Oathkeeper (Schooled in Magic Book 20)

by Christopher Nuttall

  “Emily,” Cat said. He stepped forward, reaching for her. “It’s been a long time.”

  “It has.” Emily held herself still. “Cat...”

  Cat took her in his arms and kissed her. For an instant, Emily nearly melted into the kiss. Her body remembered their nights together, even if her mind knew those days were over and done. They could never be allowed to return. She felt his grip tighten as his hands started to roam her back, reaching down to her trousers. She wanted him... she gritted her teeth, then pushed him away. His eyes widened with hurt. She felt a twinge of guilt, followed by a wave of anger. She had done nothing to feel guilty about. He’d ended their relationship, not her. And he’d done it in the worst possible way. She’d have been less hurt if she’d caught him in bed with her best friend.

  “No.” Emily held his eyes, feeling her magic starting to boil. She’d never been any match for him physically - he’d never had any trouble pinning her to the ground when they’d fought without magic - but she’d spent the last few months testing herself against a far more powerful magician. “It’s over.”

  “Emily.” Cat took a breath, then leaned forward. “I’m glad you got your magic back.”

  “So am I,” Emily said. Bitterness welled up within her. “And you left me.”

  “I had to go after Jacqui,” Cat said. He looked back at her, his expression grim and determined. “Someone had to go after her.”

  “She wasn’t important,” Emily said, sharply. Jacqui had never been that important. “If you’d stayed with me...”

  She felt her heart twist. She understood, better than she wanted to admit... even to herself. Cat wanted an equal. He’d thought he’d been dating an equal. But she’d stopped being his equal the moment she’d lost her powers, becoming a depressed wreck of a girl... she told herself, sharply, that everything had worked out for the best. Cat had helped, she supposed. He’d certainly galvanized her into looking for a way to get her powers back. And yet... she remembered the feeling of helplessness and humiliation as he’d pulled her over his knee, and shuddered. Things could never go back to the way they’d been, last year. Too much had happened since then. Too much water had passed under the bridge.

  And if he had stayed with me, she thought, I might never have gotten my powers back.

  She shook her head, breaking eye contact. Cat hadn’t known he was inadvertently helping her when he’d left. How could he? And she’d come far too close to disaster, to becoming a helpless slave and font of ideas for a madman with delusions of grandeur. If Cat had stayed... she put the thought firmly out of her mind. They could never be so close, not again. They’d just have to learn to work together as friends and nothing more.

  “I had to go after her,” Cat said. He hadn’t budged. “She nearly killed you...”

  “I know.” Emily stepped back and sat on the cot, resting her hands in her lap. “Did you even catch her, after all that?”

  Cat looked evasive. “I’ll tell you later, when I have a chance to process everything that happened,” he said. “But she won’t be bothering you any longer.”

  “Really.” Emily eyed him, suspiciously. Cat wasn’t boastful, but... normally, he’d be happy to tell her anything. He’d certainly provided lots of useful commentary on apprenticeships before she’d lost her powers. “Are you sure?”

  “I believe so.” Cat didn’t quite meet her eyes. “And I think I’m right.”

  Emily studied him for a long moment. Was Jacqui dead? Or enslaved? Or... or what? It was unlikely Cat had simply let her go. Jacqui had kidnapped his girlfriend, even if they’d been on the outs at the time. An honor-driven man who’d grown up in an honor culture could hardly let that pass. He had every reason to kill Jacqui, to make her pay with her life for what she’d done. Emily had never liked that way of thinking - honor-driven cultures cared little for the rule of law - but she understood it. Cat had to kill Jacqui if he wanted to remain true to himself. And... what had he done?

  In truth, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

  “I’ll take your word for it,” she said. She couldn’t keep a waspish tone out of her voice. “And if she turns up again, I’ll rub your nose in it.”

  Cat sat beside her. “You would, too.”

  Emily took a long breath. She wanted to let him put his arm around her, to take comfort from his touch. But she couldn’t.

