The Mislaid Magician
Page 25
The Wrextons are still in London, but they return to the north next week. Mr. Wrexton has come up with some ideas for reversing the transformation spell that still afflicts the Webbs, and with their artificial ley line net in disarray, the collection of wizards there should have no difficulty in keeping them restrained. James tells me that Lord Wellington is still pondering whether to charge them officially with treason or whether to turn them over to the Royal College of Wizards for the summary judgment of their peers.
He—Lord Wellington, that is—is also considering setting up some more formal office to handle the apprehension and punishment of magical malefactors. It is all very well, James says, to claim that wizards are the only persons truly capable of dealing with magicians and other wizards, but without a department to investigate suspicious incidents and pursue unusual happenings, it is too often mere chance that brings such persons to justice. Since the heir to the throne was very nearly kidnapped and replaced by Conroy and the rest, and since Parliament has been tampered with all unrecognized these many years, and since both these things were the work of rogue magicians, it seems very likely that the duke will carry his point with both Parliament and the king.
I am not certain, but something James said made me think that Lord Wellington intends to appoint Thomas as the first chief of his wizard catchers. He has, after all, demonstrated a certain ability in that regard, and I believe the position is not intended to require much in the way of tact and diplomacy. I think it best if you do not disclose this to Thomas, as it may be only my imagination; I mention it to you only to give you warning enough to prepare for Thomas’s inevitable reaction, should it come to pass.
The Royal College has made considerable progress in cleaning up the remains of the Webbs’ ley line network. Aunt Elizabeth tells me that there is considerable debate over the advisability of likewise taking down the older network, the ancient one that Cromwell and his wizards made partial use of for their own. She thinks it unlikely that the effort will be made: First, because a magical spell that binds the country together is no bad thing; second, because now that the Royal College is aware of it, the ley lines will be constantly monitored to make certain that no one is tampering with the spell, so it cannot become a new danger; third, because nearly everyone wants to study the network, which they will not be able to do if they destroy it; and fourth and last, because no one has been able to propose a method of dismantling it that is at all likely to work.
The ancient ley line network is, you see, far more intricate and far more stable than anyone had anticipated. Those spell casters knew their work well—Cromwell’s network required constant watching and adjusting to last a mere two hundred years, but the old network has been in place for several thousand years, at least, without requiring any additional attention. Mr. Skelly has become so absorbed by the investigation that he rarely even remembers to make critical remarks about England.
James is off to London next week to make a final report to the duke in person; after that, I look forward to a peaceful and uneventful summer, enlivened perhaps by the occasional frog. Even a new and interesting magical tutor is unlikely to completely deter my twins, after all.
Your contented,
Cecy
A Biography of Patricia C. Wrede
For more than twenty years, Patricia Collins Wrede (b. 1953) has expanded the boundaries of fantasy writing. Born in Chicago to a large, literary family, Wrede spent her childhood immersed in the Chronicles of Narnia, classic fairy tales, and L. Frank Baum’s Land of Oz—a foundation in imagined worlds that paved the way for her future career.
After receiving a degree in biology from Carleton College in 1974, Wrede completed an MBA at the University of Minnesota, and began working as a financial analyst in the late 1970s. In her spare time, Wrede wrote fantasy stories in the vein of the classic novels she read as a child. Her love of fantasy even fueled an interest in tabletop role-playing games: Lyra, the first gaming world that Wrede invented, was based on the unpublished work-in-progress that would become Shadow Magic. In 1980 she became a founding member of a group of Minneapolis-based, fantasy-fiction authors known as the Interstate Writers’ Workshop, or Scribblies, with whom she later worked on the critically acclaimed Liavek shared-world anthology series.
That same year, Wrede sold her first novel, Shadow Magic, which was published in 1982. It was the public debut of Lyra, a magical world shared by four races whose cultural differences see them constantly at odds. Wrede used Lyra as the setting for four more novels: Daughter of Witches (1984), The Harp of Imach Thyssel (1985), Caught in Crystal (1987), and The Raven Ring (1994). Wrede’s strong prose, sense of humor, and powerful female leads drew special attention to her early novels. Her quick success allowed her to begin writing fulltime.
Though the Lyra novels found popularity with audiences of all ages, Wrede aims her more recent work at young-adult readers, beginning with her four-book Enchanted Forest Chronicles, which follow the adventures of a young princess who becomes apprenticed to a dragon. Her other fantasy series include the Cecelia and Kate novels, cowritten with Caroline Stevermer and set in Regency England; the Mairelon books, which also take place in Regency England; and the Frontier Magic trilogy, based on Old West pioneers.
Wrede lives and works in Minnesota.
Patricia Collins’s baby photo, taken around 1955 when the family lived in Maywood, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.
Patricia playing piano in her family’s living room in Hinsdale, Illinois (another Chicago suburb).
