Instrument of Peace (Symphony of the Cursed Book 1)

by Rebecca Hall

  BACKLASH

  The world’s leading volcanologists are flocking to New Zealand in the wake of Friday night’s unprecedented volcanic activity in the Taupo region. The super volcano has been dormant since its last eruption 1800 years ago and scientists say that it exhibited no warning signs prior to the event on Halloween.

  Our most recent estimates suggest that 15 cubic kilometres, of a total of 59, were vaporised in the event causing the lake level to drop considerably. Heightened activity was observed at several nearby geothermal hotspots including Mt Ruapehu and Whakarewarewa in Rotorua and there have been numerous reports of subsidence and new geysers. Fissures have also appeared in the region and a hotline has been set up so that they can be reported and analysed. These fissures, or any other new site of geothermal activity, should not be approached until their safety has been verified.

  The magma surge responsible for the event is already subsiding and there are no indications of further volcanic events.

  Temperatures in Lake Taupo are returning to normal and the water table appears to be undamaged, however, we urge everyone to avoid swimming in the lake until further tests have been completed.

  Mitch stared at the page; it had been surprisingly informative and concise for a newspaper article. The next one warned that Taupo’s water level was at a record low and promised brownouts next winter. Mitch smiled, that article was much more in keeping with what he expected, with quotes from energy experts and people who were already complaining about the loss of power.

  He pushed the newspaper aside, it wasn’t telling him anything new, it was just helping him put off detention a little longer. He wasn’t the only one in detention. Mindy, Bates and Hayley were as well although none of them seemed to realise that he’d been the one to get them in trouble. A few others had snuck out to more mundane Halloween parties but after Mitch had staggered back at one in the morning the boarding house staff had checked the rooms to see who was actually there. He’d be in real trouble if they found out that they were in detention because of him.

  “What’d you do after the party?” Bates asked as they made their way back to the common room after detention on Sunday. Mitch still had a pile of homework to do and Bates had to have more but this was their first chance to talk since the dance. Bates and Mindy hadn’t returned to the Academy until that afternoon.

  “Burnt my hand,” Mitch muttered. He didn’t want to talk about it. He wanted to have a calm, rational conversation with his best friend, not scream at him because he’d neglected to mention the feast at midnight. Bates had been his friend for eleven years.

  “Must’ve been pretty bad if they made you come back here.”

  Mitch shrugged, if they’d told him how bad the burns were it was lost in the haze that Friday had become. The only thing he remembered clearly was waking up with Nikola curled against him.

  “I heard that you spent a couple of days in the infirmary.”

  “One day.”

  “It was you wasn’t it?” Mindy asked suddenly. Mitch had been trying to ignore her but Bates would notice if he ignored a direct question.

  “What was me?”

  “Detention,” Mindy snapped, shoving open the common room door. “Your hand got a little singed and you had to wake everyone up and then they realised that we weren’t where we were supposed to be.”

  “Well that’s hardly my fault is it?” Mitch demanded, fighting to keep his voice even. “None of this would have happened at all if you had just let me leave before the fucking feast.”

  “Oh, so that’s what happened, you panicked. Why am I not surprised? Were you even paying attention when they told us that the Teratos won’t risk attacking underage magicians?”

  “They paid about as much attention to that as you do to the rules on reanimation and sororicide.”

  Mitch jerked out of the way of her first slap and Bates caught her hand before she could try again.

  “How many times do we have to tell you that was a practical joke?” Bates snapped, glaring at him. Mitch could feel the eyes of half the common room on him and he knew that the rest were intently eavesdropping.

  “I don’t care how many times you say it. She tried to kill Belle with a bloody zombie horse and then you left me trapped at that fucking feast to get torn apart by a demented Faerie.”

  “...Did one of them really try to hurt you?”

  Mitch nodded, almost wishing that he hadn’t healed himself but none of this would be happening if it were the Bates from the start of the year standing before him.

  “They’re not supposed to hurt us,” Mindy said.