  “We need to talk,” she said, coldly.

  “The most terrifying words a woman can say to a man.” Cat spoke lightly, but there was an... edge... to his voice. “Emily, I...”

  Emily held up a hand. “You left me,” she said. “I know why you left me, but... you left me.”

  “I had no choice,” Cat said. “Someone had to...”

  “You left me because you couldn’t cope,” Emily snapped. She tried to keep her voice steady, but knew she was fighting a losing battle. “You betrayed me!”

  Cat half-stood, then sat again. “I...”

  Emily cut him off. She’d thought she was over it, but... seeing him had brought all the emotions she’d buried bubbling back to the surface. She’d never been the type of person for one-night stands, for loveless nights of passion and awkward mornings after. How could she have been? She wanted someone who cared about her, she wanted... she knew she’d deluded herself, she knew he’d warned her it wouldn’t last, but she still blamed him.

  “It’s over,” Emily said. “What we had is over and done! We can be friends, if you remember that, or nothing more than teammates. It’s up to you.”

  She waited, wondering what he’d say. Their friendship had changed when he’d become her lover. She wasn’t sure they could go back. They’d crossed a line. He saw her as a woman now, not a classmate or comrade in adversity. The time when they’d laughed and joked together - teammates, not lovers - might be over too. She understood, now, why fraternization was banned. Sex complicated things, whenever it reared its head. She could never think of him as just another teammate now.

  “I understand.” Cat’s voice was flat. “But can’t we just have fun?”

  Emily felt her temper snap. “It was never just fun,” she snapped. “It was...”

  She shook her head. “No. We can’t be anything more than friends or teammates. And if you can’t handle it, you’ll have to go.”

  Cat’s eyes flashed. “Emily...”

  “I mean it,” Emily insisted. “Decide.”

  She braced herself, unsure which way he’d jump. If he didn’t accompany her... she’d need someone else? Lady Barb? She had a new student. Jade? Alassa would kill her. Sergeant Miles? Lady Barb would be furious. Someone she didn’t know? She wouldn’t know him. Or her. She wouldn’t know if she could depend on him until the shit hit the fan and by then it might be too late.

  I could go on my own, she thought. Or ask Void to accompany me...

  Cat stood. “It will be my pleasure to serve, Lady Emily,” he said, with heavy formality. He snapped a mercenary’s salute, one fist pounding his chest. “I am at your disposal.”

  Emily felt a pang of... something. “Very good,” she said, as he sat back down. She let out a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding. She’d have time to process her feelings later. “Did Jade tell you what I had in mind?”

  “Just that you needed a teammate for an incredibly dangerous mission,” Cat said. “And that I should get here as fast as possible.”

  Emily cocked an eyebrow. “Where were you?”

  “There were family matters that needed my attention,” Cat said, evasively. “They’re none of your business now.”

  “Good.” Emily hid her irritation with an effort. “Listen carefully.”

  She braced herself, then launched into yet another explanation of the plan. Cat listened, saying nothing as she outlined the basic idea and the improvements she’d made over the last week. The basic idea was workable, everyone agreed. The only real problem was tapping the nexus point to open a portal into the Blighted Lands. And even that, she’d been assured, was rel
atively simple. They’d just have to be sure there wasn’t a reception committee waiting for them.

  Which might be difficult, she mused. We want them to notice us, eventually.

  “And you intend to bilocate,” Cat said, finally. “Can you do it safely?”

  “I’ve practiced,” Emily said, hiding her doubts. There was a great deal about the spell she didn’t understand. There were aspects of the magic that made very little sense. The more she looked at the spellwork, the less she thought she knew. She rather suspected there wasn’t anyone who truly understood the spell. “And as long as one of me is separate from the other me, we shouldn’t have any problems.”

  Cat grinned. “Two of you? I’m sure you’ll make someone very happy.”

