Cursed (Schooled In Magic Book 17), page 12
Emily shivered. It wasn’t hard to pick out the suspicion in his voice. Visitors now meant ... what? Trouble? Who would come to see them now? Alassa wouldn’t have knowingly landed them in hot water, she was sure, but even a queen could be forced to be circumspect under the right circumstances. Who was it? A friend? An enemy? She felt herself starting to fret as she followed Mouse up the stairs. Alassa wouldn’t have given her reception room to just anyone. It was meant for the monarch’s closest and most trusted intimates ...
“Emily,” a familiar voice said. “You’re back!”
“Frieda.” Emily felt her lips curve into a smile as the younger girl jumped up and ran over to give Emily a hug. “What ... I’m glad to see you.”
Frieda grinned, openly. She hadn’t changed much, Emily noted: she was still pale, with long dark hair tied in twin ponytails; she was still a little short for her age, simply because she hadn’t been fed properly for most of her life. Emily felt a flicker of worry as Frieda caught her hand. Frieda had been used as a pawn to get to Emily, only a few short months ago. The physical scars had been healed, but the mental damage still lingered ...
“It’s good to see you again.” Frieda’s face darkened. Her voice became a mumble. “I’m sorry to hear about ... you know I’m sorry.”
“I’ll find a way through it,” Emily promised. She’d never been comfortable with the way Frieda looked up to her, but ... she found she didn’t want to let the younger girl down. “I have some promising notes and ...”
“Melissa thinks she has a plan,” Frieda said. She jabbed a finger at Melissa, who was sitting next to Lady Barb. “She’s completed her soul magics mastery.”
“I invited them both,” Lady Barb said, before Emily could say a word. “Melissa already owes you.”
“And I will do my best to repay the debt,” Melissa said. She looked taller, somehow. Her body glowed with health. “Markus was insistent that we do everything in our power to help.”
She met Emily’s eyes. “And we can also offer you a place to go, if you need it.”
Good thing Alassa isn’t here, Emily thought. Alassa and Melissa had been enemies for too long. They might not have clashed openly since Melissa had been disowned by her family, but they’d still been rivals. Some wounds never healed. Alassa would be horrified if I walked into the lion’s den.
“I’ll think about it,” she promised. It would have its advantages — she could advise Markus as he steered the world into a full-fledged industrial revolution — but she wasn’t blind to the disadvantages. She would have to take sides in the constant jockeying for status amongst the magical families. “I don’t want to give up yet.”
“You shouldn’t,” Melissa said. “Once you give up, you give up.”
Emily nodded, remembering how their joint tutor had said that again and again. “What do you want to do?”
“First, I want to take a look at the curse,” Melissa said. “And if that works, we can figure out a way to remove it without risking your life.”
“That sounds like a plan.” Emily swallowed, hard. She’d never liked having her mind touched, even though she knew — intellectually — that Melissa couldn’t share anything she saw in Emily’s mind without explicit permission. It was like being naked in public, only worse. “When do you want to start?”
Melissa colored. “As soon as possible,” she said. “I’m not entirely ... welcome ... here.”
“After dinner,” Lady Barb said, firmly. She called for the maids. “We haven’t eaten.”
Emily glanced at Cat — and saw Frieda looking at Cat, a dark expression on her face — and sighed, inwardly, as the maids appeared with trays of food. Lady Barb must have given specific orders for comfort food, rather than the traditional welcoming feast. Emily took a chair, forcing herself to eat even though she didn’t want anything. Lady Barb was right. It was better to do the procedure — it was easier to think of it that way — on a full stomach. They might only have to do it once.
It will be at least twice, she thought numbly, as Lady Barb brought Frieda and Melissa up to speed. Once to find the curse and once to remove it.
“It’s odd that you can’t find traces of the curse,” Melissa said. “Are you sure she wasn’t burned out?”
“The damage would be easy to see,” Lady Barb said, briskly. “And she would be going mad by now.”
“She’s not going mad,” Frieda said, firmly.
“No,” Lady Barb agreed. “And that suggests something is blocking her magic.”
