Rebel Magisters

by Shanna Swendson

  “What was the airship you took like?” Rollo asked. “Was it bigger than Grandfather’s ship?”

  “I didn’t pay much attention because I remained in my cabin the entire time,” Henry replied. “I must say, it was a restful way to travel. I fell asleep soon after I boarded and woke feeling quite renewed just as we landed.”

  “Perhaps they should advertise airship travel as medicinal,” I said.

  “Perhaps,” he said with a smile. “Though I think a lot of it had to do with knowing I was on my way home.”

  As we left the dining room, I thought Henry and I would finally have the chance to talk, but Mr. Chastain approached with a stack of messages on a tray. “These have come for you, my lord,” he said. “Several via ether, and the rest delivered personally.”

  “Word of my return must have spread. Miss Newton, do you think you could assist me by playing secretary? I would most appreciate the help.”

  “Certainly, sir. Let me get Olive into bed and I’ll join you in your study.”

  Olive was so excited by her uncle’s return that it took me longer than usual to get her settled down, and I could hardly blame her. I was rather excited, myself, and eager to find out what all those messages were about.

  When I joined him in the study, he was beaming. “It worked, Verity!” he said, waving a message. “Of course, no one has outright said they’re supporting revolution, but would they really have messaged me if their stances had remained the same? They must have spread the news throughout the colonies because I’ve also heard from the crew in Boston that they made some new friends today. I shouldn’t be surprised because that was quite an article.”

  “The subject matter was the important part.”

  “But you put it in a way that made it clear what was happening and why it was important. I don’t think I’d have had this kind of response from a dry recitation of facts. If this is what I’m hearing already, we may be on the verge of something big. I just wish I knew what the governor thought. Unfortunately, our relationship isn’t such that I have any excuse to pay him a visit.”

  “But I do!” I realized. “Not him, exactly, but Flora and I are supposed to visit Elinor tomorrow.”

  He grinned. “That should do just fine. You can count on her to let you know if he’s been particularly unhappy. Meanwhile, are you free tomorrow evening?”

  “Of course. Why?”

  He gestured toward the small stack of envelopes on his desk. “Some of my friends have mentioned coming by, and we might need an extra hand for whatever game we want to play. At least, that will be my excuse for sending for you. I have a feeling the Mechanics may have just gained some funding and support, and we’ll want your report on the governor’s reaction.”

  “Are you sure you feel up to company?” I asked.

  “I’m really doing much better. All I needed was some rest and a little healing energy from the ether. I’m fine as long as I avoid one or two uncomfortable positions and don’t make sudden moves.”

  I let out a relieved sigh. “That is good to hear. I was worried that you’d suffered from amateur medical assistance.”

  “You did an excellent job. And how could I not feel better when we’re doing so well?” He reached over and took my hand, staring directly into my eyes. “We’ve done it, Verity. How does it feel to know you’ve sparked a revolution?”

  “I’ll let you know when it really starts,” I replied.

  Chapter Seventeen

  In Which

  There Is Cause

  for Celebration

  I’d halfway expected Elinor to cancel our tea because of the controversy surrounding her father, but I’d had no word of a change in plans by the time to depart. I thought I sensed an air of extra tension in the governor’s mansion when we arrived, but it was likely just my imagination at work. The governor himself made no appearance as Flora and I were escorted up to Elinor’s room.

  Elinor was in her usual spot, ensconced in her massive canopied bed, a lace bed jacket around her shoulders. “I am so glad you were able to come,” she said when we entered. “I was about to die of boredom. Father’s been such a bear the last few days that even if he had time to spend with me, he’d be far too unpleasant for my delicate constitution.” I had to bite my lip to keep myself from smiling at that, for Elinor was the healthiest-looking invalid I’d ever seen. Henry had mentioned to me that her primary ailment was being sick of society. By taking to her bed, she avoided having to play hostess for her widowed father and all the paying and receiving calls, going to dinner parties, and attending balls that would have entailed. Only the people she really wanted to see were admitted to her sickroom.

