Ivan regarded Laurel, who watched them curiously, her half cape curled up over her head as she peeked at them from under the dark poplin. Rachel beckoned her sister to join them.
Ivan bowed to Laurel with princely grace. “Miss Griffin, may I ask my parents to speak to yours?”
Laurel blushed and giggled girlishly, but she held her head high. “I would be honored.”
The Prince of Magical Australia nodded, his own cheeks growing pink. Rachel jumped up and down in delight. Laurel really was going to be a princess.
Ivan glanced from his father to Rachel’s father. He muttered under his breath, “Better wait for Mother. If Father handles it, one of us might end up betrothed to an emu.”
Blushing even more, Laurel took Rachel’s hand firmly and led her back to their waiting parents. Partway there, she paused and looked at Ivan over her shoulder, fluttering her dark eyelashes. Ivan watched her, entirely captivated. Laurel pursed her lips and blew him a kiss.
Returning to her parents, Rachel pulled her father aside. He leaned down, inclining his ear toward her. She whispered, “Have they caught Egg?”
“Egg?” Her unflappable father showed no change in expression.
Rachel rolled her eyes. “I saw him. I am the one who lied to him to save Valerie’s life. The Wisecraft is telling people, right? Warning them about Mortimer Egg?”
“We cannot reveal the name of suspects during an investigation, honey.”
“But…!” Rachel exploded. “What if he comes to kill someone else? Why aren’t they circulating his photo? Urging people to report sightings of him?”
“I am sorry, Rachel. I cannot discuss this matter.”
“If someone else dies,” Rachel cried fiercely, “it will be the Wisecraft’s fault!”
Her father nodded, a hint of weariness in his steady hazel eyes. He knelt down, bringing himself closer to his daughter in height. “I can’t tell you anything about that, but I can tell you one thing: an expert in dreams is coming from New Zealand—to help the tutors and proctors protect the campus from attacks from that quarter—such as what happened to your friend the princess when the creature called the Lightbringer visited her dreams.”
“Thank you, Father.” Rachel rested her forehead on his shoulder. Sternly, she reminded herself that it was not her father’s fault that he had to obey his superiors. It was foolish to be too angry. “I’m ready to tell you what happened.”
Her father gestured her mother over. Opening her mouth, Rachel recited everything she could remember, starting with the appearance of Mr. Egg on the dock. After the first minute, her father’s eyes glazed over. He blinked twice.
“Too much information, too quickly. Tell your mother. She’ll tell me later, more slowly.” Kissing Rachel on her forehead, he went to speak with Peter and Laurel.
Rachel turned to her mother. Her words sped up, until she spoke extremely rapidly, the way she and her mother did when they talked exclusively to each other. Ellen Griffin listened avidly. Rachel told her every pertinent detail from Mortimer Egg’s appearance until the defeat of Dr. Mordeau. She did not say anything about Siggy’s amulet or what came after.
When she finished, her mother hugged her. She explained that she and Rachel’s father would be joining the tutors’ efforts to repair Drake Hall. A work like that required many experienced sorcerers. Rachel hugged her one last time.
Halfway back to the infirmary, she called to her mother, “Oh, and I have a boyfriend!”
Only she shouted it too loudly. The look of horror on the face of her usually unflappable father was almost comical. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Laurel speaking rapidly, her expression a riot of delight. Peter’s expression, on the other hand—like a massive thunderstorm gathering over a once-lazy river—went in a quarter-second from dismay to outrage.
Rachel ran.
Chapter Thirteen:
Dread Versus Valiant
“Wait, Rachel!” Laurel sprinted after her, her straight dark hair flying behind her like a banner. “Daddy wants to talk to you. He’s horribly angry. I had no idea he’d take it so hard.”
“Sorry. Busy,” Rachel shouted over her shoulder. “Must go.”
She jumped on her steeplechaser and shot off into the night.
Rachel soared high into the sky and then dove toward the infirmary. Ducking low over the broom, she shot through an open window. Her shoulder brushed the chime that hung there, setting it jingling and sending out a cloud of green sparkles.
