Past Tense (Schooled in Magic Book 10) (41 page)

“Out of the question,” Whitehall said. “If your apprentice was experimenting with demons ...”

“He
was
going to become a DemonMaster,” Chambers snarled. “Calling up and using demons was his life!”

“He was already staggering towards madness,” Whitehall snapped back. “For his eyes to change at such a young age ...”

“And we have only
her
word his eyes
were
changing,” Chambers insisted. He glared at Emily, nastily. “For someone to develop red eyes at such a young age is completely unprecedented. The youngest person I know to even develop a
hint
of red eyes was easily twice Robin’s age!”

His eyes hardened. “And she has taken his demon,” he added. “How could that have happened if he had not opened himself to her?”

Emily staggered as she was suddenly aware—very aware—of the demon sitting on her shoulder. It felt as though she was balancing something that was both impossibly heavy and feather-light. Panic surged through her as she realized that the demon had done
something
to her, just to make sure she didn’t react badly to its presence; she reached up with her hand to try to push it away, but felt nothing. The waves of malice she would have expected to be emanating from the creature weren’t there. Instead ... there was nothing.

Chambers was still speaking. Somehow, she dragged her attention back to him.

“She has concocted a tissue of lies,” Chambers said. “It is true that my apprentice found her attractive and attempted to court her, despite my orders, but he would not attempt to bind her to his will or force himself on her. He could not have hoped to keep such a deed hidden indefinitely and, when he was caught, his punishment would be remembered for generations to come. Robin was not
stupid
.”

“Young men can be very stupid when they are in lust,” Wolfe said. “And Robin was already teetering on the verge of madness.”

“He was not mad,” Chambers said. “Does anyone honestly believe that we would not have thrown him to the demons if he’d assaulted
her
in such a manner?”

But you have to defend him
, Emily thought, coldly.
He was your apprentice. His behavior reflects badly on you
.

She cursed under her breath. No one could deny she’d killed Robin, not after her magic had damaged the castle itself. But it would take a skilled magician to put the traces of the control spell back together ... and even if Master Wolfe succeeded, Master Chambers could insist that it hadn’t been
Robin
who’d cast the spell. He might just manage to convince the others of it too. Robin hadn’t shown the same ability as Bernard, Julianne or Emily herself. Hell,
Emily
wouldn’t have believed him capable of casting such a spell if she hadn’t seen him do it.

And there’s a monster sitting on my shoulder
, she thought. The demon’s presence seemed to flicker in and out of her mind. There were moments when she was very aware of it and moments when it was almost gone.
That doesn’t make me look very good either
.

She tensed, wondering if Master Chambers had set the whole thing up. Robin had been a disobedient apprentice, at least if he’d been telling the truth when he’d claimed that his master hadn’t approved of him trying to court Emily. Chambers might just have decided he wanted to be rid of him. Or, perhaps, to use him as an unwitting tool against Whitehall or Emily herself. She had a nasty feeling that Chambers wouldn’t have been too unhappy if Robin had succeeded.

“I demand the Rite of Blood,” Chambers said. “Blood calls for justice.”

Whitehall steepled his fingertips. “I believe she is telling the truth.”

“You would,” Chambers snarled. “She’s
your
apprentice—an apprentice you cannot control!”

“Robin would hardly be the first young man to believe he could just take something he wanted,” Whitehall added. “And with demons whispering in his ear, he might have been in no state to understand the difference between right and wrong.”

Chambers took a long breath. “This ... this ...
girl
... has bewitched you,” he snapped. “How many more are going to die?”

He waved a hand at Emily, who stared back defiantly. “She killed Master Gila,” he added, darkly. “And then Lord Alfred dies too. And now Robin De Bold is dead. Who is next?”

His gaze bored into Emily’s eyes. “Who will be next?”

Emily gritted her teeth as she felt his mind pushing against hers, the pressure growing rapidly as he tried to break through her defenses and ransack her mind. Void’s protections were in fragments, she realized suddenly. She had to hold him out completely on her own, without additional help. Her head started to pound as she felt her defenses giving way ...