  “I’d heard that there was some kind of scandal,” I said tentatively. The news was so widely discussed that I thought it would sound more suspicious if I hadn’t heard it.

  “Oh, yes. It seems that one of Father’s trusted appointees has betrayed him. He’d hoped to deal with it before word got out, but somehow that story is now everywhere.”

  “I don’t know why everyone’s making such a fuss,” Flora said as she took a seat and arranged her skirts around her. “Don’t we expect people in the government to use the money for their own purposes?”

  Both Elinor and I turned to stare at her. “My, but that’s a rather cynical view,” Elinor said, echoing my own thoughts.

  “Everyone in any position of power is quite wealthy,” Flora said, and I found myself reevaluating whether she might be suited to Colin, after all.

  “But that’s because it’s the wealthy and powerful who get appointed to high positions,” Elinor said.

  “They all somehow become even more wealthy while doing a job that supposedly doesn’t pay well and that tends to make them neglect their own estates.” Perhaps sensing our surprise at her views, Flora tossed her hair over her shoulder and said defensively, “You make me read. Is it so odd that I would form opinions?”

  “Not at all,” Elinor said. “This is exactly why your uncle wants you to be educated. I’m sure he’d be proud of you, and happy to discuss these things.”

  “Just don’t tell anyone else. They’ll think I’m a boring bluestocking.”

  Thinking of the magisters I’d met in Boston, I had a feeling she would actually fit in quite well in that set. I just wasn’t sure Henry would want his niece mixed up in those activities. “I do hope this hasn’t made things more difficult for the governor,” I said to Elinor.

  “There have been calls for his resignation, and he’s worried about the rebel movements gaining traction.”

  “And we just came out from under martial law in the city,” I said with a sigh.

  “It doesn’t seem as though anyone’s marching on the government buildings yet. If there’s no insurrection, there’s nothing to suppress. But enough talk of politics. What did you think of the book?”

  I wasn’t sure this was the intelligence Henry needed, but I couldn’t think of a way to ask for more without sounding like I was seeking information for a specific purpose. Elinor had a knack for giving me just the nuggets of gossip I needed, to the point I sometimes wondered if she knew exactly what I was up to, so I hoped if there was more, she’d find a way to share it.

  After we’d had tea and discussed that month’s book to Elinor’s satisfaction, I tried to steer the conversation back to the governor. “Please give your father my regards,” I said. “He was very kind to me on our trip. I hate to think of him in distress.”

  “I’m sure he’d be pleased to hear that,” she said. “And I think, more than anything, what’s distressing him is the sense that he’s been betrayed, first by his official, and then by whoever spread the news. In fact, I think he’s more worried about finding who’s responsible for giving that information to the newspapers than he is about dealing with the corruption. Someone seems to have intercepted some correspondence, and he wants that person found.”

  I forced myself not to gulp in fear at the knowledge that the missing correspondence was curr
ently in my desk. “I can imagine that,” I said as mildly as I could manage. “It must be terrible to suddenly feel you can’t trust your friends.”

  For a moment, I even felt bad for the governor and what we’d done to him, but I reminded myself that it was his own policies that had led to these events.

  *

  I didn’t get a spare moment alone with Henry to report what I’d learned, but that evening after dinner, Mrs. Talbot knocked on my door. “Miss Newton, Lord Henry has asked me to invite you to join him and some friends in the parlor. He says they need one more hand to make up a game. I’m not entirely sure it’s proper, as they are all young gentlemen.”

  “I trust Lord Henry completely, and do you think he’d allow his friends to take liberties with me?” I said.

  “I suppose, when you put it that way…” Her expression was pained, but she eventually sighed and said, “It’s good for you to spend time with people closer to your own age, and I doubt those young men would even look at a nonmagister girl.”

