by Kailin Gow
“Keep a constant watch on Ms. Preville, search her room, and wait for her to try to use the chalice?” Spencer said. He sounded like he was not looking forward to the prospect. Alana frowned.
“I was going to say that we should tell Ms. Lake. Someone in charge should know, and at least she’ll listen to us.”
“That was probably true,” Wirt said, believing a teacher would probably be more convincing than a student about bringing up the matter. He just couldn’t escape the thought that there was something they had missed. “Okay,” he said, deciding that it would probably come to him eventually, though almost certainly shortly after he actually needed it. “We’ll go and see Ms. Lake.”
They found her in her office. At least, it looked like an office from the outside. Inside the door, the three of them found themselves on the shores of a small lake, with the sun overhead and an exit from the tree just behind them. Ms. Lake sat on a rock, in a pose that an artist looking to paint beautiful women in natural settings would probably have loved.
Ms. Lake looked up as they approached.
“Oh good. I was just about to come looking for the three of you when I got a bit sidetracked by all of this.” She indicated the workbooks around her. “Now, I have some news.”
Wirt saw Alana take a breath. “So do we, Ms. Lake. We think we have…”
“I’m afraid the Quest has been cancelled by the Headmaster.”
Wirt couldn’t believe that. Neither could the others, because the room fell completely silent.
“But…” he began. Ms. Lake shook her head.
“I know you’ll all be disappointed, after the work you have put in, but the Headmaster feels that,” she paused, and then continued in a fair imitation of Ender Paine’s voice. ‘“Having the little brats running around looking for something is beginning to affect the running of the school, Vivaine. I’d forgotten how much trouble these Quests can be. This stops now.” Of course,” her voice went back to normal, “I must abide by the Headmaster’s decision.”
“But what about the chalice?” Wirt asked. He couldn’t believe that people would just give up like this. He couldn’t believe that Ms. Lake would give up, when just the mention of it sent a ripple of movement across her watery home.
“It seems that we must simply write off any chance of its recovery. It is…unfortunate, but what else can we do?”
“You could search Ms. Preville’s things,” Wirt suggested. “She has the chalice. We’re sure of it.”
Alana nodded. “We found an essay of hers about how great the witch Ervana was, and we went to the stone garden where she’s trapped, and the chalice is the only thing that can…”
“You went to the garden?” Ms. Lake repeated. Why, Wirt wondered, did adults always pick up on the bits of conversations that you didn’t want them to? “Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?”
“We’re fine,” Wirt said. “Nothing happened out there.”
“Ms. Preville has a good reason to want the chalice,” Spencer said, “and someone has been to the island, because we saw their footprints. It has to be her, Ms. Lake.”
Ms. Lake shook her head. “Enough, all of you. That’s enough. Maybe Ender was right about this, if it’s going to put you in danger.”
“But Ms. Lake-” Wirt began.
“No. I don’t want to hear it. You have some interesting speculation, but that is all it is. There is nothing to prove that Aloea Preville is the one who stole the chalice, and I forbid you to go looking for anything more. This Quest is over. If it matters to you, I’m going to give you all good marks for your efforts in it.”
“But-”
“Not another word, Wirt.” Ms. Lake said it calmly enough, but the storm clouds gathering over her lake were warning enough. “I know that you are upset, but there are limits. This really is for your own good. Now, back to your rooms. I’ll see you in class.”
Wirt knew when he was beaten. Or at least, when to give the impression of it.
“Yes, Ms. Lake.”
They headed back to their rooms, and the rest of the day passed Wirt by in a blur. Spencer hardly said anything about what had happened, preferring to throw himself into the reading and note-taking for his extra work. Even Wirt, with less to do, did everything he could to keep busy, mostly because, if he didn’t, he suspected that he might do something stupid.
Things continued uncomfortably until breakfast the next day, where Wirt found that he had somehow earned a bowl of lumpy porridge. Spencer had the same. It matched their sullen moods. Even Alana, when she joined them, was not especially upbeat. Finally, Wirt knew that he had to say something.
