Lessons in Etiquette (Schooled in Magic series) (3 page)

“Hello, Void,” she said, without looking around. “What are
you
doing here?”

I
T’S BEEN A WHILE,” VOID SAID,
as Emily turned to face him. “Am I not allowed to visit my favorite ward?”

Emily scowled at him. Void had rescued her from Shadye, moments before the maddened necromancer would have plunged a knife into her chest, sacrificing her to an extra-dimensional force he’d called the Harrowing. And then he’d sent her to Whitehall, where she’d learned to manipulate magic and–eventually–to defeat Shadye when the necromancer had attacked the school. But she still knew very little about Void, from why he’d saved her life to why so many other magicians were scared of him.

Even his appearance seemed to be variable. Right now, he looked like a young man, with long dark hair, a sly smile–and a way of moving that suggested his body wasn’t quite suited to his mind. He wore the simple outfit of a common laborer, rather than the glorious robes affected by other magicians, and carried a wooden staff in one hand. His face was too striking to be really called handsome, even if he hadn’t had the smile hinting that he couldn’t be completely trusted. She thought there was something aristocratic in his looks.

“He wants to marry me,” Emily said, wondering inwardly if Void’s appearance was a coincidence. “What did you know about that?”

“Nothing,” Void said. He grinned, brilliantly. “But I can’t say it surprises me.”

“Well, it surprised
me
,” Emily said. And yet, in hindsight, wasn’t it obvious that Jade had been interested in her? He’d certainly spent more time with her than necessary. “Why does he like me?”

She hesitated, then plunged on. “And he said that there were people discussing my marriage prospects,” she added. “Why?”

Void tilted his head slightly, as if he didn’t quite understand why she was upset. “You know that magic is passed on through the blood,” he said. “The children of magicians are likely to be magicians themselves. If you were to marry another magician, or at least bear his children, those offspring would be very powerful indeed. Quite a few of the older bloodlines would be interested in recruiting you.”

“I’m not a brood cow,” Emily snapped. She looked into his dark eyes, glinting with suppressed amusement, and felt her temper fray. “And are you arranging my marriage with someone I don’t know?”

“You killed a necromancer,” Void reminded her, dryly. “I rather doubt that
anyone
would dare to try to force you into a marriage.” He paced over to Jade’s frozen form and examined him, thoughtfully. “They are much more likely to try to seduce you, or to seduce your guardian.”

“
You
are my guardian,” Emily said. “
Have
you been getting offers for my hand?”

“I never bother to pay attention to such things,” Void said. “
Should
I be arranging a match for you?”

“
No
,” Emily said, sharply. “I… I don’t want to marry anyone, particularly not someone I don’t know. I’m too young.”

“Girls can be married from the moment they start their cycles,” Void reminded her. “And marriages can be arranged from the moment a girl takes her first breath. Just ask your royal friend.”

Emily flushed. She’d known that Alassa would have to marry for political reasons, not for love–and even Imaiqah, the daughter of an increasingly wealthy merchant, would have to consider her father’s wishes when she married. But it had never really occurred to Emily that such rules might apply to
her
. Why should they? She had no family here, unless one counted Void…

What if someone wanted to get close to
him
?

But she didn’t have to take it that far. She was powerful, she was wealthy…and she was famous. There would be no shortage of people willing to court her, just in hopes of sharing the benefits she might bring to this world. The fact that an extremely powerful sorcerer was her guardian was merely the icing on the cake.

She looked up at Jade and cursed under her breath. What were
his
true motives?

“He wants to marry me,” she said, numbly. “He’s five years older than me and he wants to marry me.”

“There are elderly men who marry very young wives,” Void pointed out. He sounded bored, as if he hadn’t really wanted to discuss Emily’s marriage prospects at all. One thing Emily
had
learned about her guardian was that he had a very short attention span. “Five years is not that great a difference.”

But it would be on Earth
, Emily thought. Anyone Jade’s age who courted a sixteen-year-old girl would have raised eyebrows, at the very least. It wouldn’t have made that much difference if Emily had been ten years older, but sixteen…

“Why me?” Emily asked. “Does he
really
want to marry me?”

Void let out a sigh. “While I cannot deny that his family would benefit from having you marry their son,” he said, tartly, “they are not well-placed to take proper advantage of it. It is therefore likely that Jade genuinely
does
have feelings for you.”

He waved his hand in the air, dismissing the matter. “But I didn’t come here to help you handle your suitors,” he added. “There are more important concerns.”

Emily shook her head. “I don’t know what to make of it all,” she admitted. “Does he–like–
like
me?”

Void ignored her. “Your friend the crown princess is taking you to Zangaria,” he said. “Are you aware that her country is currently balanced on a knife-edge?”

Emily hesitated, then shook her head. She’d done her best to follow local politics, but they were often confusing, seeming to rely more on personal relationships than geopolitics. And there were times when the Allied Lands seemed too stupid to survive. The necromancers were still lurking in the Blighted Lands, waiting for an opportunity to break through the mountains and invade the free territories. If Emily hadn’t killed Shadye, the necromancer who had kidnapped her from Earth, the war might have been over six months ago. The necromancers would have won.

And yet the Allied Lands still squabbled over petty issues.

“Alassa is the only heir her parents have,” Void said. “If she fails to inherit the throne–if she fails to have children who can inherit the throne in turn–her country will face considerable unrest. Or, for that matter, if she marries poorly, her husband might become a plague on the country. There are too many issues surrounding her future–and some of those issues are your fault.”

