by Kailin Gow
“Are not the governors of this school.” There was a note of threat to that. It appeared to work, too, or at least, Ms. Preville did not say anything else immediately. “Tell me, your majesty, what are the kingdom’s feelings on this?”
“Mostly that I’ve paid you everything I’m going to!” It was a big, hearty voice, but not a gentle one. It was the kind of voice, Wirt felt, whose owner would have a laugh and a joke with you even as he ordered your head cut off. On the shadowy balcony, he tried to make himself smaller. The voice of King Wilford continued. “I’ve got a daughter who can’t seem to go five minutes without pricking her finger on a spinning wheel, and a son who only wants to play the Fool. Sending them to you has helped my Priscilla a bit, maybe, but Robert is as bad as ever. I’ll give you more money when you make a man of him.”
“I’ll put that one under long term finances, shall I?” Ender Paine suggested in a not entirely pleasant tone.
“What about cuts then?” Wilford demanded, with a note that suggested he was currently considering one at about neck height.
“The truth is, ladies and gentlemen… and Things, obviously, sorry Sslarvan, that there are few cuts we can reasonably make without doing more harm than good. We have a duty to continue to develop magical processes. We have a duty to maintain our collection of artifacts. We have a duty, annoyingly enough, to actually teach the little brats to the best of our abilities. Failure in any of these respects would undermine the reputation of this school, and then who would pay to send their children here?”
“Perhaps,” a sibilant voice hissed. It could only have come from the lizard-faced man Ender Paine had called Sslarvan, “that is the problem. Not all of them are paying. Is it wise to give out quite so many sss-scholarships in such unsettled times?”
“You set up another just yesterday,” the voice identified as “Urlando” said.
“That is a pragmatic issue,” Ender Paine replied. “The boy is potentially of use. He…”
Wirt did not get to find out what the Head had in mind for him though, because at that moment a hand clamped over his wrist. He looked round to see Ms. Lake standing beside him.
“You shouldn’t be here, Wirt,” she whispered. She thought about it for a moment. “In fact, we should not be here, but you should not even have been able to get in. Come on.”
Wirt did not have much choice in the matter. Ms. Lake murmured a few words, and suddenly, they were standing in a classroom filled with students. They all appeared to be at least a couple of years older than Wirt. Ms. Lake deposited him in a seat behind a boy who looked like he could probably have used his forehead to batter down walls before setting off to stand in front of a board.
“Now that we are all here,” she said, “I will begin. Now, as you probably all know, magical transportation is not the easiest of disciplines. Learning the words to the spells is one thing, but it is hard to maintain the kind of focus required precisely. Can anybody tell me what the main implication of that is? Wirt?”
Wirt found himself jerked from thoughts of what Ender Paine might have been about to say by the question. He tried to think.
“Um… that normally you can only travel short distances?” It didn’t sound right, given his own experiences, but it seemed to be what Ms. Lake was saying. She nodded.
“Exactly. Most people, even talented ones, will never be able to transport themselves more than a short distance. There are a few recorded instances of more spectacular feats, of course. Travel through time, for example, or between worlds without using an established portal,” she looked at Wirt then, but not for long enough for Wirt to decide if she was trying to make any particular point. “Here though, we will stick to the basics, and just short hops.”
Ms. Lake put her head to one side. It looked like she was listening to something only she could hear.
“It seems I can give you a demonstration. I won’t be a minute.”
A few more words, and she vanished. Wirt waited for her to reappear. And waited.
After fifteen minutes, a man in a cardigan several sizes too big put his head round the door. “I am afraid Ms. Lake has been unavoidably detained. She told me to dismiss you, so off you go.”
Wirt left with the others. As he did so, though, he could not help wondering exactly what was going on.
Chapter 5
Wirt didn’t think much about Ms. Lake’s disappearance from class until he returned to the room he shared with Spencer to find the other boy in an agitated state, pacing around it impatiently.