“I can’t believe that they just stopped us like that.”
“I can’t believe that Ms. Lake wouldn’t listen,” Alana said. That produced another burst of silence, though it was quickly broken by the arrival of Priscilla. She actually seemed happy, practically skipping to the table in a way that made Wirt almost wish she wouldn’t join them for once.
“Guess what I heard,” she said.
“What?” Wirt demanded.
“No, you have to guess.”
“I don’t know. You got trapped at the top of a tower and had to climb down using someone’s hair?”
Priscilla looked thoughtful. “You know, that actually did happen once…”
“Priscilla,” Alana said, “perhaps you could just tell us the good news?”
“The school isn’t in financial trouble any more. Well, not for a while, anyway. They got a large grant just yesterday, enough to keep things running with no problems.”
“And that’s the news, is it?” Wirt asked. “The school has money?”
Spencer seemed a little more impressed.
“Priscilla, do you know where the grant was from?”
“Oh yes,” the princess said. “That’s easy. The money is from Ms. Preville.”
Wirt looked to the others, and found them looking back with the expressions of people who knew, just knew, that they were almost certainly going to get into trouble for everything that came next.
Chapter 14
The plan they formed was essentially the one Spencer had jokingly proposed earlier. They would keep an eye on Ms. Preville as best they could and wait for her to make a mistake. They made some adaptations to it though. Clearly, it was impossible to simply follow her. Wirt, Alana and Spencer all had lessons, while even between them, the moment the teacher stepped into a transport tube or used a transportation spell, it was impossible to tell where she would end up.
The best they could do was to set Priscilla’s mirror to keep a constant eye on the patch of beach outside Llew’s cave, with instructions to warn one of them should anyone show up. Priscilla was not entirely happy about her mirror being used like that, but Alana promised that she would help the other girl pick out clothes and things, and that seemed to be good enough.
For days there was nothing from the mirror. Wirt blurt to Spencer the next day, “Nothing from that darn mirror. You would think the mirror at least seen something by now.” Spencer laughed.
“Mirrors don’t work like that. They can be awkward, and touchy, and idiotically useless sometimes, but they can’t just disobey. Maybe later, we can go over to Alana’s room and check, if you… hang on.”
They were interrupted by the crystal ball on Spencer’s desk, which was currently flashing through all the colors of the rainbow while letting out the tinkling sound of fairy bells. Wirt took it to be roughly the equivalent of someone’s mobile phone ringing, though in that case, he had to wonder exactly what Spencer was doing with his ring tone.
Spencer touched the glass globe, and the colors settled, revealing the image of a neat-looking man in his twenties, who nodded as Spencer looked on.
“Hold for one moment please, I will just put you through to Mr. Bentley.” This time, the crystal ball played something bland with a harp in it, and Wirt guessed that it was probably the off-world equivalent of elevator music.
It was a full
minute before the sight of the young man was replaced by an older one, who looked to be in his fifties. He had Spencer’s blond hair, though it was starting to fade to white in places, along with the same piecing blue eyes. His looks were more rugged, but Wirt could tell at a glance that this was Spencer’s father. Not least because Spencer suddenly looked nervous.
“Hello, Spencer,” the joviality in the tone seemed forced to Wirt, but he didn’t say anything. “I trust you have been studying hard, my boy?”
“Yes Father.”
“Good, good. Now, who is this?” Those blue eyes turned to Wirt.
“That is Wirt, Father. He is my roommate.”
“A roommate?” Some of the friendliness leeched out of the tone. Quite a lot of it, in fact. “I spend a fortune sending my boy to a highly exclusive school, and he has to share his room?”
“Even Priscilla has to share with Alana, Father,” Spencer said, “and she is a princess.”
“Well, yes,” Spencer’s father seemed to be mollified a little by that. “I suppose that is acceptable then. Now listen, Spencer, it turns out that I have some free time today, and I was wondering if you might like to pop over to the office.”