Emily blinked. “Mine?”

“You helped your friend to introduce new ideas into their society,” Void reminded her. “Some of those ideas are proving quite…destabilizing.”

He shrugged, expressively. “Not that they really need the excuse to start slipping towards civil war,” he added. “If something were to happen to Alassa, there would be an unprecedented struggle to determine who would be the next monarch.”

Emily scowled at him. “If that were the case,” she said, “why would they
want
to kill Alassa?”

Void smiled, but it didn’t quite touch his eyes. “Who benefits from chaos in the Allied Lands?”

The answer to
that
question was obvious. “Necromancers,” Emily said. Shadye hadn’t expressed any interest in capturing Alassa, but he’d been completely fixated on Emily herself. Given time, he might have seen the advantages in using mind-control spells on Alassa, or simply killing her to produce chaos. “Are they planning to kill her?”

“It’s possible,” Void said. “But you know how hard it is to get intelligence out of the Blighted Lands.”

He carried on before Emily could say a word. “There are other threats,” he added. “Do you realize that Zangaria has never had a queen?”

Emily nodded. She’d learned that from studying Alassa’s country, before they’d become friends, and she’d discovered that she didn’t really envy the princess. Female sorcerers weren’t uncommon, but female
rulers
were unusual in the Allied Lands. Part of it was because the law stated that male heirs were always first in line to their thrones, yet there was also a sexism pervading the attitudes to monarchy. A female ruler was assumed to be incapable of displaying the thrusting vigor of a king.

But there was more to it than that. Women were expected to be subordinate to their husbands–at least, unless they were powerful sorceresses. A queen who married would find herself sharing power, even through a king would be under no such obligation. And if she chose the wrong man, the results could be disastrous. Earth’s history showed that all too clearly. Mary, Queen of Scots, had chosen badly and the whole affair had blown up in her face. So too had Mary Tudor.

“You also know that Alassa was not given a proper magical education,” Void added. “Do you realize that may have been because certain factions wanted her dependent upon a Court Wizard?”

Emily remembered her first meeting with Alassa and scowled. Alassa had been spoilt, surrounded by cronies who kept telling her that she was the most important person in Whitehall. The thought of someone like
that
on a throne was chilling. Later, they’d become friends, but Alassa still had a strong sense of self-importance even if she had learned a little humility. At least she’d also learned, the hard way, that sycophants were not to be trusted. When they’d come crawling back, long after Alassa had been given time to brood, she’d sent them all packing with a few well-chosen words.

But Alassa had also not been a skilled magician. Indeed, she had memorized a number of spells, rather than actually understanding the theory behind them. She’d been powerful, but a properly-trained magician would have tied her up in knots if they’d fought. It had been Emily’s patient tutorage that had helped her to understand magic theory and to actually make progress. They’d passed the Charms exams together.

And, in truth, Emily had deduced that someone wanted to keep Alassa dependent on her Court Wizard much earlier.
And
there was only one logical motive.

“Because they thought a girl-ruler would be easier to handle without magic,” she said, feeling vaguely insulted. All of her knowledge of her own world’s history suggested that male rulers were allowed to get away with a great deal of crap, while female rulers were held to an impossibly high standard. “Why don’t they just shut up and accept it?”

Void eyed her darkly. “If Alassa marries someone from within the kingdom, that person’s family will be promoted above all others,” he said, as if he’d expected her to know that. “The balance of power within the kingdom will be upset. If Alassa marries someone from
outside
the kingdom, a new factor will be introduced into local politics. Normally, a queen would be expected to find a strong protector, someone masculine who will safeguard her rule. Whoever Alassa chooses will become very powerful indeed.”

“I can’t see Alassa choosing anyone,” Emily admitted. Even if her friend
hadn’t
been aware of the potential dangers–her protector might start becoming her master–she wouldn’t want to share power with someone else, particularly not someone who had a power base of his own, separate from her. “She’d want to rule on her own.”

“And as long as she remained childless, the succession would be in question,” Void said. “The White Council is very concerned.”

Emily gave him a sharp look. She knew next to nothing about the White Council, apart from the fact that it meant different things to different people. Alassa had told her that it was the parliament that debated the unified response to the necromancers–and to other threats, although she had yet to hear of any more dangerous than the supercharged magicians in the Blighted Lands. But the grandmaster had hinted that it was composed of magicians, magicians who considered themselves responsible for safeguarding the Allied Lands. And Void had apparently called on the Council to discuss
Emily’s
future, back when he’d rescued her from certain death.

“I see,” she said, finally. “What do you want me to do?”

Void grinned at her. “What makes you think I want you to do anything?”

“You came here and interrupted me,” Emily pointed out. Part of her was grateful–at least she had a chance to
think
about what she could say to Jade–but the rest of her was irked at his presumption. “I don’t think you came just to tell me vague generalities about Alassa’s kingdom.”

“True enough,” Void agreed. He cleared his throat, pretending to read from an invisible document. “The White Council would prefer that the country remain stable, with a clear line of succession to the throne. They would be very grateful for anything you do that helps ensure such a happy outcome.”

Emily felt her lips twitch. “They think that
I
can help keep the country stable?”

“The White Council is not supposed to interfere overtly in the internal affairs of individual Allied Lands,” Void admitted. “You, however, are a close personal friend of the crown princess, the girl who will be at the heart of the coming political turmoil. If you manage to keep her alive and reasonably independent, the White Council would be very relieved.”