Landing on an unoccupied bed, she watched through the window as Laurel walked back to their parents. She waited, her body tense, for her father to come after her. He did not. When she saw him walk toward Drake Hall with the other adults, Rachel let out a breath of relief.
She also felt unexpectedly disappointed.
Hopping off the bed, she grabbed her broom and ran to where Valerie and Siggy still sat.
“The princess and I are going to Roanoke Hall to practice.” Joy rose to her feet. “After how lousy we were today, we figure we need all the practice we can get! Wanna come?”
An unpleasant feeling of fear and dismay spread through Rachel. She was eager to practice. If her friends watched her efforts, however, they could not but feel superior to her. She was not nearly as good as them. Her best attempt at a wind had pushed the possessed muskrat a few feet. Siggy’s had thrown it from the belfry. If she went, she would be deliberately exposing herself to humiliation. She shook her head, and Joy departed with a shrug.
Rachel sat down on a chair next to Siggy and said hello to a sleepy Valerie. As she smiled at the other girl, she caught sight of a flash of gold and red outside. Lucky flew in the open window, wobbling unsteadily. He flopped onto the floor with a squishy thud, the sides of his furry golden belly bloated, like a serpent that had swallowed a mouse.
“Soooo stuffed. Ate too many chickens!” Lucky rested his head on Sigfried’s lap. He wiggled his extremely long, flame-red whiskers. “Sorry, Boss. Don’t know what came over me.”
Valerie snapped a picture of him.
“What did you eat?” Siggy asked.
“Chickens. Doves. A goat, I think.”
“A goat?” Valerie perked up.
“They were in these convenient ‘to go’ boxes.”
“Those are called cages.” Rachel rolled her eyes.
“Cages, where?” Valerie asked. “Oh, wait! Don’t tell me. I don’t want to end up as an accessory to your crime.”
“Behind Drake Hall,” Rachel explained. “He has been eating the sacrificial animals.”
“Oh…well.” Valerie blinked. She lowered her camera and put the lens cap on again “They were just going to kill them anyway, right?”
“Yeah. Better eaten than wasted, I say.” Lucky’s eyelids drooped. He started to snore.
“That’s what happens to them most of the time, anyway. They are eaten by some supernatural beast.” Rachel sighed. “I hope you don’t get in trouble, Siggy.”
Sigfried shrugged. “For what? My familiar eating livestock? Nothing gold can’t fix.”
“Gold!” Lucky’s eyes flew open. He moaned as if having a tooth pulled. “Tell me you aren’t going to give away our precious, round, shiny babies for chickens I already ate!”
“You have to stop doing that,” chided Sigfried. “They weren’t our chickens.”
“I can’t help it. I can’t think when I can’t think.”
“That does make sense,” Valerie stated wryly.
“I am going to blast that blasted Raven!” Siggy announced savagely. “I’m tired of that stupid bird messing with Lucky.”
“Isn’t it the Doom of Worlds?” cautioned Valerie, as she leaned back against her pillows. “Blasting it might not be an easy job.”
“Is it? I can’t remember.” Siggy shrugged. “I can’t be expected to remember every little thing we find out. That’s Griffin’s job.”
Rachel gawked. Everything about the Raven frightened and fascinated her. She could not imagine not payin
g attention—especially to details that had to do with the safety of the whole world. The notion of not paying attention to it was almost as disturbing as Nastasia’s comment about not bothering to make sense of the clues.
What was wrong with her friends?
Didn’t they love learning? As clue came together with clue, forming a mental puzzle, didn’t their hearts burn within them with joy? She could not understand them. It made her feel as if there were a gaping chasm between herself and them, a gulf she did not know how to bridge.
Gazing out the window, Rachel recalled the beauty of sunlight glinting off lavender in bloom; the majesty of a storm-filled sky; the hush of a deep forest of tall trees. She thought of foals gamboling across a newly-mowed field; of children laughing as they chased each other beside rushing waters; of scholars in the vast libraries of mankind, spellbound by the knowledge they were discovering. She pictured the pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of China, the vast cities of Europe, Asia, America. All this, and so much more, would be lost if the world ended.
