Seventeen Stones

by Vanessa Wells

  Ethan Fain shook his head. “I’ve been avoiding the dance floor. Lady Anne is pouncing on any unattached man who strays into her sights and forcing them to dance with girls who don’t have partners. I’ve been in the card room getting annihilated at chess.” He grinned when Mia muttered “I’m jealous.” He led her to the dance floor with good grace. She had gathered, from his total refusal to dance on other occasions, that he would be awkward on the dance floor, but nothing could be further from the truth. He guided her through the set creditably, without damaging her aching toes in the least. He led the way to supper when it was announced.

  They talked about her studies and his apprenticeship, history and current events. His dry comments made her laugh and his knowledge of the City gave them an almost unlimited scope of topics. She went to her next partner with no small amount of reluctance. He watched her walk off with an odd look on his face and then returned to avoiding Lady Anne’s eye for the rest of the evening.

  The early light of dawn was beginning to color the eastern sky as the final guests climbed into their carriages. Mia stood in the anteroom with a yawning Lady Anne. The other girls were snug in their beds. Mr. Dempsey and Professor Fain had been the last to leave, gallantly aiding the reluctant to remember their waiting carriages, chivying the weary to return to their own homes. Mia thanked the gentlemen and traced her way to her own room, where the maid helped her out of the confining ball gown and into her nightdress. She slept like the dead until noon.

  ***

  The other girls hadn’t had quite as uncomfortable a time as Mia. Sarah had escaped her mother’s notice and spent almost an hour in the card room with her father playing chess before returning to the dance floor. Vivian had encouraged her most unpleasant partners to talk about the council. She’d had the diversion of gathering information while she danced which kept her interested, and it made her a more pleasant partner. Several high-ranking ladies had remarked about her manner.

  Lady Anne approved. “That’s exactly what you wanted them to see Vivian! You showed yourself to be above your breeding, the old tabbies will love that. Lady Fredrick even commented on your grace as you danced with her son! That’s a real coup. She’s one of the worst snobs in the pack.” Vivian didn’t like the phrase ‘above your breeding’ but Mia grabbed her wrist under the table. Lady Anne meant well. She couldn’t help being something of a snob.

  Sarah rolled her eyes. “Her son is also a blithering idiot. She’ll be lucky to snag any wanded girl for him, old blood connections and fortune or not.” Her mother shushed her, but without any force behind her command. Either she agreed with her daughter’s estimation of the young man or she was too elated by the success of the party to quibble over a chance comment…possibly both.

  Lizzy had kept her partners chuckling; Beth had been very sweet and attentive. Young Mr. Stubbs had unexpectedly taken up the mantle of white knight and had kept the fragile-seeming Beth well supplied with punch and pastry. Lizzy made fun of him. “He’s such a big clumsy puppy. I’m not sure if Beth’s feet survived the evening.” Beth blushed, but she chided her sister. “He’s not so bad, once you get to know him. He really loves the land and lakes around here. He’s kind to small children and animals, and he hates injustice of any sort. That has to be worth something.” Lizzy chuckled. “It would be if he weren’t such a stuffy prig about everything…” She stopped when her sister shot her a dirty look. Lizzy didn’t bring up the subject again.

  Ella had been charming at the ball. Lady Anne had chosen young men who came from families who held a more tolerant view of new blood. In this, she had been kinder to Ella than Mia: Mia’s partners were the worst snobs in their age group. Her breeding made her an acceptable partner for even the highest stickler, and their breeding made it a matter of courtesy to dance with any wealthy heiress with ties to ancient wanded families. Ella had gotten to spend her time with charming young men who were attracted to her beauty and sweet smile. When they danced with Ella, it was because they wanted to dance with her.

  Nobody made much of an effort to do anything the next day. Professor Fain came up to the house for tea, but there wasn’t any question of a lesson. “But you lazybones will be working doubly hard tomorrow” he warned them with a laugh. He turned to Mia and asked “Did you have a nice conversation with the Headmistress while she was here?” Mia put her tea cup carefully back on the plate before answering. Lady Anne was out of the room so they could speak freely. “Lord and Lady Powers are more than a little odd.”