Wirt could see the delight on his friend’s face, even so it was mixed with nervousness. Spencer bit his lip. “What about my lessons, Father?”
“Oh, I’m sure they can do without you for one day.”
“The chalice,” Wirt whispered to Spencer.
“Um… there is actually… something I was meant to be doing,” Spencer said. His father glowered at Wirt. Wirt had been glowered at before though, so it didn’t make a great deal of difference to him.
“Yes,” Mr. Bentley said, “I have heard about some of the things they have had you doing at that school. I must say that I am not impressed. There are some things that you shouldn’t get involved in, Spencer, no matter how much some people,” another glance Wirt’s way, “might want to encourage you.”
“That’s not…” Spencer began, but his father just talked over him.
“I will expect you to be ready outside the school in ten minutes, Spencer. We can talk more when you get here. We will talk more when you get here.”
The crystal ball went blank.
“Well,” Spencer said, “that’s that.”
“What’s what?” Wirt asked, not understanding. Spencer actually did everything he was told?
“Oh, it’s all right for you, isn’t it?” Spencer said. “You don’t have to worry about what your parents think of…” he tailed off, as though realizing what he had just said. “I’m sorry.”
Wirt ignored him. It was only the apology that stopped Wirt from hitting him.
“Look,” Spencer said, “you don’t know what he’s like. I can’t just disobey him. I… I’ve got to go now. I don’t want to be late. We’ll talk later.”
“Whatever,” Wirt said. Spencer left without another word. The next hour or so was an angry one. Short of something to do, Wirt stomped down to lunch, went to his next alchemy class, where he blew up almost as much as Mr. Fowler did, and even managed to get himself thrown out of the library for gesturing too much. He stalked outside, where he spotted Alana sitting on one of the tree’s roots, reading.
Just the sight of her made him feel a little calmer. He headed over, and took the spot next to her on the root.
“Hi, Wirt. Is Spencer not with you today?”
“We aren’t joined at the hip.”
Alana raised an eyebrow. “What’s up with you?”
“Nothing.” Wirt sat silently for a moment, but it seemed that Alana was at least as good at waiting as he was. Wirt sighed. “Spencer just made some stupid comment about my parents, and I…”
“Overreacted?” Alana guessed.
Wirt nodded. “It’s not like I ever really knew them, but Spencer… he doesn’t know how lucky he is.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Alana said. “Mr. Bentley isn’t exactly the best dad in the world. He works constantly, he’s only interested in money, and Spencer sees him maybe a couple of times a year if he’s lucky.”
“But Spencer still wants to impress him,” Wirt said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Doesn’t it?” Alana asked. “I suppose Spencer thinks that if he’s good enough, useful enough, his dad will have more time for him. As it is, he probably sees more of my parents than his.”
“You two must be pretty close,” Wirt said. Alana shrugged.
“I suppose so. I grew up with him, remember. He would sneak out of whatever he was supposed to be doing and hang around with me, following my mom around as she worked. When you’ve been around someone that long, things just get… comfortable.”
Wirt hadn’t thought of it like that.
“It must be hard, being stranded here,” Alana said.
Wirt shut his eyes. “I don’t really think about it.”
“Liar.”
Wirt was not sure that he would have let anyone else say that to him.
“Ok, so I think about it, but I just bounced around from foster home to foster home. It is not like any of the places I stayed was really mine. I have always been alone. Why should this be any different?”
Wirt was surprised to feel Alana’s hand slipping into his. “How about,” she said, “because here, you don’t have to be? You have friends here, Wirt. You’ve got…me.”
Wirt opened his eyes, studying Alana’s face carefully, did she mean it? Could he risk it? Somehow, it just felt natural to lean closer to her, and closer, until finally their lips met. For the briefest of instants Alana didn’t respond, and Wirt found himself terrified, but then she kissed him back. It went on for a while.
