The wards shimmered, once. He touched them with his mind and realized that Alicia, Heir Presumptive to the Barony of Gold, was waiting outside. No doubt she intended to petition him, again, to grant the rights she should have inherited from her father. After all, she was the only surviving member of her family.
And the aristocrats are pressing me to confirm her, he thought, as he lowered the wards. And that would mean finding her a suitable husband.
He shook his head at the thought. There were just too many demands on his time...
...And the more he concentrated on one problem, the more likely it was that another would explode in his face.
Chapter One
THE MAGIC FELT...ODD.
Emily braced herself; power sparkled around her fingertips and surged out of control. A glowing ball of light, ominously bright and dangerously hot, appeared in front of her, already shimmering into an unpleasant red glow. Emily cursed under her breath and fought hard to regain control, throttling back on the flow of magic until the light globe slowly flickered back to normal. It was a simple spell, one she’d mastered quickly, but now there was too much power at her disposal for it to work properly. She focused her mind, locking the spell in place, and let go. The light globe drifted into the air.
“Not too bad,” Void said.
Emily scowled at him. “It’s shabby,” she protested, crossly. Her head throbbed as she canceled the spell, allowing the magic to drain into the ether. “And it could have turned dangerous.”
“But it didn’t,” Void said. He rose to his feet and held out a hand to Emily, inviting her to stand. The rune she’d carved into her chest heated as it sensed the subtle magic protections surrounding him. “You’re doing better than I expected, under the circumstances.”
Emily felt her cheeks heat. “Thank you,” she said, as she took his hand and allowed him to help her to her feet. “But it still feels frustrating.”
“Your magic has expanded,” Void said, “without giving you the time you needed to learn to handle it. The spells you cast by instinct are now massively overpowered. You just need to learn to control the flow of magic again.”
He turned and walked through the door into the next room. Emily followed him, shaking her head in private amusement as he motioned her to a chair and picked up a large jug of Kava from the sideboard. She knew he had servants - she’d met them when he’d rescued her, so long ago - but he hadn’t brought any of them into her house. Instead, they’d split the cooking duties between them. And he’d never complained about her food.
She studied him as he turned to take the seat facing her. His appearance had changed, several times, since they’d first met; this time, he was tall, with long dark hair that flowed down to his shoulders and an angular face that reminded her of the hunting hawks she’d watched in Zangaria. His dark eyes were easily the darkest she’d ever seen, so dark she sometimes fancied she could fall into them and never climb out. And the aura of power, which hung around him like a shroud, warned anyone who met Void that he was a very dangerous man.
“You have been doing well,” he said, as he passed her a mug of Kava. “How are you feeling?”
“Tired,” Emily said.
Void frowned. “No nightmares?”
“Not really,” Emily said. She had taken potions every night for a week, but even after that she hadn’t had many bad dreams. She’d expected to revisit the duel again and again in her sleep, yet she’d seen almost nothing. “Is that a bad thing?”
“You tell me,” Void said.
Emily frowned. She’d killed a man, personally. It wasn’t the first time she’d killed, but it was the first time she’d done it with her bare hands. Master Grey had wanted to kill her, but she’d killed him instead...and she felt almost nothing, as if she’d lost the ability to care. She’d snuffed out his life to keep him from taking hers...
She looked down at her hands. They were shaking.
“I don’t know,” she said, finally.
Void cocked his head. “And how are you feeling physically?”
Emily took a sip of her Kava before answering. “I have a slight headache,” she said. She rubbed her eyes with her free hand. “And it feels like my skin is on fire. Is that normal?”
“Very little about this is normal,” Void said. “Most magicians tend to shy away from the kind of exertion that boosts one’s powers - or burns them out completely. I think your mana reserves have swelled past the point you can store them comfortably. You need to spend more time in the spellchambers, casting spells.”
Or draining the magic into a battery, Emily thought. It hadn’t been too hard to set up another couple of batteries, once her magic had renewed itself. But what happens if this carries on?
“It’s a muscle,” Void added, seemingly unaware of her thoughts. “The more you practice spells that require large amounts of mana, the more your ability to store and concentrate mana in your body increases.”
He shrugged. “But you can handle that, I think,” he added. “You haven’t gone mad, thankfully.”
Emily gave him a sharp look. “Is that why you stayed? Did you think I would go mad?”
Void met her eyes, unapologetically. “The possibility needed to be considered,” he said, firmly. “And...”
“And someone had to be there to...handle me if I went mad,” Emily interrupted. She couldn’t help feeling a stab of betrayal. Void was the closest thing she had to a real father now, but he’d stayed with her out of fear she’d go nuts. “Did you plan to kill me?”
Void held her gaze. “Would you rather leave a possible necromancer to her own devices?”
Emily shivered. Void had saved her life...but Lady Barb and the Grandmaster had both warned her that he shouldn’t be taken for granted. He’d done a great deal of dirty work for the White Council in the past, trampling roughshod over everything else just to get the job done. She had no doubt he would have killed her if she’d gone mad...
...And he would have been right. A maddened magician with her level of control - and her knowledge from another world - would have been very dangerous. But the thought didn’t make her feel any better.
