by Robin Wirth
teased. “Is that something you’re planning on
doing now that you’ve accomplished your
original goal?”
“What, and end up being stuck at home
trying to feed seven kids?” Felicity shuddered.
“I don’t think I’m quite ready for that yet.”
“Oh, Felicity, you don’t have to start
mass producing children in order to enjoy the
company of a man,” she told her with a chuckle.
“They are useful for more than just one thing,
you know.”
“To hear them talk, they’re the only ones
who are useful for anything at all,” Felicity
sniffed disdainfully. “Just look at Dervish
McTavert, for example. He thinks he knows
everything. And then, of course, there’s
Lancelot Jones.”
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“What about Lancelot Jones?” she
asked. “He looks rather like he’d be useful for
plenty of things.”
Felicity gasped, and her face turned
flaming red. “I wouldn’t know,” she lied.
Miss
Gilwalter
laughed
at
this
enigmatically. “Ha, I thought as much. You’ve
been spacing off excessively ever since you met
that particular wizard, not that I can blame you
in the least. The question is, what do you intend
to do about it?”
“Do?” Felicity asked. “What do you
mean, do? Why would a powerful, influential
wizard who could have his pick of the litter want
anything to do with a bookish, wild-haired witch
like me? Especially after the way we met.”
“Because you are a bright, beautiful
young witch who just happens to catch the eyes
of many gentlemen, both young and old,
whether you are aware of the fact or not. And I
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happen to know that Lancelot Jones has a
particular preference for petite, pretty girls.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Had you never seen his wife, then?” she
asked. “She was very much like you in many
ways. Very small, but very bright, and certainly
a powerful witch in her own right.”
“I hadn’t even seen much of the wizard
himself until the very night we met,” Felicity
pointed out. “But what ever happened to his wife
in the first place, may I ask?”
“Apparently she ran off with an elf,” said
Miss Gilwalter conspiratorially.
“My goodness, that poor man,” said
Felicity, feeling a bit more sympathetic than she
ought, all things considered.
“That was over ten years ago,” she
added. “Surely he's over it by now. These days
he seems to be married only to his work.”
“But perhaps that means he isn’t over it
at all,” Felicity pointed out with a dejected sigh.
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“No, I think not,” she agreed. “I
happened to see him at one of the dating halls I
frequent a few months ago. I think Dervish must
have dragged him there. McTavert himself has a
great eye for the witches, and there are plenty
who have an eye for him as well.”
“And did Lancelot Jones seem at all
interested in anyone there?” Felicity asked
curiously. “Why didn’t you try for him
yourself?”
“Well, I might have done, if I hadn’t
already hooked up with a really hot wizard
earlier in the evening, well before the two of
them came in,” she explained. “He and I were
just leaving together at the time.”
“And how did that work out?” Felicity
inquired with a girlish smirk.
“Let’s just say that my bed seems a bit
warmer these days,” she chuckled. “Though I
should probably not be telling you such things
as yet. Drop me a line when you know where
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your placement is, and maybe we can talk some
more.”
“Yes, I’d like that,” Felicity said.
“Maybe we could go shopping together
sometime.”
“And here I thought you were immune to
the more frivolous things in life,” she laughed,
then moved forward to give her a hug. “By the
way, since that book called you, it’s meant to be
yours. You needn’t bring it back at all, you
know.”
“How did you—”
“I’ll talk to you soon, my dear,” she
chuckled. “Perhaps I’ll tell you then.”
Felicity skipped quickly up the hall and
on toward the dorms. She took the stairs three at
a time as she went to the top floor, four stories
up, and flung her bag on top of her bed so she
could open it and remove the humming book.
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“That must be it,” she said with a shake
of her head. “She must have heard it humming
after all.”
Felicity knew she should be writing her
speech, but she spent the greater part of the night
with her nose stuck in her newest treasure. She
dozed off only a couple hours before she had to
get dressed, and her eyes were puffy as she
rushed out to join the other acolytes who had
gathered in the main hall.