  “I’m sorry Mitch,” Bates said over her. “It was supposed to be safe, we thought that it would be fun and we could get everything back to normal.”

  Mitch wasn’t sure what was worse; Bates’ apology or the claim that watching people get dismembered and torn apart was fun. Mitch didn’t even like horror movies, the gore to plot ratio was too high. Maybe Bates hadn’t meant that part, maybe he’d meant the dance but Mitch didn’t care right now. He spun on his heel and found himself face to face with Gwen and Richard.

  “Still don’t know how to talk to girls do you Mitch?” Richard said. Gwen giggled. Mitch couldn’t believe that he’d gone out with her for so long, she was such a bitch. “Maybe you should just stick to guys,” Richard said, “I hear you’re already sleeping with Nikola.”

  Mitch hit him. He hadn’t planned to do it, he didn’t even think about it until his fist was connecting with Richard’s face and then he did think about and he realised that he still had another fist. It slammed into Richard’s nose. Mitch kept hitting him. They’d been friends and then Richard had screwed his girlfriend and Mitch hadn’t said or done anything. Now he wondered why; it felt so good to hurt him, to hear him cry out in pain and hopelessly try to shield himself. Everyone else was cheering him on, or maybe they were cheering Richard on, he didn’t care. He raised his fist again, he hadn’t realised how much those practical magic lessons had taught him about hurting someone until he actually tried it, and someone grabbed his arm.

  “I think that’s enough Mitchell,” Nikola said. He twisted slightly; a little more and he’d cause Mitch serious pain. Bates was trying to get Richard to his feet and over to the infirmary. Gwen and Mindy were whispering to one another and pointing at him and everyone else was staring.

  “Come on,” Nikola said, “you need to wash that blood off.” Mitch would have taken a swing at almost anyone else but he couldn’t hit Nikola, so he let Nikola pull him into the nearest bathroom and washed Richard’s blood off his shaking hands. It seemed to take forever, there was so much of it and it was staining the sink and... He barely made it to the toilet before throwing up. He’d never really hurt anyone before, he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d hit someone. The Fae didn’t count.

  It had never even occurred to him that he could hurt someone like that. He didn’t like blood, but it hadn’t bothered him at all as he whaled on Richard. He returned to the sink and rinsed his mouth out before scrubbing at his hands some more, not stopping until Nikola turned off the tap. His hands were clean and pink. He hadn’t even broken the skin. Maybe he hadn’t hit Richard as much as he thought or maybe he’d used magic to protect them instinctively.

  “Now what?” he asked Nikola, his voice shaking.

  “I’d recommend getting changed,” Nikola said, pointing to the spots of blood on Mitch’s shirt. He shuddered and pulled it away from his skin. “Then you should report to Mr McCalis. He’ll probably want you to apologise.”

  “What did they do to you when you broke Richard’s nose?”

  “Not much, the doctor put his foot down and told them that I simply couldn’t handle anything more than detention and an insincere apology.”

  “I don’t think that’ll work for me,” Mitch said. “Do you think they’re all still out there?” He didn’t want everyone to see him walking around covered in Richard’s blood.

  “I think the teachers ha
ve reminded everyone that they have better things to do.”

  “Good.” Mitch didn’t want everyone to congratulate him on winning and he didn’t want them edging away and refusing to meet his eyes. He wished it had never happened. He should have just ignored Richard, it wasn’t like anyone would have believed him about sleeping with Nikola. Mitch almost didn’t believe it.

  “Mitchell.”

  “What?”

  “You should go change now.”

  “Oh, right.” He stared at the door until Nikola grabbed his hand and towed him out. Mitch pulled his hand free when he heard the bathroom door close behind him, God only knew what everyone would say if they saw him holding Nikola’s hand. Nikola raised an eyebrow.

  “Richard said we were sleeping together, like, you know...” he trailed off. He knew Nikola wasn’t gay, he had no idea if he was a virgin or not.

