Bookworm (11 page)

Elaine could understand that, all right. “I’ll get some rest,” she said, “and I know what I’m doing in the morning.”

“Looking up protection spells, just in case?” Daria hazarded.

“Research,” Elaine said, firmly. It was time that she started to try to figure out what had happened to her, preferably before the next surprise caught up with her. “Maybe I’ll even go back to the Library.”

Daria grinned, unpleasantly. “Sweetheart, I have
never
heard it called
that
before.”

Chapter Nine

Duke Gama had been the younger brother of King Hildebrand. Elaine had known that from the notes attached to the crates of books she’d opened when she’d been hit by the curse, but according to the writers of
Peers of the Empire
it was the single most important fact about the dead Duke. The writers waxed endlessly on the subject of how worthy his bloodline was of the highest positions in the Empire, but they were remarkably short of actual details that might be of some use to her. King Hildebrand was the ruler of Ida, a small state only a few hundred miles from the Golden City, whose son had been angling for a marriage alliance that would tie them to the strongest magical families in the world. It took seventeen pages to tell Elaine something that could have been said in a few sentences.

But maybe it wasn’t too surprising, Elaine told herself. Ever since the last Emperor had died, killed in the Necromantic Wars, the Grand Sorcerers had worked hard to keep the nobility from having any real power. They’d helped
start
the First Necromantic War because they’d feared that the magical bloodlines – and magic’s seemingly random choice of new magicians – would eventually swamp the non-magical bloodlines. Now, after the wars, the kings and dukes and even empresses were subordinate to the wizards. The whole system of Court Wizards was intended to keep them in their place. There would be no repeat of the Necromantic Wars.

Some of it she’d known from reading between the lines back at the Peerless School, but other details only made sense when viewed through the prism of the new knowledge that had been poured into her head. Magicians were intensively competitive; the first necromancers had worked their dark deeds intending to make themselves supremely powerful, rather than unleashing hell purely for fun. Now, magicians had an opportunity to develop their magic and climb the ladder towards Grand Sorcerer, something that required them to uphold a system that limited their freedom of action. And the Peerless School steered its students towards developing what talent they had rather than attempting to gain new power. There would be no more necromancers.

But perhaps there would be. Elaine shivered as the spells started to jostle their way through her head. She could raise the dead and set them out upon the land to consume their way through the living, or summon a dead person’s shade back to the world to answer questions, or...her sleep hadn’t been peaceful at all. All of the images of the past, of the hero who’d become the Witch-King, had marched through her dreams, warning her of what she might become. And the potion she’d taken to ensure a dreamless sleep had failed badly. She couldn’t understand why.

She flicked through the book again and shook her head. Ida might have had one of the oldest noble families in the Empire, but it was a tiny state, barely fifty miles across from one end to the other. Only bad terrain and a certain ruthlessness had stopped her neighbours from conquering her centuries before the Necromantic Wars. They’d even held out against swarms of flesh-eating undead unleashed by the necromancers, although the undead had had problems operating in the extreme cold. Elaine had heard reports that melting glaciers had released hundreds of undead from their frozen sleep, whereupon they’d set out to continue their quest for human flesh. At least they were less dangerous without the necromancers guiding their actions. A small troop of soldiers and a wizard or two could have dealt with them before they became a major threat.

Duke Gama had had magic listed as one of his interests, but he’d never studied in the Peerless School or even been tutored by hedge witches from the surrounding countryside. There was more magic in the world than that controlled by the Peerless School, and it
was
possible that Duke Gama had somehow avoided being noticed by the Grand Sorcerer, but if he’d had real power surely he would have used it to enhance his chances on the marriage market. Instead, he’d collected books and a handful of artefacts that had been forwarded to the Great Library upon his death...