“Are you ready for this, Felicity Lake?”
asked Jane with a smile.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she answered,
and they all walked out to the field for their
ceremony.
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TEN
Even though it seemed like twenty hours
later when it was finally time for Felicity to give
the speech she was supposed to have prepared,
only about twenty minutes had actually elapsed.
Knowing she had no idea what she wanted to say
did not sit well with her, since she was normally
prepared for every circumstance at all times.
“Good afternoon, everyone,” said
Felicity as she stepped up on the stage. “Can you
believe we’ve finally made it to the top? Here
we’ve been studying so long and so hard, the
time has just literally passed us by.”
The audience laughed.
“Yes, we’re all finally graduating from
Academie Magica, and moving on towards the
world of adulthood,” she said with a sigh, then a
shake of her head. “But if you’re anything like
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me, it’s just hit you that moving on also means
there are many things we will be leaving behind.
Like all the friends that we have made over the
years, and all the dear old haunts we have grown
used to, and even this wonderful old school
itself, for example.
“Every magical brick in this place was
lovingly crafted throughout the centuries. Over
that time, it has grown larger to accommodate
our growing needs,
yet it is, despite that fact, the
one constant that remains fixed in our otherwise
shifting world.
“But perhaps that is as it should be. The
Magi have been clinging to their past for far too
long. We have followed the same old ways as
our ancestors before us for centuries, clinging to
them like they were the Veil itself.
“Yet the world outside has changed as
well. The Mundanes have advanced their
technologies and improved their way of life
while we stood still. If we are to keep up with
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them, we as adults must usher in a new era if our
world is to continue to thrive.
“In the past, it was always taken
complacently, for example, that we could not
grow our own food because magic imbues it
within the confines of the Veil. But nobody that
I know of, since the Veil was fortified, has ever
attempted to discover any new spells that could
make it possible.
“And nobody in recent history has even
tried to strike a bargain with the Mundanes
before Archibald Flanders’ recent attempt. We
have, instead, sunk to an even greater low, not
only failing to honor the deal made by the High
Mage for the return of Theodore Lundy, but then
also elected to requisition our own lands in
Mundania through the bewitchment of its true
owners.
“These are the kinds of behaviors that are
leading our people down a path we ought not to
take. I want to challenge each and every one of
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you to consider alternative methods to using
force to have our needs met.
“I believe that we could live in peace and
harmony with all of creation, to work toward the
common good of all creatures, if only our people
would try.
“And now, you and I are the people. No
longer are we the unheard children of our pasts,
but a strong new force, ready to take on the
world.”
“Propagandist!” shouted Bruno Lovette
from the back of the assembly. He shook one of
his fists and stood to turn fully around, showing
her his back.
“And I also believe the best place to start
making the necessary changes must be among
ourselves. For if I cannot even complete a five-
minute speech without somebody flinging
irrational statements my way, then we truly have
a long way to go to right the wrongs of this
world.”
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Hardly anyone clapped when she
finished speaking. Headmistress Meriwether
looked quite ill at ease as she stepped forward to
congratulate the graduates. Most of the students
threw their caps at Felicity rather than up into
the air.
Felicity
dodged
their
well-aimed
missiles with a flick of her wand as she accepted
the certificate the headmistress handed her. Then
she did a double take as she looked at the back
of the room again.
There, standing alone in the background,
Felicity spotted the one person she would never
have expected to attend. She was quite surprised
as he lifted a wand and floated to the front of the
field to wait for her.
“Hello, Director McTavert. What brings
you to my ill-advised little speech?” said Felicity
as she stepped off of the stage and came to stand
at his side.
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“Well, lassie, as a matter of fact, ye
have,” he told her in his heavy brogue. “The
Council deliberated a great deal about where to
place ye for the next six years. It seems thot
nobody wanted to take on a discipline case, let
alone a young woman who apparently attempts
to sow the seeds of discontent wherever she
goes. But I thought of the perfect place for a
woman as spunky and headstrong as ye.”
