"I might need your help with that," I said, "since my neck feels so heavy now."
"In that case, it's better if your father helps you," Yllana said, going out to call grandpa. He had been ready for hours, reading a book as he waited for me.
That's right, I'm going with grandpa. Until the Magical Council House, where I will be escorted by Martinus from the door. That was the compromise those two reached for the sake of decency. I didn't understand the details of Marn etiquette, so let them sort those things by themselves. I didn't care about the protocol that much.
Grandpa came in briskly, followed by Yllana.
"So, Amy, are you finished?" he asked. Then he saw me. "You look so beautiful. Now, let me help you with the necklace."
Grandpa gave me a beautiful diamond necklace a week ago.
"It's our family's," he said. "I think you should have it."
"Thanks, Pops," I said, as he put on the necklace on me and started fiddling with the lock. "Although I don't understand why Yllana couldn't help."
Yllana and grandpa exchanged a glance.
"It's the Morad family's jewelry," Yllana said. "I couldn't touch it."
"That's why I couldn't give it to Cloris," grandpa said, "lovely as she is. Since she hasn't become a full member of the family."
"Does that mean this necklace is magical?" I asked, holding the big diamond in the middle of the necklace.
"It is," grandpa said. "It's a protective artifact. It will defend you from most magical attacks."
"Would it harm anybody who touches it?" I asked. I didn't want anybody who accidentally touched me to be turned to ashes or anything like that.
"No," grandpa said, "but they shouldn't try to undo the lock. That's why your friend here wisely called me."
I nodded and looked at myself in the mirror. The necklace was the finishing touch; it added shining perfection to my look. I then put on the sapphire bracelet I brought from earth. The one I bought in a pawnshop the day before I left Earth forever. It reminded me who I was; a poor orphan who works as a waitress, not this rich, beautiful woman staring at me in the mirror.
"Do you have to wear it?" grandpa asked, staring disapprovingly at the bracelet. I think he sensed what it meant for me. Also, it kinda clashed with my blue dress. In a tacky way.
"Yes," I told grandpa.
"Here is a shawl," Yllana then said, handing me a white silk shawl I used to cover my shoulders and chest. I then put on the white silk gloves I had to use for decency's sake, and now every inch of my body, except for my face, and a small bit of my neck, was covered.
"Thank you, Yllana," I told her, carefully standing up (all the weight made it much harder). "I'll tell you everything tomorrow."
She nodded and grabbed her bag.
"Shall we go, then?" I asked grandpa, and he gave me his arm, which I grabbed firmly. With all these petticoats, I need all the help I can get getting down the stairs.
25
After seeing Yllana go back home, grandpa adjusted the portal, and then placed the invitations on the portal. They disappeared.
"We have to wait for them to open the portal," grandpa said. "Security is very tight there. Only those invited can come."
We stood there, waiting, for what seemed like an eternity.
Finally, it seemed like something changed with the portal, because grandpa declared it was open and stepped on it (I didn't see anything, but whatever). I then followed him, experiencing the unpleasant sensation of the world disappearing and a new one reappearing in front of me. It was always so disorienting.
As I stepped down from the portal, I saw Martinus, who was looking rather dashing. He was using a long frock coat, with a black bowtie on his neck.
He was staring at me, with the inscrutable expression he sometimes had.
"You look beautiful, Amy," he said, as I approached him.
"Thank you," I replied. "You look rather dashing, too."
He nodded, and looked at grandpa.
"Can I take your daughter inside now, sir?" he asked grandpa.
"Yes," grandpa said. "I'll be fine here. Just make sure you don't take her to some private place alone." He then turned towards me. "I'll be around, dear; just call me through your vizor whenever you want."
Grandpa had given me a new vizor, a small, simple platinum bracelet with a round, flat onyx stone in the middle. It had way more functions than the Academy one, and what seemed like endless memory. Alas, I couldn't take it to the Academy in my ghost form.
"I will," I said. Martinus offered me his arm, which I grabbed.
