Love's Labor's Won (20 page)

“Please inform the MageMaster that he will have his answer at the end of the Faire,” she said. “Does he plan to attend personally?”

“I don’t believe so,” Markus said. “He dislikes politics, I think.”

Emily nodded. “Is that everything you wanted to talk about?”

“For the moment,” Markus said. He struck a preening pose. “You’ll be pleased to hear, despite your...disruption, that I passed my exams with flying colors. You are now looking at a certified sorcerer.”

“Very good,” Emily said. The magical families had a great deal of influence over Mountaintop, but even they couldn’t fiddle with the grading system. Even if they had, fixing a student’s grades would have been disastrous in the long run and they were smart enough to know it. “What are you going to do with your life?”

Markus shook his head slowly. “My father expects me to take up his position as Patriarch when he dies, or chooses to lay it down,” he said. “It isn’t really what I want in life.”

“I suppose not,” Emily said. “You’d be responsible for maintaining the feud.”

“Oh, the stupid feud,” Markus snapped, annoyed. “Do you realize how much energy is wasted fighting the Ashworths?”

“Too much,” Emily said, quietly. “But why do you fight?”

Markus shrugged. “I was always told that the founder of House Ashfall was unfairly evicted from the family by his brother for daring to question his choices,” he said. “The family council was split on the matter and half of the cadet branches decided to declare him the true head of House Ashworth, which was later changed to Ashfall after the original family attempted to break truce and slaughter the rebels.”

“And how much of that,” Emily asked, “is true?”

“I have no idea,” Markus said. He grinned at her. “I was also told that House Ashworth drowns Ashfall babies, then eats them for lunch. Do you think
that’s
true?”

“I rather doubt it,” Emily said, primly. “What do you think they say about you?”

“Probably the same, just with the names reversed,” Markus said. “You’d think we’d notice if we kept losing children.” He sighed. “I’d better get back to the dance. Maximus was talking about doing something stupid, and father told me to box his ears if he actually did.”

“You were Head Boy,” Emily reminded him. “I’m sure you can control an eleven-year-old.”

“Maximus knows I’m not allowed to kill him,” Markus said, as Emily started to take down the wards. “It makes it harder to intimidate the little brat.”

Emily smiled. She’d never had siblings, but Imaiqah had told her that she’d found herself competing with her siblings for very limited attention. It wasn’t something she regretted.

She opened the door, looked out, and stopped in surprise. Melissa was leaning against the stone wall, looking tired...and upset. She looked up and scowled when she saw Emily, then looked past her at Markus. And then she struggled to straighten up.

“Emily,” she said, tiredly. There was a bitterness in her voice that made Emily shiver. “And who is your friend?”

“Markus, of House Ashfall,” Emily said. There was no point in trying to hide Markus’s house from her; indeed, she was surprised that Melissa hadn’t recognized him. But then, maybe Markus’s portraits were as inaccurate as hers. “Markus, this is Melissa, of House Ashworth.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Markus said. “Do you actually eat babies for breakfast?”

Melissa snickered. “Do you? I was told you prefer them with chilli and raisins.”

Emily opened her mouth, but stopped as she felt the wards shimmer again. “I have to go,” she said. It crossed her mind that it might not be a good idea to leave them alone together, but she couldn’t drag them both with her. “Please don’t kill each other.”

“I don’t think that will be a problem,” Melissa said.

“We won’t,” Markus said. He’d rubbished the whole idea of the feud, minutes ago. “I promise.”

Emily nodded, then turned to hurry back to the Great Hall.

Chapter Sixteen

“A
HANDFUL OF MINOR HEXINGS
, two curses, and several loud arguments,” Lady Barb said the following morning, as they walked down towards the Faire. “I expected more trouble, to be honest.”

Emily nodded, thankfully. The remainder of the dance had been surprisingly peaceful, largely because Fulvia and Marcellus had glared anyone who felt like picking a fight into uneasy silence. She’d been unable to leave until the end of the dance, whereupon she’d gone straight to bed without bothering to undress, let alone wash. Fortunately, nothing had been planned for breakfast.