  He nodded. “It tends to happen if wand wielders make it past a certain age. I didn’t get a chance to speak with them. I was following them to try to get a word, and they sort of…faded away. One minute they were there, the next they weren’t.” He stood up and walked to the window. “Headmistress Villanova was nearly as bad. She was on a hand mirror most of the time she was here…I could have sworn that I heard Professor Tate’s voice, but that makes no sense at all. What would a History Professor need that urgently during Mid-Winter break?” Mia grinned. It was so like the headmistress to be working during the middle of a party.

  Mr. Dempsey came in later and sat on a sofa languidly. Harvest was over and there wasn’t much for him to do except sigh and wish that he was already married. Lady Anne took pity on him and suggested that he ride over to the village for more beeswax candles. After he was out of the room, she giggled like a schoolgirl. “My goodness, I couldn’t have made him disappear quicker if I’d used my wand. We have enough candles, but if he’s there flirting with his fiancée he won’t be here, sulking.” The others laughingly defended Mr. Dempsey’s sulk: Professor Fain was perhaps his most vocal defender. Mia smiled to herself, pleased that the two men had become friends.

  Mia happily aided the wedding plans as she could, though Mrs. Stubbs had planned everything so beautifully there was very little for her to do. All six girls were present when Frederick Dempsey and Adeline Stubbs were married. The bride wore a white silk gown with rose and gold embroidery. The elder Mr. Stubbs beamed down at her as he walked her down the aisle. Simple vows were exchanged. They were declared man and wife in a shower of rose petals thrown by their friends and family.

  The girls cried a bit and laughed as the happy couple left. Mr. and Mrs. Smith had given them use of their beach house near Lambton. Mia’s wedding gift was both useful and symbolic: She planted a cherry tree in their front yard. Professor Fain built a protective circle around the tree, and Mia spent three days aiding the tree’s growth. The new Mrs. Dempsey would be able to harvest cherries off the tree in three years.

  The final stroke to cement this holiday in Mia’s mind as the best ever arrived after the ball: Emma stepped out of the carriage the day after Frederick Dempsey married young Miss Stubbs. The older woman had to tip her head up to look at Mia when she gave her the usual spine cracking hug. Mia immediately showed her guardian to her room, and sent up food and tea. Emma insisted that she would be fine if she had a short nap, an Mia was so happy that she didn’t question the older woman’s word until she failed to show up for dinner. The housekeeper, Mrs. Wallace, was sent to the room and quickly returned with a slight smile on her face. “She’s still asleep. Tending an entire village full of sick people could take the starch out of anyone. She’ll be fine by morning.”

  Mrs. Wallace proved correct the next morning. Emma joined the family party at the breakfast table, much to Mia’s relief. Emma tutted away their fears for her health, insisting that she simply hadn’t slept well on the carriage ride. She adroitly steered the conversation to the ball while she cut her sausages and piled marmalade on her toast. She flattered the cook, exclaimed over Lady Anne’s management of the party, and even pried a few confidences out of the retiring Ella.

  The ladies spent the morning in the sitting room beside a roaring fire. After lunch Mia took her guardian on what was ostensibly a tour of the house, but was in reality a chance to speak with her alone about the incident with the ice. Emma’s face showed concern for a split second after rec
eiving the news, but she schooled her features so quickly that Mia might have imagined it.

  Her mouth was set in a grim line when she was told that they were gathering information on the Council. “Be careful child. Let others do the questioning. I’ll send my birds about the City to see what they can find out. You’d be surprised what gossips birds can be, and people never notice them. I’ll send word if they hear anything you should know.” This was a tactic that Mia hadn’t considered, not having the gift of animal speech.

  Professor Fain greeted Mia’s guardian warmly, and pretended he didn’t see the speculative gleam in her eye. She watched him closely, keeping her opinion to herself. She didn’t attend the Creation lessons. If he noticed that the winter birds began to keep an eye on him, he never mentioned it to Mia.

