“Ah,” Isabella said, as we walked into the dorm. “There you are.”
I tensed. She looked furious. Two angry red blushes could be seen on her cheek.
“You’re a ...”
“That will do,” Sandy said, from her bed. “Or do you want me to change my mind?”
Isabella shot me a final venomous glower, then raised her voice. “Everyone over here,” she called. “Now!”
I rolled my eyes. Her cronies hurried over at once, but the others - the ones who were more inclined to assert their independence - moved slowly. A couple of them glanced at me, as if they expected me to do something. My family and Isabella’s were rivals, after all. They would have gathered around me, in the finest traditions, if it wasn't clear that my magical skills were far inferior to Isabella’s. Alana probably had her whole dorm bowing and scraping to her every day. My dorm mates were much less impressed.
And they probably want to play me against Isabella, I thought, sourly. It was supposed to be good practice for later life, when graduated magicians sought patronage, but I’d always thought it was silly. Except they know I can't offer protection.
“You will all be attending the netball game on Saturday evening,” Isabella said. It wasn't a question. Sandy had made it clear that attendance was compulsory. “Afterwards, we are going to have a feast.”
I looked up, surprised. My mother had talked about midnight feasts - and about how they were an old school tradition - but I’d always assumed they didn't start until after we moved up to second year. There was an older student in the dorm who was meant to be keeping us in line, wasn't there? I glanced at Sandy and saw, to my surprise, that she was smiling. I wasn't the only one looking at her.
“I will be turning a blind eye, as long as you behave yourselves,” Sandy said. “You do not want the staff bursting into the dorm in the middle of the night, demanding to know what the noise is. You’ll be scrubbing floors for weeks.”
Her voice hardened. “More to the point,” she added, “you do not want me to be scrubbing floors for weeks.”
Henrietta coughed. “They make upperclassmen scrub floors?”
“Yes,” Sandy said. “And if you get me in trouble, I’ll make your life not worth living.”
She glanced from face to face. “I’ll be just down the corridor,” she added. “If I can hear you, I’ll be back early.”
Isabella smiled. “This leaves us with an obvious problem,” she said. “Who’s going to get the food?”
I nodded in agreement. Mum had admitted that her midnight feasts had always started with raids on the kitchen storerooms. Bread and jam, biscuits and cakes ... it was an old tradition - and a good one too, if you didn't get caught. If you got caught ...
“It was your idea,” Rose said. “You should get the food.”
“Oh, no,” Isabella said. “Tradition demands we pick a victim ... sorry, a fetcher - at random.”
She reached into her pocket and produced a set of cards. “Ten cards,” she told us. “The person who draws the ace gets to sneak down after Lights Out and break into the storerooms.”
Her smile widened. “I have been told it’s easy.”
“If you’re good at charms,” Sandy added. She gave us all a wry smile. “But if you get caught, something dark and gruesome will happen to you.”
“Like cleaning floors,” Zeya said. She smirked at me. “Or washing the netball court.”
“Yeah,” Isabella said, evilly. She held up the cards, allowing us to see that she was being honest. “Are you ready?”
I glanced at Rose, who looked resigned. I understood. There was no way to avoid the midnight feast, even if we didn't get lumbered with the job of collecting the food. And trying would just make us outcasts. We’d won a little respect over the last few weeks. I didn’t want to lose it.
Isabella fanned out the cards. “Take one,” she ordered. “And don’t look until everyone has a card.”
“Don’t offer one to me,” Sandy said. “There are limits.”
I took a card. Isabella smirked, just for a second. I knew, even before turning the card over, that it was the ace. A spell? I didn't think she could enchant a card while I was wearing the earring. Maybe it had been good old-fashioned sleight of hand. I’d had an uncle who had been a poor magician, but he’d loved playing mundane tricks with cards and tools. He’d always been able to trick me, even without magic.
“Turn your cards over,” Isabella said.
I did. The ace stared up at me. I wasn't surprised at all.
“It looks like it will be you,” Isabella said. She couldn't keep the gloating out of her voice. “Remember, you have to bring back enough food for everyone or you’ll have to go back down.”
I glared at her. Sneaking into the kitchens would be tricky, even for an upperclassman. For me? It would be almost impossible. And yet ... the kitchens couldn't be that heavily warded, could they? The tradition wouldn't have continued if it had been impossible to steal from the kitchens.
I wanted to back out. But I knew that would get me nowhere.
“Fine,” I growled. “I’ll get you your food.”
“Good on you,” Isabella said. “And we’ll all give you a round of applause.”
“And now you’ll all get into bed,” Sandy said, before I could think of a crushing response. “I don’t think you want to be late for class tomorrow.”
Rose touched my hand as the small gathering broke up. “I’ll come with you?”
