Seventeen Stones

by Vanessa Wells

  Mia poured a cup of tea and sat down in the wicker chair beside the Professor. He looked up with sudden inspiration. “You don’t suppose we could lure Emma away from Forestreach to knock some sense into these old blood ninnies do you?” Mia laughed. “Not a chance. I’ve asked. She won’t leave the village…come to that, she won’t leave the forest.” The old man shook his head sadly. “Smart lady. I envy her.”

  Mia grinned. “You’ll find someone. Here, I’ve finished another six pages today in the field guide. Just seventeen thousand or so to go before you leave!”

  Ella walked into the dorm one evening with a thin sheet of paper in her hand. The rest of the girls were out and Mia was doing her homework in front of the empty fireplace. It was too warm for a fire now, but she missed the cheery glow. “I finally heard back from my uncle Will.” Mia looked up from her homework. She didn’t remember anything in particular about Uncle Will. Ella had so many aunts, uncles, cousins, and family members it was hard to keep them all separated sometimes. “I thought William was your oldest brother?” Ella laughed. “No Michael and John are my older brothers, and Peter and Wendy are the twins. Will’s my father’s youngest brother. He’s a footman at Greatlord Feist’s estate. I wrote and asked if he knew what was going on with the supplies being stockpiled here in the City.”

  She had Mia’s attention. “Uncle Will wrote a friend here at the Greatlord’s townhome and asked, off the record, what he thought was going on. The other footman says that he’s heard all kinds of rumors, but that he doesn’t know anything for certain. I don’t know how much good it did. These stories seem pretty wild. I don’t know how anything could attack the City for instance or why the Magus would be the only one stockpiling supplies if he knew that another Great famine was coming. The servants are expecting everything from a dragon revolt to another City being built, and each scenario is less likely than the last.” She sighed. “I thought it was such a good idea.”

  Mia took the letter from her friend’s hands and re-read it, chuckling as she saw some of the more far-fetched theories. “Well, this proves one thing. If the servants are this convinced that something is going on, then something is.”“I don’t suppose you’ll be returning to music next year.” Mia looked up in surprise when she heard the tone Professor Petrov was using. She didn’t see a reason to lie. It wasn’t any secret that she hated music class. “No, I don’t intend to. I still intend to play of course, but I don’t see any reason for lessons when I’ll never take it further than evening entertainment.” The professor pulled her thick brows together. “I don’t suppose so. It’s just that you were just beginning to sound almost adequate. I’m afraid that if you’re left to your own devices you’ll slip back into mosquito noises instead of music.” Mia ignored the grumbling. The only way she would take another music class with the permanently perturbed professor was if someone was holding a wand to her head.

  ***

  “You have to take music.” It was less than two days after the Professor had grumbled the same thing, but this time the person saying those perplexing words was the Headmistress. “I only need one music credit to graduate.” Mia wasn’t budging. Even the idea of subjecting herself to Professor Petrov on purpose, when she knew what she was getting into….she wasn’t masochistic.

  “I wrote the syllabus Mia, I’m well aware of what you have to have to graduate. You have to take music as part of the cover. I told the council, swore to them in fact, that the apple tree incident was an aberration. Markson is the only one who has reason to doubt that. I want you to look like one of those bubble headed wanded wimps so they won’t see what you are until it is much too late. Professor Petrov is looking forward to having you in her intermediate piano class next semester. Be sure to practice over the break so she doesn’t turn you into an avocado out of a fit of temper.”

  Every year, before the end of term, the City hosted a picnic. There were booths with items to sell for various charities and organizations, free food and drinks, and a fireworks display as soon as the sun set.

  Tristan Gentry was leading Lizzy off toward the lake to paddle about on one of the boats brought in for the occasion, while Gabriel, Vivian, and Mia lounged on a wide yellow blanket in the sun. “Throw me another bottle of lemonade, will you?” Mia obligingly tossed the bottle to Gabriel, since he’d been reluctant to leave his post as Vivian’s backrest. “Ah, this is perfect. The sun is shining, the water is cold, and the prettiest girl in school is here with me. Life doesn’t get much better than this.” Vivian rolled her eyes, but snuggled a little closer to him anyway.