  Mia was enjoying her time with Emma, who was inspecting the gardens and greenhouses, much to the chagrin of the gardener, Sebastian. His helpers were equally torn between his orders and Emma’s. It was causing no end to confusion. On the other hand, Emma was correct in saying that the medicinal herb garden had been sorely neglected in favor of decorative plants. Mia wanted an extensive herb garden, but Sebastian was concerned about having to move a bed of daylilies. She had no quarrel with flowers and ivy, but she wanted to have fresh ingredients for her own potions when she truly became the lady of the estate. In the end Sebastian relented with no grace at all, pouting for days, but he prepared the beds for the herbs as she’d asked.

  Leaving the estate to return to college wasn’t easy. For one thing, their wardrobes had grown so much that Mia decided to leave all but three of her new gowns at the estate to save room. It seemed right somehow, to put something in the echoing closet. She’d bring a trunk for them later. Lady Anne and Sarah left the party three days early, to enjoy a bit of family time before the term began. “But I want all of you to come over to tea as soon as you return to the dorm!” She insisted and the girls agreed.

  When everyone was packed, and everything in place, the girls slid into the carriages (Lady Imogene was driving Lizzy and Beth to the City herself) and they were off. Two hours later Emma stood outside the dorm for the second time in four months. “Stay safe. I’ll write as soon as I’m home to let you know I arrived alright.” Mia pulled her guardian into a tight hug before she stepped up into the carriage. John Coachman nodded to Mia and whistled for the horses to move. Mia watched them drive away until she couldn’t see them anymore. Then she levitated her luggage upstairs and prepared to meet Lady Anne for tea.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Without the pressure of planning a party or preparing for the mid-winter concert, lessons took on a different feel. Even with the extra lessons in Creation Mia had less trouble keeping up. Professor Patrick gave her a single lesson in Defense and then fell ill with the hydra pox (which caused an afflicted person to break out in a hundred different symptoms including purple spots on their tongue, stomach cramps, fever, and pink toenails). Still, things were progressing nicely in Creation, even if Martin Ainsley was insufferable about taking the second spot in the class.

  Professor Stoats was determined to give all his students the ‘experience’ of riding on a pegasus…whether they wanted it or not.

  Mia most assuredly did not relish the idea of riding an animal thirty feet off the ground. Ella couldn’t understand what Mia’s issue could be…

  “Feet were meant to be attached to something solid…not clinging to a bird-brained horse with wings that might take it into his head to do any number of things while I’m sitting on his back in the middle of thin air.” Ella giggled and Mia glared at her.

  “Oh Mia! All we have to do to pass is prove we can bridle, saddle, and ride the pegasus…no more than 20 or 30 feet in the air, and then you can come right back down and never do it again.” She tried to control her grin at her friend’s cowardly attitude, but the corners of her mouth betrayed her.

  A haughty mare was waiting when they arrived and Mia sighed and put her mind to the task. The trouble began as soon as Mia put the saddle on the beast’s back. She didn’t manage a single buckle before it was tossed to the ground. She glared at the winged animal and retrieved the saddle. “Ok birdbrain. Let’s get this over with, and you’ll never have to deal with me again.” Apparently, either the pegasus didn’t consider that promise enough of an inducement, or she was totally unaware that Mia was bargaining. Because an instant after the saddle was placed on her back, the mare reared up and the saddle bounced off.

  Mia’s lips thinned as the animal threw a haughty glance at her and proceeded to amble away, grazing. Ella was tightening the final straps on her mount as he gazed adoringly at her. Mia rolled her eyes and turned back to her own mount. The look in the mare’s eye as she sensed Mia approaching was not adoration.

  Mia carried the saddle with a determined air. “Alright puppychow…let’s try this again.” She tossed the saddle on the pegasus’ back and leaned on it with magic as she fumbled for the buckles on the saddle. Unable to toss the saddle aside, the animal’s eyes rolled in fear and frustration as she took a nervous step back…right on Mia’s foot.

