Schooled in Magic 5 - The School of Hard Knocks

by Christopher Nuttall

  He paused. “Perhaps you would have benefited from a similar system at Whitehall,” he mused. “You would have learned how to be a Shadow before you learned to be a Patron.”

  “Half of the girls in Raven Hall seem to have been assigned to Patrons who gave them an easy time,” Emily said. A moment of honestly made her clarify her statement. “The others never talked about their early years with me.”

  “One of them wasn’t,” Aurelius said. “And she became stronger than you realized, when you first met her.”

  Emily eyed him. “Who?”

  Aurelius looked back at her. “Figure it out.”

  Emily put the puzzle aside for later contemplation, then forced herself to hold still. “I want to have Frieda either saved from expulsion or sent to Whitehall,” she said. If there was any truth to what she’d been told about magical debts, the Grandmaster owed her one for saving his entire school. “What can I do to have her expulsion canceled?”

  “You can’t,” Aurelius said, sharply. “Only the MageMaster can cancel the expulsion.”

  Emily met his eyes. “And can you become MageMaster quickly enough to arrange for her to return to classes, as if this never happened?”

  “No,” Aurelius said. “Not yet.”

  He looked down at his desk for a long moment. “There is nothing further that can be done for your Shadow. I suggest you go back to Raven Hall and wait.” He gave her a long, level look. “You do not want the proctors hunting you down, Emily. The other tutors are quite eager to find an excuse to have you expelled, too.”

  “Then what was the point,” Emily asked in frustration, “of having a Shadow in the first place?”

  “I told you,” Aurelius said. His voice was suddenly very cold. “To teach you how to use power–and when not to use power. We gave you power over that young girl–and, in doing so, we gave you a moral responsibility to use that power. The choices you made would define you. But you chose not to use your power at all.”

  He wrung his hands together as he spoke. “There are senior students who keep their Shadows hopping, sending them here and there until we have a quiet word with them about taking things too far,” he added. “And there have been students who have crossed the line so blatantly that even the most well-connected student had to be expelled for gross misconduct. But you went to the opposite extreme. You were so reluctant to use your power that your Shadow drifted further and further out of control until she was expelled.

  “You failed her, Emily. And you failed yourself, too.”

  “I didn’t ask for her,” Emily said.

  “She didn’t ask for you,” Aurelius countered. “You had to learn to live with each other; she had to be your little sister and servant, you had to be her big sister and mistress. And you failed at both roles.”

  He sighed. “Go back to your hall,” he ordered. “I dare say you will be called shortly to face the examination board. And believe me, they will ask so many questions that you will end up feeling as though you have been torn apart and then put back together again. Only the MageMaster could override their decision, and he isn’t talking.”

  Emily nodded. “Thank you for your time,” she said. “And...”

  She shook her head. “I should go back to Whitehall,” she said. Whatever her mission, she knew she couldn’t stand Mountaintop any longer. “I can’t stay here.”

  “The wards will keep you here,” Aurelius said. “Only the MageMaster can lower the wards.”

  Only the MageMaster, Emily thought. He’d said it over and over again, reminding her that the MageMaster could do everything from reversing the expulsion to lowering the wards ahead of schedule. And she knew where to find the MageMaster. Perhaps she could ask him for help... if not for her, then for Frieda.

  “Thank you, sir,” she said. “I’ll go back to my hall.”

  Outside, she nodded to the grim-faced woman and hurried along towards the MageMaster’s quarters. She’d explored most of the open corridors with Frieda and had been surprised to discover that the MageMaster practically lived right next to the Administrator. But Mountaintop, despite being a labyrinth of passageways and corridors, didn’t seem to change its interior to guide or confuse students. In some ways, Emily was almost disappointed. The spells she’d learned to help sneak around Whitehall were useless at Mountaintop. But at least this particular section of the school was brightly lit.

  She paused as she turned the corridor, her instincts warning her to be careful. A single figure–Markus–stood in front of the door, looking at the ground. For a moment, she thought he was waiting for entry, then she realized he was on guard. But on guard for what?