... And then Whitehall reached out and punched Chambers’ arm, hard.

“That will do,” he said. “I am convinced she is telling the truth.”

“Her or me,” Chambers snapped. The tension between the two masters, Emily saw now, had been growing for weeks. Their friendship was dying right in front of her. “Put her out of the castle or I will leave, today.”

Whitehall rose. “Do you think I would condone applying the Rite of Blood to an innocent girl?”

“People
die
around her,” Chambers said. “Who will be next?”

He rose and stalked around the table. “Your grand project is doomed to fail,” he said, as Master Reaper rose and followed him. “And it will all be because of
her
.”

Emily braced herself, half-expecting a curse or a physical attack as he passed, but Master Chambers merely scowled at Keldor.

“You should come too,” he snapped. “How long do you think it will be before you too are isolated?”

“There’s too much to do here,” Keldor said. “Master ...”

“Then we are no longer companions,” Chambers said, cutting him off. He jabbed a finger at Emily. “How many people will die because of this snake in the grass?”

He strode out of the room, followed by Master Reaper. Emily was surprised they didn’t slam the door as they left.

“Go make sure they don’t do anything stupid before they leave,” Whitehall ordered. It took Emily a moment to realize he was talking to Wolfe and Keldor. “Or try to take something that doesn’t belong to them.”

“Of course,” Wolfe murmured.

Emily allowed herself a moment of relief as soon as Whitehall and she were alone. “Thank you.”

“You are my apprentice,” Whitehall said. “Standing up for you is one of my duties.”

His face tightened, noticeably. “And you have a demon on your shoulder.”

Emily shuddered as another stab of panic ran through her. “
Get rid of it
!”

Whitehall didn’t seem to notice her tone. “I don’t know how,” he said. “Did you summon it?”

“No,” Emily said. “I wouldn’t dare!”

“The person who might be able to give us some advice has just stormed out,” Whitehall said, curtly. “And I’m not sure I could trust his answers in any case. Demons may not be able to lie directly, but they can be very misleading.”

He frowned. “I’ll have to give the matter some thought,” he added. “If you beat Robin so thoroughly, his demon might have transferred itself to you ... I’ve never seen it happen, but some demons have been reported to trade masters when they have a chance. Or something else might be at work.”

Emily saw—again—the demon at the corner of her eye. “Will it try to hurt me?”

“I don’t know,” Whitehall said. “But you would be well-advised not to listen to a word it said.”

“Yes, Master,” Emily said, tiredly. “And I’m sorry ...”

She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry,” she repeated. “I should never have left the hall with him.”

“Perhaps not,” Whitehall said. “But Robin made the choice to rely on demons, rather than try to develop his own magic.”

Emily swallowed. “I meant about Lord Chambers,” she said. “I knew the two of you were friends.”

“I will mourn in my own time,” Whitehall said. He met her eyes, gently. “And be kind to Bernard, if you can. He’ll be mourning his friend too.”

W
HITEHALL,
E
MILY DISCOVERED OVER THE NEXT
four days, had been entirely correct.

Bernard rarely spoke to her, even when she was in Julianne’s company. He certainly made no attempt to seek her out or try to include her in any of the commune’s activities. Emily had little inclination to play games or go roaming through the forest, but she couldn’t help feeling oddly disconcerted by his sudden lack of attention. And yet, she knew Bernard was mourning his friend. Robin and he had been friends for years before Robin’s fall.

“He’ll start talking to you again soon,” Julianne reassured her. “He’s just a little ...”

“Mad at me,” Emily finished. “And I don’t blame him.”

She shook her head in annoyance. She’d tried talking to some of the other apprentices, but they had very little in common. The boys needed to see her as a teacher, while the girls were so different from her that it was hard to hold any sort of conversation with them. It would need at least a generation, she was sure, before the girls were ready to learn on equal terms with the boys. Indeed, from what she remembered learning in history, it would be Bernard—as Grandmaster—who would drop most of the gender barriers at Whitehall.