  “Ouch!!!” Mia glared at the pegasus, but it didn’t do either of them any good. The cantankerous beast was saddled and ready to ride. Mia grabbed the lead rope and led the reluctant animal to Professor Stoats so he could inspect the saddle, while dodging the mare’s teeth the entire way.

  The Professor had to tighten a few saddle girths, rearrange a few straps, and generally make sure no one in the class would slide off of their mount while still sitting in the saddle; and then it was suddenly time.

  “Alright class. Let’s see what you can do! Who wants to go first?”

  Ella didn’t often put herself forward in class, but she grinned and volunteered, along with several of the more adventurous lads. “Miss Ward, please mount up. I rather think you are less likely to break your neck in a first attempt than most of my students.” Ella didn’t blanch, but Mia did.

  With a graceful movement, Ella leapt from stirrup to saddle and with a confident motion, the pegasus took flight. Mia watched with her heart in her mouth as her friend took the beast up and cantered flawlessly around the enclosure. Ella was smiling, urging her mount to move quickly, and she looked like she was in complete control. Her red curls bounced as they landed, but otherwise it looked as smooth as riding a horse at a canter…and much smoother than bouncing around at a trot.

  “Excellent Ella. Who wants to go up next?” A flurry of hands greeted his question so it wasn’t hard for Mia to hide in the back of the crowd. One by one the others managed to get their mounts into the air with varying displays of skill and execution. The mare watched restlessly as the other pegasus flew around the field, and dug a small hole in the turf with her front hoof. Whenever Mia was near the mare’s strong, sharp teeth she got a painful nip on whatever unfortunate piece of flesh was within the animal’s reach.

  Eventually, there was no one left to hide behind. “Miss Rusticov, it is your turn.” Mia sighed and untied the mare. Some of the others had used a mounting block instead of the stirrup, and Mia led the mare to the block, feeling that she could use all the help she could get. Ella appeared and offered to hold the lead rope while she mounted. Mia stared at the horse’s back. Even from the block, it looked like a long way up.

  She had just gathered her courage to lean toward the saddle when the animal suddenly lashed out with a wing. Mia fell in the dust on her rear, much to the amusement of the class. She glared up at the animal from the ground, as Ella tried to calm the pegasus. Professor Stoats drawled from his perch on the fence. “You waited too long. You’re making her nervous.” Mia grumbled. “I’m making her nervous?”

  She climbed back on the block and quickly put her foot in the stirrup, and swung herself into the saddle. For a moment it wasn’t too bad. Then Ella handed her the reins. The mare, sensing that this human on her back was not confident and could be bullied, quickly took to the air without any guidance from Mia. She rapidly attained enou
gh airspeed to guarantee flight, and the proceeded to fly under the nearest bridge in a blatant attempt to knock Mia from the saddle.

  Mia squealed as she clung to the mare’s neck and dodged. The mare snorted and flew higher as several other riders took off to follow. The mare tossed her head as if to say ‘What? Do you think you can catch me?’ and flew even higher. Mia nearly fainted when she accidentally looked down and saw the City, much too far below.

  She reluctantly tried the reins. “C’mon puppychow. Down! Down. I want to go down!”

  The mare fought her, but did go somewhat closer to the ground…before she tucked her wings, dove, and scattered the pursuing pegasus and their riders as she and Mia plummeted toward the ground. About the time that Mia was certain she was going to die trying to ride this stupid animal, the mare’s wings snapped open and she ran across the ground for a few steps as she gathered speed to fly again. Professor Stoats shot a spell at them, but the mare dodged and took to the sky again.

  Mia wished heartily that she had jumped off when she had the chance as once again the City got further and further away. She couldn’t see the pursuing riders anymore. She tried to reach for her wand, but every time she tried to release her death grip on the mare, the animal swerved to sweep the unwanted passenger off her back.

  Mia tried to weigh her down with natural magic, but the animal was a creature of magic. The extra weight didn’t even slow her down.