“She certainly reacted very badly to the portal,” Cat said. “I did not have such a bad reaction.”
“That’s good, isn’t it?” Frieda glanced at Emily. “You wouldn’t have reacted at all if you didn’t have magic.”
“I know,” Emily said, quietly.
Frieda’s eyes lingered on her. “Have you tried to cast a spell since you stepped through the portal? It might have jarred something loose.”
Emily felt her face flush. She should have thought of that. Bracing herself, she cast a simple spell. Nothing happened.
“It didn’t work,” she said. She tried again, just to be sure. “Nothing.”
“Crap,” Frieda said. “And nothing you tried worked? No cure?”
“Nothing,” Lady Barb confirmed.
Frieda looked down at her hands. “What if ... what if Emily was transfigured?”
“You’d think she would have noticed,” Cat said, sarcastically.
“That’s not what I meant.” Frieda’s face colored, but she pressed on regardless. “Emily would have noticed if someone had turned her into a frog. Of course she would have noticed. But what if she’d been turned into something that looks like Emily, walks and talks like Emily, but doesn’t have Emily’s magic? A mundane who looks like Emily. She wouldn’t have magic in that form ... would she?”
Emily shivered. That wasn’t possible ... was it?
Melissa frowned. “It is hard to cast spells when you’re transfigured.”
“It would still be possible to tell if Emily had been transfigured,” Lady Barb said. “And she hasn’t. It would be difficult, practically impossible, to transform Emily into a copy of herself — with or without magic. I can’t see anyone managing to cast such a spell, even if they weren’t pressed for time.”
And tampering with my brain to strip me of my magic would probably kill me outright, Emily thought. One might as well try to perform brain surgery with a hammer.
“It was a good thought, though,” Lady Barb added. “And a good example of thinking outside the box.”
Frieda looked torn between embarrassment and relief. “He could have forced her to drink a potion,” she offered. “Or done something to ensure it stayed in her system ...”
“We would have found traces of a potion when we tested her blood,” Lady Barb said. “And it wouldn’t have lingered for so long.”
Melissa pushed her plate aside and stood. “Emily, please lie down on the couch,” she said, firmly. “Everyone else, either keep your mouth shut or go out of the room. I will not hesitate to hex anyone who speaks once I begin.”
“I’ll just sit over here,” Cat said.
“Go outside and tell Lady Barb what we found,” Emily said, to Cat. She didn’t really want anyone in the room, even though she knew she wasn’t going to be physically naked. “And tell Frieda, too.”
Frieda looked as if she wanted to argue, but followed Cat and Lady Barb out of the room anyway. Emily felt a pang of guilt — she’d been happy enough to have Frieda as a witness, when she’d needed to prove her innocence — but there was no time to worry about it. Melissa didn’t have days or weeks to spare. She had to get back to House Ashworth before someone started asking pointed questions about her absence.
“Lie down,” Melissa repeated. “And try to relax.”
Emily took a long breath, trying to calm her heartbeat. It didn’t seem right to let Melissa touch her mind, whatever oaths she’d sworn. She had to fight to keep from cringing away as Melissa’s hand rested on her forehead. Without magic ... she couldn’t resist. No, that wasn’t true. She could resist, but she shouldn’t. Melissa had to scan Emily’s mind in peace.
She already knows too much, Emily reminded herself, as she felt her head start to spin. And there’s nothing to gain by not trusting her now.
She winced, trying to calm herself as she felt a faint presence enter her mind. A flash of panic burned through her as she realized how easily Melissa had slipped into her thoughts, how easy it would be for Melissa to strip Emily’s secrets from her mind ... she forced herself to concentrate, trying to pretend that she was being examined by a doctor. But she’d never liked that much, either. The presence grew stronger and stronger, pressing down on her thoughts in a manner that repelled her. She felt as if she were pinned to the ground by someone stronger, someone so much stronger that resistance was futile. Her breaths came in shuddering gasps. Melissa could do anything to her — she could make Emily say or do or believe anything — and there was nothing Emily could do about it. She couldn’t fight any longer.