  She was probably right, I thought as I headed downstairs. Henry’s friends accepted me as a party to their cause, and they respected my abilities, but I doubted they even saw me as a girl. As for Henry, it was hard to tell. How much of what I thought I saw in the way he related to me was merely the product of my own fancies and wishful thinking?

  I found Henry and his friends seated around a card table, looking just enough like they were playing to satisfy any servant who might look in, but anyone who watched long enough would know that no game was actually in progress.

  Henry started to get up to greet me when I entered, but Geoffrey put a hand on his shoulder before coming over to hand me a glass of champagne. “It’s the woman of the hour!” he said, raising his own glass.

  “All I did was write the article and pass it on,” I protested. “Lord Henry did the hard part.”

  “I think I’d rather pull off the robbery than have to write,” Philip said with a grin. “Even with people shooting at me.”

  Henry motioned for me to take the seat next to him. “The response has been more than any of us could have hoped.”

  “Even my father is talking about there needing to be change,” Philip said. “Old Scratch must be strapping on his ice skates about now.”

  “I’m worried that it may be premature,” Geoffrey said. “It might have been better for this news to come out when we were more prepared.”

  “On the other hand,” Henry argued, “this may be what we need to get enough funding and support for the cause. I’m hearing from people all over who want to join up. Someone else has even invited me to a meeting, not knowing I’m already involved.” He turned to me. “Now, what’s the word from the governor’s home?”

  “Apparently, there have been calls for his resignation, and there’s a lot of concern within the government,” I said. “The governor wants to track down the people who leaked this information. Lady Elinor suggested that the betrayal seemed to have angered him more than the corruption.”

  Henry winced guiltily. “It is a kind of betrayal, isn’t it? I was his guest, and I’ve exposed him to public criticism.”

  “He’s the one who was keeping secrets,” Geoffrey said. “If he’d been running things the way he’s supposed to, he wouldn’t have been in any danger.”

  “Do you think he’ll trace it back to you?” Philip asked Henry.

  “I don’t see how he could. For all he knows, I was coming down with influenza that night and was too ill to get out of bed the next morning. I was traveling when the information was published in the newspaper. He’d have to already suspect Verity and me to put the pieces together and find any kind of pattern.”

  Philip stood and raised his glass. “Then we should all stop worrying and celebrate. A toast to our glorious and righteous cause, which may now come to fruition, thanks to the daring and skill of the greatest bandit in the colonies and the intrepid reporter who spread the news.” He drained his glass and said, “And now, to formally launch our organization. I’ve been to see the locksmith, and here are our first keys.” He pulled small, ornate keys hanging on blue ribbons from his pocket and handed one to each of us. “I have more for when we gain new members, but I would suggest a magically binding loyalty oath before we issue a key, and I have the lock to use for testing when you meet someone new with a key, to ensure it’s genuine.”

  I held my key in the palm of my hand. As small as it was, its importance weighed heavily. The Rebel Mechanics were an illegal group, but they weren’t taken entirely seriously by the authorities. This key represented rebellion at the highest levels of magister society. And to think, I now was part of both groups. “We probably shouldn’t get in the habit of openly wearing these,” I suggested.

  “No. We’ll just bring them out discreetly,” Geoffrey agreed. “We’ll need to begin vetting our recent contacts.”

  “That’s work for later,” Philip said. “Tonight, we’re celebrating. Henry, do you have a music player in this place? I’m in the mood for a dance.”

  Henry waved his hand at a finely carved box sitting on a shelf, and piano music, slightly tinny, began playing. Philip listened for a moment. “Not quite what I had in mind, but it’ll do,” he said with a shrug. “Miss Newton, would you do me the honor?”

  He hardly waited for me to agree before he whisked me away in an exaggeratedly stately waltz. He made each move with a gallant flourish, and his expression was a perfect mockery of the nobles I’d seen at balls. Soon, I was laughing so hard I might not have been able to stay on my feet without someone else holding me up, and it took me a moment to notice when my partner had changed.

