True Magics (3 page)

“Good evening…” Thomas stopped and studied the man in front of him, “Fenris?”

Fenris smiled. “Very good, Master Thomas. How are you this evening?”

“Very well, Fenris. Is there room for three more?”

“There is,” said Fenris. “In fact, your friends have saved a spot for you by the fire.” He smiled at Eileen. “And here is the cause of the debate. Does this mean we get to learn your real name, now?”

“Fenris, Marcus,” said Thomas formally, “Allow me to introduce Miss Eileen Gobhann.”

Marcus looked back over his shoulder. “You do look much better as a girl,” he said. “You’ve caused something of a stir.”

“I know,” said Eileen. “I hope it hasn’t caused any trouble for you.”

“Only minor, so far,” said Fenris. “Let’s hope that doesn’t change with your arrival.”

The inside of the Broken Quill was awash with noise and smoke and the smells of roast pork and mulled wine. Twenty long tables filled the big hall and most of them were overflowing. More people stood along the rail of the balcony running the length of the second floor. There were ten private rooms above, and students and their girls were wandering in and out of them. The room was loud and rowdy, and everyone was arguing about the debate. Thomas led the way to the Student Company’s table.

“I take it things have been tense,” said Thomas.

“Some people aren’t happy,” said Mark. “A lot of them think you pulled a dirty trick.”

“You did pull a dirty trick,” said Keith, coming up behind them. Graham Silvers stood right behind him.

“You’re just grumpy that you fell for it,” said Henry.

“Everyone fell for it,” said Eileen, smiling at Keith, “not just you. Doesn’t Professor Dodds say that the obvious isn’t what’s in front of you but what’s out of place?”

“Don’t quote Dodds at me,” snapped Keith. “You shouldn’t even have been in that class.”

“But she was,” said Henry. “She was, we won, and you owe me money.”

Keith growled in disgust, but pulled out his pouch and after some fussing, tossed some coins on the table.

Eileen stepped forward. “I’m sorry you thought it was a dirty trick,” she said. “But we had to do it. We had to make a case for girls in the Academy if I’m going to get in.” She held out her hand. “Friends?”

“Get in?” Keith’s eyes went wide. “You’re not getting in! You won’t even be let in the grounds after Festival.”

“That’s for the Headmaster to decide,” said Thomas.

“No it isn’t! Girls don’t go on the Academy grounds!”

“This one does,” said Henry. “By invite of the Headmaster, in fact.”

“But she can’t go back! She doesn’t belong!”

“She
is
going back,” said Eileen, her smile gone and a sharp edge on her words. “And she will be taking the exams and going to the Academy if she passes.”

“We’re doing petitions starting after Festival,” said Charles. “Will you be signing?”

Keith’s face alternated red and white for a pair of moments, then he turned and stalked away.

“He took that well, didn’t he?” said Henry.

“By the Four, are they all going to be like that?” asked Eileen.

“Some,” said Thomas. “Not all of them.”

“He’s just sore,” said Graham, who was still standing there. He handed over coins to Thomas. “And so am I. That was a dirty trick you pulled and you and Henry should be ashamed of yourselves.” He turned to Eileen and stuck out his hand. “Good debate.”

Eileen, bemused, shook it.

“See?” said Thomas as Graham went back to his table. “Keith will come around, I hope.”

“He’d better,” said Eileen. “I’ve come too far to stop now.”

She took off her coat and cloak and laid them on the bench. She was wearing her green skirt and bodice with a white blouse beneath.

“You do look better as a girl,” said Jonathan.

“But we’ll all miss the sight of you in pants,” said Henry, earning a swat. “Now, hands up everyone that won a bet on this.”

Every member of the company raised his hand.

Henry grinned. “Then let’s celebrate in style!”

