True Magics (37 page)

The three leaned over the book and read the proclamation.

By the Grace of the High Father, I, Darren, third of that name, king of the realm of Criethe, defender of the Faith, and true son of the High Father, do give greetings to all my subjects.

Let it be known to all subjects of the kingdom, all true sons and daughters of the High Father, that, in accordance with the High Father’s will and with the guidance of his most noble Archbishop Fallon, who brought me, your king, out of darkness and into the Light of the High Father, that the false priestesses of the Consort and of the Daughter, who to this day still resist the rule of the true Church, are using the guilds, the Academies, and the soldiery to spread their heresy to true daughters of the Church, tempting them into immodest and unwomanly actions such as would disgrace them in the eyes of the High Father.

Therefore, it is declared that no girl or woman shall be admitted to any School of Learning, nor to any of the guilds, nor to serve as warriors, nor to any other business save those suited to a woman’s station, as weaving, cloth-making, dress-making, healing and inn-keeping. Let it be known that those who now hold position in guilds must now lose their position, and submit themselves to the wills of their husbands. And let it be known that this must be accomplished by the end of the Festival of the Rains, and that any girl or woman still found engaged in these trades or professions will suffer the extreme displeasure of the king, which shall be first flogging, then parading through the streets naked, then branding, then turning out naked from the city or town or village in which she has lived and being declared unprotected by law or Church, to receive succour from none.

“Wow,” said Thomas. “That is…”

“Awful!” said Eileen, her face pale. “Horrible! He turned women out of the cities just for working!”

“No,” said Henry. “They were turned out because having women in positions of power would encourage the Mother worshippers.”

“So he threw them all out?”

“Much easier to punish them all than search out the guilty.”

“That… that… He was…” Eileen shoved her chair back from the table and began pacing in her anger. “They could have been killed! They could have been made slaves or worse!” She stamped her foot hard against the floor. “Gods! There are no words!”

“Try ‘defeated king,’” said Henry. “And now we know why girls aren’t allowed into the Academy.”

“Because they aren’t allowed to do anything,” snapped Eileen. A moment later, her mouth fell open, and a look of horror dropped over her face. “By the Four. Thomas, does this mean I can’t attend the Academy. No matter what?”

“I don’t…”
By the Four, it could. No matter what the committee says, they wouldn’t be able to go against a royal proclamation. Not without the consent of…
“The king,” Thomas said. “He must have known why Eileen couldn’t go to the Academy. And that he can’t change the rules for her without nullifying the proclamation of Darren III.”

“And he can’t do that without disobeying the laws of the Church,” said Henry.

“Then why am I allowed to attend at all?” demanded Eileen. “Why even bother?”

“Because the king doesn’t want to be subordinate to the Church anymore,” said Thomas.

Henry nodded. “That’s why you’re still here, Eileen. And that’s why Thomas hasn’t been handed over.”

“By the Four,” Thomas breathed. “He’s starting a war.”

The three fell silent, staring at one another. Eileen was still pale, and Thomas guessed he looked no better himself. Henry’s face was tight and angry. For a long time no one spoke.

“Now you know why he wants the magicians on his side,” Henry said at last. “He needs all the help he can get.”

“What do we do?” asked Eileen.

“What can we do?” returned Henry. “Act normal, know that it’s coming, and get ready for it.”

“I’ll talk to Sir Walter in the morning,” said Thomas. “Let him know that I know. Tonight, we’ll go to the Pie and Tart and see if we can get to the other magicians. If not…” Thomas shook his head. “I’ll find another way. Tomorrow.” He rose to his feet. “Let’s go back downstairs. There’s one more thing I need to look up.”

22

They saw the first clash on their way home that evening.

The preacher was back up on his box, exhorting the townsfolk. Most were listening avidly. To Thomas’s surprise, there were four Church soldiers standing around his box, armed with clubs.
And what happened to bring them here?

The preacher was demanding that the Academy be turned over to the Church of the High Father when a voice piped up, “Why give them to the Church? What’s the Church know about anything?”

“They don’t know anything about the law,” called someone else. “Otherwise they’d know the Academy belongs to the king!”

“The Academy should not belong to the king!” thundered the preacher. “The Academy should be put in the charge of those capable of keeping the students properly in line!”

“You don’t think the king’s capable?” someone else yelled. “What are you, a traitor?”

“He’s a seditionist!” called a fourth voice.

“He wants to overthrow the king!”

“Down with the traitor!” More voices picked up the chant. “Down with the traitor! Down with the traitor!”

“Silence!” shouted the preacher. The chanters ignored him. The Church guards waded into the crowd, looking for the offenders. There was shoving and shouting and seven students, not in their robes but wearing their rapiers, broke free.

“Long live the king!” yelled David, who had been whispering annoying questions at Thomas in their law class only the week before.

“Long live the king!” the others echoed. The Church guards formed a line between them and the preacher. “Clear off, you lot!” said one of the guards. “No one wants to hear from you!”

“No one wants to hear ‘long live the king?’” David sounded almost shocked. “What sort of people are you? Without the king we’d not have peace! Without the king we’d not have law and order! I say, long live the king!”

“And I said, get out!” The guards pulled their clubs. “Clear off.”

Almost as one, the students drew their swords. “And I said, long live the king,” said David, pleasantly. “And I will happily leave, as soon as you say it as well.”

“You lot think you can beat us?” the guards advanced forward.

“Draw,” said Henry, putting deed to word. Thomas and Eileen did the same, and the three walked forward.

“Hi David,” said Thomas. “What is this?”