“You might have to,” I said. I’d sneaked into Alana’s room more than once, but the kitchens were likely to be a great deal more heavily protected. “I’ll see what I can do.”
I groaned as I climbed into bed. Old tradition or not, it was silly. Surely it would be better to sleep through the night. I had to be up early on Sunday, even if they didn't. But I was committed. I’d been committed from the moment I’d taken the card. Isabella hadn't used magic to trick me into taking the ace ...
... And if I backed out now, I - not her - would take the blame.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“This isn't going to be easy,” Rose said. “Is it?”
I shrugged. I’d had a brainwave and checked the library for the original kitchen plans - we weren’t meant to enter the kitchens without permission - but they’d turned out to be surprisingly detailed. I wasn't sure if the Castellan had left them in the library to see who would be smart enough to check, or if it was just a careless oversight, yet they were enough to put me off trying to sneak through the door. Scrying wards, freeze spells, transfiguration traps ... some of my father’s private rooms were less heavily-protected than Jude’s kitchens.
But then, my father’s rooms are inside the hall, I thought. He doesn’t need to render them absolutely secure.
“No,” I muttered. “It isn’t.”
The earrings would give me some protection, I was sure. And I could take a sensor or two along and evade some of the nastier traps. But I’d have to find a way to break through some of the more comprehensive protections, including the one on the storeroom itself. And all my planning would be rendered moot if the defences had been changed at any point in the last ten years. The plans didn't look to have been updated since then.
“You don't have to come with me,” I said. “I can go on my own.”
“And then you’d have to make two trips,” Rose pointed out. “Better I come with you, I think.”
I shrugged. “I’d be glad of it,” I admitted. “But we could get in trouble again.”
The door opened before Rose could answer. I looked up and blinked in surprise when I saw Bella. I’d never seen her in the library before. Alana had been in at least twice a week, looking up new and nastier hexes in the stacks, but Bella ... I’d barely seen her anywhere, outside classes. I’d never really cared, either. Bella hadn't gone out of her way to be friendly.
“Cat,” she said. “Can we talk? Privately?”
“Rose is my friend,” I said, stiffly. “Whatever you want t
o say to me can be said in front of her.”
Bella jabbed a finger at Rose. She lifted her hand to cast the counterspell, too late. Her body turned grey, then froze. I shuddered - I hated being turned to stone - then glared at Bella. My sister looked wholly unapologetic.
“This is family business,” she said, closing the door. “Outsiders are not allowed to hear.”
I debated, briefly, pointing out that Rose could still hear. Bella’s spell was nowhere near as powerful as a gorgon’s curse. Even then, Rose would be able to hear until her mind dissolved into nothingness. But there was no way to know what Bella would do if she realised she'd made a mistake. Better to leave her thinking Rose was deaf as well as stone.
“Fine,” I said. I’d have to apologise to Rose later. “Just make sure you turn her back before you go.”
Bella gave me an odd look, then sat down. “I need your help,” she said. “Please.”
I met her eyes, torn between the urge to stand up to her and the grim understanding that Bella was still far more powerful than I.
“You turned my friend into stone,” I said. “And you want me to help you?”
“Please,” Bella said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her Punishment Book. “I’m in danger of failing my classes.”
I took the book and skimmed through it. There were over a dozen entries, all but one lines assigned for not completing homework on time. Magistra Loanda, Magistra Solana ... even Magister Von Rupert. I found it hard to imagine the even-tempered man handing out lines like candy, but it was clear even he had run out of patience. Bella was on the verge of spending all of her free time writing lines.
“Maybe you should have worked harder,” I said. Oddly, not having any inherent magic had given me a far greater insight into the theory. Bella - and Alana - had neglected their theory for practicals. “You wasted the last four years.”
The look Bella gave me should, by rights, have killed me on the spot. There were spells that could do just that.
“I thought I didn't need to study,” she said, finally. “I thought ... I thought ...”
“You were lazy,” I said. “Alana did more studying than you.”
Bella lifted her hand. “You ...”
“Careful, now,” I mocked. “I’m not going to be helping you if I’m spending the next few hours hopping around croaking loudly.”
My sister lowered her hand. “Help me, please.”
I smirked. I was probably enjoying the moment more than I should. “What’s it worth?”
Bella looked at me for a long moment. “What do you want?”
“Right now, I want you to undo the spell on Rose,” I said. “And then I want you to assist us with a little project. And then I want your word you won’t tell anyone until I do.”
Bella hesitated. Thinking wasn't her strong suit, but I could practically see the wheels grinding in her head. Giving her word ... no one would ever trust her again if she broke it, even if it wasn’t a magically-binding oath. Helping me ... it would annoy Alana, but Alana wouldn't help her unless she was paid through the nose. And going home to tell our parents that she’d failed all her exams ... she couldn’t do that. Mum would be disappointed and Dad would be furious. I wouldn't be the only daughter grounded for life - or at least for the summer hols.