It did have its advantages, she had to admit. Her classes proceeded well—she taught the Manavore Runes to everyone, male and female—and no one, not even Tama, gave her any trouble. Tama practically hid at the back of the classroom, never daring to look up and meet her eyes. Emily had quietly checked, wondering if he too was hiding red eyes, but it seemed he was just reluctant to be noticed. If she’d killed an apprentice who was on the verge of gaining his mastery, she would have no trouble doing the same to him.

But being so isolated—Julianne wanted to spend most of her free time with Bernard—was wearying. None of the distractions she would have enjoyed at
her
Whitehall were available in the past. There was no library, save for the collection of books Master Wolfe had hidden near the control chamber; there was little to do, save for wandering around the castle looking for secret passageways. Emily had seriously considered walking down to the statue chamber and making the jump into the future—she would have done it, if the demon hadn’t been bound to her shoulder. She had no idea what would happen if she triggered the spells while the demon was there, but she doubted it was anything good.

She rubbed her eyes tiredly as she walked down the stone corridor. The demon had done
nothing
. It hadn’t tried to speak to her, it hadn’t tried to warp her mind—she’d erected new mental defenses, just to make sure—and it hadn’t done anything to her friends or enemies. It was just sitting there, biding its time. She’d had nightmares, curled up in her bedroom, but she didn’t
think
any of them had anything to do with the demon. Robin’s attempt to take control of her had brought many of her old fears back to light.

A pair of apprentices were chatting in an alcove as she passed, both falling silent as soon as they saw her. She nodded to them politely and hurried on, uneasily aware that she might be the topic of conversation. It seemed to be her
fate
to have everyone scared of her, although in the past she was largely unique. A trained magician, a
female
trained magician; a magician of rare power. She wondered, absently, what Whitehall made of her now. He hadn’t been unfriendly, but he hadn’t been very communicative either. He’d certainly forgotten his promise to teach her how to fly.

He has been occupied with setting up the school
, she thought.
And he has been interviewing new masters
.

She sighed under her breath as her feet took her into the Entry Hall. Word had been spreading ever since the Gathering, naturally; hundreds of masters, apprentices and mundane tradesmen had been making their way towards the castle. Whitehall had put most of the latter to work on widening the path to the castle, cutting back the foliage daily just to make sure the castle was never forgotten again. It would probably be years before they had a proper road leading to the castle, but they were on their way. And the castle was starting to teem with life.

Eyes followed her as she peered towards Whitehall, who was chatting to a pair of men in fancy robes. She reached out with her senses and picked up two magical signatures, one clearly Whitehall’s. One of the guests was no magician, she decided, unless he was better at masking his magic than anyone she’d met, either in the past or the future. She wondered if Whitehall knew—his senses were nowhere near as developed as hers—then decided it was quite possible. Wolfe’s fiddling with the wards had allowed him to identify and track every last magician who came into the castle.

She frowned as a handful of men stepped through the doors, all but one of them sellswords or lifeguards. Probably lifeguards, she decided, as their master strode towards Whitehall with a grim expression on his face. They wore livery, rather than makeshift armor or leather pads; their weapons were clean and shiny, suggesting they took the time to clean and maintain them. Sergeant Miles had said some nasty things about lifeguards, in the future, but Emily had to admit that this group looked competent. Looking nasty was probably the best way to avoid a fight.

And they’re not trying to ogle me or any of the women
, she thought, as the nobleman broke into Whitehall’s conversation.
They’re keeping an eye out for threats
.

Whitehall didn’t look very pleased, she noted; she couldn’t help wondering if the nobleman was suicidal. He wasn’t a magician and, as far as she could tell, nor were any of his bodyguards. Whitehall could have killed them all in an instant. But he merely asked his guests to wait, then waved to Emily. The nobleman stared at her as she walked over to join Whitehall. She had to look very different than the women he was
used
to seeing.

“Emily,” Whitehall said. “Please escort the Brothers Suram to the dining hall and make sure they have something to eat.”