...Unless he wasn’t dead at all. There were spells that were meant to confirm that an aristocrat had passed into the realm of the gods, but they could be tricked by a clever magician or subverted by someone with enough power to simply override them. What if Duke Gama had
intended
his books, including the cursed volume, to go to the Great Library? It would have only been a matter of time before Elaine – or one of her fellows – opened the book and was struck by the curse. Maybe he’d found a way to do the impossible and burgle the Great Library. Who needed the books when all of their knowledge was inside a hapless human head?

And yet...it seemed a risky plan, one rife with uncertainties. What if the Inquisitors had realised what had happened before Elaine left the hospital? Or what if she’d gone to them and confessed to what had happened? Or what if the curse had killed her outright? The druids had said that Elaine had come
very
close to death. Someone with more power might have been killed as their magic was tapped to fuel the curse.

She closed the book with some irritation and looked over at the next one. Somehow, Ida had escaped having the normal thousands of volumes of books written on her history. But then, Ida had simply never been very important. Apart from the Court Wizard – a fellow named Trebuchet, according to the latest guide to magicians and their families – there seemed to be no magicians of note living within the mountainous kingdom. Ida seemed to like to keep herself to herself, although perhaps
that
wasn’t so surprising. The advantages that had kept the kingdom as free as any other state in the Empire wouldn’t allow it to build an empire of its own. On the great plains below the mountains, Ida’s soldiers would be cut to ribbons by the armoured troops of the nearby states. They could raid, but little else...

...and none of that now that the magicians ruled the world.

A crash from below, followed by footsteps coming up the stairs, announced Daria’s arrival in the apartment building. She came in through the door, holding a set of papers, and smiled cheerfully at Elaine, before taking the seat opposite her and picking up one of the books.

“This doesn’t look like a guide to protection spells,” she observed. “What do you think you are doing?”

“Researching,” Elaine said, crossly. She’d borrowed the books from one of the smaller libraries, borrowing everything she could find on Ida and its ruling family, which hadn’t really been very much. “I don’t have time to think about guys.”

“There’s never a better time to think about guys,” Daria said, putting down the book. “I thought you liked Bee.”

Elaine snorted. “Do you think about anything else?”

Daria smirked. “By the gods, I do believe I don’t,” she said, deadpan. “Naughty Daria. Very naughty Daria.”

“I’m thinking about paying Ida a visit,” Elaine said. “You want to come with me?”

“I thought of a way we could make money,” Daria said. “You know that there are thousands of touts in the city, right?” Elaine nodded. “So why don’t we join them in betting on who will be the next Grand Sorcerer?”

“It’s only been a day since the funeral,” Elaine said. It was strange how it felt much longer, but then the funeral had been a minor event compared to accidentally turning Millicent into a statue. Had she even been transformed back into a bitch yet? “Don’t they have any decency at all?”

“They have a week to register before they actually begin the competition,” Daria said. “Rumour has it that some of the senior wizards actually dropped
out
of the contest before their names were even listed. Do you think that that is remotely likely to be true?”

“I don’t know,” Elaine said. Putting one’s name forward as a possible candidate meant accepting the rules of the contest, as laid down by the first Grand Sorcerer. He’d been the most powerful survivor of the Second Necromantic War and no one had dared to dispute too openly with him. And yet, there
was
no rule against withdrawing from the contest. “Maybe someone is just trying to fiddle the odds.”

“No doubt,” Daria agreed. She picked up a sheet of paper and glanced at it. “Ready?”

Elaine blinked. “For what?”

“First on the list of declared candidates is Administrator Mentor, our old master from the Peerless School,” Daria said. “The touts like his chances; he was the old Grand Sorcerer’s friend and he has access to all the books stored within the Peerless School. And don’t forget that he played a role in directly shaping the last few generations of magicians. And if he wasn’t powerful, he would never have been able to hold his post...”

Elaine, whose only close contact with Administrator Mentor had been when she’d been punished for one of Millicent’s pranks, shrugged. “He didn’t really shape me, did he?”

“He certainly helped shape Millicent and the others like her,” Daria pointed out. “They probably owe him a few favours, if only for covering things up and even protecting them from the wrath of their families. Millicent’s family might not care what she does outside of their houses, but others would certainly be very angry with their children if they knew the half of it. The Administrator certainly has a very good chance.”