She could not bear to lose even a single lavender sprig, a single spotted filly. How it was that others did not see what she saw, how it was that they did not burn with the same longing to protect all that was so sacred and beautiful, so unique, she did not understand.
It was a very lonely business, this wanting to save the world. She felt lost, misunderstood. If only someone else believed her.
“Do you even know any blasting spells?” Valerie asked Siggy.
“Oh, rub that in my face, will you?” Siggy crossed his arms in mock outrage.
Rising, Valerie knelt on her bed and peered out the window. Payback leapt to her feet and bounded up beside her mistress, panting happily. Valerie gave her an affectionate nuzzle and then asked, “What’s going on out there?”
Rachel looked. A large number of people had gathered in front of Drake Hall.
“They’re repairing the dormitory,” Rachel replied.
“You mean the place where the fight between our dean and a dragon caused an earthquake and split the stone?” Valerie asked, amazed. “Magic can fix that?”
“Yes, it can.” Rachel smiled. “Watch.”
In the light of the will-o-wisp sculptures, they could see the tutors, proctors, and parents who had gathered along with some older students in front of Drake Hall. Even at this distance—Dee and Raleigh lay between the infirmary and Drake—Rachel could make out her father and Vladimir Von Dread. The two of them towered over everybody else.
It took the group a long time to get everyone into position, as they moved to circle the august granite building. Rachel and her friends leaned against the windowsill, waiting. A cool breeze ruffled their hair. Rachel gazed up at the phoenix and the bird-of-paradise in the sky. The tail of the latter trailed across the campus. A few of the will-o-wisps danced in and out of formation, flickering like fireflies. It was beautiful and hypnotic.
Eventually, the gathered company of sorcerers was ready. They grasped hands, spread out, and then dropped their arms. Someone called out, possibly the dean. They all raised their hands, preparing. Valerie grabbed her camera again, yanked off the lens cap, and began snapping pictures.
“Legaralqué!” they shouted in unison.
They were too far away for Rachel to make out what they were saying, but she knew what cantrip they were using. With a resounding clap, the crack in the stone snapped closed. The granite wall was whole again. No crack remained.
They chanted again. This time, the break in the stone of the moat healed itself. The water from the stream that fed the moat had been pouring into the chasm in the earth and flooding the basement of the dorm. Now, it began to flow through the moat again. The adults then broke into groups and went inside to repair damage to internal walls.
“Wow!” Valerie snapped one last picture. “Why don’t they do repairs this way after storms and earthquakes? That would speed up disaster recovery more than ten thousand percent.”
“The Unwary would notice the magic,” Rachel said. “Though, occasionally, we do sneak in and do repairs. Whenever you heard reports that some major undertaking turned out not to be as difficult as first predicted? That was probably us.”
“But…why? Why hide? Why not tell everyone?” Valerie plopped back down onto the bed. Payback turned in a circle twice and then put her head in her mistress’s lap.
Rachel shrugged. “That’s the way it’s done.”
“That’s stupid,” Sigfried complained over his shoulder. “What if we start telling people?”
“The Wisecraft sends out Obscurers to alter their memories.” Rachel shivered.
“My mother’s a reporter. What if I had her put it on the evening news?” Valerie asked. “Telling millions of people all at once.”
“Numbers don’t matter,” Rachel replied. “Back in the last century, there was that astronaut who married a genie. It was reported all over the mundane press. Nowadays, the Unwary remember the events as if they had occurred on a television show.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Valerie stared at her. “You’re…not kidding.”
Rachel shook her head. “And if you kept on trying to tell the Unwary, you’d be turned over to the Grand Inquisitor.”
“Is that bad?”
“Very bad.” Rachel shuddered. “Do you remember being under the Spell of True Recitation, where we blurted out everything? When the Grand Inquisitor questions you, he does it while you are under the influence of that spell, and he asks you about everything. If you have so much as stolen a cucumber sandwich off a tea tray, that’s it for you. He claps you in irons.”
Sigfried was still leaning on the windowsill, staring at the happenings over at Drake Hall.
