The Right Side of History (Schooled In Magic Book 22)
Page 39
“It doesn’t matter,” she said, as Jan returned to the cart. She’d lost this round. There was no point in denying it. But she still had cards to play. “Whatever happens, we’ll be back.”
Epilogue
WHITEHALL FELT... EERIE.
Nanette walked through the frozen school, marveling at the combination of spells used to keep the staff, students and guests entranced as she made her way to the Grandmaster’s office. It was hard not to feel unsure of herself, not after Emily had not only made it to Whitehall, but also escaped a far more powerful magician. Nanette had no doubts of Void’s ruthlessness - the fact he’d charged Nanette with spying on Emily, his own daughter, was proof of that - and she knew she was in trouble. She’d broken one of his strictest orders.
She forced herself to keep moving, despite the growing urge to run. Void had made it clear - when he’d revealed himself to her - that Emily was not to be harmed. And yet, Nanette wanted the other girl dead. She’d gambled, hoping the enchanted shopgirl would kill Emily without direct orders. It would have left her with some deniability, although she feared Void wouldn’t believe her. Emily was tougher than she looked - she had to be - but the odds of her surviving a bullet through the chest had been quite low. She hoped Void didn’t realize just how close his daughter had come to death.
The office had changed, in the years since she’d last entered the school. Grandmaster Gordian had decorated one wall with a list of his achievements, from early exam passes to degrees in various academic fields of magic and - finally - his appointment as Grandmaster of Whitehall. Nanette’s lips curled. Aurelius had always told her that anyone who showed off their achievements believed, deep inside, that they were unworthy. Nanette had never met Gordian, but she was inclined to agree with his unspoken self-assessment. Great men never needed to boast. Their achievements spoke for themselves.
She felt a flicker of hatred at the memory. Aurelius had been her father, to all intents and purposes. She’d known he intended to make use of her - as a spy, as an agent, as a tool - but it didn’t matter. Not to her. She’d risked her life, time and time again, for his approval. And then he’d died. No, he’d been murdered. Emily had killed him.
And she will pay, she promised herself, again and again. She will pay.
Void sat behind the desk, his eyes fixed on her. “Did I, or did I not, say Emily was to remain unharmed?”
Nanette braced herself. “She survived.”
“Indeed.” Void studied her for a long moment. “And yet, she came very close to death.”
“She survived,” Nanette repeated. “And it was all the more convincing because of how close she came.”
“And yet, it allowed her to start unraveling our deception,” Void said, coldly. “Did it not?”
Nanette looked back at him, grateful she’d spent so much time developing her shields. Void could break them, if he wished, but he’d break her mind in the process. The thought chilled her, even though she knew it was the only thing keeping him from reading her mind. She could lie to him - it helped if the story was plausible - unless he decided to discard her completely. If that happened...
“You shouldn’t have let her go,” she said. She’d worked for him long enough to know that he appreciated straight talk. It was risky - he was clearly fond of Emily - but she saw no choice. “You’re her father, as well as her master. You could have simply forbidden her to go.”
Void said nothing for a long moment, long enough that Nanette feared she’d overstepped. She braced herself, wondering what form the punishment would take. He was already displeased with her, not without reason. A beating? A pain curse? A forceful transformation? Or... what?
“Perhaps.” Void leaned forward. “Master Lucknow’s escape is quite unfortunate. He is confused” - he glanced at a sheet of chat parchment, charmed so only he could read it - “and blames everything on Emily. He has put a price on her head. And that makes it imperative she be found and brought to safety before it’s too late.”
“She won’t want to come back,” Nanette said. She ignored the flicker of green-eyed jealousy at the back of her mind. “Whatever happens, she won’t want to come back.”
“No,” Void agreed. “And that is why you have to find her before it’s too late.”
End of Book 22
Emily Will Return In:
The Face of the Enemy.
Coming Soon.
Afterword
And so, we enter endgame...
This probably requires some explanation. When I devised this series - there were seven, then fourteen, then finally twenty-four books planned - I intended to do my level best to ensure that each of the books would stand on its own as much as possible. I didn’t think that many people would pick up Trial by Fire or The Broken Throne without having read the earlier books, but I generally dislike - as I mentioned earlier - endless ongoing series that neither stand on their own nor give the reader a pay-off. It’s simply not easy to balance the two requirements for an ongoing series and most writers lose their grasp as the series grows bigger and bigger.
And yet, as the overall arc came more and more into the light, I had to sacrifice much of the stand-alone concept to keep the overall story going.
We’re currently entering what I saw as the natural endpoint for the series as a whole - or, at least, this current arc. Little Witches was intended as a starter, to show how things had changed in the wake of Oathkeeper, before the landmines I’d been sowing for twenty books began to explode and everything changed. My intention is to write The Face of the Enemy in February - there’s a reasonable chance it will be drafted by the time this book hits your e-reader - followed by Void’s Tale, a novella, and ending with Child of Destiny. And then...
I have ambitions. The Cunning Man’s Tale will be expanded into a full novel, followed perhaps by two more - a trilogy, rather than an ongoing series. I’m still serializing Stuck in Magic on my blog and, while I’m not sure that will be canon or not, it might make an interesting change from the normal format. And I have several more novellas to write - Cat’s Tale, Frieda’s Tale, The Muckraker’s Tale... the series is far from over.
Not everyone is going to like the big reveal in this book, sadly. I’ve had it in mind for most of the series - I was surprised no one asked about the ‘gaping emptiness’ - and there’s more going on than immediately obvious.
As always, if you liked the book, please review it.
Christopher G. Nuttall
Edinburgh, 2021
About the author
Christopher G. Nuttall was born in Edinburgh, studied in Manchester, married in Malaysia and currently living in Scotland, United Kingdom with his wife and two sons. He is the author of more than thirty novels from various publishers and over fifty self-published novels.
Current and forthcoming titles published by Twilight Times Books:
Schooled in Magic YA fantasy series
Schooled in Magic — book 1
Lessons in Etiquette — book 2
A Study in Slaughter — book 3
Work Experience — book 4
The School of Hard Knocks — book 5
Love’s Labor’s Won — book 6
Trial By Fire — book 7
Wedding Hells — book 8
Infinite Regress — book 9
Past Tense — book 10
The Sergeant’s Apprentice — book 11
Fists of Justice – book 12
The Gordian Knot – book 13
Graduation Day – book 14
Alassa’s Tale – book 14.5
The Princess in the Tower – book 15
The Broken Throne – book 16
Cursed – book 17
Mirror Image – book 18
The Artful Apprentice – book 19
Oathkeeper – book 20
Little Witches – book 21
The Right Side of History – book 22
The Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire military SF series
Barbari
ans at the Gates — book 1
The Shadow of Cincinnatus — book 2
The Barbarian Bride — book 3
Chris has also produced The Empire’s Corps series, the Outside Context Problem series and many others. He is also responsible for two fan-made Posleen novels, both set in John Ringo’s famous Posleen universe. They can both be downloaded from his site.
Website: http://www.chrishanger.net/
Blog: http://chrishanger.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherGNuttall