Wedding Hells (Schooled in Magic Book 8)

by Christopher Nuttall

  Emily nodded as she surveyed the remains of the ceremony. It was hard to be sure, but it looked like thirty men and women had been killed, including two of the bridesmaids. At least Alassa had already been married...she cursed under her breath, remembering just how neatly the demon had misled her. The creature had used her own preconceptions against her and tricked her into misleading Alassa and her father.

  “The people responsible for this will be punished,” Randor said. “I will find them and I will destroy them!”

  “Nanette could be halfway around the world by now,” Emily said, quietly. It might be possible to track Nanette’s first teleport, if she’d left traces in the ether, but all she’d have to do to make pursuit impossible was run several meters in a random direction and teleport again. In any case, the only magician in the castle who might be able to do it was Jade, and he was otherwise occupied. “Where is Alassa?”

  “In her rooms,” King Randor said. “Jade is with her.”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty,” Emily said. “And I’m sorry.”

  She nodded to him and turned back to help the wounded. Frieda was assisting Queen Marlena to bandage wounds, she saw, while Caleb, Aloha and the Gorgon were performing healing spells. They were hardly trained Healers, but they’d have to do. Emily threw herself into the work, trying to bury her guilt and fear. She had a feeling that Randor was going to make the rebels - and anyone close to them - pay in blood.

  And he can find them, if he looks, she thought. And then he’ll make them all pay.

  A messenger appeared, his face pale and wan. “Lady Emily,” he said. “The Prince Consort requests your immediate presence.”

  Jade, Emily thought. It took her a moment to place him. That’s his title now.

  “I’m on my way,” she said.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  “SHE’S DYING,” JADE SAID, VERY quietly.

  Emily brushed past him and stared down at Alassa. Her friend was laid out on the bed, still wearing her white dress, the stasis spell holding her frozen. And yet, it was clear the spell was breaking down ahead of time. Alassa’s own protections were interfering with the stasis, threatening to break her free. It wouldn’t be long before the spell collapsed and Alassa died.

  “I’ve been trying to scan the wound,” Jade said. “Emily, the ball is lodged in her chest. I can’t get it out without removing the stasis spell and...and I can’t heal her quickly enough to save her life.”

  “She needs a Healer,” Emily said. Lady Barb might be able to do it, in a pinch, but a genuine Healer would be best. “Call one from Whitehall or the White City.”

  “I’ve sent messages, but we’re running out of time,” Jade snapped. “There were only two healers in Alexis. The king had to hire two more for the wedding, and all four of them are dead!”

  Damn you, Nanette, Emily thought. She’d be a pariah once the news got out, though that wouldn’t help Alassa in the slightest. What have you done?

  “Alassa’s protections can’t be removed easily,” Jade said. “If I take the time to dismantle them, she’ll die before I can remove the ball and heal her; if I try to force-heal her, the protections will be fighting me every step of the way. A true Healer could work through the protections and save her, but I don’t know the spells!”

  I do, Emily thought.

  She shuddered, hearing Aurelius’s voice echoing out of the past. “If you learn these spells, you can never become a Healer,” he’d said. “Many of them are restricted only to Healers who take the oaths.”

  “She doesn’t have long,” Jade said, bitterly. “I don’t think the stasis field will hold longer than a few minutes.”

  Emily hesitated. It was vaguely possible they could heal Alassa together, without using any kind of forbidden knowledge. Jade could peel back Alassa’s protections while Emily removed the ball and healed her. But it wouldn’t be that easy, Emily suspected. The ball would be made of lead. Lead poisoning was a very real possibility. Alassa would need a Healer to purge her body of contamination, just as Nanette had needed help to save herself from the Death Viper’s poison. And there was no way a Healer could arrive in time.

  “I know some spells that will help,” she said, flatly. She didn’t dare risk trying anything else, even though Jade would be caught between his obligations to his wife and his obligations as a combat sorcerer. “There isn’t much time, so please don’t ask questions.”

  Jade stared at her. “Emily...”