  “Probably better than you do,” Nikola said, “I don’t need you to defend my honour Mitchell, though it was awfully sweet of you.”

  “Clown,” Mitch snapped, seeing Nikola’s grin. Of course Nikola wouldn’t care what anyone else thought of him.

  “I can juggle for you if you want,” Nikola said, “but no animal balloons I’m afraid.”

  “Seriously?”

  “All you need is a little hand eye coordination. I’m surprised you haven’t had to learn.”

  He had actually, and he’d done fine with straight juggling but he tended to overthink the tricks. He managed to make it back to his room and then over to the principal’s office without incident. Nikola abandoned him at reception, claiming that he needed to go study. He probably did.

  It was hard to think of the principal’s office as belonging to Mr McCalis; it had belonged to Dr Dalman for as long as he had been at the Academy and Mr McCalis had done very little to change it. He hadn’t moved in his desk or any of his books. Even his certificates had been left behind. He clearly didn’t expect to keep the position beyond the end of the year.

  “Take a seat Mr Mitchell,” Mr McCalis said. Mechanically Mitch did as he was told. “I must say I am disappointed in you Mitchell.” Mitch cringed, Mr McCalis was his favourite teacher. “This is the second time in as many days that you’ve had to come to my office.” Mitch stared at his hands and clasped them tightly together. He was, more or less, a good student. He didn’t think he’d ever been sent to the principal’s office twice in one term before, let alone one weekend.

  “I understand that recent events have been trying for you. That your actions were most likely motivated by a failure to cope with the pressure rather than any malicious intent but violence is not a solution.”

  “I’m sorry sir,” Mitch said, forcing himself to raise his head, Mr McCalis didn’t like it when students talked to their feet. “I’ll... I’ll apologise to Richard.”

  “You will,” Mr McCalis agreed, “in writing I think. You will be suspended for the next week. You will see one of the councillors and either work through your issues or find a better means of coping with them. You will need to arrange for your friends to bring you your course notes and homework for the week, along with any books you might need from the library. Do you understand?”

  “Yes sir.” He’d never been suspended before and counselling sessions or not he suspected that he was going to go stir crazy by the end of the week.

  “I will be notifying your parents of this.” Mitch wasn’t sure he saw the point in that. His mother would probably be hysterical next time he spoke to her, bemoaning her wayward son and wondering where she’d gone wrong. If he wanted to permanently damage his hearing Mitch could tell her exactly where she’d gone wrong; shipping him off to boarding school when he was five. His father might yell at him or he might be completely indifferent, depending on how hysterical mum was he might even praise him. Mitch had learnt how to play his parents off against one another long before he discovered that they were divorced. Mitch scowled, apparently their marriage had been perfect before they had children but it hadn’t been able to survive the disagreements they’d had over how to raise them.

  “Straight back to your room now, Mr Mitchell.”

  “Yes sir.” Mitch left, torn between sprinting back before anyone else could see him or shuffling along and prolonging his freedom. He settled on a sedate walk that varied between faster than necessary and snail-like depending on whether he thought anyone else was around.

  Nikola was the first person to visit. Part of him thought that it should have been Bates, the rest pointed out that Bates was probably busy holding Richard’s hand. Nikola didn’t seem surprised by his punishment and offered to bring him their course notes and homework. That was the one upside to everyone studying the same curriculum; even the classes they didn’t share were identical. Latin was going to be a problem though, Nikola had passed out of their language requirements at the start of the year and Bates was in Ancient Egyptian.

  “Ask Sam,” he suggested at last. She was in Latin with him and he thought she’d be willing to help. Nikola nodded and helped him sort through his homework, taking anything that was due on Monday – Mitch was glad that he’d finished it earlier. Then they tried to work out which books he’d need from the library for the rest.

  The list was surprisingly short, they only needed references for the essays which meant that Nikola could help him with most of it. He found Alchemy a lot easier to understand when Nikola explained it and Nikola claimed that the Teratology, Cryptozoology and Latin assignments were easy. Xenobiology was going to be a problem though, apparently Nikola hated that particular class. Nikola, it seemed, was not a fan of applied sciences. Mitch was confident that he could handle the maths on his own.