“There you are, Wirt. Any idea what’s going on?”
“Going on?” Wirt had briefly considered the possibility that there might be something interesting happening, but had equally quickly decided that it was probably just something like a meeting, or a sick pupil, or something. Spencer would not be pacing if that was the case though, would he? Unless he was really nosy when it came to meetings.
“All the teachers left their classes at once,” Spencer said, and now there is a message going around the halls that we are to assemble in the solarium to be addressed by the Head. He never does that. He always leaves it to other people. What could it be, do you think?”
Wirt shrugged. “I don’ know. A sudden inspection? Some kind of problem?” he decided to make fun of the other boy’s anxiousness just a little. “Maybe we’re being attacked by a horde of giant squirrels.”
“Funny,” Spencer said drily. “This is pretty serious.”
Wirt shook his head. Just once, it would be nice if things around here made sense.
“What I mean is that we won’t know until they tell us,” he said, not adding that they probably would not even know for sure then. He knew what adults were like. Lying because they thought they knew what was best for you. Telling you that everything would be all right just before they packed you off to a new home. Wirt was used to being lied to enough times that he had grown to expect it.
It seemed to be enough to calm Spencer, who stopped pacing. “I suppose you’re right,” he said. “And it can’t be anything immediately dangerous, can it, or we would have had to evacuate the building like they do for fire drills.”
“Shouldn’t we be getting to this ‘solarium’?” he suggested, and Spencer nodded.
“Yes, you’re right. I imagine that if we are late now, we will be looking at detention at least. Now, you need to think of a big, glass-roofed room as you step into the transport tube.”
“Or maybe just the word ‘solarium’,” Wirt said, remembering how easily he had been distracted from his image of his room before.
“Or that.”
Wirt did so, and even managed to relax a little as the tree’s main means of transport did its work. If you closed your eyes, you could pretend that you were just standing in an elevator. An elevator prone to yanking you sideways and doing racing car speeds, but an elevator nonetheless.
When it came to a halt, Wirt found himself in a large room that did indeed have a ceiling formed from panes of glass. It looked like a greenhouse, particularly since plants of all descriptions lined the room in a riot of color broken only by the slightly more drab presence of a crowd of students. A bulging branch towards the front of the place served as a rough stage, and on it stood Ender Paine, along with Ms. Lake and a number of other teachers. A couple of the board members were there as well, in the form of Ms. Preville and the slightly nervous looking man with the briefcase.
Spencer was standing next to Alana, next to a small orange tree being grown in a tub, while Priscilla and her brother stood a little further off. Wirt moved to stand with his roommate, wanting the opportunity to be a little closer to Alana. He didn’t get the chance to say hello though, because Ender Paine chose that moment to start speaking, his words ringing out over the hubbub of gossiping students.
“Silence.” It was a word that always made Wirt want to start talking just for the sake of it, but here silence rolled out in its wake. It felt like a heavy carpet had fallen over the room, and Wirt guessed that En
der Paine had used some form of spell. The Head looked out over the crowd of students with the kind of severity Wirt suspected was intended to inspire immediate feelings of guilt. People had tried it on him before. It rarely worked.
“As you know,” Ender Paine said, “this school houses a number of items of powerful magical potential. One of those is a cup, or possibly a cauldron. That vessel has held, from ancient times, the ability to bring back dead warriors. Approximately half an hour ago I was informed that it had gone missing.”
There was a collective gasp from the assembled students, including both Spencer and Alana. Wirt did not feel the need to join in.
“Now,” Ms. Lake said from beside him, “if anyone took the chalice, perhaps by mistake, this would probably be the best moment to own up to it. If you didn’t mean any harm, then I’m sure we’ll be able to sort this out without any further trouble.”
Ender Paine gave her a funny look, before beckoning Ms. Lake off to the side of the stage. Snatches of conversation floated out from it, too broken for Wirt to make out more than the gist of it.