***

Five hours later, the midnight bell rang and the students spilled out of the pub, filling the streets with laughter and song. Plans and promises to meet on the beach were shouted back and forth as they split up to gather their supplies. Eileen and Thomas, hand in hand and smiling, with Henry right beside them, went to Thomas and Henry’s apartment. They fetched blankets and a basket of food and wine that Henry had organized that morning. Then they walked through the city, across the harbour and out the land-gates.

They followed the curve of the bay that protected Hawksmouth from the ocean down to the mile-long gravel beach. The path to the beach had been lined with torches, and hundreds of people were already walking to the shore, their lanterns and torches making a twinkling procession. Beyond the beach, the water rolled in small, foam tipped waves that reflected the lights of the fires and the lanterns. The breeze coming off the ocean was strong and cold and wet.

For Thomas, who could also see the inner lights of the people on the beach, it looked like a thousand small lights were dancing in the wind.

“Thank the Four it isn’t raining,” said Henry. “Or snowing. Remember two years ago? We nearly froze before we even got to the water.”

“I still don’t understand why you have to go in,” said Eileen. “We never did this back home.”

“You weren’t by the ocean back home, were you?”

“Thomas! Henry! Here!”

Michael was beside one of the many beach fires, jumping up and down and waving his arms. A great store of wood was put away every fall for the Festival of Rains, and fires had been built down the length of the beach. The students from the Academy traditionally gathered by the royal pavilion to show their support and respect for the king. Nearby, a stage had been set up for the Archbishop to lead the prayers for the festival.

“There’s George!” Eileen pointed to another fire. “I’ll be right back.” She dashed up the beach to where her brother stood amidst a group of young men and women. Linda was on his arm. She hugged Eileen and smiled.

“George better be careful,” said Henry, “or he’ll end up settling down here and marrying that girl.”

Thomas shook his head. “He hates the city.”

“He used to hate the city,” said Henry. “I’m guessing he likes it much better now.”

Thomas, seeing the smile on George’s face as he looked at Linda, found himself agreeing. Linda reached out, took Eileen’s hand, and let Eileen lead her toward Thomas and Henry. She also held tight to George’s arm, forcing him to come along.

“Sir George!” Henry stepped forward and bowed. “So good of you to join us. You must introduce me to your lovely lady.”

George’s eyes narrowed, but he said, “Linda Gaston, Henry Antonius.”

Linda curtseyed. Henry took her hand on the way up and brought it to his lips as he bowed. “Lord Henry Antonius,” he corrected. “And I am very charmed to meet you.”

Linda laughed. “I see what you mean about the students, George.”

“He’s one of the worst of us,” said Thomas, taking her hand from Henry and bowing over it. “Thomas Flarety, at your service.”

“Hardly fair,” complained Henry.

“But so true,” said Eileen. “We just got here. How has it been?”

“Cold,” said Linda.

“Well, we can fix that,” said Henry. He raised his voice loud enough to echo down the beach. “A drum! A drum to dance and stay warm! Who has a drum?”

“A drum! A drum!” A dozen voices took up the call, then a hundred more. Above the clamour, the first drum struck, hard and fast in a dance beat.

“Dance with us!” yelled Henry, grabbing Linda by the hand. “Who will dance with us until the dawn?”

Linda giggled and grabbed George by the hand. “We will!”

“I will!” shouted a girl.

“I will!” The cries went up and down the beach, and soon dozens joined hands in a long chain of men and women, Henry in the lead. With a yell he jumped in the air and led the line forward, singing at the top of his lungs. George stumbled on the first two steps, and Eileen, right behind her brother, laughed at him. He growled at her, then turned back and found the rhythm.

Thomas, holding Eileen’s other hand, frowned. George was usually the one who enjoyed parties the most, not the least.

More people joined in as the line of dancers snaked their way down the beach. Others sang and clapped their hands and. People danced in groups large and small on all sides.

The line wended down and back the length of the beach, with dancers joining in and falling out as they went. After the second round, George and Linda dropped out. Henry dropped out on the third and came back with a girl on the fourth. On the fifth trip, James, sitting at a fire with a buxom young woman on his lap called out, “Hey, Thomas! Someone’s looking for you!”