  “What apprenticeships did you apply for Gabe?” Mia asked. She was afraid that if she didn’t make them talk the two of them would stare into each other’s eyes until it got too dark to see. He grinned. Mia couldn’t tell if he knew what she was trying to avoid or if he just had the expression pasted on his face permanently whenever Vivian was around. “I only applied for things around the City. I’ll probably end up with one of my granddad’s cronies: you know, you put up with my worthless grandson and I’ll put up with yours sort of thing.” Vivian tried to thump him for calling himself worthless, but he caught her hand. Mia looked away when he started kissing Vivian’s fingers.

  She was looking at her friend and her beau and trying to think of a way to politely excuse herself when Professor Fain appeared out of nowhere. “Would you care to take a walk around the lake?” Mia looked up, surprised but grateful. Gabriel barely noticed the Professor, and Vivian waved to her friend absently, as Mia took Professor Fain’s hand and grabbed her light shawl and hat.

  He kept his face straight until they were far enough away and then chortled “You looked like you needed rescuing.” Mia found out that she could laugh about it, now that she wasn’t sitting on the blanket without a polite way to remove herself from the love birds. “I was about to toss myself into the lake, just to get away.” She took the arm he offered her as they went over a patch of uneven ground, and somehow she never relinquished it as they ambled around the tiny “lake”.

  “Have you finished picking your classes for next year?” Mia pulled a face. “Yes. The headmistress insisted that I take music again. But I managed to get a place in History 201, and Professor Ambrose is letting me take an apprentice level Alchemy course. Marshall doesn’t teach Transfiguration 201, so it won’t be as bad next year. I’m getting a break from Astronomy; I won’t have it again unless I can test into the Planetary Movements class in third year. I can’t drop Sight, but I’m done with Government, thank goodness. I’m taking three classes with Professor Patrick, Botany, Animal Husbandry, Charms 201, and Creation of course.”

  He grinned. “Of course.” She nodded and added “I’m also taking Healing 201. I doubt I’ll be allowed to choose healing as a profession after I finish college, but I want to be fully accredited if I get the opportunity” It went unspoken between them that a girl with such a strong talent for Creation would almost certainly be assigned to making something, unless of course she managed to attain Greatlady status and had a talent for setting the all-important protective barrier spells.

  He sighed. “You’ll wear yourself out. Don’t you want to spend some time just being a student? Going to the concerts, plays, musicals?” She looked into his troubled blue eyes and told him the truth. “I feel like I don’t have much time.”

  He reached out and wrapped a warm arm around her shoulders. He looked into her eyes for a moment, and then smiled. “I’m not sighted. I don’t know what tomorrow is going to hold. All I know is that today it’s the end of a beautiful day, and we’re going to eat ices and cake, and watch fireworks over the lake.” He grinned, trying to lighten her suddenly bleak mood, and she let him. After all, he was right. Tomorrow would take care of itself.

  Lizzy and Tristan joined the group after they returned from the lake. Beth and James Stubbs eventually returned from the booths. He was carrying a basket-load of purchases for the dainty Beth. She could have levitated it easily, but Mia could tell that she enjoyed
having him along. Gabriel roused himself enough to participate in the conversation instead of staring dreamily into Vivian’s eyes. Ella was sitting on another blanket with the band from the music room, singing while the lad from her village played softly. Sarah was playing along on a little harp she’d picked up that afternoon. Professor Fain left her with her friends while he went to see if the crew for the fireworks had the project under control.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Mia joyfully strode into the Creation room with her bag in one hand and her brand new third year Creation text in the other. They were supposed to start the theory behind it today. Ethan Fain was sitting at his desk, with one hand gripping a piece of parchment and the other cradling his head. He lifted his eyes when he heard her enter.

