(The Zero Enigma Book 6) The Family Pride

by Christopher Nuttall

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty - One

  Chapter Twenty - Two

  Chapter Twenty - Three

  Chapter Twenty - Four

  Chapter Twenty - Five

  Chapter Twenty - Six

  Chapter Twenty - Seven

  Chapter Twenty - Eight

  Chapter Twenty - Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty - One

  Chapter Thirty - Two

  Chapter Thirty - Three

  Chapter Thirty - Four

  Chapter Thirty - Five

  Chapter Thirty - Six

  Chapter Thirty - Seven

  Chapter Thirty - Eight

  Chapter Thirty - Nine

  Chapter Forty

  The Family Pride

  (The Zero Enigma, Book VI)

  Christopher G. Nuttall

  Book One: The Zero Blessing

  Book Two: The Zero Curse

  Book Three: The Zero Equation

  Book Four: The Family Shame

  Book Five: The Alchemist’s Apprentice

  Book Six: The Family Pride

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  Cover by Brad Fraunfelter

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  Cover Blurb

  Six years ago, in the aftermath of the House War that nearly tore Shallot apart, Akin Rubén and Caitlyn Aguirre were betrothed in a bid to keep their rival families from returning to war. Now, with both of them on the brink of maturity, that marriage is starting to loom. The moment of choice, when they must decide to go through with the wedding or risk their families resuming their rivalry, is fast approaching.

  And yet, all is not well in House Rubén. Akin, the presumed Heir Primus, has many enemies, relatives who will do anything rather than see him succeed his father and link their families to their former rivals. Powerful factions are gathering, ready to oppose the match by any means necessary. Secrets from the past are being dug up and turned into weapons, just waiting to be launched. In desperation, Lord Rubén - Akin’s father - forces his son to enter the Challenge - a contest that will either prove his right to inherit or utterly destroy him.

  But the Challenge is not quite what it seems ...

  Historian’s Note

  The Thousand-Year Empire dominated the twin continents of Maxima and Minima through two advantages, an unmatched command of magic and the development of Objects of Power, magical weapons and tools that made them seemingly invincible. But the Empire fell and the secret of making Objects of Power was lost.

  Hundreds of years later, a young girl - Caitlyn Aguirre - was born to a powerful magical family. Caitlyn - Cat - should have been powerful herself, like her two sisters, but she seemed to have no spark of magic at all. She lacked even a sense for magic. In desperation, her parents sent her to Jude’s in the hopes that exposure to magical training would bring forth the magic they were sure lay buried within her. There, she met Isabella and Akin Rubén, children of her family’s greatest enemy. Isabella became her rival, while she formed a tentative friendship with Akin.

  Cat developed no magic, but she discovered something else. Uniquely, as far as anyone could tell, she had no magic at all. She eventually discovered that a complete lack of magic was necessary for forging Objects of Power. Far from being useless, her talent made her extremely valuable and utterly irreplaceable. Cat was the only true ‘Zero’ known to exist. This led to her - and her friends, Akin and Rose - being kidnapped, then targeted by Crown Prince Henry and Stregheria Aguirre, Cat’s Great Aunt, when they launched a coup against the Great Houses and the King himself. Their subversions - which turned Isabella against her family - nearly led to complete disaster ... and perhaps would have done so, if Cat and Akin hadn’t become firm friends.

  In the aftermath, Cat proposed that she and Akin should be betrothed, creating a marriage bond between their families and making it impossible, at least for the next few years, for the two houses to come to blows. This was - reluctantly - accepted, with the proviso that either Cat or Akin could refute the agreement if they wished, when they came of age. Cat left Jude’s to found her own school, where other Zeros - when they were found - would be taught.

  Meanwhile, the Great Houses had to deal with the repercussions of the attempted coup and the sudden shift in the balance of power. Isabella Rubén, condemned as a traitor, was exiled to Kirkhaven Hall, where she discovered a secret her family had sought to bury ... and a new secret, one of her own. Others took advantage of the chaos to stake a claim to power themselves, plots that were only foiled through sheer luck and outside intervention. The city remained unstable ...

  That was six years ago.

  Now, as Akin Rubén goes back to school for his final year, his marriage to Cat is starting to loom ...

  I am so proud, if I allowed,

  My family pride to be my guide.

  I'd volunteer, to quit this sphere,

  Instead of you in a minute or two.

  But family pride, must be denied,

  And set aside, and mortified.

  And mortified ...

  Pooh-Bah, The Mikado

  Prologue

  When I was a child, one rule was drummed into me from the very start. Anything, for the family. It was very clear. The family was my home, my tribe. It sheltered me, protected me, empowered me. And, in exchange for everything it gave me, I was to always put the family first. I could leave, if I wished; but if I left, I gave up everything. The family came first. Always.