  Emily ignored him, trying to remember the spell Aurelius had taught her. He’d explained, at great length, that it allowed a person on the brink of death to be saved, provided the caster had a good idea how to heal the subject. The ball would have to be removed, the wound would have to be healed and Alassa’s blood would have to be replenished and cleansed. She gritted her teeth as she adjusted Alassa’s position on the bed, then sat down next to her. The spell demanded a great deal of power, but that wouldn’t be a problem any longer. It was some of the other consequences that were likely to be a great deal more dangerous.

  Jade caught her arm. “Do you know what you’re doing?”

  “I don’t know,” Emily snapped. She was damned if she was letting Alassa die, not now. “Do you have a better idea?”

  “No,” Jade admitted.

  “Then let me work,” Emily said.

  She didn’t blame Jade for worrying. The basic healing spells were simple, but the more complex ones required both power and skill. Jade would have taken basic healing, of course, in Whitehall, yet saving Alassa was beyond him. And, as far as he knew, it was beyond her too. He’d want answers as soon as Alassa was saved.

  Or try to kill me if she dies, Emily thought, as she readied the spell. And how could I blame him?

  “Cancel the stasis spell,” she ordered.

  Jade swallowed, audibly, and did as he was told. The blood started flowing again at once; Emily braced herself, tore Alassa’s dress away from the wound and pressed her hands against Alassa’s flesh. Alassa screamed in pain; Emily ignored her and concentrated on casting the spell, allowing her magic to flow into her friend’s body. Her awareness expanded moments later, showing her both the ball, resting within Alassa’s lung, and the damage it had inflicted on the way in. The only good sign was that it didn’t seem to have disintegrated into little pieces. Maybe Paren had missed a trick.

  I’m sorry, she thought. She’d known that gunpowder would revolutionize the Nameless World, but she hadn’t anticipated it being used for political assassination so soon...She kicked herself mentally as she isolated the ball, and evicted it from Alassa’s body. I should have realized that not everyone would be content with slow change.

  She pushed the thought aside as she felt her magic spilling through Alassa’s body. It was strange; she could sense Alassa’s heartbeat, almost as though it was a part of herself. She reached out mentally, embraced her friend, and started to work. Alassa’s body wanted to heal, if Aurelius had been telling the truth; healing wasn’t actually a competition with a body. The body wanted to heal as much as the brain wanted it to heal. It just needed magic to provide it with a little push.

  Alassa’s body twitched once, then fell into a deep sleep as Emily’s magic caressed the wound, healing it piece by piece. Emily jerked back as the wound closed, her hands still touching Alassa’s skin; she braced herself as she gently pulled the magic back out of Alassa’s body. The last vestiges of the spell faded away, leaving unbroken flesh behind. It was over.

  Emily sat up, breathing a sigh of relief. Her head felt strange, almost dizzy; she wasn’t sure she trusted her legs. Magic spun around her, as if it were a living force. She closed her eyes for a long moment, then swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Her legs were so wobbly Jade had to put out a hand to help her stand upright.

  “Sit down,” he advised, helping her to a chair. “If you need to sleep, then sleep.”

  “Check her,” Emily said, blearily. “Please.”

  Jade let go of Emily and h
urried over to Alassa. Emily wanted to sleep, but refused to let her body slip into darkness. She had to know if she’d succeeded. Panic battered at the corner of her mind as she heard Jade exclaim in shock; she thought, for an awful moment, that she’d failed before he sighed in relief. And then she snapped awake as Jade rounded on her, hauled her out of the chair, and slammed her back against the wall.

  “That spell is forbidden,” he snarled. “Where did you learn it?”

  Emily glared at him. “Aren’t you glad I did?”

  Jade looked, for a long chilling moment, as if he were going to punch her. “Do you know what that spell does?”

  “I know the price, yes,” Emily said. She refused to look away from him. “Would you rather I let her die?”

  “She owes you her life,” Jade said, sagging. “Emily, this could be disastrous.”

  “The people who invented this spell used it to enslave some of their patients,” Aurelius had said, two years ago. “They created life debts that forced the victims into permanent servitude. None of these people could be freed from their enslavement until they found a way to repay the debt.”