“Very well,” she said, finally. She rested her hand on Rose’s forehead. It started to lighten as the spell unravelled. “What do you want me to do?”
“Go fetch your homework assignments,” I said. “I need to talk to Rose.”
Bella nodded and hurried off, just as Rose returned to normal. “That was unpleasant,” she said. “My body felt wrong.”
“It’s not a pleasant spell,” I agreed. I had no doubt that Bella was going to pay for that. “Are you all right?”
“Well enough,” Rose said. She looked down at her pale fingers as if she’d never seen them before. “Are you going to help her?”
“If she helps us,” I said. The door opened, again. “I think she will.”
Bella dropped a stack of paper onto the table. “This is all of them,” she said. “I ...”
My mouth dropped open. “Are these ...”
I had to swallow and start again. “Are these from the very start of term?”
“Yeah,” Bella said. “I couldn't complete more than a couple before I ran out of time.”
“Ouch,” I said. “What were you doing when you weren't in class?”
Bella didn't answer. I reached for the papers and started to thumb through them. Bella and I didn't share every class, but it was clear that the magisters used the same lesson plans. Most of her homework was identical to mine. The only real exceptions were a pair of punishment exercises, both from Magister Grayson. I wondered, absently, just what Bella had done to annoy him. He thought I wasn't applying myself ... perhaps he thought Bella wasn’t applying herself either.
“Right,” I said. “I can give you copies of some of my essays, but you’ll have to rewrite them or someone will smell a rat. Think you can handle it?”
“Of course,” Bella said.
“They’ll know you stole them if you don’t,” I warned her. “And you’ll be in deep trouble.”
I met her eyes. “But you’ll have to do more practical work too,” I added. “The less you understand, the less you’ll be able to do later on.”
“It’s not fair,” Bella said.
I felt a hot flash of irritation. Bella had magic. Bella had magic and an easy life. How dare she moan and whine? It was Rose who had cause to whine, if anyone had. She’d grown up on a farm. It had been sheer luck her talent had been noticed ... and sheer luck she hadn't been expelled, after the potions disaster. Even my life was easy, compared to hers ...
“Tough,” I said. “Do you want to go home and tell Dad you failed?”
Bella couldn't physically pale, but her hands shook. “No,” she said. “He’ll kill me.”
“He’ll probably hire someone to tutor you over the holidays,” I countered. Bella would probably consider that a fate worse than death. “And I don’t think it’ll be the sort of person who is willing to let you slide. Dad will choose some really grim old master who thinks that anyone who doesn't get straight A’s is lazy.”
I grinned at her. “Are you ready to help us?”
“Yes,” Bella said. “What do you want me to do?”
“Do as I say,” I said. “Stand at one end of room and wait.”
Rose took the other side of the room and watched as I scattered opals around the floor, carefully measuring and noting the distances between them. My sister was standing five metres from Rose ... I placed an opal every twenty centimetres, noting which ones lit up and which stayed dim. Bella’s magical field was actually smaller than Rose’s, stretching out a bare forty centimetres from her toes. Did that mean that Rose had more raw power, I wondered, or less control? Bella had been studying magic - or at least she’d had the opportunity to study magic - since her seventh birthday.
Or maybe I’m completely wrong, I mused, as I wrote down my notes. There may be aspects to this I don’t know.
“All right,” I said. “Bella, I want you to stay precisely where you are. Rose, freeze her.”
Bella’s mouth opened, then froze as Rose’s spell struck her. I resisted the urge to laugh at her expression, frozen in time, as I glanced at the opals. They were glowing brighter and brighter, although it didn't look as though the aura had grown any bigger. I reached out carefully to touch Bella’s arm, but felt nothing. The opals didn't react to my presence.
“Sorry, Bella,” I said, a little too cheerfully. “But you’re going to stay that way for a while.”
Rose caught my eye. I strolled over to stand next to her.
“She’s going to be mad,” she whispered. Rose, at least, remembered that being frozen didn't make someone deaf. “Are you sure you want to leave her like that?”
I shrugged. Bella couldn’t do much to me, not if she wanted my help. Besides, anything
she did do - I knew now - wouldn't last. Unless she wanted to actually punch me ...
It was nearly an hour before the opals dimmed. “I think your power wore off,” I mused, thoughtfully. “Release her.”
Rose waved her hand. Bella started forward, stumbling. I braced myself to dodge if she hurled a spell, but instead she merely glowered at me.
“What was that for?”
“Testing the length of a spell,” I said.
Bella screwed up her face as if she were trying to think. It looked painful. “But ... but your friend ...”
The Zero Blessing Page 32