“A minor disagreement,” said David. “Now, who wants to shout it with me?” he demanded. “Who loves their king and their country? Who will say it?
Long live the king!”

There were rumbles from the audience, and many people looked confused.

“Again!” said David,
“Long live the king!”

All the students joined in, and a few voices from the crowd. “Long live the king!”

“More!” called David.
“Long live the king!”

“Long live the king!” came from a dozen or more spots.

“Long live the king!”

“Long live the king!”
Half the people in the square said.

“Excellent!” said David. He stepped forward and raised his blade to point in the eyes of the leader of the Church guards. “Long live the king.”

The guard stared at the sword point. He spat in disgust, and sneered at David. “Long live the king.”

“There,” said David. “Not so hard, was it?
Long live the king!
” he turned to Thomas. “May we escort you out?”

“Yes,” said Thomas. “Quickly.” He waited until the guards were out of earshot before saying “This isn’t part of the Headmaster’s plan.”

“Not at all,” said David. “James is a friend of mine.”

“Just be careful,” said Thomas. “The last thing we need is for it all to end up in street brawls.”

“Don’t worry,” said David, waving. “It will.”

Thomas shook his head in disgust as the seven went off, carefully checking behind them to be sure they weren’t being followed. Henry and Thomas went to Eileen’s place to drop her off, and found the Master Smith and his daughter Linda both there. The Master Smith was looking very serious. Linda was holding George’s hand. As they got closer, Thomas could see George was shaking and his face was pale and sweating.

“It is a serious matter,” the Master Smith was saying. “After all we cannot have our customers frightened by such things. Nor our children, for that matter.”

“I am hardly a child, father,” protested Linda.

“Pardon me,” said Thomas. “What happened?”

“You did, young man,” said Master Gatron, frowning and sounding very stern. “You and your companions, with swords and armour, facing down men on horseback and carrying injured men out of George’s smithy in the early hours of yesterday morning. It raises questions.”

“As well it should,” said Thomas. “But I hope it doesn’t raise questions about George. Without his help, one of our companions may well have been crippled for life.”

The Master Smith blinked in surprise.

“Unfortunately we can’t share the details of what happened,” continued Thomas, “because the Royal Academy of Learning is preparing to bring those responsible for our friends’ injuries before the king’s court to answer charges of kidnapping, assault and torture.”

“Torture?” repeated Master Gatron. “They were tortured?”

“Yes, Master Gatron,” said Thomas. “And were it not for George and Eileen lending us their smithy and bringing a healer to help our wounded, things could have gone much, much worse.”

“I… I see.”

Linda smiled radiantly at George and squeezed his hand tight. “You are a good man, George Gobhann. I knew you were.”

“One of the best,” said Henry. “And Eileen makes an excellent breakfast.”

“Which reminds me, I need to start dinner,” said Eileen, smiling at Linda. “I’ll get to it, if you’ll excuse me.”

“No need,” said Claudine from the foot of the stairs up to the kitchen. “It’s all taken care of! How are you, Eileen?”

“Claudine!” Eileen ran forward and gave Claudine a hug. “How are you?”

“Who is this?” asked Linda, trying to keep her inflections polite, even as her tone cooled considerably.

“Claudine!” exclaimed Henry, stepping forward and sweeping up her hand to kiss. “So good to see you again. And what brings you here?”

“Why, Eileen, of course! I brought another book she doesn’t have. And I do hope she has the time to talk for a while.”

“But where are my manners?” said Henry, tucking Claudine’s hand into her arm and walking her forward. “Linda Gatron, Master Smith Gatron, this is Claudine Bright, a new friend of Eileen’s. Claudine, this is Linda Gatron and her father Master Smith Roland Gatron, head of the Smiths’ Guild of Hawksmouth.

“My pleasure,” said Claudine, dropping into a deep curtsey. “My father, Malcolm Bright, speaks highly of your smiths, Master Gatron, and says that without them his work would not be nearly so well done.”

“My thanks,” said Master Gatron. He cast an amused glance at his daughter, who was still looking unsure.

“And now, we must go to dinner,” said Claudine. “My mother brought it and is waiting upstairs for us.” Her eyes went to Thomas. “Unfortunately, we were not expecting so many. I am sure we would have room for Linda, but I don’t think we can feed you all.”

“I was just leaving,” said Thomas.

“Unfortunate,” said Claudine, sounding not at all sincere.

“And I have business to attend, I’m afraid,” said the Master Smith. “But my daughter would be delighted to stay, I am sure.”

“Perhaps Lord Henry could stay, too?” Claudine asked, leaning against him and looking up at him with her wide brown eyes.

“Unfortunately not,” said Henry, gently taking her hand from his arm and kissing it. “Another time, my dear.”

Claudine pouted prettily. “You promise?”

“I do,” said Henry. “And now, if you will excuse us?”

They said their good-byes and headed out. Henry waited until they were out of sight of the forge. “And now, where to for dinner?”

“The Pie and Tart,” said Thomas. “I need to talk to Robert.”

***

The Pie and Tart was doing a very brisk business, with a line that went out the door and into the street. Thomas and Henry, their robes left at home, joined the queue and waited their turn. The smell from the place was delicious; mixing a dozen different spices with warm, fresh meat and baking apples and berries. Thomas’s mouth was watering by the time they got inside. The room was small, with two doors for customers and a counter that ran the length of it. Behind the counter an entire wall of shelves contained enough breads, pies and pastries to satisfy even George if he were to come. There was no sign of Robert, but there was a stair leading to the basement. As Thomas watched, more pastries came up the steps.
Bet he’s down there. The baker would be baking, not serving the customers.