"Don't worry, sir," Martinus told my grandpa, his expression serious. "I'll take care of your daughter."
"You better, young man," grandpa said. "You better."
As we headed towards the entrance of the ballroom, I felt a pit in my stomach. I was hearing people being announced as they came in. Would they announce me, too? I'd rather they don't.
"Don't worry," Martinus said, "you look great. Everybody will notice that."
That wasn't too encouraging. I'd rather nobody notices me. It's a pity I didn't know how to turn invisible. Did invisibility spells even exist? Before I could ask Martinus that question, which had become most critical in my mind, Martinus already handed the announcer our invitations, and the announcer proclaimed our names rather more loudly than the previous people.
"Miss Amy Morad and her fiancé, Mr. Martinus Novak."
As I felt people staring, I cursed the guy. Why did he have to be so loud? Couldn't he be less conspicuous? But I did my best to hold my smile, while probably causing a big bruise on Martinus' arm, so tight was my grip. He kept smiling, not flinching even slightly.
We walked into the big ballroom, the size of a football field at least, enduring the stares. I was doing my best, just putting one foot in front of another. Martinus guided me towards his family. His brothers were standing by their mother, who was holding Martinus' father's arm. I'd never seen him before, but I could see the similarity between them, both blond, tall and blue-eyed, unlike their dark-haired mother. I knew that the laws of genetics didn't apply here, but it always seemed weird to me when I saw the high magical families, where the kids always seemed like copies of their fathers, with an only passing resemblance to their mothers.
"Good evening, Mrs. Novak, Mr. Novak, Mr. Ric, Mr. Leontius," I said, smiling and nodding at each of them.
"Oh Amy," Mrs. Novak said, "I told you, you can call me Mother. Even in public. I thought you agreed."
"Hello, Mother," Martinus said, gently tapping my hand, which still had a death grip on his arm. I relaxed it a bit. "Amy is nervous, so she's not herself."
"Maybe this will help," Ric said, giving me a sparkly liquid in a champagne flute. I took a sip. I've never tasted Earth champagne, but I liked this one. It was sweet, and earthly, and young, and stylish. I took another sip.
"Amy doesn't drink," Martinus said, and tried to snatch the glass of my hand, but I didn't let him.
"Today, I do," I said.
"You said you aren't of drinking age in your world," Martinus said.
"I'm not," I said, "but neither are you. I'm not in my world anymore. I can drink here. And didn't we talk about your attempts to control me?"
"Martinus," his mother said, her tone firm, "didn't I teach you manners?"
"Yes, Mother," Martinus said, not in the least bit mollified by the all-out female attack. By his look, I could see he would try keeping me away from drinks. Which was unfair. I wasn't planning on getting drunk; just relaxed enough I didn't feel like I was observed under a microscope.
"It's fine, Mother," I said. "I can handle Marty."
"Oh, I don't doubt that my dear," Mrs. Novak said. "But my son should still remember his manners."
A waiter passed by with the canapes and offered us some. I was wearing gloves, which made it difficult to grab anything, but I did my best, grabbing a mini sandwich held by a toothpick and some kind of peeled seafood inside a tiny pie made of puff pastry.
&n
bsp; "Now that you've paid your respects to the elders," Martinus' father said, his deep voice startling me. It was the first time I heard him speak; it seemed like he was a man of few words. "You can go talk to other youngsters."
"Yeah, let's go, bro," Ric said. Martinus offered me his arm, which I grabbed, this time just hooking my palm around his bent elbow.
And they took me around, introducing me to their social circle (the one they had outside the exclusive high magical circles). I got to meet Ric and Leontius' colleagues and their wives, some of Martinus' friends outside the Academy, and all variety of people. At some point of the night, when I'd eaten enough canapes to feel full (it's incredible how filling they are, or maybe I just ate many of them; who knows? I didn't count), the background music changed, and some people started dancing. I could recognize some melodies, and I was familiar with the rhythms (four weekends of intense dancing practice).