Patricia (the tallest) with her four siblings (from left: Susan, David, Carol, and Peg) in Tulsa around 1968.
Patricia’s senior yearbook photo at Hinsdale Township High School Central in Hinsdale, Illinois.
Patricia’s high-school commencement photo, 1970.
Patricia and her father, David M. Collins, outside her dorm at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. The photo was taken at the beginning of her freshman year, in 1970.
Patricia’s wedding in July 1976 to James M. Wrede.
An outline of the Wyrd government, as Patricia was developing Shadow Magic in the late 1970s.
Patricia at a Minicon panel in Minneapolis in the early 1980s. Minicon is Minnesota’s longest-running annual gathering of science fiction and fantasy fans.
Patricia celebrates her parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary in 2002 with her family. Back row, from left: Margaret (Peg) Hill, Carol Collins, David Collins, Susan Domeyer, and Patricia. Front row: Monica Collins, David M. Collins.
Patricia with Star Wars Stormtroopers outside of the St. Paul Saints baseball field in St. Paul, Minnesota. A Jedi threw out the opening pitch and Darth Vader showed up several times during the game.
Patricia outside her home near Minneapolis, Minnesota.
A Biography of Caroline Stevermer
Caroline Stevermer (b. 1955) is an author best known for her historical fantasy novels for young adults. Raised on a Minnesota dairy farm, she began writing stories at the age of eight. Despite a fascination with the epic works of J. R. R. Tolkien and Ursula K. Le Guin, Stevermer did not consider writing seriously until her first day at Bryn Mawr College, when the sight of a manuscript by fantasy author Ellen Kushner inspired her to try writing novels.
In 1981 and 1982, she published her first two books as C. J. Stevermer: The Alchemist and The Duke and the Veil. In 1987 she contributed a short story, Cenedwine Brocade, to the Liavek series, a shared world brought to life in a series of five fantasy anthologies. Shortly thereafter, she began writing with fellow Liavek contributor Patricia C. Wrede.
Similarities in style and a shared interest in historical fiction made Stevermer and Wrede’s partnership a great success. Together they created an alternate version of Regency England, combining the Industrial Revolution era with a magical world. The first book in this fantasy series, Sorcery and Cecelia (1988) introduces cousins Kate and Cecelia, who trade letters telling of their encounters with the wizarding members of polite society.
/>
Wrede and Stevermer returned to that world more than a decade later with The Grand Tour (2004), which follows Kate and Cecelia as they get embroiled in mysterious plots while on a tour of Europe. The Mislaid Magician (2006) concludes the series, recounting the adventures of Kate and Cecelia during England’s railway expansion.
In between her collaborations with Wrede, Stevermer found success with the Mark Twain–inspired River Rats (1991) and A College of Magics (1994), whose tales of life in a European witch’s academy were partly based on her time at Bryn Mawr.
In 1998, Stevermer contributed a story to The Essential Bordertown, a collection of fiction set in Terri Winding’s Borderlands universe. Stevermer’s most recent novel, Magic Below Stairs (2010), takes place in the world described in Sorcery and Cecelia, and tells the story of Frederick, a Victorian orphan who wins a job as a wizard’s footboy. Frederick must rely on a magical creature named Billy Bly to guide him through life in the servants’ quarters.
Stevermer continues to live and write in Minnesota, where she spends as much time as possible in the reading room at the Minneapolis public library.
The Stevermer family in 1959, before the author’s younger brother was born. Caroline is the youngest here, standing in front of her parents with sister Patricia and brother Michael.
On a family trip to Hannibal, Missouri, at age three.
Stevermer grew up on a farm in southeastern Minnesota. This photo was taken the day her family got their first horse—the culmination of Stevermer’s childhood dreams.
Stevermer in 1976 at age twenty-one, when she was a senior in college. The author attended Bryn Mawr College, where she graduated with a BA in art history.
In 1981, when Stevermer was twenty-six, she visited France.
Stevermer in 1991, on the Mississippi River at St. Anthony Falls. (Photo courtesy of Joey McLeister.)
Stevermer in Minneapolis in 2006. (Photo courtesy of Katrina Nesse.)
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
copyright © 2006 by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
cover design by Angela Goddard
978-1-4532-5468-4
This edition published in 2012 by Open Road Integrated Media
180 Varick Street
New York, NY 10014
www.openroadmedia.com
EBOOKS BY PATRICIA C. WREDE & CAROLINE STEVERMER
FROM OPEN ROAD MEDIA
Available wherever ebooks are sold
FIND OUT MORE AT WWW.OPENROADMEDIA.COM
follow us: @openroadmedia and Facebook.com/OpenRoadMedia
Videos, Archival Documents, and New Releases
Sign up for the Open Road Media newsletter and get news delivered straight to your inbox.
FOLLOW US:
@openroadmedia and
Facebook.com/OpenRoadMedia
SIGN UP NOW at
www.openroadmedia.com/newsletters