“Just that?” Sigfried objected. “Aren’t they going to blast something? Boring. Maybe a skunk would liven things up.”
“Flaming skunk.” Lucky perked up. “That was fun. Stank though.”
“What did we do last time?” Sigfried raised his hand, fingertips pressed together, forming a beak with his fingers.
“Sigfried,” Valerie warned, straightening up. “Don’t!”
Sigfried’s brow furrowed in concentration.
“I can see it.” Lucky announced, his eyes tracking something Rachel could not follow.
Rachel opened her mouth, intending to speak words of caution—to act as a breakwater against the riptide of the headstrong boy. She paused. Two nights ago, here in the infirmary, she had sworn to herself that she would stick by Sigfried—that she would help him to feel less alone in the world. Living up to that vow meant proving to him that she was on his side—come disaster or detention. She closed her mouth on her objections.
Instead, she leaned forward, her eyes glittering. “Go for it!”
Siggy brought his hand down, fingers still pressed together. “Muria.”
“Incoming!” shouted Lucky, batting at an invisible something with the silver palm of his taloned hand.
A black animal with a long white stripe running the length of its body waddled across the green and black floor. Valerie shrieked, but this did not stop her from snapping a picture.
“Aw.” She lowered her camera and tilted her head to one side, gazing down at the fluffy black and white creature. “It’s cute!”
The striped tail lifted. Then, the stench hit. The pungent odor stung Rachel’s eyes.
“Get it out of here!” Valerie shouted. “Pronto!”
Siggy cast a ti cantrip and gestured. The skunk floated into the air and out the window. Terrified, the creature fired its foul-smelling spray.
“Now, Lucky!” Sigfried commanded.
It took Lucky two tries to get off the floor. He was so stuffed that his huge tummy dragged him backward. Finally, he made it to the window sill. Before he slid down again, he opened his mouth and breathed. A plume of fire shot out, igniting the creature. The skunk let out a horrible squeal. Siggy floated it up the pathway away from the infirmary, flaming spray trailing behind it like a comet’s tail.
“Look at it burn!” Siggy leaned on the windowsill directing the skunky inferno and grinning like a fiend. “Wicked!”
“The poor thing!” Valerie cried.
“It’s not a proper skunk. It’s conjured,” Rachel pointed out. “It only appears real.”
“It is absolutely brilliant!” Sigfried laughed.
Valerie plugged her nose and hid her eyes with her other hand. “I so don’t know you.”
The fiery skunk continued to wobble up the gravel path, shedding a bright glare. As it passed the forest glade between Dee and Raleigh Halls, Vladimir Von Dread leaned out from behind a tree and blasted the skunk with a bolt of lightning from his wand.
The black and white creature dissolved into mist. The flaming comet’s tail behind it briefly burned in mid-air, and then it sputtered and vanished. Von Dread calmly disappeared behind the tree again, returning to whatever he had been doing.
“Aw! He blasted my skunk!” Siggy cried. “Though he’s as cool as a cucumber, isn’t he? As cool as the iceberg that took out the Titanic. Maybe I could get him to blast the Raven!”
“What’s he up to back there?” Rachel asked curiously, wondering what Siggy could see with his amulet.
Sigfried sat back down in his chair. “He’s talking to that kid with the ponytail.”
“Truly!” Rachel jerked as if she had been electrocuted. “What are they saying?”
“His name is Gaius, right?” Valerie asked. “You two are friends or something?”
Rachel’s cheeks turned pink. “He’s my boyfriend.”
“I knew it!” Valerie smirked. “You said he wasn’t this morning.”
“He hadn’t asked me yet.”
Valerie grinned a huge grin and gave Rachel a thumbs up.
“Well, he’s not going to be your boyfriend for long,” Sigfried announced. “Dread is ordering him to dump you.”
“What?” Rachel jumped to her feet again. “Wh-why?”
“Dread’s saying: ‘…affection for a child of her young age is unbecoming in a sixteen-year-old, no matter how high her station. You will inform her that you cannot court her.’”
The Raven, The Elf, and Rachel (A Book of Unexpected Enlightenment 2) Page 15