Exactly why they stopped, Wirt could not say. Maybe they both realized in the same instant exactly how difficult it could make things. Maybe it was simply that there was only so long you could kiss someone who, until just moments ago, had been simply a friend. Wirt felt as though he had woken up from a nice dream in that moment, only to notice exactly whom he was kissing. He pulled back sharply enough that he nearly fell off the tree root.
Alana moved back a little too, carefully disentangling her fingers from Wirt’s. “That was very…”
Nice? Amazing? Perfect? Wirt ran through the possibilities silently.
“…unexpected. And also awkward.”
That was true too. The actual moment of kissing Alana had been everything he might have hoped, had Wirt considered it before, but now… yes, awkward was about the best word for it. Wirt struggled for something to say.
“So, what now?”
Alana shook her head. “I don’t know, Wirt. When I said you had me, that was not what I meant. At least, I think it was not.”
Wirt winced inwardly. Had he really gotten things that wrong? He started to pull back, but Alana’s hand found his again.
“Please don’t run off, Wirt. It was just… it was not wrong, I’m just not sure…”
Wirt kind of understood what Alana was saying, which he suspected was more than she did with her last sentence. He knew that there was really only one thing to do now.
“So, where’s Priscilla?”
Alana’s eyes narrowed. “We just kissed, and you’re asking after my pretty roommate?”
Oh. Wirt hadn’t thought of it like that. “I’m changing the subject,” he said. “I thought it would be less awkward.” He thought for a moment. “I was probably wrong.”
“No, I… I left Priscilla trying on dresses in our room, so that she could keep an eye on the mirror. I’m kind of hoping that she’ll get the hang of making occasional decisions for herself, and in any case, I don’t want her too deeply involved in looking for the chalice.”
“Spencer’s father didn’t want him involved either,” Wirt said, grateful for something else to talk about, even though the awkwardness still lurked just under the surface like a shark, or at least like a particularly aggressive duck. “Nobody seems to want us to be.”
“Are you saying that we sh
ould stop?” Alana asked.
Wirt shook his head. “We can’t just let Ms. Preville summon up some sorceress who will probably want to kill everyone. We have to get that cup back from her, even if no one else wants us to look.”
“I’m glad you said that, Wirt,” Alana said, “because I just happen to have an idea that might let us find it without getting into trouble.”
Chapter 15
“I really don’t think this is a good idea,” Wirt said to Ms. Preville. Or at least, to the image of her that Alana was currently projecting as an illusion. Wirt had to admit though that it was a good illusion. He couldn’t tell the difference between it and the real thing. Thanks to another spell, Alana even sounded like the teacher as she answered.
“It’s our best chance of finding something out, Wirt, and I’m better at glamours than you are.”
“But what happens if someone sees through it? Glamours aren’t perfect.”
Alana snorted. “Would you rather I turned myself into a frog, and sneaked in that way? Wirt, there is nothing to worry about. Either I’ll get away with it, in which case everything is fine, or someone will see through it, in which case I’ll claim that I was only getting some extra glamour practice in. Ms. Preville did say that she wanted to see more of herself around. Even if she walks into her own office, I’ll just say that I thought this glamour was especially good, and I wanted to show it to her.”
It sounded like Alana had every base covered. Even so, Wirt followed along behind her as Alana made her way up to a hall where a large oak door had “Ms. Preville” on a brass plaque. Small plinths stood around it, and on it, illusions swirled in imitations of statues, vases, and in one case, a small galaxy.
“Wait out here,” Alana said. “One of us should keep watch.”
She whispered something close to the door, and it clicked open. Wirt raised an eyebrow at that.
“I wanted an easier way of getting Priscilla out of towers,” Alana explained. “You know she’s only going to get stuck in more of them.”
With that, she stepped into the room. Wirt tucked himself in behind one of the plinths, deciding that it would be better if he were not seen while he kept an eye out. He hoped Alana would have better luck with her search than Wirt had managed with his. He also hoped that it would not take too long, because the more time that passed, the more chance there was of something going wrong. Besides, it was not exactly comfortable, crouching behind a lump of stone with a gently revolving illusion on top.
