wonderland to make your enchantment come to life, but having such a tool will get the job done a bit faster, if you know what you’re doing.

  “Today, I want you to scan through chapter two. On the table before you, is a child’s windup toy. Those of you who manage to enchant the toy and get it moving via magic may continue in the class. Those of you who cannot complete this task, please see your advisor later today for rescheduling. Enchantments is a course for those who are ready. Your magic will either come, or it will not. The only way we can tell is to try. But never fear! There is no shame to be had here if you can’t do the conjuring. It simply means you are destined for some other path of magic in Wonderland, or it’s simply not your time.”

  “In other words, a test,” a student from Diamonds whispered to his friend under his breath.

  His buddy nodded.

  “Very well, begin. Please give me a wave when you have it. Otherwise, see your syllabus for your reading assignment for next week for those who continue on.”

  Settling back into my seat, I flipped back to the first chapter and scanned through. The first chapter outlined the fundamental concept behind Wonderland magic: magic lived in the very land, the air, the water. Magic was everywhere, but you had to feel it and pull that magic from the aether.

  The chapter focused on how to channel Wonderland’s magic through the magic-user in order to enchant or conjure the illusion you wanted to create. Unlike some other forms of Wonderland magic, enchantment came through the body of the magician. The person was the conduit. From there, they could use a teacup or wand to better direct the magic. But simple words and the wave of a hand could also suffice.

  Across the table from me, a tin duck started quacking.

  The girl from Roses with the purple hair had already managed to enchant the wind-up yellow duck. It was now waddling down the table.

  The students laughed, the girl’s friends congratulating her.

  “Very good, Miss Fawnbrooke. You may keep your duck, if you wish. And I will see you next class,” the professor told her.

  The girl giggled. “I’d love to. But one question. How do I turn him off?”

  The professor chuckled. “Simply tell the magic thank you and dismiss it.”

  She nodded. With the wave of her hand—was that pink light around her fingers?—the girl whispered in a low tone, and the little duck stopped waddling. The girl scooped up the duck, planted a kiss on its metal beak, then stashed it in her bag. “Thank you, professor,” she called then headed out.

  He waved to her, his feather wings extending.

  I turned and looked at the little tin robot sitting on the table in front of me. He had a square head and body, springy arms, and an antenna with a red light on the top of his head.

  Turning back to the book, I skimmed through the rest of the chapter.

  As I read, the student from Clubs sitting beside me got his monkey banging its symbols, and one of the boys from Diamonds got his tiny yacht sailing around the table. In turn, the others collected their toys and left.

  “All right, R2,” I whispered to the little robot then set the book aside and pulled the toy closer to me. I closed my eyes and tried to feel the magic in the air around me.

  Really, Corbin? Magic in the air?

  My mind burped up all kinds of objections, but I reminded myself what I had seen so far, what I had done. I had always known. While I was practical by nature, that didn’t mean I couldn’t be practical and magical. Surely there was room for pragmatists in Wonderland.

  Keeping in mind the spellwork Hank had taught me, I opened my eyes and waved my hand over the toy.

  “To life,” I whispered.

  The tiny robot stared back at me.

  Not moving.

  Not blinking.

  Nothing.

  Okay. Once more, I inhaled deeply, tried to feel the magic surrounding me, then waved my hand over the toy once more. “Touched with life.”

  Nothing.

  I glanced around the room. The professor was circling the table, his wings folded behind his back, watching the other students work. Only half of us were left. Of that half, half of those students had managed to get their toys to halfway sputter to life. They were working on refining. The rest of us? Nothing.

  Down the table from me, the boy from Diamonds who’d lamented the test, sighed with frustration when his wand produced no enchantment. The smiling pink metal pig sitting on the table in front of him sat inanimate.

  I watched the boy work with his wand then scanned the table. There was no one sitting close to me. No one would even see.

  I slipped my hand into my backpack and pulled out Al’s wand. Keeping my hand below the table, I tried again, this time directing the wand toward the toy.

  “Touched with life,” I whispered.

  A blast of blue magic shot through the table toward the toy.

  At once, the tiny toy robot sprang to life. The little red light on his head started blinking. His arms and legs clicking robotically, he walked across the table toward me, his head turning from side to side, his blue eyes shining with light.

  “Well done,” Professor Aves called.

  “Thank you,” I said, swishing the wand in my hand hidden under the table.

  The toy went silent once more.

  Moving carefully, I slipped the wand back into my bag then grabbed the books and syllabus. I then lifted the lit
tle robot and set him into my pack. Al’s wand had saved my ass today. Now I just had to figure out how to do it again without the help of the wand.

  I rose then looked toward the professor who nodded toward me. And then, he winked knowingly.

  Had he seen?

  Or…or was that the look of something else, some other kind of knowing? Hank said there were others here at the Academy who were in league with him. Did the professor…

  I gave him a smile, then turned and left.

  Typical Wonderland. No telling who was a friend and who was foe.

  But I did know one thing for sure. My next class was with Lacey.

  20

  Creatures of Wonderland

  This time, I headed across campus to a section I hadn’t been in before. The schedule told me to go to Tiger Lily Field. From the looks of it, it was some sort of sporting arena. Aside from the occasional rugby match, I wasn’t one for sports. But when I entered, I spotted the professor at the center of the field standing at a table on which she’d laid out a number of items. The professor was a thin woman with long, green hair. She had unusual, sparkling green tattoos on her hands. The marks looked more like henna than ink, and they glimmered magically. I had seen the same marks on some of the students as well. She welcomed the students as they approached, waving for them to join her.

  I scanned around for Lacey. No sign of her. She hadn’t changed her schedule, had she?

  To my great annoyance, however, I did spy a familiar face. Once again, I found myself in class with Amber Cerise.

  Steering clear of her, and taking a spot in the back of the crowd, I joined the others.

  “That’s right, come in close so you can all see,” she said. “Spread around the table.” The professor had set out a number of bones and other items that reminded me of fossils.

  But then, I felt something brush against my senses. Out of the corner of my eye, I spied a flash of gold beside me.

  I turned to find Lacey standing there—right there—at my side. She chewed her fingernail nervously.