Lessons in Etiquette (Schooled in Magic series) (56 page)

“Alassa knows,” Emily admitted. “And she knows about Earth.”

Void snorted. “I never assumed it would remain secret forever,” he said. “Luckily, the only known way to
reach
your world requires a vast amount of power and bribes.”

He reached into his pocket and produced a long scroll of parchment. “This spell isn’t exactly classed as Dark,” he said, “but there will be some eyebrows raised if you show it to anyone else. It’s called ‘The Secret That Cannot Be Spoken.’”

Emily couldn’t help giggling.

Void eyed her, crossly. “Some senior wizards have an infinite capacity for pretension.”

“Yes,” Emily said, deadpan. “I’ve noticed that.”

“The spell renders you immune to all manner of truth-spells,” Void said, passing it to her. “If someone tries to read your mind, they will find it impossible. Given time, you will actually discover how to
lie
with your mind, once the spell is firmly in place. It cannot be removed without killing you.”

“Thank you,” Emily said, doubtfully.

“The grandmaster was prepared to respect the Sorcerer’s Rule,” Void said. “Other magicians might not share his scruples.”

Emily eyed the scroll, taking his point. Leading magicians–and sorcerers–was like herding cats, with the added danger of being turned into something unpleasant. By the Sorcerer’s Rule, anyone who came up with a new spell or technique couldn’t be forced to disclose it to anyone else, unless they wanted to share. It was all that had protected her from being forced to tell everyone just what she’d done to Shadye.

“And there are others who will try to force you to talk,” Void added. “This spell will prevent you from being drugged, hypnotized or simply tortured for information. You simply will not be able to pass on the information without making a considered–and free–decision to talk. I think you need to learn it as soon as possible.”

Emily stuck the scroll in her handbag and scowled at him, but he wasn’t finished.

“You might also want to consider making the princess forget,” he said. “There are…
dangers
involved in growing too close to a local monarchy.”

It was on the tip of Emily’s tongue to point out that he’d dismissed the matter earlier, but she held back.

“I will not wipe my friend’s mind,” she said, flatly. Taking a gap out of Alassa’s mind would be wrong, even if she never found out. And if she did, their friendship would be gone forever. “I won’t.”

“Glad to hear it,” Void murmured.

“I have a question for you,” Emily snapped. “Why did you do…what you did to Lady Barb?”

“Do you find it hard to put into words,” Void asked lightly, “or are you fishing, hoping that I would assume you know everything?”

Emily just stared at him, refusing to back down.

“The White Council wanted me to fix their little problem,” Void said, after a long moment. “Typical, really–they let the problem fester for years, then they expect me to solve it for them. And Dubcek was a strong sorcerer. Any overt approach would have resulted in a fight even if he hadn’t been starting the slide down into necromancy. So I did what was necessary to find out the truth before it was too late.”

“By turning Lady Barb into a slave,” Emily said, evenly.

“I did what I had to do,” Void said. “She was a young sorceress, just graduated from Whitehall, with almost no actual experience. What
else
could I have done?”

“You could have asked her,” Emily said, keeping her voice under tight control.

“She would have said no,” Void countered, blithely.

His eyes narrowed. “Do you like Alassa’s father?”

Emily nodded, staring at him in horror.

“Every king on a throne must get his hands dirty if he wishes to
keep
his crown,” Void said. His voice hardened, making Emily flinch and step backwards. “I have far less blood on my hands than King Randor, whatever…
questionable
choices and bargains I might have made. Just keep that in mind.”

He eyed her for a long moment, then stepped back and vanished, collapsing the temporal bubble as he left. Emily looked back at the steam locomotive, then touched the two pieces of parchment in her pocket, wondering where they would both lead. Both of them would change the entire world.

One would protect her mind from all intrusion, if Void was telling the truth…

…And the other held a working formula for gunpowder.

END OF BOOK TWO

Emily will return in

A Study in Slaughter

Christopher G. Nuttall is thirty years old–and has been reading science-fiction since he was five, when someone introduced him to children’s SF. Born in Scotland, Chris attended schools in Edinburgh, Fife and University in Manchester…before moving to Malaysia to live with his wife Aisha.

Chris has been involved in the online Alternate History community since 1998; in particular, he was the original founder of Changing The Times, an online alternate history website that brought in submissions from all over the community. Later, Chris took up writing and eventually became a full-time writer.

Current and forthcoming titles published by Twilight Times Books

Schooled in Magic series

Schooled in Magic
- book 1

Lessons in Etiquette
- book 2

A Study in Slaughter
- book 3

Work Experience
- book 4

Military SF

Barbarians at the Gates

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