  Maybe they thought I would go to the MageMaster, she thought. Aurelius had been hinting–clumsily–that she should do just that. Or maybe it’s just a guard of honor.

  She braced herself, then walked into view, hastily devising and revising a plan in her head. It would have been simplest, she knew, to simply throw a spell at him before he realized she was there, but if he caught the spell and deflected it, he’d come after her for sure. And, if she was caught assaulting the Head Boy, the best she could hope for was expulsion. And that would mean having to wait in the cells until the wards were raised.

  “Emily,” Markus said, surprised. “Why are you here?”

  Emily considered, briefly, trying to be seductive, but she knew she couldn’t hope to pull it off. Instead, she decided to be honest.

  “I need to talk to the MageMaster,” she said, frankly. “Please, will you let me through?”

  “I have strict orders not to let anyone through but staff,” Markus said. He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder as she wilted. “You can probably take your request to the Administrator...”

  “I can’t,” Emily said, quietly. “I need the MageMaster to help me.”

  Markus nodded in sudden understanding, but his grip was firm. “I can’t let you through,” he said, softly. “My orders won’t allow me to leave.”

  Emily reached up and took his hand in hers. It felt just like any other hand, hard and strong, but somehow it reminding her of how Jade had helped her to climb back when they had been exploring the mountains. And yet, part of her thrilled to the touch. There was something different about it now, and it scared as well as fascinated her. But there was no time to consider it...

  “I’m sorry,” she muttered, and cast the spell. “I really am sorry.”

  Markus froze. Emily stared at him, fighting down a strange sense of guilt as she released his hand. It wasn’t the standard freeze spell, the one that could be broken, but a stasis spell. He would stand there, utterly unaware of time passing, until someone released the spell or it ran out of energy on its own. And he would be completely helpless...

  She took one last look, then opened the door and stepped into the chamber. Inside, it was surprisingly warm, but dark. The only source of light was a dampened light globe hanging near the ceiling, flickering and dimming constantly, only to revive itself seconds later. And there was a strange smell in the air...

  And magic. Soul magic.

  “Make a light globe,” a voice said, from out of the darkness. There was a hint of a chuckle, buried within a very old voice. “Ugly I may be, but you shouldn’t have to be in the dark.”

  Emily tried to sense if the voice sounded well-meaning, then obeyed.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  EMILY HAD EXPECTED THE MAGEMASTER TO look like the Grandmaster. Instead, he was a little old man, with hair as white as snow. His eyes were bright blue, but so deeply recessed in his head that she couldn’t help wondering if his body was slowly collapsing in on itself. The more she saw of him, the stranger he seemed. It was almost like looking at a humanoid alien rather than a living human being, or perhaps a desiccated Santa Claus.

  “I don’t get much company,” the MageMaster said. He coughed loudly, a long hacking cough, then cleared his throat. His voice was soft, yet instantly trustworthy. “And who might you be?”

  “Emily,�
�� Emily told him.

  “The Necromancer’s Bane,” the MageMaster said. He looked up, twisting his head very slightly. “Step into the light, child. I want to see you.”

  Emily obeyed. It was hard to believe the MageMaster was anything but a kindly old man. She had to remind herself, sharply, that appearances could be very deceptive in the Nameless World. Magic alone made it easy for a young man to look old and vice versa. And then there were the problems caused by the lack of a proper diet... But, as she stepped closer, she realized the MageMaster was truly as old as he looked. His bed was surrounded by strands of translucent magic that flickered in and out of existence, forever linked to the magic running through the school.

  “You’re young,” the MageMaster murmured. “How did they get you here?”

  “Kidnap, of sorts,” Emily said. “Sir...?”

  “Aurelius was always trying to collect as many interesting and useful people as possible,” the MageMaster said. He seemed to smile, although his face was so old it was difficult to be certain. “I remember one girl who he picked out and trained himself, pushing her into becoming a truly capable magician. And she would do anything for him. I believe he even used her as a spy, then rewarded her despite her lowly origins.”