  Emily blushed. She’d known he’d say that. If they’d still been together... she rolled her eyes. There were a dozen blue books with that very plot. Frieda had insisted she read them... Emily snorted. She’d read better fan fiction before she’d been yanked into the Nameless World. Bad people portrayed as great lovers, bodies that simply couldn’t exist, sexual positions that would have caused severe harm to anyone stupid enough to try them... there were times when she regretted introducing the printing press. She told herself, firmly, that it was worth the price. The printing press would make the world a better place.

  “We can’t stay close together for very long,” she said, feeling more at ease. “Have you been into the Blighted Lands?”

  “My master and I went through one of the more desolate regions,” Cat said. His eyes went blank with remembered horror. “It wasn’t a nice place.”

  “It leaves its scars,” Emily said. “Do you have any thoughts on the plan itself?”

  “It sounds workable,” Cat said. “Are you sure you can reignite the nexus point?”

  “I have no choice,” Emily said. He’d agree, although he wouldn’t understand why. “If we can gain control of a nexus point, we can kill every necromancer within range and establish an impregnable fortress within enemy territory.”

  “Ambitious.” Cat grinned at her. “I like it. And then we move to the next? And the next?”

  Emily nodded. She’d studied the old maps. There’d been a dozen nexus points within the Blighted Lands, all dead and cold. If they could all be reignited... she frowned, remembering how the desertification near Heart’s Eye had seemingly halted after the nexus point was reignited. If they were linked to the land... she wondered, suddenly, if that was why the Unseelie cared. Perhaps the magic they depended upon was slowly leeching away...

  Her heart twisted. She’d grown to love magic, even though she knew it could be used for great evil. A spell a magician would consider nothing more than a harmless prank - changing someone into a frog, perhaps, or forcing them to recite gibberish - would be horrific, if used on a mundane. They might like the magic seeping out of the world, magicians rendered powerless and helpless... they might even see it as the dawn of a new era of freedom. She knew better. Aristocrats on Earth hadn’t needed magic to keep the population under control, had they? She wondered, idly, if gunpowder would make things better or worse if the magic faded into nothingness.

  “Emily?” Cat cleared his throat, loudly. “You’re a million miles away.”

  “Sorry.” Emily felt a twinge of embarrassment. “I was just thinking about the future.”

  “We’d have to make the fortresses truly invincible,” Cat said. “They used to think Whitehall was impregnable.”

  Emily winced. Shadye had cheated. He’d taken control of her and used her and... her mind recoiled from the thought. She didn’t want to remember. And yet... she made a mental note to ensure the new fortresses were protected against covert mental intrusions. And everything else she could imagine. If the necromancers wanted to batter their armies against impregnable wards, she was happy to oblige.

  “The first thing we have to do is reignite the nexus point,” she said. “That’s the other reason I asked you. You’re already familiar with the batteries.”

  Cat listened, asking a handful of questions, as she outlined what she intended to do. She’d tried to estimate how much power she needed to reignite the nexus point, but she simply didn’t have enough data to make anything more than a guess. Dua Kepala had been powerful, when she’d thrown him into the nexus point... how powerful? And he’d been bilocating too, his body half-composed of magic. She’d tried to calculate how much power had been held within his wards, but drawn a blank. The only thing she could do was charge a battery - several batteries - and hope for the best. If nothing else, she told herself, she could always try and try again.

  “It makes sense,” Cat said, when she’d finished. “Immensely risky, of course.”

  “Of course,” Emily agreed. If everything went to plan, the necromancer would be elsewhere when she invaded his lair. She’d get the nexus point reignited before he realized she’d sneaked behind him. If it didn’t... she’d just have to improvise. “I have a couple of other ideas I want to try.”

  “I’m all ears,” Cat said. He leaned forward. “I’ve missed you.”

  Emily felt her heart sink. “And then why did you...?”

  She stopped herself with an effort. “I’ve moved on,” she said, more sharply than she’d intended. “I’m sure there’s someone who’d be prepared to put up with you, maybe even in this very camp.”