"Amy, would you like to dance?" Martinus asked.
"Of course," I said, glad to stop the empty conversations. It's not like I could do much other than smile, anyway.
He took me on a dance, after which his brother took me on a dance, then Martinus again, then his other brother, then Martinus. With that, we reached the number of dances it was considered decent to dance, and then one of Martinus' friends asked me to dance. I looked at Martinus, aware of his jealousy. He nodded, although I could see he didn't like it too much. That's why I only danced with that guy and the next one, saying I was too tired after that.
"It's so hot here," I told Martinus, "let's go see that park."
"Of course, dear," Martinus said, visibly relieved. He didn't like me dancing me with other men. But I could see he did his best to control his emotions. Which is why I kissed his cheek once we took a few steps out of the garden.
"What was that?" Martinus asked.
"It's me," I said, "thanking you for respecting my autonomy."
"You wanted to dance with those guys?" Martinus asked, and I detected jealousy in his voice.
"No," I said, "but I wanted to be allowed to do it. Anyway, if we stay away from the party for a while, we might avoid more dancing due to social pressure."
"So you want to take a walk in the park?" Martinus asked, relieved. "And then go home?"
"That's the idea, sure," I said. "Let's just stay on the main paths, where people can see us. For Pops' sake."
"Sure," Martinus said.
We continued walking, comfortably silent. I had gotten tired of all the smiling and vapid conversations. So it was nice to walk alongside Martinus in silence, without the constant smile on my face. He seemed comfortable too, nodding at the people he knew, saying their names. I didn't bother trying to remember any of them. My mental archive of faces and names was overloaded for today.
The stars filled the sky, drawing unfamiliar shapes in the sky. I'd never gone out at night to look at the stars in Marn; this was a new experience for me. The moon, double the size of the moon on Earth, was glaring at us, its round shape similar to the magical lamps that floated along the paths in the park.
"This was nice," I said, breaking the silence, "but I'm tired. I'll be so glad once the exams are over and we are on vacation."
"Me, too," Martinus said. "What are your plans for the holidays?"
"Nothing," I said. "I want to do nothing."
"You mean, you have no plans?" Martinus asked.
"No," I said, "I plan to do as close to nothing as I can. Sleep without going to the Academy, having normal dreams; lazy around in my pajamas all day; maybe read some fiction and play with my niece and nephews. Do the minimum required with Erynn; definitely, no practicing magic while I work."
"Could you squeeze me in some of your plans?" Martinus asked.
"Sure," I agreed. "As long as you agree to sit next to me on a sofa and do nothing."
"Well," Martinus said, "I'd like to at least spoon."
I considered it.
"Sure," I said. "Spooning sounds nice. Relaxing. Close to doing nothing. I might even agree to do something. But only one thing. And nothing that requires fancy dresses like today; a normal thing. Like going to the theater or a restaurant. No more balls."
"Then I agree with your plans," Martinus said, "although there is still some time left until the winter holidays. There are two weeks until the exams, and you need all the practice and studying you can get."
"I know that," I said. "Which is why I'm waiting for the holidays. But my goodness, am I tired."
We'd reached a darker corner of the park on the walk, and I freed my hand from Martinus' elbow to turn around, when I heard another voice. A very familiar voice.
"You can rest if you come with me," a young, blond man with the dark eyes of my father said. "Amy."
"No, thank you," I said, standing behind Martinus, and pulling him, trying to run. Only to smash my head against a barrier.
"You can't run away from me, dear," Mahalat said. "And this weakling won't defend you. Why did you have to choose him? As a full Morad, you can get somebody better."
"The fact that you dislike him," I said, pressing on the vizor, trying to call grandpa and uncle Azzie, "makes me like him more."
"Always the contrarian," Mahalat said. "Like all Morads. I can see our blood in you."
"Except you aren't a Morad anymore," I said. "You're nameless. And I don't want anything from you."
He wasn't listening; I don't think he was, at least, because he ignored me and continued talking.