She smiled. “The next person on the list is Count Lucas, who is supposed to be the illegitimate son of the Duke of Randor,” she continued. “Unlike most of the parents of bastards, the Duke of Randor saw to it that his son got a good education and eventually went to the Peerless School. He graduated with high honours two years before we went into the school and...since then, he doesn’t seem to have done much. But he could have been doing anything even if he didn’t build a proper reputation.”

“The name is familiar,” Elaine said. She grinned as she put it together. “He used to go to the Great Library – probably still
is
going to the Great Library while I’ve been off work. I think he was studying rare magical hybrids from the outer continents.”

“Or maybe he thinks he has the power to defeat all comers in the arena,” Daria agreed. “The touts aren’t sure what to make of him. He doesn’t have the reputation of the Administrator or most of the other senior wizards, but surely he wouldn’t put his name forward unless he was fairly sure that he could back it up. Or maybe he’ll just back out before the contest actually starts.”

She leant forward. “I don’t suppose his recent fields of interest taught you anything about his aims?”

“Nothing,” Elaine said. Despite herself, she
was
getting interested. “Who’s next?”

“Millicent’s auntie, Lady Light Spinner,” Daria said. “She’s supposed to be an initiate into the Elysium Mysteries as well as one of the Peerless School’s most powerful graduates in the last thirty years. Unsealed, which is interesting given her breeding. Maybe she couldn’t have children or maybe she just had the power to tell her family to go to hell. She served in a couple of minor roles before becoming Court Wizard to the Empress of the South after the scandal broke about how the last wizard had been seduced by the Empress. And apparently she hasn’t even resigned from that post even though she’s competing in the arena.”

Elaine snorted. Senior wizards loved their status. “She’d have to resign if she became Grand Sorceress,” she pointed out. “And what do the touts say about her chances?”

“Second, under the Administrator,” Daria said. “It doesn’t hurt that her family is connected to many of the more powerful magical bloodlines. I have no doubt that they will bring pressure to bear on her opponents if necessary. But there’s only ever been one other female Grand Sorcerer and that wasn’t the best experience the Empire ever had.”

She smiled, humourlessly. “Countering her is Vlad Deferens, one of the more...politically outspoken sorcerers in recent years,” she added. “You’ve probably heard of him.”

“Yeah,” Elaine muttered. “The one who keeps claiming that female magicians are unnatural and should be allowed to serve as nothing more than breeding stock.”

“What do you expect from someone who grew up in Gor?” Daria asked, wryly. “Half of their magic – and their culture – is based around keeping their females properly respectful to the males. Even ten years in the Peerless School and then the Golden City hasn’t convinced him that women are more than baby-factories on legs. Let him have the power of the Grand Sorcerer and there will be riots in the streets. Every female magician in the world will stand against him.”

She shrugged. “But he has power and one hell of a reputation for squashing magicians who break the rules,” she added. “Rumour has it that he was the one who suggested that your boss should be enslaved rather than killed outright. The touts think that he has a good chance, unless some kindly magician kills him before the contest begins. Or maybe he will be killed in the contest. Deferens isn’t the kind of person to back down if challenged.”

“The gods help us if he does get into power,” Elaine said. “Who else is there?”

“Wizard Kane has decided to join the contest, but he’s not a particularly well-known candidate,” Daria said, checking her list. “No great achievements, no great political relationships...he may decide to back out quietly rather than go into the arena as a contestant. And then there’s the final contestant, the really strange one. Prince Hilarion of Ida.”

Elaine stared at her. “Of
Ida
?”

“Of Ida,” Daria confirmed. “Do you know him?”

“Only through reputation,” Elaine said, picking up one of the books. Prince Hilarion was, if she recalled correctly, the heir to the throne. What was
he
doing serving as a magician? Come to think of it...
was
he even a magician? “How...how did
he
get in?”