Red Jack

by Alex Linwood

  “So, once again, Portia Harris, I am asking you what happened?” Professor Aelric asked Portia.

  This drew a look of irritation from Professor Hilda. “Why would you assume she knows? Perhaps it is a student from your house that is responsible?” Hilda said to Aelric, an edge to her voice.

  “From what I’ve been told, my student was the victim in all this,” Aelric retorted without looking at Hilda. “Portia,” he continued, “I am expecting an answer.”

  Portia shrugged. “I don’t know what happened. I fell down on ice in front of the building, and then I heard screams. I came over to see what the screaming was all about… I’m sorry if I thought it was funny. It’s not funny when a student is hurt.” She looked down, trying to look contrite. Thinking about the scene still ma de her want to laugh. She quickly thought about Professor Aelric’s angry face to stop the giggling from bubbling up once again. It took physical effort to keep from smiling.

  “See!” Magisend pointed at Portia. “She’s laughing! She thinks it’s funny. She did it and she did it maliciously.”

  “Enough.” Hilda stared at both girls closely. “Portia, have you ever fallen in that spot before?”

  Magisend jumped to her feet. “What does that have to do with anything? We were the ones who were hurt today.” Magisend’s voice rose with indignation.

  “Student Magisend, I do understand that you feel attacked today, but you will respect the rules of this board. Do not speak again unless you are spoken to,” Professor Hilda said in a stern voice to Magisend.

  Magisend looked in appeal to Professor Aelric. He motioned for her to calm down. Magisend slowly sat down again, not happy.

  “I have fallen there every day for months now. I told my friends about it. If whatever’s happening is malicious, then I am a victim as well,” Portia said.

  Professor Hilda’s eyebrows rose at the word ‘months.’ She had not heard anything about this, despite Portia being in her house.

  “She did this. I know she did! This commoner does not belong here. She does not follow the Academy rules.” Magisend crossed her arms, glaring at Portia. Professor Aelric put his face in his hands at Magisend’s outburst. His student was not behaving well.

  The third professor stroked his gray beard and contemplated both students. “Was Student Magisend not frozen? If Student Portia is in your house, Professor Hilda, then would she not only have the ability of fire?”

  All three professors looked at Magisend and Portia. This fact was true. As a student of the House Pyromancy, any ice abilities should be out of reach for Portia .

  “Could this have been someone else from your house?” Professor Hilda asked Magisend.

  “No. They wouldn’t dare cross me,” Magisend responded.

  “That is an interesting answer,” Professor Hilda said. “I hope this does not mean you are bullying them.” She gave Magisend a meaningful look.

  Professor Aelric answered for Magisend. “Of course, she’s not bullying them. I would not tolerate that in my house. They are well educated girls who have full respect for the House of Riddlepit and Magisend Lucy’s family. She has simply come to expect that from her peers.”

  Aelric’s answer did not sit well with Hilda, but she made no retort.

  “I want the truth cube used. I know my rights. I want this student proven guilty and then expelled!”

  “Let’s not jump to consequences just yet, young lady,” Professor Hilda said.

  Aelric looked pained at Magisend’s demand. “Is this really necessary?”

  “I’m afraid it is,” the third professor said. “We cannot find the truth, clearly, from asking these two students. We shall have to use the cube. Perhaps it will point us to another party who is guilty.”

  The third professor rose from his seat and went to a cabinet behind him. He pulled out a small crystal cube the size of an apple and brought it to the table in front of them. He set it down in the middle of the three professors.

  “What is this?” Portia asked. She had never heard of a magic cube.

  Professor Hilda answered her. “It is a truth cube. It cannot force you to say anything. However, if you speak a lie, it will tell us by changing color. We power it,” she motioned at herself and the two other professors, “with our magic. ”

  The three professors concentrated on the cube. It glowed a gentle yellow-white. It pulsed slightly.

  “Since Student Magisend Lucy has brought the accusation. We will begin by questioning her,” Professor Aelric said.