“Who?” Thomas asked, raising his voice to be heard over the singing.

“Don’t know. Three of them. Said they had business.”

Three?
“What did they look like?”

“Like they had sticks up their backsides.” James pointed. “You’re dancing right toward them.”

The dancers kept moving up the beach, carrying them towards the royal pavilion. Eileen called to Thomas, “Who do you think it is?”

“No idea.”

“There’s Thomas Flarety,” called Lord Cormac, son of a baron of Frostmire, and once co-conspirator with Lord Richard to overthrow and murder the duke. His voice was loud enough to carry down the beach. “There’s the duke’s personal witch!”

2

Thomas felt his stomach drop and all the blood rush away from his head. He staggered and for a moment thought he would collapse. The front of the line of dancers stumbled to a halt and broke apart. The back of the line kept going, weaving around them. Thomas looked for other members of the company. None were nearby.

Lord Cormac had a beard now, as did his two companions, Lord Anthony and Lord Ethan. All three were richly dressed in thick, wool coats and white fur capes, with tall boots on their feet. All three were smiling at Thomas and Eileen.

“And here’s Eileen as well,” said Cormac, just as loud as before. “Is she as free with her charms here as she was in Frostmire?”

Thomas caught Eileen as she started forward, her face white with rage. “It’s Festival,” hissed Thomas. “You fight, you get flogged.” He raised his voice, “As I am sure these cowards know.”

“I’m sure she is,” said Lord Ethan, who had a bend in his nose from when Eileen had broken it in Frostmire. “Just as I’m sure we’ll get a second opportunity to sample them.”

Eileen lunged at Ethan. Thomas wrapped both arms around her and hauled her back again.

“Rapist!” Eileen spat. “Dogs! All three of you!”

“Such harsh words from the witch’s lover,” said Cormac, keeping his voice loud. “It’s a good thing Lord John—now the Duke, since his father died and he arrested his own brother—had Thomas. Otherwise those raiders would have put the whole Dukedom to the torch. But this one stopped them dead. Threw lightning right out of your hands, didn’t you, Thomas?”

A rumble of disbelief went through the people around them. Half shook their heads and turned away. The other half stared at Thomas, as if expecting him to throw lightning on the spot.

Thomas felt his teeth clenching. He hadn’t even known about magic until the past summer, let alone that he could use it. And in the same day Thomas had discovered it, Bishop Malloy tried to steal the magic from him. By the end of summer, Thomas had lost two friends to the bishop’s plotting, learned how to summon power from the earth, and killed more than a dozen men with lightning and steel. And when he and Bishop Malloy came face to face the last time, Thomas had taken the man’s magic and then killed him in cold blood.

Which was why, when raiders attacked the Duchy of Frostmire with magic, Lord Henry, the Duke’s youngest son, asked Thomas to come north. And when the raiders in Frostmire had called fog down to blind the Duke’s men and fire to burn the city, Thomas had answered with lightning.

And now this idiot is yelling about it to everyone.

“What’s he talking about, Thomas?” asked one of the students. “You never said anything about witchcraft in the North.”

“There’s no such thing as witchcraft,” the words came out of Thomas nearly of their own accord. He made his brain rally around them. “Everyone knows it.”

“Really?” said Lord Anthony. “Did ‘everyone’ see lightning fly from your fingers?”

“No,” said Thomas. “And neither did you. Any of you.”

“We were there when the palace was attacked,” said Lord Anthony.

“Not during the fighting,” said Thomas. “Lord Richard had you all safely out of the way when he let the raiders into the castle. Was that so you could help him murder his father?”

A new buzz went through the crowd, and all eyes turned to the three men.

“We were misled,” said Lord Cormac, without the faintest trace of remorse. “Lord Richard was the rightful heir and we followed his instructions. We cannot be blamed for that. Whereas you, Thomas, well, you knew exactly what you were doing, didn’t you?”