“Oh, really?” Felicity answered, not at
all certain she liked which way this conversation
seemed to be headed. “And where might that be,
sir?”
“There’s only one place I want a wee bit
of a lass who was able to get inside my Magical
Museum so easily, and thot would be within the
walls of thot very same Museum itself, where I
can keep a close watch on ye,” he said with an
enigmatic grin. “I had no trouble at all
convincing the other members of the Council
just where ye belong.”
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“You can’t be serious,” said Felicity.
The first wave of shock had now passed, and a
second was gathering steam already.
“I’m quite serious, Miss Felicity,” he
insisted. “Lance has been in need of an assistant
for some time now, whether he likes to admit it
or no. And ye are imminently qualified for the
task. I had a look at thot charm ye conjured in
my office before. Was it something ye invented
yerself?”
“Of course it was,” she said as if the
answer should have been self-evident. “I make
up spells and charms on the fly all the time.”
“Aye, I thought as much. Then how
would ye enjoy a job categorizing and archiving
thousands of spells thot are so rare thot only the
copies within our Museum remain?” said
Dervish in a conspiratorial tone. “Ye have to
keep them under wraps, of course, but I have no
fear thot a girl so honorable as to take all the
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blame for an idea thot was not even her own
would betray thot trust.”
“You’re right, sir,” she agreed. “I’m
nothing, if not loyal.”
“On lunch breaks ye can even study
anything ye wish, which I’m sure would tickle
yer fancy as well.”
“Very much,” she said. “But I do have
one question, sir. Have you told Lancelot Jones
about all of this?”
“Och! Of course I told him, lassie. I’d
never presume to hire an assistant thot the
wizard with need of one wouldna approve of
first,” he said. “In fact, I believe he took the
whole thing rather well. We have agreed thot
Lancelot, and not I, will be yer protector till ye
come of age.”
“Is that the truth, or are you just trying to
make me feel better?” she asked. “How could
Lancelot Jones possibly have agreed to anything
of the sort? The last time I saw him was during
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my day in court, where he threw me to the
wolves for slaughter.”
“Aye, ‘tis true he did as he felt was best,
but thot doesna mean he’s forgotten ye,”
Dervish said with a wink. “I have a feeling ye
may have b
een greatly on his mind since thot
day.”
“I’m flattered that you believe me
worthy of remembrance, in any case,” she
chuckled. “By the way, sir, I recently have been
told by more than one source that you live high
atop a craggy mountain in Scotland, but it seems
like you’re always here. How could you live so
far away and yet get about so well?”
Dervish chuckled at this, and placed a
hand upon her shoulder as he said, “Well,
perhaps ye’ll find yer answer in the archives
someday.”
“That is as may be, sir, but it doesn’t
answer why you never seem to go home, if
indeed that is where you live.”
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“Thot, too, is easily explained, lassie,”
he said with a sheepish grin. “Have ye ever sat
atop a craggy mountain? If ye dinna have a care,
the rocks will go right up yer arse.”
Felicity wasn’t sure if she should laugh,
or take him seriously. She opted to simply stare
at him instead, and Dervish held in his own
laughter less than a minute before both of them
were chuckling merrily together.
Bruno’s voice resounded nearby as he
shouted, “Look at Miss Fancy-pants, acting all
friendly with a Director, of all people. Tell us,
Lake, are you working on going into politics
next?”
“Nay, she is not, young Master Lovette.
Now mind yer own business, if ye please. I am
in charge of yer father’s paycheck, in case ye
have forgotten.”
“Yes, sir,” he agreed, and abruptly
departed.
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“I’ve been trying to figure out how to
shut him up for years,” Felicity marveled.
“What’s your secret?”
“A compelling spell, of course,” he
explained. “I dinna have time for his nonsense.”
“On a wizard, sir?”
“On anyone I desire to control, Miss