  Emily groaned, inwardly. Aurelius hadn’t been very clear on what could be offered to repay the debt. Maybe Alassa could save her life in exchange, sometime in the non-too-distant future. Or maybe it would hang over her head for the rest of her life.

  “I didn’t mean to create a debt,” she said, grimly. She wanted - needed - to sleep. “There was no intention to create one.”

  “It might not have mattered,” Jade said. He let go of her and stumbled backwards. “Emily, there is a reason these sorts of magics are only permitted to the oathbound.”

  Emily winced. Aurelius had also told her, when he’d introduced her to soul magics, that they tended to be dangerously unpredictable. She hadn’t set out to create a debt, but her awareness of the possibility might have created one anyway. And Jade...Jade might be obliged to report her conduct to the White Council. She was certainly not a registered and trained Healer.

  “I have no intention of claiming any debt,” she said, stiffly. “Are you planning to report me to the White Council?”

  “I can’t,” Jade said. “What will Randor do when he finds out that Alassa may be in your debt?”

  Emily groaned. “Does it ever stop?”

  She shook her head before he could answer. “Then you keep your mouth shut and we’ll call the debt settled,” she said. She didn’t know if it worked that way, but if Alassa remained in ignorance, her magic shouldn’t start prodding at her to repay the debt. “You’re her husband. Let everyone think you tried desperately to save her and succeeded.”

  Jade eyed her darkly. “You don’t know that will work,” he said. “These magics are unreliable.”

  “It should,” Emily said. She remembered Master Tor’s lectures and smiled suddenly. “A magical oath is only binding if set up properly. None of us went into this with the intention of creating a debt, so one shouldn’t exist. And if it does, you - as her husband - can pay it off by keeping what we did a secret.”

  “What you did, Emily,” Jade said. “Tell me. What will you become?”

  Emily rubbed her forehead. “I wish I knew,” she said. She stepped away from the wall and made her way over to the chair. “Is she all right?”

  “She’s sleeping,” Jade said. “I think she’ll wake up naturally.”

  “I think she will, too,” Emily agreed. “Jade, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

  “I’m not sorry,” Jade said. “But this could have caused - could still cause - a major problem for her in the future.”

  Emily nodded and closed her eyes. She must have dozed off, because the next thing she knew was Alassa and Imaiqah hugging tightly, both crying. Jade leaned against the wall, looking grim. He might not have known Paren that well, unless he’d had a chance to make his acquaintance during his first year in Zangaria, but he wouldn’t be happy seeing either one of them crying. Imaiqah was Alassa’s friend, after all, and the two girls would need each other.

  She cursed under her breath as she sat upright. Imaiqah might be in for a horrific shock if the truth ever came out. Nanette knew, after all; she could easily reveal the truth from a safe distance. But if she didn’t...Emily swallowed, unsure what to do. Tell the truth herself, at least to her friends, knowing it could destroy their relationship...or run the risk of Nanette blabbing to Randor?

  “Welcome back,” Jade said, dryly. “Alassa is fine, as you see.”

  “I’m glad to see that,” Emily said, and meant it. “It was Nanette.”

  Alassa scowled. “I always knew Lin was trouble.”

  “No, you didn’t,” Imaiqah said. “You spent half of your time ignoring her.”

  “It’s always the quiet ones,” Alassa said.

  “She fooled us all,” Emily said.

  Imaiqah looked up at her. “Thank you for avenging my father, Emily. My brother has already declared his intention to succeed to my father’s titles.”

  Alassa blinked. “Emily avenged him?”

  “Nanette sprung Lord Hans from his cell,” Emily said, curtly. It was true enough. “Lord Hans killed Paren; I threw him over the battlements.”

  Jade’s eyes narrowed. Emily felt her heart sink. Jade probably realized there were discrepancies in the story, little details that didn’t quite add up - and if he could see them, Randor could probably see them as well. She made a mental note to come up with a more convincing reason for Lord Hans to take Paren to the battlements before killing him, then decided it didn’t matter. Lord Hans had been quite thoroughly insane. It wouldn’t be hard to suggest he had some idea about beating the jumped-up commoner in full view of the entire city.