  “Why me? I’m innocent,” Magisend said defensively.

  “It is the procedure,” the third professor said with a gentle nod towards Magisend.

  Magisend huffed at that, crossing her arms.

  “Let’s start with something easy,” Professor Aelric said, then turned to Magisend. “Student Magisend Lucy, are you a member of the House Cryomancy?”

  “I am.”

  The cube did not change colors.

  “Do you bully any students in our house, the House of Cryomancy?” Aelric continued.

  “I do not,” Magisend responded without hesitation. The cube faded in color, turning a faint pink color. Magisend glared at it. Hilda’s eyebrows raised a fraction.

  “Have you ever retaliated against a student who said something negative about the House Riddlepit?” Aelric asked.

  “I have not. I do not need to,” Magisend responded. The cube turned from pink to red, the red intensifying until it was a deep burnt umber.

  The red light reflected on Professor Aelric’s face. He was surprised at this response. He hesitated, formulating what question to ask next.

  Hilda fumed. “Student Magisend, do you know anything about why Portia falls on ice every day?” she asked, jumping into the silence.

  “Professor Aelric Terfel is asking questions, not you,” Magisend said. Professor Hilda frowned at this response.

  “But you will answer this question anyhow, Student Magisend,” the third professor said, an edge to his voice. He leaned over his templed fingers, awaiting her response .

  “Of course I don’t!” Magisend said.

  The cube stayed red. It pulsed strongly. It did not return to the gentle yellow that indicated truth telling. Magisend’s face blushed a deep red, nearly the same color as the cube.

  Portia marveled at Magisend’s folly in calling for the truth cube. She just had to find a way to survive its questions herself. She never would have pulled that prank on Magisend if she had known she would have had to face this.

  “Interesting,” the third professor said, looking meaningfully at Aelric. Aelric slid down in his seat a little, looking for just a moment like a chagrined student himself. The third professor turned his attention to Magisend again. “I feel I must remind you Student Magisend that the penalty for lying to members of the Magic Academy, faculty or student, is likely far higher than the penalty for playing a prank. This applies to all, even those of a high house. This kingdom depends on magic users. It needs its magic users of the highest quality, those that it can trust. Liars are not trustworthy, a truism that I hope is obvious to you.”

  Portia swallowed at that. She did not have the House of Riddlepit to hide behind. There was nothing to protect her if she was caught lying.

  Chapter 14

  Portia faced the three professors staring at her expectantly, her throat dry. She had lied, and they would soon find that out. Her stomach hurt at the thought of being turned out from the school, or possibly worse. But there was nothing she could do about that now—she had to face whatever consequences were coming towards her.

  Professor Hilda spoke first. “Student Portia, did you cause the events this morning?”

  Portia nodded slowly. “I did not cause myself to fall. I did, however, do things to Magisend and her friends.” Portia’s stomach jumped in anxiety. Her face burned red. She looked down, unable to face the professors in front of her. The cube shown a gentle yellow. She was telling the truth.

  Silence hung in t
he room. Finally, the third professor spoke to Portia. “Who helped you?”

  “No one.”

  The cube remained a warm yellow.

  Aelric sighed in exasperation. “That was clearly cryomancy. Someone must have been helping you.”

  More silence. Portia stared at her fingernails, resisting the urge to bite her cuticles. She shoved her hands under her legs to keep from fidgeting.

  Hilda said gently, “Speak. We must know.”

  “No one helped me,” Portia said. “One of my housemates showed me how to make magic nodes months ago. But that is it. She knew nothing of what I did this morning. She would not agree to it or help to do it. She’s too nice.”

  “Liar!” Magisend said. All three professors looked at Magisend. Aelric motioned to the cube—it glowed yellow, the color of truth telling. Magisend slumped down in her seat, muttering.

  “Portia, can you do more than pyromancy?” Professor Hilda asked Portia.

  Portia nodded.