  “Yeah, I heard your name being linked with hundreds of magicians and monarchs,” Cat said, with a deadpan tone to his voice. “You’ve been a busy woman.”

  Emily made a rude gesture. “You, of all people, should know the rumors aren’t true.”

  “Well...” Cat smirked. “It is a bit odd the bards never linked us together.”

  “Be glad of it,” Emily said. She still found the idea of bards singing songs about her love life to be incredibly creepy. The idea that she’d defeated Shadye - and everyone else - through the power of love... she shook her head. The stories had grown so much in the telling that no one recognized her even when they were singing songs about her. She supposed she should be grateful. “You don’t want them singing songs about you.”

  “Depends on the song,” Cat said. “A song extolling my virtues and dismissing my faults...”

  “You should be so lucky,” Emily said. She’d heard too many songs praising King Randor before his death. She honestly couldn’t understand how someone could bring themselves to fawn on anyone so intensely, even a king. And they’d changed their tune - literally - when Alassa took the throne. “Believe me, you don’t want it.”

  Cat laughed. “I suppose not,” he said. “But it would be nice to be remembered.”

  “Really?” Emily wasn’t so sure. “As what?”

  “A great man, a great lover, a great fighter...”

  Emily laughed. “And a big head? With a swelled sense of importance?”

  “Precisely.” Cat slapped his knees. “Where am I going to sleep?”

  “Somewhere else,” Emily said. She came to a decision quickly. “I’m going to be sharing this tent with Lady Barb’s trainee.”

  “Really?” Cat glanced around. “You’ll need a second cot. Unless you intend to share...”

  Emily made another rude gesture. The cot was barely large enough for her. “I’m sure one can be found, somewhere,” she said. “Now, are you ready to brainstorm?”

  “Yeah.” Cat looked irked. Perhaps he’d thought they’d be sharing a tent, even if they weren’t sharing a bed. “I’m ready.”

  Chapter Twelve

  EMILY HAD EXPECTED IT TO BE awkward, particularly after she’d told Cat their relationship was over, but - as they worked on refining their plan - she found it surprisingly enjoyable to just sit back and brainstorm. Cat had always been good at thinking up crazy plans, some of which were workable with a little effort. Emily listened to his suggestions, added a few of her own and then composed the final plan. It wasn’t perfect - too much would depend on what they found when they entered the Blighted Lands - but it made her feel they were
finally getting somewhere. She found herself in a good mood when Penny pushed open the flap and stepped into the tent.

  “Lady Emily, Lord Cat.” Penny dropped a curtsey. “Lady Barb requests your presence at dinner.”

  “We’ll be along in a moment,” Emily said. She stood, brushing down her trousers. “And you are welcome to share my tent, if you like.”

  Penny looked surprised, then nodded curtly. “They’re dining in the command tent,” she said. “I’ll tell them to expect you.”

  Emily frowned as the older girl turned and left the tent. That was... odd. Lady Barb had said Penny wanted to share a tent, yet Penny hadn’t seemed too enthusiastic. It made no sense. Emily would have jumped at the chance to share a tent with another girl, if the alternative was sharing with boys. Maybe there were problems... she shook her head, again. If Penny didn’t want to share a tent, it was her choice. Emily would cope with whatever Penny chose.

  “Pretty,” Cat commented.

  “And perfectly capable of taking care of herself,” Emily said, feeling a twinge of jealousy. She didn’t have any reason for it anymore. If Cat found Penny attractive... she shook her head, firmly. It wasn’t her problem. “Let’s go.”

  She grabbed her cloak, cast a pair of wards over her knapsack and cot, then pushed the flap aside and led the way outside. The camp seemed to have grown even busier over the last few hours, with hundreds more soldiers running from place to place. Her eyes narrowed as she saw the flags outside the command tents. They represented troops - and commanders - from all over the Allied Lands. Master Lucknow has been busy, she thought. He’d seemingly managed to convince every kingdom to make at least a token contribution to the army. It helped, she supposed, that everyone knew they were planning to go on the offensive.