  Lin, Emily thought. Something was nagging at the back of her mind. Where is she?

  “He would have been able to do the same for you, if you had let him,” the MageMaster added. “I know he was fascinated by you as soon as you made your appearance at Whitehall.”

  Emily shivered. She was old enough to understand that interest from a stranger was not always a good thing. “Why?”

  “You are a powerful, yet inexperienced child of a magician,” the MageMaster said. “Someone who could be shaped and molded as he saw fit. Someone who had ideas that could change the world. And someone with influence he could use to further his own agenda.”

  “He said he wanted to beat the Necromancers,” Emily said, feeling oddly betrayed. But Aurelius had also directed her to the MageMaster. “Was it all a lie?”

  “I dare say he understands the importance of defeating the Necromancers,” the MageMaster said. “But he is keeping an eye on his own power base, too. I suppose it isn’t too surprising. He is, after all, highly ambitious.”

  He smiled. “He wants to be MageMaster, you know,” he added, to Emily’s complete lack of surprise. “But should he be MageMaster?”

  Emily shrugged.

  “On one hand, he would certainly be a more proactive MageMaster,” the MageMaster mused, softly. “But on the other hand, he would be far too disruptive to the established order.”

  “Is that a bad thing?” Emily asked. She looked down at his pale skin, so translucent she could almost see his skull. “From what I’ve seen of it, the established order could do with some disruption.”

  “Your father would say so,” the MageMaster said. “But he is powerful enough to stand alone, free of all oaths and obligations and demands from his peers. How many others share that level of power?”

  “Few,” Emily said. “How do you know my father?”

  “We had some great times, back in the day,” the MageMaster said. “And some almighty arguments. How is the old goat?”

  “He was fine, the last I heard,” Emily said. She hadn’t seen Void since he’d visited her before she’d left Whitehall for her work experience with Lady Barb. “But he doesn’t show himself very often.”

  “He likes to keep himself to himself,” the MageMaster said. He cackled, loudly. “I would never have expected him to have a daughter. Or were you a surprise?”

  “Something like that,” Emily admitted. She really didn’t want to lie to the man.

  “I wish he were here,” the MageMaster said. He sighed, theatrically. “Being stuck in this wretched bed isn’t much fun.”

  “I know,” Emily said, quietly. She came closer, stepping forward until she was standing by the side of the bed. “I wondered if you were dead. Very few people even mentioned you at school.”

  “They won’t let me die,” the MageMaster said. There was a sudden tiredness in his voice that stunned her. He sounded like she did when she wanted to sleep, but her studies or potions kept her awake, only worse. Much worse. “This is my time to go, yet they won’t let me die. They’re too scared of what will happen when I lose my grip on the wards.”

  Emily leaned forward. “And what will happen?”

  “They’ll collapse, obviously,” the MageMaster said. “They were never designed to have more than one person in command, one person serving as the linchpin of the school’s defenses. And none of my predecessors wanted to take the risk of allowing the wards to be linked to a homunculus. They liked being in control.”

  He smiled, again. “If they have a proper candidate in mind to replace me, that person can take on the wards and let me go onwards into the next world. But as long as they don’t have someone ready and waiting to take over, they will be forced to keep me alive.”

  He paused. “When he brought you here,” he said, “did Aurelius force you to take any oaths?”

  “No,” Emily said.

  The MageMaster surprised her by laughing. “Oh, that sly dog,” he said. “I could almost approve if it wasn’t for the sheer risk of the act. Talk about finding a loophole!”

  “A loophole,” Emily repeated. “A loophole in what?”

  “Why, the rules of course,” the MageMaster said. He sniggered, rather like a young schoolboy than a grown man. “Aren’t they cute when they think they’re getting away with something?”

  He cleared his throat. “But why are you here, my dear?”

  Emily made a face. “I’ve made a mess of things,” she confessed. She wasn’t sure what was forcing her to talk, apart from the certainty there was no one else who could help her. “My Shadow has been expelled and Aurelius said you were the only one who could undo the punishment. Or at least help me get her to a different school.”

  “That might be true,” the MageMaster agreed. “But–and be honest–why do you care?”

  “Because it’s the right thing to do,” Emily said. “Because I like the girl. And because the whole situation is partly my fault.”

  The MageMaster smiled. “Just partly?”

  “Yes,” Emily said, firmly.

  The MageMaster looked up at her through tired blue eyes. “I will help you find her,” he said. “But I need you to do something for me in exchange.”

  Emily knew she would consider almost anything. “What?”

  “There’s a web of magic surrounding me,” the MageMaster said. “I want you to disentangle it, carefully. Once the web is disrupted, take the key from around my neck and put it around your own. I am giving it to you. It will be yours. Do you understand me?”

  “No,” Emily said. Caution warred with the urgent need to do something–anything. Her caution won. “What does it do?”

  The MageMaster snorted. “What do keys normally do?”

  “Unlock things,” Emily said. “But where is the lock it opens?”

  “Disrupt the web, take the key,” the MageMaster ordered. “And then listen carefully to what I tell you to do.”

  Emily scowled. She hated being in a position where she had to act without knowing precisely what was going on. Who knew what disrupting the magic surrounding the MageMaster would do? But, at the same time, she had a feeling the MageMaster was trying to help her, in a very twisted way. And he would owe her if she did what he told her to do and unpicked the web of magic.

  “It won’t harm you,” the MageMaster assured her. “And it is the only way you will ever manage to retrieve your Shadow.”

  Emily ground her teeth. “Very well,” she said.

  She held up a hand, then reached out with her mind and attacked the cobweb of magic. It was easily the strangest set of magics she’d encountered, so translucent that it was difficult to touch without careful spellwork... yet the second she figured out how to bring her power to bear against the magic, it started to cr
umble at her touch. The MageMaster let out a long gasp of pain, then twitched unpleasantly in his bed.

  Emily started in astonishment. What had she done?

  “Take the key,” the MageMaster hissed. An alarm howled in the distance, sending chills down her spine. “Take the key and put it around your neck, then hide in the next room. When they take me away, follow the magic down into the caves. The key will get you through the locked door. You’ll find your Shadow there. You’ll have to hurry. And I’m sorry.”

  His body shook again as she removed the key. It didn’t look special, nothing more than an iron key studded with runes dangling from a golden chain, but she felt a tingle of magic as soon as she placed it around her neck. Suddenly, the magics running through the room became a bit more obvious. The alarm wasn’t just noise, she realized, as it grew louder. Every magician in the school would sense the distress.

  “Hide,” the MageMaster snapped. In the distance, Emily heard the sound of running feet coming towards her. “Hurry!”

  Emily nodded, then slipped into the next room and cast a shielding ward around herself. It was just in time.

  The door burst open and a long line of proctors flowed into the room, their black garb making them appear almost part of the shadows. Emily felt the key grow warm against her skin as the proctors surrounded the MageMaster, then lifted his bed and carried it out of the room. Magic ebbed and flowed around her as she heard the MageMaster complaining loudly, keeping their attention on him.

  Emily felt an odd flicker of gratitude towards the older man. She wasn’t quite sure what she’d done, but he’d done something to help her.

  The key twisted against her hand like a living thing, but she refused to let it go. Magic had never seemed quite so understandable; now, she sensed thousands upon thousands of charms and spells extending through the network of caves that made up the school. She closed her eyes and concentrated, drawing on her new knowledge. There was something about the network that was uniquely fragile, compared to Whitehall. Didn’t they have access to a nexus point?

  They can’t, she thought, numbly. No one had any doubt where Whitehall was located, not really. The school’s nexus was an open secret. Even if the Grandmaster had tried to hide, it would be mind-numbingly obvious where the school had to be. I would have sensed a nexus point if they had one.