  “Well done,” Alassa said. “I’m sure the executioner will thank you for saving him a job.”

  “I doubt it,” Emily said. She looked at Jade. “How bad was it?”

  “Thirty-seven dead, including Baron Gaunt, Lady Amethyst, and all of the rebels,” Jade said. He shook his head in amused disbelief. “Baron Gaunt put himself between Queen Marlena and one of the shooters, Emily. He died a hero.”

  Emily felt a flicker of guilt. She’d never thought well of Baron Gaunt. He’d quite seriously proposed to marry Imaiqah, despite the forty years between them. But if he’d saved Queen Marlena from death, maybe he hadn’t been a monster after all.

  She frowned. “None of the rebels were taken alive?”

  “None,” Jade confirmed. “I tried to catch a couple, but they’d warded themselves against capture. They died the second there was no hope of escape.”

  “It was a suicide mission, then,” Emily mused.

  “Maybe,” Jade said. “The explosion in the lower levels did a great deal of damage and threw the entire castle into confusion. It’s quite possible that a number of rebels did manage to make their escape. The bastards were wearing guard uniforms, after all. They might not have been noticed on the way out.”

  “And Nanette made a spectacular escape,” Emily said. “She could be anywhere by now.”

  “Father will hunt her down,” Alassa said. She looked up at Jade. “You’ll be helping him, won’t you?”

  Emily winced. Alassa’s honeymoon plans had probably been canceled.

  “Of course,” Jade said.

  “Be careful,” Emily said. She would have been surprised if Nanette came anywhere near Zangaria for years to come, as the entire kingdom was out for her blood. “She’s a tricky one.”

  “And has a grudge against you,” Alassa said.

  Which gives her ample motive to reveal Paren’s treachery from a safe distance, Emily thought. She knows it will hurt me to watch my two best friends tear each other apart.

  Emily rose. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to get some sleep in my rooms,” she said. “What happened to Frieda and Caleb?”

  “Frieda exhausted herself casting spells,” Imaiqah said. “I told her to sleep in her room, but she might have slipped into yours instead.”

&n
bsp; “She’s still carrying a torch,” Alassa said. “And you are still giving her some pretty mixed messages.”

  Emily flushed. “And Caleb?”

  “He was helping with the clean-up, last I saw,” Imaiqah said. “His father was talking about going home, but I can’t see Caleb leaving without taking the time to have a word or two with you first.”

  “I’ll see him tomorrow, I hope,” Emily said. “Would it be terribly wrong of me to invite him to a private dinner in Cockatrice?”

  “Do it in Dragon’s Den,” Alassa advised. “Too many wagging tongues in Cockatrice.”

  Emily rolled her eyes. Bryon had told her that the other barons - and almost all of the other aristocrats within the kingdom - were spying on Cockatrice, watching her with a mixture of fascination and horror. She’d never really been able to get used to the idea, let alone start hiring spies and informants of her own. But if she stayed in the barony, she might have no choice.

  She looked at the clock. She’d been asleep for five or six hours, but it felt as though she hadn’t been asleep at all. “Alassa, please take it easy for the next couple of days.”

  Alassa gave Jade a sultry look. “You mean I have to let him do all the work?”

  Emily blushed and hastily hurried out the door, hearing Alassa’s laughter following her. At least she hadn’t acted as though she was in Emily’s debt. If they were lucky, they’d circumvented the problem completely. Jade would keep his mouth shut and Alassa would never know.

  But I healed her completely, she thought, as she reached her door. In hindsight, she’d done too good a job. She’ll wonder what happened if she can’t find a wound.

  She shook her head, dismissing the thought, and stepped into the room. Frieda lay on the sofa, snoring loudly. Emily looked down at her for a long moment, then carefully removed the remains of her blood-stained dress and dumped it on the floor. The maids would probably want to salvage it - or at least the silk - but she knew from bitter experience that leaving blood lying around was asking for trouble. Gritting her teeth, she cast a spell to reduce the dress to dust, then swept it up and dumped it in the bin. No one would be able to collect enough samples to work blood magic on anyone from what was left.