The crawling sensation grew worse as Melissa prowled through Emily’s mind. Flashes of thought and memory burst into existence, only to vanish again within seconds. Emily tried to remember just what had happened in the last moments of the battle, before she’d blacked out, but the memories were hazy. Randor had definitely hit her with something ... she was dimly aware of Melissa watching the memory time and time again, trying to determine what had happened. Perhaps an outside view would be better ...
A stab of pain lanced through her mind. Emily tried to scream, but she couldn’t. Her entire body was paralyzed, unable to move. Melissa was suffocating her. Panic yammered through her mind. Melissa was ripping her thoughts to shreds. There was a final burst of pain, so overwhelming she was convinced — just for a second — that she was dead, then ... nothing.
“Emily,” a quiet voice said. “Can you hear me?”
Emily opened her eyes. Melissa was sitting next to her, holding a glass of water to her lips. Emily sipped gratefully. She knew she should have checked the water first, just to make sure it was safe to drink, but she was too tired to care. Besides, it wasn’t as if she could. Her entire body felt as if she’d been beaten halfway to death. Her clothes were drenched in sweat. She had to fight to sit upright and look around the room. There was no sign of anyone else.
“I told them to wait outside while you recovered,” Melissa said. “We both came very close to death.”
Emily finished the water and put the glass aside. “What happened?”
“I’m not sure,” Melissa said. “The curse could have been trying to defend itself, either by driving me out of your mind or killing you in the hopes it would kill me, too. It might have worked, if it was drawing on your magic. Or your mind could have been trying to throw me out and ... it nearly caused a seizure. That would have killed us both.”
And left your body a lifeless shell, Emily thought. What would have happened then?
She took a long breath. “What did you find?”
“I’m honestly not sure,” Melissa said. “I think there’s something blocking your ability to use your powers, but I couldn’t get a good look at it. It was woven into the warp and weft of your mind. The curse — if it is a curse — might have been given enough time to imbed itself into your mind ... how long did it take for you to realize you didn’t have magic any longer?”
Emily had to think. “I blacked out after the fight,” she said. “It would have been ... around four days, I think, before I tried a spell. I think.”
“Too long,” Melissa said. “I’m not sure how to proceed. We might be able to disconnect it from your mind, but the process might kill you. If even a simple peek into your thoughts nearly kills us ...”
“Shit,” Emily said. “What if you put me to sleep first?”
“You wouldn’t be able to help,” Melissa said. “The danger would be quite considerable.”
“That’s an understatement,” Emily muttered. As uncomfortable as it had been to have her mind probed, it would be a great deal worse if she was asleep. Her unconscious mind would resist the intrusion with everything at its disposal. “Is there nothing you can do?”
“I can have a few words with the other soul magic masters,” Melissa said. “And check through the handful of textbooks, but otherwise ... I don’t know. There aren’t many healers who would willingly take the risk.”
“No,” Emily agreed. She couldn’t ask anyone to risk their life on her behalf. “Is there ... are there any books on death curses within your family’s library?”
“I’ll check,” Melissa said. “But as long as we can’t isolate the curse, we may be unable to examine or remove it. The king probably assumed he wouldn’t be around to deal with the consequences.”
“No,” Emily said. “He wouldn’t have been able to cast the curse without using his own death as a source of power.”
“And he wouldn’t understand the dangers of using a binding spell, either.” Melissa looked grim. “He might have locked the spell in place.”
Emily shuddered. She’d been told that it was possible to cast a spell that only she could remove — and then warned that casting such a spell would mean instant expulsion from Whitehall. The outside world might not have such strong rules, and there weren’t enough Mediators to enforce them, but she doubted that many magicians would take the risk of casting unbreakable spells. If nothing else, it would make them pariahs amongst their own kind. They might even be treated as dark wizards.
“Fuck,” she said. All of a sudden, it seemed hopeless, utterly hopeless. Randor wasn’t around any longer. There was no way he could be forced to break the spell. Bleak despondency threatened to rise up within her, again. “What now?”
“You do have friends,” Melissa said. “And you do have a place with us if you want.”