  “Speak, child,” the third professor said. “We need to hear you say it.”

  “Yes, I can do more than pyromancy. Please don’t throw me out for lying about it,” Portia pleaded, fear breaking through her control. “I just wanted to belong here. I didn’t understand the penalty was so high for lying.”

  The three professors shook their heads in shock. Hilda spoke first. “Portia, that is not something we will kick you out for. It is a precious ability. Although lying is serious. Never do that again.”

  “If it’s true about her skills,” Aelric said, dropping some of his earlier embarrassment. “We shall need you to prove it. It would be bad if you were lying about that .”

  Portia nodded. The third professor motioned for Portia to begin. Portia created a three-dimensional map of the campus from ice. She heard a gasp behind her from Magisend. She banished the ice map, replacing it with a map of fire. She let it burn for a moment, heating the room, then banished it as well. Finally, she created ten duplicates of herself, crowding them around the professors’ table.

  The professors looked around at the duplicate Portias, amazement on their faces, until the third professor looked back at the real Portia, who was still seated in her chair, and nodded. “Enough. We get the point, young lady,” he said.

  Portia banished the duplicates.

  The three professors stared at Portia.

  “Anything else—no, don’t show us, just tell us,” Hilda said, holding up a hand to stop Portia from using any more magic.

  “I can heal myself, a bit. It’s why I can still walk after all those falls,” Portia said, finally glancing at Magisend, who had been the architect of her pain. “I can do a few other things too.” Portia shrugged her shoulders. “Once I see someone else do a type of magic, I’ll try to do it myself. Sometimes it works.”

  The three professors stared at Portia, their mouths hanging slightly open. Aelric was the first to recover, closing his mouth and sitting up.

  “How are you sustaining all that magic at the same time?” the third professor asked.

  Portia shrugged again. “It doesn’t feel that hard. It’s not like at the entrance trials where I had to use a lot to make the lights bright and hot. It’s easy to make the lights, or anything else, but it’s hard for me to make it very intense. Someone else might’ve been able to make enough magic to freeze water around the entire library. It took a lot for me to make the nodes just for the corner.”

  The third professor nodded at this information.

  Hilda looked at him questioningly. “So, she has an incredibly wide magic pool, able to do nearly anything, but it’s just not that strong?”

  “So it would seem,” the third professor answered. “It’s not unusual to not have strong magic, but as we all know, such a wide magic pool is incredibly rare.”

  “Yes, if this is true, she would be the third in our entire history,” Aelric said .

  Magisend huffed and said spitefully, “You’re kidding right? You don’t really think this commoner is a Jack of Magic, do you?”

  Hilda eyed Magisend, all of her patience gone, “It looks that way, Student Magisend Lucy Gwynn of House Riddlepit. And we have you to thank for bringing it to our attention, so thank you.” Hilda nodded at Magisend.

  Magisend glowered at the three professors and Portia but said nothing more. Professor Aelric stood, taking hold of the still glowing cube, and waved over it. The glow dimmed until there was no light left, leaving the cube dark. He put the cube back in the cupboard from which it came then returned to his seat. “Student Magisend, I must ask that you not repeat anything you have learned here. Not to anyone. Not within our house. Not to your family,” Aelric said.

  “Sure,” Magisend said, resentment in her voice.

  “Just to be sure, we will use an oath binding spell on you,” Hilda said.

  Before Magisend could protest, the third professor held up his hand. “Standard procedure. For everybody.”

  “What about Portia?” Magisend asked.

  “If it wasn’t for that cube, no one here would know,” Portia said.

  Aelric gave a grunt of dissatisfaction but did not disagree with her.

  “I won’t tell anybody. I can’t be brought here again,” Portia continued. She didn’t know of a way to counteract the cube. She was sure no one would show her, even if it was possible.

  “Then I suggest you stay out of trouble,” Hilda said, giving Portia a wink to soften her words. “Your silence won’t be required for long. We need time to consult with others… such as the royal family.”