“…mean “without further trouble”…”
“…what I said…”
“…into the Pit of Hopelessness for a chat with the Governors, not…”
“…parents are paying our wages, Ender…”
The Head paused at that, before turning back to the students and clearing his throat.
“It seems that Ms. Lake is correct. Own up now and it will be no more than a detention. Leave it, and…”
Ms. Lake shook her head primly, and Ender Paine gave a sigh that said quite clearly that he did not know how anyone was supposed to run a school with such silly restrictions in place. It was lost among a collective sigh of relief from the students, and this time Wirt did join in.
“Ender,” Ms. Lake said, “I doubt very much that one of the students could have taken it. I was actually hoping that they might be able to help with the search.”
“Oh,” Ender Paine appeared to consider it.
“Headmaster,” Ms. Preville’s tone verged on the shocked, though to Wirt’s ears it sounded a little artificial. Maybe it was just him. “Are you seriously suggesting that we should place our students in danger in this way?”
“I don’t see why not,” Ender Paine snapped back. “We put them in danger in most other ways. And it’s not like we have been able to arrange a significant Quest for them so far this year, is it?”
“Now headmaster,” the man with the briefcase said, “that is hardly fair. You know that, in light of the budget, all field trips have had to be-”
“Shut up, Urlando.”
For a moment, the little man looked aggrieved. “Really, Ender, is that any way to speak to me in front of the students?”
To Wirt’s surprise, the Head gave a little nod. “You are right, of course. Shut up Mr. Roth. There, is that better?” Without waiting for an answer, he turned his attention back to the students. “Now, working with my idea of using you all to search, we will split you up into teams, each to be headed by one of the staff. Your behavior during the search will, as with all Quests, count towards your examination marks.”
That seemed to be it, or at least Ender Paine stopped speaking. He also stepped down from the stage. Slowly, the crowd of students started to clump together into little groups that chatted and waited for instructions about how they would go about searching. Wirt was busy thinking.
“They’re seriously going to send us off on the trail of a thief?” he asked Spencer and Alana.
“Quests are a big part of things here,” Spencer replied, and Alana nodded.
“I suppose the think that, if you’re going to spend your time in a court helping to defend a kingdom, then you should probably get some practice. Why, are you scared?”
“Of course not,” Wirt said, recognizing the lie even as it came out. You didn’t live the life he had to date without learning about fear. Wirt was going to tell Spencer and Alana, who apparently grew up in a caring secure household, it was probably easy to be brave when you had never had people chasing you, wanting to hurt you. He decided against it and said, “It just seemed odd, that’s all.”
“Like anything around here isn’t?” Alana shot back.
“What is really odd,” Spencer said, “is that Mr. Roth is helping. You would have thought that he… now that they’ve used the name, I recognize him. He manages the schools accounts, and teaches the odd business class. I think he has an office in one of the outer limbs, but generally you don’t see much of him.”
Trust Spencer to know who the accountant was, Wirt thought. He looked round from the others to see Ms. Lake walking towards the three of them.
“I think you three will do nicely for my team, don’t you? It is a bit on the small side, but having a dozen students clomping all over things doesn’t seem right, somehow.”
Wirt saw Spencer and Alana nod their agreement. Even he was reasonably happy about the fact that Ms. Lake wanted him in her team, though he might have been even happier had someone given him the option of not being in a team at all. Something about the way Ms. Lake had said it made him think that she probably had a plan, and in any case, of all the teachers there, she was the only one he really knew.
“Can we help, Ms. Lake?” Priscilla stood there in her red dress, while her brother- Wirt hardly recognized him without his jester’s outfit- was dressed in russet clothes that nearly matched it. To Wirt’s surprise, Ms. Lake shook her head.
“I am sorry, Priscilla, but you know that you and Robert are not allowed to take part in Quests. Your father thinks it is too dangerous.”