“Thanks,” Emily said. It did make her feel a little better, although she was morbidly certain that it had been Markus, not Melissa, who’d pushed for that. Thankfully, Melissa knew she felt nothing beyond friendship for Melissa’s husband. “I don’t know what I’ll do.”
She rested her head in her hands as Melissa opened the door, invited the others to return and explained what had happened. Emily listened with half an ear, trying to find something — anything — to give her hope. She wasn’t a charity case, was she? She would have been surprised if Markus had made the offer just out of the goodness of his heart. He had to know that whoever controlled Emily would dominate the world. Melissa might not have been able to tell him directly what she’d seen in Emily’s mind, but she could have dropped hints ...
You’re being paranoid, Emily told herself. Markus was a decent soul. Melissa ... was less decent, perhaps, but a good person. They’re your friends.
Frieda sat next to her. “I’m sorry,” she said. She wrapped an arm around Emily’s shoulders. “I’ll ... I’ll pledge myself to protect you, if you don’t get your powers back.”
Cat snorted. “Do you think you can stand against all the people who want to kill her?”
“I can learn,” Frieda said. The look she directed at Cat was far from friendly. “I’ve made progress.”
“You can’t learn enough before the vultures start to gather,” Cat said. “Emily is ...”
“Emily is here,” Emily said. Her body ached, but she forced herself to stand. “Emily is not helpless. Or dependent.”
“Hansel was a fool,” Lady Barb said. Her voice was very sharp. “The next person who tries will be smarter. He could hardly be so stupid.”
And the mere fact that Hansel tried will suggest that he had some reason to think he could get away with it, Emily thought. How long will it be before someone draws the correct conclusion?
“Then I will kill him,” Frieda said, bluntly. She tossed a challenging look at Cat. “Why don’t you teach me? I’m sure a great combat sorcerer like yourself would be able to teach me all kinds of tricks.”
“Sure,” Cat said, dryly. “I’ll take you down to the spellchambers, leaving Emily alone, and while I’m thrashing you to within an inch of your life someone else decides to take a crack at Emily. What a brilliant idea, I don’t think.”
“Enough,” Emily said. Frieda hadn’t liked Caleb. It looked as if she wasn’t going to like Cat, either. She hoped that meant they weren’t going to start feuding. Caleb had been more amused than annoyed by Frieda’s dislike, but Cat was made of sterner stuff. “We need to think of a plan.”
“I’ll go through the notes,” Lady Barb said. Her voice was so flat that Emily knew Lady Barb thought it was hopeless. “But I don’t know ... this is unprecedented. I don’t know of any cases where a sorcerer has lost her powers without going mad.”
“I do.” Frieda gave them all a brilliant smile. “What about Cabiria?”
Chapter Thirteen
“THAT’S AN INTERESTING THOUGHT,” LADY BARB said, into the silence. “But Cabiria’s case and Emily’s case are not the same.”
“They do have similarities, though,” Melissa said. “Cabiria should have been a magician. Everyone agreed on that, if I recall correctly. But she wasn’t able to use her powers until ... until something happened to unlock them. Emily certainly should have powers, too.”
Emily sucked in a breath. She’d shared a room with Cabiria for most of a year. She should have thought about how Cabiria hadn’t had powers until her uncle had done something to unlock them. But she hadn’t given her former roommate a single thought until now. She kicked herself, mentally. She should have thought of Cabiria when she tried to work out what had happened to her. The cases weren’t identical — Lady Barb was right about that — but they did have some things in common.
“I thought people agreed that Cabiria simply came into her powers late.” Cat didn’t sound convinced. “It’s rare, but hardly unprecedented.”
“There’s a lot more to the story than that,” Melissa said. “Most people who come into their powers late — at sixteen or thereabouts — tend not to come from magical families. I had tutoring in using my power from the moment I started puberty. Cabiria would have had the same tutoring, she would have been taught the same exercises to draw on her power, from the moment she started puberty too. Her powers were nowhere in evidence until ... well, that’s the question. The only person who knows what really happened back then is dead.”