  Isabella, my twin sister, and I had grown up together, and been told - practically since birth - we were expected to be a team, against both the outside world and the family itself. The family might show a united front to outsiders - Father had made that very obvious, during his long and tedious lectures on politics and family loyalties - but we bickered amongst ourselves in a constant, genteel struggle for power. My sister and I - as the Patriarch’s sole children - were expected to inherit, yet we could lose that position in a moment if we showed ourselves to be unworthy. In truth, I wasn’t sure I cared. Isabella might enjoy the drive for power, she might strive to establish herself as a leader amongst our generation ... but I did not. I was always more interested in forging and magic than in playing power games. It didn’t matter if I wanted to inherit or not. I was going to inherit anyway. Father had it all under control.

  I was ten years old, a year short of going to Jude’s for the first time, when I finally realised just how far apart Isabella and I had become.

  It was a long hot summer, dominated by endless lessons from our teachers and supervised playdates with children from other aristocratic families. The games might have been fun if they weren’t so tightly controlled; I might have enjoyed it, just a little, if we’d been allowed to run free, like children who had no aristocratic parents to disappoint. Instead, we were expected to act like miniature adults, demonstrating ou
r manners on one hand and our magic on the other. The playdates were boring. I found myself sneaking off as soon as possible. It was worth the lecture from Father just to be alone for a few, short hours.

  I was sitting in my study, reading a book on advanced forging techniques, when Isabella burst into the room. I looked up, alarmed. We’d both practiced unlocking the other’s door, but it was generally understood that neither of us would actually enter the room without permission. Our bedrooms were ours, the only rooms in the mansion that were truly private. Even our governess was supposed to knock. There had been times when I’d kept my mouth firmly closed, when she knocked on the door, and waited for her to go away. It worked. Sometimes.

  Isabella and I looked alike, naturally, but - as we grew older - we had started to diverge. Her blonde hair, the same colour as mine, hung down in a single long braid, while mine was cropped close to my skull. Her blue eyes, I fancied, were a little sharper than mine, although our parents claimed they were identical. The green dress she wore was a copy of one of Mother’s gowns, a dress so complex that it was difficult to put it on without magic; I, thankfully, was allowed to wear shirts and trousers. Isabella couldn’t wear trousers. The old ladies of the family would throw their hands up in horror at the mere thought, then subject her to very astringent criticism. A young lady of House Rubén wearing trousers? What was the world coming to? Horror of horrors!

  “Akin!” Isabella looked flushed, as if she had been running. “You have to help me!”

  I stood up, glancing out the opened door. I half-expected to see Madame McGinty - our governess, a woman who would explode with fury if we forgot to call her Madame - charging down the corridor in a towering rage. Isabella had been picking fights with the governess more and more as we grew older, constantly struggling against the governess’s dictates as she fought to establish herself as a young girl. I was on her side, naturally. Madame McGinty was not a nice woman. But the corridor was empty.

  The door closed at my command. “What happened?”

  Isabella held up a book. “I ... ah ... borrowed this,” she said. “You have to help me.”

  I swallowed, hard. “You ... you took that from Father’s bookcase?”

  Isabella nodded, her head bobbing so rapidly that her braid swung loose. I stared, unable to help myself. Father had made it clear that we were not to touch the books on his private bookcase. Some of them could be very dangerous to the unprepared. I had no idea how Isabella had managed to circumvent the locking charms, let alone steal the book without being frozen in place or zapped into a frog or having something unpleasant happen to her. She’d always been better at charms than I, yet Father was much older and far more experienced. I didn’t spend as much time as I would have liked with my Father - he was always busy, managing the family - but I had a healthy respect for his powers. He’d been practicing magic for longer than I’d been alive.

  “He’ll kill you,” I said, horrified. Not literally, I hoped, but Isabella would be in a lot of trouble. Father would hit the roof. Isabella would be grounded for so long that her grandchildren would still be trapped in her bedroom. “Why did you ...?”

  Isabella met my eyes, her blue eyes wide. “I had to know.”

  I winced in perfect understanding. We had been taught to be curious, to study magic and develop our knowledge as far as possible. It seemed almost a crime to ignore books, even dangerous ones. I’d read hundreds of textbooks and tomes that had been intended for older children, although I hadn’t been permitted to try any of the spells. I understood perfectly why Isabella would want to read a forbidden text. They were forbidden. That was half the fun!

  “He’s coming,” Isabella said. She was always pale, but now she was so white that her skin looked almost translucent. “He’ll find me and ...”