  I stopped laughing long enough to catch my breath and looked up to find that Henry was now the one who held me. “I really can’t allow my staff to be treated in such a way,” he said with a crooked smile and raised eyebrow. “I shall have to give Verity extra pay for subjecting her to the torture of that dance.”

  Henry’s waltz was still stately, since that was the only way to dance to that music, but I didn’t get the impression that he was mocking anyone. He was merely dancing, steering me carefully around the furniture. I’d danced with him once before, at the ball at the governor’s house. Then I’d been intensely conscious of our surroundings and the fact that we were planning to warn the Mechanics of an impending raid as soon as we were able to get away from the ball.

  Now, though, it was just us and Henry’s two friends, and soon I even forgot about the friends. It felt like we were alone together in a world where we both belonged. When the music ended, it broke the spell. Both of us stood there, blinking. I knew I was coming back to the parlor and the reality of the separate worlds in which we lived. Henry looked equally lost, but I couldn’t read his face to tell what he was thinking.

  “I don’t suppose you have a different reel for this thing,” Philip said. “Something more lively.”

  Henry blinked again and released me, stepping away as though just then realizing that we’d been standing there in each other’s arms for what had seemed like hours. “Oh, yes, um, in the cabinet there. They were supposed to be sorted, but I have no idea what the children might have done. Flora likes recordings of the works she’s learning to play, so there’s a lot of piano music.”

  The reel Philip found was still more piano music, but it was a jaunty polka. He spun around the room with an imaginary partner as the rest of us laughed. Henry glanced at me, raising an eyebrow in invitation, and I smiled as I took his hand and let him lead me. I had little experience with this dance, so I stumbled and trod on his feet far too often, and soon we were both laughing so hard we couldn’t dance any longer. I leaned against his shoulder, making sure it was the uninjured one, to catch my breath, and then I didn’t want to move, but I knew I had to.

  Hoping the flush on my cheeks would be attributed to my dancing, I forced myself to back away from him. “Oh my, I haven’t danced like that, ever,” I said, fanning myself with my hand. Geoffrey filled a glass for me, but
I shook my head. My wits were already addled enough. Champagne would not help matters. “And it is getting very late for me, so if you gentlemen will excuse me?”

  I felt like I barely had to walk up the stairs to my room. I seemed to float upward on a cloud of bliss at the memory of being in Henry’s arms like that. I knew it couldn’t go much beyond that unless we managed to change things, but we’d made some important steps. Maybe there was hope for us.

  *

  Henry was more social the next couple of days than I’d ever known him to be. He had a constant stream of visitors in the few hours he was home. The rest of the time, he was visiting friends, and he even went out on Saturday night. Sunday, we barely made it out of church, there were so many people wanting to greet him, and he was out again that evening.

  He was in high spirits at breakfast Monday morning and agreed to walk Rollo to school, much to Rollo’s glee and Olive’s dismay. “May I come with you?” she asked.

  “Not today, I’m afraid,” Henry said. “I have an appointment near Rollo’s school, so I won’t be coming back home until later, and you would find this appointment terribly dull.”

  “We will have more time for lessons,” I said. Olive was the rare child for whom that sounded like a treat, and Henry gave me a grateful smile.

  He didn’t come home again until late that afternoon, after I’d already retrieved Rollo from school and had turned all the children over to the music teacher. I was on the upstairs landing when he came bursting through the front door and ran up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time.

  When he reached the landing, he grabbed me around the waist, picked me up, and spun me around. “We did it!” he exclaimed, keeping his voice too low to carry far, though his enthusiasm was still evident.

  “Did what?” I inquired, a trifle dizzy either from the spin or from being in his arms like that.

  He pulled me aside into the doorway of the nearest room, an unused bedroom. “It’s not just the young people anymore. There’s an earl who wants to form committees and create a colonial congress. That’s the first step toward having our own government.”