“No,” she said, finally. She put the mug down on the table. “But I haven’t gone mad, have I?”
“No,” Void agreed. “And the more you practice with your magic, the easier it should become to handle it.”
He cleared his throat, loudly. “There are, however, a number of matters we should discuss,” he said, changing the subject. “For starters, Mistress Irene informs me that you will need to be back at Whitehall within the week if you wish to take your Fourth Year exams. Under the circumstances, Emily, I have no doubt you could redo Third and Fourth Year if you wished, instead of trying to take the exams now. I suggest you think about it over the next day or so and then let me know what you want to do.”
Emily didn’t need to think about it. “I want to go back,” she said. “I can’t leave Caleb in the lurch.”
Void smiled. “Missing him already, are we?”
“Yes,” Emily said, feeling her cheeks warming again. She’d wanted to invite her friends - and her boyfriend - to the house, but Void had cautioned her against it. “Is that so wrong?”
“No,” Void said. He smirked. “I would advise you not to discuss your expanded powers with him, as he might get a little jealous, but that’s your choice. You might also want to warn him that you’re not entirely stable right now. There’s a good chance you’ll say something to him you’ll both regret.”
Emily colored. The first few days in the house had been bad, very bad, as her magic slowly returned. She’d found herself crying for no reason, then screaming her rage to the heavens, unable to keep herself under control. Void had been immensely patient, she’d come to realize slowly; she doubted there were many tutors at Whitehall who would have put up with her for longer than a few hours. She’d probably have been expelled several times over by now.
Void shrugged. “That does lead neatly to a second
pair of issues we need to discuss,” he added. “The first is this.”
He reached into a pocket, produced a small wooden box and passed it to her. Emily opened it carefully, after casting a handful of spells to check it was safe, and blinked in surprise as she realized it contained a ring. There was a faint hint of magic surrounding the gold and silver band, but it didn’t feel hostile. In fact, it felt almost welcoming.
She looked up at him. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
Void blinked, nonplussed. “What?”
Emily sighed. “Where I come from, married couples exchange rings,” she explained. Void had listened to her stories of Earth with great interest, but she’d never discussed marriages with him. “The boy offers the girl a ring when he wants to marry her.”
Void looked faintly displeased. “Traditionally,” he said stiffly, “a sorcerer will receive four rings in his - or her - lifetime. The first one” - he pointed to the box in Emily’s hand - “is a family ring, which is generally presented when the sorcerer is deemed mature. Most families hand them out in a private ceremony after the sorcerer passes his first set of exams. Among other things, they serve as proof of identity.”
Emily looked down at the ring for a long moment. “And what does this one mean?”
“People will ask why I haven’t given you a ring,” Void said, dryly. “That one marks you as a member of my family.”
“Oh,” Emily said. It was suddenly very hard to speak. She had to swallow, hard, before she could say a word. “Do...do you have any other family?”
“I’m the last of my family,” Void said, curtly. “But I do not believe they would have objected to me welcoming you into the family. It is far from uncommon to adopt promising newborn magicians and they are always treated as if they were born into the family.”
He shrugged. “You can wear the ring, if you like, or keep it with you. Certain people may ask you to present it. If they do, make sure you have it on your finger when you show it to them.”
Emily nodded, looking down at the ring. “What are the others? I mean, the other rings?”
Void held up his left hand, revealing three rings. “You’ll get a ring when you complete your Sixth Year exams and leave Whitehall,” he said. “Your master, assuming you do an apprenticeship, will give you a ring when you complete your training. And you’ll get a fourth ring when you have a child.”
“You’ve only got three rings,” Emily said.
“So I do,” Void agreed. He tapped the table, firmly. “You have entered a formal courtship with Caleb, as I understand it. You will be going to Beneficence after your exams, correct?”
“Yes,” Emily said. She had no intention of letting him distract her for long. “I’m going to meet his parents. Lady Barb said she would accompany me.”
“She’s there to be your chaperone,” Void said, curtly. “Under the terms of a formal courtship, his parents will be taking a good long look at you and your choice of chaperone.”
Emily frowned. “Will they expect you to come?”
“It is generally assumed that a chaperone will be female,” Void said. “A combat sorceress would be regarded as an excellent chaperone. She will be expected to defend your honor to his parents. However, there will be times when you are expected to defend your own honor.”
“I see,” Emily said, uncertainly.
“His siblings may challenge you, gently,” Void added. “Keep your tone polite, but don’t give them any ground. They’ll be looking for signs of weakness.”
He paused. “You and Caleb will be expected to behave yourselves,” he warned. “His family will be watching to see how you treat him - and vice versa. When you’re at a formal setting, be formal. Don’t kiss in public...”
“I wouldn’t,” Emily objected.
“And I strongly advise you not to be caught in bed with Caleb while you’re in his family home,” Void finished, ignoring her comment. “His family will not approve.”
He held up a hand before she could say a word. “Lady Barb will probably go through how you should behave as well,” he added. “I suggest you listen to her. She’s been through it herself.”