  Suspension quickly proved to be mind-numbingly boring. Without his classmates to distract him it didn’t take long to go through the notes and exercises that Nikola brought him. Even the homework didn’t take long, not when compared with how long he spent shut away in his room each day.

  Every afternoon he had a session with a councillor and then he got to run laps for half an hour under the watchful eyes of a P.E. teacher. Mitch welcomed the exercise and fresh air, by the third day he even looked forward to the monotonous scenery. By the fourth day his room was cleaner than it had been since he moved in, he’d even polished the furniture and cleaned the windows. Apparently he was allowed out to retrieve cleaning supplies. He finally resorted to revising for the upcoming exams, something that he seldom did until the week before they were supposed to start. Nikola seemed quite happy to sit on the floor doing homework with him, Bates didn’t visit him at all.

  EMPTY LIFE

  Mitch couldn’t believe how excited he was to be going to class again, he’d even packed his bag and set out his clothes the night before. He was never this excited about the end of the holidays. Best of all, his first class was maths.

  He arrived five minutes early and wondered if Bates would sit next to him as he usually did. He’d been so organised that he’d missed Bates at breakfast and eaten with Nikola. Bates dragged himself in just before the final bell went, his face brightening when he saw Mitch in his usual spot.

  “Thank God,” Bates said dropping into his seat, “do you know how hard this is without you?”

  “It’s not that hard,” Mitch said. Bates rolled his eyes. “And you could have visited if you needed help.” He’d probably spend the whole lesson looking over Mitch’s shoulder.

  “I didn’t want to disturb you and your new best friend.”

  “We were just doing homework,” Mitch said. “You didn’t really believe Richard did you?”

  “No,” Bates said quickly. Mitch raised an eyebrow. “You did go to town on him.”

  “Yeah, well...” Mitch said as Mr McCalis came in. Nikola had proved to be largely indifferent to maths though he was almost as good at it as Mitch. The lesson started and stopped five minutes later when Angel Girl walked in. For a second Mitch thought he saw a void where wings might have been but they vanished when he blinked, in much the same w
ay that the feather had sometimes seemed to glow over the last week.

  “She did that for all of last week,” Bates hissed. Mitch frowned, he knew she’d skipped classes when the Twisted Curse was in effect but he didn’t recall her ever being late to one. She drifted to her seat and sat down, ignoring the whispered conversations and Mr McCalis’s disapproving stare.

  “You’re late Miss Lake,” he said. She didn’t seem to hear. “How do you expect to learn anything if you come to class late and unprepared?” She didn’t have a bag with her. Mitch supposed she could have a pen and paper tucked into her clothes somewhere but she made no move to pull them out. “Miss Lake,” Mr McCalis moved to stand in front of her desk and drummed his fingers on it. Angel Girl finally raised her gaze to him instead of staring out of the window but Mitch got the impression that she didn’t really see him. “You have yet to answer my question, I’m not even certain you heard it.”

  “I don’t expect to learn anything,” she said, her voice dead and flat. Mitch would have bet anything that her eyes were a pale shade of blue if they retained any colour at all. “I already know everything.”

  Except people skills Mitch thought. There were ways to withdraw from classes where you were already familiar with the material. Nikola had pulled out of their language requirement and admitted that he only attended some of the other classes because it amused him to see how much their teachers got wrong. It probably annoyed them but Nikola wasn’t actively disruptive.

  “Then why did you feel that it was necessary to disrupt my class Miss Lake?” Mr McCalis asked.

  “I didn’t mean to,” she replied in the same lifeless tone.

  Mr McCalis sighed, “You can report to my office after dinner. You’re dismissed for now.” She drifted towards the door without another word, she didn’t even slam it behind her. “Right,” Mr McCalis said returning to the white-board, “where were we?”