  “You’re going to talk to the royal family about her?” Magisend asked .

  Portia almost felt bad for her. She could sense that Magisend thought this was the worst possible outcome. Not only was Portia a commoner, but she was important enough in her own right to be brought to the attention of the queen. Even Portia herself found the thought of scrutiny by the royal house a little nerve-racking.

  “She should know,” the third professor said, looking at Portia seriously. “There is more than one reason we require your silence, Student Portia.”

  Portia swallowed nervously. This did not sound good.

  The professor continued. “There are things we have not taught you yet, this being your first year at the Academy. The first is that the occurrence of a Jack of Magic, if indeed Portia is one, has a great deal of significance. We need to consult with the royal advisers and historians.” He cleared his throat, leaning into Portia to emphasize the next point. “The second, and perhaps more worrisome, point for you is that there are those who would kill you if they could, if they knew your abilities. Despite the best efforts of the Royal House, not all are believers of magic being necessary to our safety.” He stood, indicating the review was over, then nodded to Aelric and Hilda and exited.

  Fear ran down Portia’s spine. Kill? The professor was worried about her safety on the campus. She had thought being here was the safest place she could be, but perhaps the opposite was true—it marked her as a possible target. Being a Jack would make her the primary target. Portia felt a little dizzy.

  “Is he talking about those idiotic anti-magickers?” Magisend said, unimpressed. Portia turned to her, surprised at her reaction. Magisend was either very brave or very stupid.

  “Magisend,” Professor Aelric said, a warning in his voice.

  Aelric and Hilda themselves rose. They each pulled on delicate chains around their necks and pulled out small keys hung from them underneath their robes. Moving to a huge metal cabinet in the corner behind where they had been sitting, they each placed their key in a keyhole and turned. The cabinet would only open with both keys present and used at once.

  Aelric pulled out a small wooden box and placed it on the table in front of where Magisend stood. He opened the box and withdrew a large silver disk and lay it on the table. “Student Magisend, please place your right palm on this disk.”

  She looked it suspiciously. “What is that?”

  “It is an oath bi
nding channel. It is here for just such occasions, so we don’t have to wait for an oath binder to arrive.”

  Magisend didn’t move.

  “Student Magisend, this is not optional,” Professor Hilda said gently, “but it will not hurt. You will still remember what occurred today.”

  Magisend slowly placed her hand on the disk.

  Aelric and Hilda said a few words quietly in unison. Portia’s neck tingled. The magic they were using was strong enough for her to feel where she was standing. She was glad she did not have to submit to it. They finished and nodded. Magisend quickly withdrew her hand.

  “Go back to your houses, you two. Remember, no one is to know any of this,” Hilda said. She pushed the two students towards the door.

  Portia and Magisend walked through the halls of the main building in silence. Neither one was willing to let the other go ahead, so they walked in parallel. They reached the outside together, exiting into the cold winter air.

  Portia glanced over at Magisend and saw that Magisend’s clothes were still damp. She felt sorry for her. The air was cold, well below freezing, and Magisend did not have a magical ability to warm herself. Her cryomancy was not that useful in the wintertime.

  Magisend noticed Portia looking at her and retorted in a chilly tone, “I don’t care what skills you have; I still don’t like you. ”

  Portia stopped feeling sorry for Magisend. “I don’t like you either. But we are in the school together. Perhaps we could at least be decent to each other.”

  Magisend did not respond at first. Their steps crunched through the brittle layer of ice over the snow, ice that had formed from melting under the warming sun during the day. After several minutes, Magisend responded, “I suppose.” She turned towards Portia and grabbed her arm, forcing Portia to face her. “But you owe me for my linen.”

  Portia shook her head at that. How could this wealthy girl be so petty? That linen was so far and above anything she could ever afford. It was not as if Magisend had paid for it out of her own pocket. She wrestled her arm free and continued walking towards the courtyard of doors. Magisend fell in step with her but did not press the subject further.