  She took in his posture with a feeling of concern. “What’s wrong?” He smiled slightly. “Wrong? Nothing, I suppose.” He shook the parchment to draw her attention to it. “This is a letter from the Magus; in his own handwriting. Do you know how rare that is? I don’t think I saw him write a single letter the entire time I apprenticed to him. He just casually dropped the contents of every boyhood dream I ever had into my lap this afternoon.” He straitened his shoulders. “I have to take my Greatlord exam in a few minutes and then meet with the highest ranking members of council to plan an expedition to Greenvale. The Magus wants me to see if there’s a good site there for another city.”

  The implications hit Mia like a stone wall. He would be a Greatlord, no longer her teacher. Worse, he wouldn’t merely be busy here in the City; he was leaving on a three week long trek to the middle of the grain belt to find a site to build another city. How could they build another city? Why would they want to? He would be gone for years! Of all of the outlandish ideas that they’d considered that one was the most unlikely! Building in the grain belt would sterilize a portion of the richest lands in the City bounds.

  Professor Fain nodded. “Greenvale might have the bedrock we need. Or we might find near the marshes or in the desert…we have to take a survey crew out first. You have to be onsite for topographical mapping spells to work correctly. The Magus has everything arranged: crews are ready to go, supplies stocked up, and all the research done…mostly by the college staff. I do wonder how the Headmistress kept me out of it entirely…and why.” He shook his head. “I haven’t even told her yet…she’ll need to find someone to sit in for my classes.”

  He glanced at Mia and smiled, but the expression was more than a little gloomy. “Funny isn’t it? I’ve spent my entire life working toward this moment, and now that it’s here, I realize how much I enjoyed teaching.” He gave a short, bitter laugh. “I’d give anything to just say ‘no, thanks.’ But you know that it doesn’t work like that. We all do what we have to in service to the City.” Mia nodded. It was the most quoted line from the City code. She’d never felt less like honoring it.

  He stood up and squared his shoulders again. “I’ve done something highly illegal.” Mia’s brows shot up. That was the last thing she’d expected him to say. He reached into his satchel and handed her an exquisite little hand mirror. “I have a more masculine version of this in my shaving kit. I put a communication spell on it this morning so that we could discuss your studies during the summer. There are spells that monitor all the mirror spells that the Greatlords set. That’s not common knowledge. I took turns monitoring the mirror calls when I was an apprentice, so I found out how it worked. This is untraceable. Look into it once a day and check for messages. And you use this spell to call me…” He quickly showed her the simple spell. “Be very careful. There would be questions if anyone caught you with this. I’ll check on you soon.” He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. Then he strode out of the door without another word.

  It hardly mattered what the headmistress or anyone else thought of Ethan Fain’s assignment. He left that afternoon directly after attaining the Greatlord status that he’d waited his entire life for. Within hours he was in a coach, traveling with several other Greatlords toward Greenvale. He was young to be in charge of this sort of project, but no one argued with the Magus on issues like this.

  Deprived of her Creation teacher so suddenly, the Headmistress took the easiest route around the end of the year exams: she canceled them for Creation. Any student who could pass an entrance exam would be allowed into Creation 201. Mia’s extra lessons were canceled at least until the next semester; but she dutifully packed every book that Professor Fain had recommended to take with her to Forestreach.

  Mia was ushered into the sitting room. She nodded politely to the footman, John. He nodded back, powdered wig still firmly attached to his head. She realized that it hadn’t even slipped during the battle. He must be using a spell to keep it on. Everything was the same; they had even repaired the painting of the Magus in the corner and the curio cabinet.

  She glared at the Headmistress as she walked in. “You knew.” The headmistress looked up from the pile of parchment in her lap and put her teacup down. Her green eyes narrowed at Mia’s tone. “Certainly I knew. I knew that the Magus had something special planned for that young man from the moment he accepted him as an apprentice. It wasn’t hard to figure out what he was planning once Professor Tate and Professor Patrick started doing the research the Magus requested. So yes, I knew that you’d be lucky to get a full year with Ethan Fain as your Creation teacher.” She picked up a stack of parchment and flipped through the resumes’ as she glanced at Mia. “I hope you made the most of it because my options for replacements are even more limited than they would normally be, what with Ethan building a new city a world away.”

  Mia plopped down on the sofa, distracted. “Why didn’t you mention this?” The headmistress chuckled a little. “It wasn’t any of your business, nor any of the new Greatlord’s for that matter. Both of you had plenty to deal with. You still do. You’re probably lucky that the Magus and most of the council were so distracted. The Magus agreed with me that this work was too important to use students. That concession alone would buy my agreement. I believe that my silence on the matter is what finally bought Markson’s appointment as Council Representative after all these years of petitioning. I’m not sure why the Magus is building another City...” Her gaze went to the portrait. “He’s a canny old politician. If he worked this hard to keep something quiet, you may be sure there was a reason.” Mia studied the painting for a moment until she felt that cold sensation again. She turned her back on the painting and stared at the headmistress.

  The headmistress softened her tone. “I wonder if you realize that I have a hint of Sight myself?” Mia’s head turned to look at the older woman. She nodded. “It’s very nebulous, more irritating than helpful most of the time. You are in danger Amelia. I don’t know why, but I know that you are. I hope I did the right thing, in keeping you here. The Oracle would have taken you, or you could have gone back to your guardian. There are uncharted islands off the coast beyond the few the City uses to grow our tea and coffee. There are even bands of humans living deep inside Forestreach, outside the City protections, if you can believe that. I could have sent you away, but I chose to keep you here. You should be safer here than in any other part of the world. The college is where you belong…” She let that sentence die away, unfinished. There was an uncertainty in her voice. Mia understood. Her own sight was so nebulous that the feelings she occasionally had were hard to verbalize. Sometimes they were hard to distinguish from eating too much pastry after midnight.

  Mia tried to smile at the Headmistress. She looked like she appreciated the effort. “I understand that you’re splitting your break?” Mia nodded. “Half in Forestreach and half at your mother’s estate…that’s an interesting choice. Did you know that there’s an oracle near Forestreach?” Mia shrugged, vaguely aware that there must be: Lydia from the village had gone to the oracle after testing. The headmistress quickly sketched a map. “Go and visit the Oracle over the summer. It will be good for you.”

  Sarah watched Mia pack with a mournful
air. “It won’t be the same with all of you gone this summer!” Sarah was staying in the City with her parents. Vivian was already gone; an armed group of four mercenaries had arrived to escort her to her parent’s home at five that morning. Mia didn’t expect that Vivian would enjoy the trip as much as she could have wished. The guards didn’t look friendly. Her parents weren’t taking any chances with their only daughter, not with the disappearances finally catching the public’s interest.

  Beth wiped her eyes again for the fourth time that morning. Lizzy handed her a clean handkerchief. Ella was contentedly eating a bowl of strawberries. It was too far for her to go home over the summer so she was staying in the dorm; Sarah had promised to keep an eye on her. Mia intended to invite them both out to her estate near the end of June. She was staying with Emma for three weeks and then traveling back to the estate. Mr. Smith and Mr. Dempsey were delighted that she intended to spend her vacation learning estate management. It wasn’t a decision: the estate was her responsibility. That was how Emma had raised her.

  Lizzy and Beth left next: their Grandmother had been waiting since the night before, eager to have them home. She’d graciously invited all the girls to come to her estate over the summer, but it was a six day journey, and they all felt like they had to decline.

  Sarah and Ella walked Mia down to her waiting carriage about nine. John Coachman tipped his hat to her as she climbed into the leather seats. At least the trip home would be more comfortable than the trip she’d taken into the City. She smiled as she sat in the seat of her own carriage, remembering the cramped coach she’d arrived in. She managed to sleep a lot…and look at a particularly beautiful hand mirror from time to time. Two days later, she welcomed the sight of Emma’s snug cottage in the distance. She was home.