“Oh, he’s no fun.” Priscilla actually pouted.
“I thought my father wanted me to do dangerous things,” Robert said. “Or does hitting people with swords not count?”
“The answer is no. I’m sorry, but it simply isn’t possible for me to let you play a part.”
The brother and sister pair looked so downcast. Ms. Lake sigh.
“Look, I can’t do anything to encourage you, but I suppose that if one of your friends were to ask you for help or advise…” she looked pointedly at Wirt, Spencer and Alana. Priscilla and Robert perked up considerably, and Priscilla actually clapped her hands in delight before the two of them headed off. Ms. Lake gave Wirt and the others another long look.
“Just make sure that you don’t ask them to do anything dangerous, all right?”
Chapter 6
Ms. Lake led the three of them to another of the tree’s seemingly infinite number of rooms, this one lined, against all expectations, with solid stone blocks. Beyond that, it didn’t have much in the way of decoration, unless you counted the thickly chalked circle in the middle of the floor.
“Right,” Ms. Lake said, “time for a quick lesson in scurrying for lost objects. We’ll try crystals first, I think.” She reached into a pouch on her belt, taking out both a map and a crystal necklace. She spread the map out on the floor, carefully ensuring that there were no creases in it.
“How does this work, Ms. Lake?” Alana asked, from where she stood on the other side of the circle. The teacher held up the crystal.
“It should be very simple really. You just concentrate on the image of what you want to find, let the crystal swing freely, and try to make a connection to the rest of the universe.”
“How do you do that?” Wirt asked. It sounded a bit vague. “And what does this cup we’re looking for look like?”
Ms. Lake bit her lip. “That is potentially a problem. You see, it is inclined to change form. One minute, it is a golden chalice, the next, a big iron cauldron. It could even be as small as a teacup. You see, most of the magical artifacts we house here at the Academy have a life of its own. Part of it is for their own protection. Camouflage, as you will.”
“You seem to know a lot about the chalice, Ms. Lake.” Wirt didn’t mean that to sound like a challenge, but it did seem interesting that she would speak about the object like it had feelings.
&nb
sp; “Wondering if I took it, Wirt?”
“Of course he was not,” Spencer said, but Ms. Lake shook her head.
“Let Wirt speak please, Spencer.”
Wirt found then that three people giving him their full attention was not terribly comfortable. Particularly not since Ms. Lake’s eyes seemed to be doing that stormy thing again.
“Um…” he thought about lying, but somehow, here and now, Wirt got the feeling that Ms. Lake would know about it. “A bit. I mean, I know you’ve been kind to me, and I don’t think you’d steal something just for the sake of it, but you might have a good reason to want to take it.”
Ms. Lake sigh. “It is an honest answer, at least, and a reasonable one too. No, Spencer, Alana, Wirt is right to be worried. For all he knows, I might have taken the chalice.” She looked Wirt squarely in the eye. “I give you my word that I did not take it. Is that good enough, Wirt?”
Wirt couldn’t do anything but nod. Besides, he found that he wanted to believe Ms. Lake, even though people kept letting him down.
Ms. Lake sigh. “Unfortunately, I suspect other people will think the same. After all, I am responsible for looking after many of the objects around here. I collect them, protect them… occasionally lend them out. I’ve been on the most dangerous quests when I was younger, looking for some of these magical artifacts. In the wrong hands…” She looked wistful for a moment. “Sorry, where were we?”
“Scurrying for the chalice,” Wirt reminded her. Ms. Lake nodded.
“You can go first then, Wirt.” She passed him the crystal. “Now, just hold it over the map and concentrate on the cup, or cauldron, or… well, you get the idea.”
Wirt did, but even so, it was uncomfortable. Coming here had been more or less an accident. Flying around in the transport tubes was just using something that already existed. Even the alchemy class had been little more than a particularly explosive chemistry lesson. This would be the first time that he had actually tried to do magic. It was more than a little daunting.