Emily blinked, distracted from her embarrassment. “I thought she’d never married!”
“Her courtship failed,” Void said. “Yours...”
He shrugged. “The purpose of a courtship is to build up a lasting relationship,” he said, after a moment. “Sometimes, two people find that they are incompatible, no matter what they do. There is no shame in breaking off a courtship, even as you approach the wedding day; better that, Emily, than being tied to someone you don’t like.”
“I understand,” Emily said, quietly. She took a breath. “What happens if his family doesn’t like me?”
“Or thinks you’re too dangerous to bring into the family,” Void added. “It would depend on Caleb. Is he willing to give up his family to be with you?”
Emily swallowed. Markus had given up his family to be with Melissa, but she’d had the impression that Markus didn’t like his family very much.
“I don’t know,” she said, finally.
“You’re not just marrying him,” Void said. “You’ll be joining his entire family. You might discover that you can’t bear the thought of being married to them.”
Emily looked down at her pale hands. She would have left her family without a second thought; hell, she’d certainly never tried to find a way back to Earth. But Caleb? He’d admitted he had problems with his family, but he didn’t hate them the way Emily had hated her stepfather. Would he leave his family for her? Could she ask him to make such a sacrifice?
“I don’t want to think about it,” she admitted, reluctantly.
“No one will think any less of you if you decide that you cannot bear to be married to them,” Void said. “There are dozens of failed courtships every year, Emily. But you are the one who has to make that choice. I cannot dictate it for you.”
“Fulvia tried to dictate who Melissa married,” Emily pointed out, mulishly.
“I’m not Fulvia,” Void countered. “And I have very little to gain or lose from your courtship. Fulvia had the interests of an entire family to consider; I...my position is not dependent on you.”
Emily considered it. “Is that true of his parents?”
Void shrugged. “Caleb is the second-born, isn’t he?”
“I think so,” Emily said. She forced herself to remember what Caleb had said. “He’s definitely got at least one older brother and a second brother - I think he’s three or four years younger than Caleb.”
“They’re not that important a family,” Void said, dispassionately. “They may see advantages in having their son married to you. I think they may be a little disappointed that it wasn’t their eldest son who started to court you, because he’d be the heir. But if something were to happen to him, Caleb would be next in line.”
“Caleb isn’t going to worry about that,” Emily objected.
“He should,” Void said. “Unless he leaves the family, he will be the heir if something happens to his older brother.”
“It all sounds very cold,” Emily said.
“Courtships are cold,” Void said. “But when they work, they tend to work very well.”
He shrugged, again. “If you really want to go back to Whitehall, I’ll arrange for you to be collected tomorrow; we can shut the house down together. After that, you’ll be the only person who can enter and leave at will.”
Emily felt a stab of bitter pain. The Grandmaster was dead. He’d left her the house and a letter, warning her that her life was about to become a great deal harder. Part of her just wanted to stay in the house, wrapping her wards around herself and forgetting the rest of the world. But she couldn’t, not if she wanted to pass her exams. She needed those qualifications to advance.
And Alassa would kill me if I didn’t attend her wedding, she thought.
The thought caused another bitter pang. Alassa and Imaiqah would be leaving Whitehall aft
er their exams. She’d be alone; her only true friend left at school would be the Gorgon, unless she left too. Frieda would be staying, of course, and so would Caleb, but it wouldn’t be the same. The former was two years younger than she; the latter was her boyfriend, not someone she could confide in.
“I have somewhere I need to be,” Void added, quietly. “I probably won’t see you again for a while. But, for what it’s worth, I’m very proud of you.”
“Thank you,” Emily whispered. “For this and...and everything.”
“You’re welcome,” Void said. He tapped the box. “Aren’t you going to put on the ring?”
Emily hesitated, then cast a handful of detection spells. Void nodded in approval - he’d warned her, several times, to be sure she checked before touching anything - and waited until she was sure the ring was safe before allowing it to rest on her palm. It felt warm against her bare skin, pulsing faintly with magic. And it felt almost as if it belonged.
“I wonder,” she said, slowly. “Does this make you my father?”
“It makes you part of the family, such as it is,” Void said. He’d never talked about his family, even when he’d encouraged her to open up about her mother and stepfather. “There’s only me now.”
“I’m sorry,” Emily said.
“Don’t be,” Void told her. “Their deaths weren’t your fault.”
Emily looked down at the ring, drinking in the details. It looked as if he’d wrapped a piece of golden thread around a silver thread and melted them together, weaving magic into the raw material until it was almost alive. She’d seen more elaborate pieces of jewelry - Alassa wore them frequently - but the ring was special. It told her that she belonged.
Carefully, she placed it on her finger. It was a little loose, but as the magic spiked around the ring it tightened just enough to ensure it wouldn’t fall off. She pulled at it and discovered that it needed a hard tug to pull it free. She’d never really liked rings - she’d never had the money to buy any jewelry on Earth - but Void’s ring seemed perfect.
“Welcome to the family, Emily,” Void said. He took a breath. “And now you can go work on Alassa’s wedding present.”
Wedding Hells (Schooled in Magic Book 8) Page 2