"I can see now that my experiment was successful. Fools doubted me, my brother reported me, but I prevailed. I did it."
"Congratulations," I said, wondering where uncle Azzie and all his underlings were. Weren't they supposed to be tracking me to catch Mahalat? Why weren't they?
"And that's why you need to come with me," he said. "I need to show them. Show everybody my success."
He waved his hand, inviting me to come.
"No, thank you," I said. Did he think I would just obey him?
He frowned, and made some gestures with his hands, pointing them at me. A ray went towards me, but Martinus, who had stayed silent throughout, gesturing with his hands behind his back, where I could see it, put his hands in front of him, creating a shield.
"I said this weakling won't protect you!" Mahalat roared, waved his hand in a big, sweeping movement, and Martinus was just swept aside, eight yards away, his head surrounded by a pool of blood.
"Martinus!" I exclaimed, running toward him. He was unconscious; his eyes closed, his nose bleeding profusely. Hopefully, that's not that bad? I've got no idea how to tend to head wounds. I barely know how to treat open wounds; head wounds need to be left for doctors. And soon. While Martinus was breathing, his unconscious state worried me. I took the shawl off my shoulders and put it under his head. This was the only thing I could do for him now.
I then felt something hitting me on the back. I had turned my back to Mahalat, exposing myself.
I don't know what I was supposed to feel, but I felt… nothing. I turned, facing him. He was staring at me, shocked, his eyes widely opened.
"But how…" then his eyes darted towards the diamond necklace I was wearing, which had been covered by the shawl before. "So that's her necklace. How could they give it to you? A half-blood…"
"They also gave me all your money," I informed him. "Everything that was to your name is now mine."
Why was I provoking him? I was hoping to extend this conversation, goad him, force him to make a mistake.
"As is due," he said, his eyes looking at me with a degree of fascination and wonder I found quite troubling, "to my daughter."
"I'm not your daughter," I said. "Ektolaf Morad is my father. You're a nobody. A nobody with no family, fortune, or name."
That, he seemingly couldn't tolerate, because his hand made frantic gestures toward me.
"You think that necklace will protect you?" he asked, his arms furiously drawing something in the air. A big, round, white ball of air, complex in its form, t
hat he was sending toward me. "It won't. It might be powerful, but I'm smart. That stupid device won't be able to stand against me, despite its power."
I looked at him, at this hand slinging maniac with delusions of grandeur. He was powerful; he was scary; but right then, at that moment, I thought of him as a child, a lost child. So I started singing, in the same way, I did with Erynn when she got too overexcited and needed some calming down. It worked on Emere, too.
"The itsy-bitsy spider…"
My singing wasn't very good, or imaginative; instead of having the spider climb anything other than the waterspout, I had him climb it again, and again, and again, only to be swept down by the rain repeatedly. But it seemed to have a calming effect on people, although I never understood how.
Mahalat stopped moving, the white ball stopping. I calmly walked towards him, grabbed his hands, and absorbed the energy of his spell.
"How?" he asked, his expression child-like, despite him being much older than I was. I caressed his hair as I did with Bevan when he came to the nursery at night, telling him there are no monsters.
It seemed to work, for a moment there… But then he grabbed my arm, and yanked me, pulling me somewhere.
Only to encounter another shield.
26
"Stop there, brother," uncle Azzie's voice said. "You aren't taking away my sister just like that."
Mahalat turned, painfully yanking my arm and maybe even dislocating my shoulder. I hissed and tried to pull my arm out of his hand. He let it free, but only because he needed his hands to cast spells. He pushed me, making me stand between them. Probably because he didn't want me behind his back. That was smart of him.
"Come here, Amy," uncle Azzie said. I ran toward him, feeling evil magic building behind me.
Once I reached where he was, standing behind uncle Azzie, I tried to stay as far away from Mahalat's line of vision as I could.
Immediately after I got out of the way, a raging wave of fire seemed to embrace us. Uncle Azzie's shields resisted, although I could see it was costing him.
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