  Her voice trailed off. Isabella was already in trouble. She’d mouthed off to Madame McGinty earlier in the day and the governess had not been pleased. Mother wasn’t going to be pleased either, when she came home from her society meeting. It really would not do to have a young lady showing anything less than the proper respect ... Mother would be angry, Isabella would be grounded, and it was a horrible ghastly mess.

  “What can I do?” I looked at the book. The title was faded, which meant it was old and probably very rare. “Isabella ...”

  “Tell Father you took the book,” Isabella said. “Please.”

  I blinked. “You want me to lie to Father?”

  “He’ll kill me,” Isabella pleaded. “But he won’t kill you.”

  I heard the bitter frustration in her voice and winced. Isabella would never be Heir Primus, let alone Matriarch. House Rubén was always led by a Patriarch. I might inherit my father’s titles and position, but Isabella ... the best she could hope for was marrying into a position of power. She would have power, I’d been assured, just as Mother had power ... it wouldn’t be hers. It was a sad irony of our lives that I, who didn’t want power, was going to inherit it. And my sister would never have power in her own right.

  I would have traded places. Gladly. Isabella actually wanted the power.

  “He won’t kill you,” I pointed out. “The worst that will happen is that you get grounded ...”

  “Yeah, but I have to attend the Lancet Party,” Isabella said. “It’s the event of the year, before school. I have to go, just to solidify alliances ...”

  I rolled my eyes. Yes, I knew alliances were important. Yes, I knew it was vital to have friendships before we went to school. Yes, I knew that who one knew could be very important in later life ... but I didn’t really care. I’d been surrounded by sycophants for most of my life. Isabella, on the other hand, was determined to be a social queen. She’d started training for the role at a very young age.

  “Please, Akin,” Isabella pleaded. “I need this. I’ll repay you ...”

  There was a solid knock on the door. I blanched, feeling my stomach starting to churn. Only one person knocked like that: Father. I looked at Isabella, at my sister’s pleading face, and made up my mind. I took the book, then cast a simple spell. The door opened. My father stepped into the room.

  “Akin, Isabella.” His voice was very calm, so calm I knew he was angry. My father rarely showed any display of temper. “Would one of you care to explain ...?”

  I held up the book. “It was my fault, Father.”

  Father eyed me for a long moment, his face utterly implacable. I couldn’t tell if he believed me or not. I wasn’t a good liar and Father had been running the family since well before I was born. But his face showed no trace of his feelings. Isabella was going to owe me big. I made a mental note to ensure that she paid through the nose.

  “Your fault,” Father said, slowly. His face was expressionless. “And why did you take the book?”

  “I was curious.” I could have kicked myself. I hadn’t thought to take a look at the book before Father had arrived. I could have come up with a convincing reason to borrow the book if only I knew the subject. “It was the first I touched.”

  “Indeed.” Father’s gaze moved from me to Isabella and back again. “Give it to me.”

  I held out the book. Father took it, his eyes never leaving my face. I knew, with a sickening certainty, that he knew I was lying. But he said nothing.

  “I’m sorry, Father.” My voice shook, although I wasn’t sure if I was afraid or angry at Isabella for getting me into this mess. “I just wanted to know.”

  “Curiosity killed the cat,” Father said, quietly.

  “Satisfaction brought it back.” Isabella gave him a charming smile. “Father ...”

  I shot her a sharp look. This wasn’t the time to be flippant. It never was, when Father was concerned, but now was a particularly bad time.

  Father gave her a stern look. “I believe Madame McGinty is looking for you, young lady.”

  Isabella paled. “Oh.”

  “And you can go find her, afterwards,” Father continued. “Akin, I am very disappointed in you.”

 
I looked down. “Yes, Father.”

  “You will report to my office after dinner, where we will discuss your punishment.” Father’s voice brooked no disobedience. “And you will remain in your room until dinner.”

  “Yes, Father.”

  Father studied me for a long moment. I was fairly sure he knew that ordering me to stay in my room wasn’t much of a punishment. I had books to read, experiments to plan ... and a perfect excuse to avoid everyone until dinnertime. Cousins Francis and Bernard had been nagging me to play hide-and-seek with them. I liked them both, but they were a bit much when I was trying to study.

  “Good,” Father said. “And the next time you want to read one of my books, ask first.”

  He turned and swept from the room. The door closed behind him with a sharp thud. I sensed the spell a moment later, keeping me firmly in my room. Anyone else could come and go as they wished, but I ... I was stuck, until Father lifted the spell. I ...

  Isabella gave me a hug. “Thank you, thank you,” she said. “I owe you my life!”

  “Hah,” I muttered. I hugged her back, very briefly. Dramatics aside, it was nice to know our relationship wasn’t totally lost. “Anything, for the family.”