She peered down towards the Faire and frowned, inwardly. It had seemed big when they’d arrived, but now it was even bigger, with hundreds of stalls and thousands of people, magical and mundane. A stream of people was moving down from the castle, while another was heading in from the nearby city. Emily hoped, silently, that unfortunate incidents were being kept to a minimum. There was a reason, after all, why such gatherings were normally held far from any mundane settlement.

Frieda caught her arm. “You don’t have to do anything today, do you?”

“You do have to host the dance tonight,” Lady Barb said, quickly. “But you don’t have to make any speeches until then.”

“Thank God,” Emily said. She knew the morning would be spent at the Faire, but she had plans for the afternoon. Perhaps, if she were lucky, she could make a start on the battery. Or maybe work on Caleb’s project. “We can just relax and wander around until lunch.”

“If you wish,” Lady Barb said. “But I do have to wander through the Faire, keeping an eye on people.”

She nodded politely to Emily before hurrying off ahead of them. Emily sighed inwardly, and looked back at her little group. Alassa and Jade looked disgustingly fresh, as always; Emily honestly couldn’t remember a time when Alassa had looked anything but beautiful, never a hair out of place. Imaiqah and Caleb, at least, looked as if they hadn’t had enough sleep, although Imaiqah hid it well. Emily couldn’t help wondering if she’d chosen to break the taboo on using makeup, or if she’d just used a well-constructed glamor. The latter would be quite understandable.

They reached the edge of the Faire and passed through the VIP entrance, guarded by Master Grey. He exchanged a few words with Jade as Emily looked around, drinking in the sights of the Faire. It was definitely larger than the previous one, with hundreds of interesting stalls; in hindsight, perhaps she should have insisted on a private viewing of the bookstalls, before they opened formally. Shaking her head — she knew she would never get used to being an aristocrat — she turned, just in time to see Alassa and Jade heading off on their own.

“They thought it would be less exciting if they went off on their own,” Imaiqah said. “She does tend to attract attention.”

Emily rolled her eyes.
That
was an understatement. Alassa was stunning...and there were portraits of her scattered all over Zangaria, now she was Confirmed. There wasn’t a single person who wouldn’t know who the "Duchess of Iron" was, but it would be a very bold or stupid person who tried to kidnap her from the Faire. Jade was a skilled combat sorcerer, Alassa had powerful magic herself, and besides, there was plenty of help within easy shouting distance.

“Come on,” she said. She looked up at Caleb, who seemed even more out of place. “Are you going to come with us?”

Caleb hesitated, noticeably. Emily understood. It was easier for an introvert, such as herself, to stay on his own. If she hadn’t been so completely unique on the Nameless World, if she hadn’t been forced to share a room with her fellow students, she might have remained friendless too, by choice. And Caleb had come late to Whitehall, after friendships and rivalries had already been formed. In many ways, he was even more of an outsider than she was.

“I will,” he said, finally.

“Great,” Frieda said. “Let’s go!”

Emily smiled and allowed Frieda to tug her towards the bookstalls, where hundreds of people had already gathered. Copies of various newly-printed novels, some with lurid covers that made her blush, were selling like hot cakes, while reprints of older books were being scooped up by magicians who would never have been able to afford originals. Frieda headed towards the first stall with grim determination, but stopped dead. Emily realized it was because Frieda didn’t have any money.

“Here,” Emily said, passing her a handful of gold coins. “Don’t spend them all at once.”

Frieda frowned, clearly torn between desire for the books and reluctance to accept any form of charity. “You don’t have to,” she mumbled. “Really.”

“Yes, I do,” Emily said. She gave the younger girl a gentle push towards the stall. “Just don’t spend them all at once.”

“That cover is inaccurate,” Imaiqah said. She pointed to a thin book with a cover so detailed that Emily couldn’t bear to look at it. “No one could do that without warping their own bodies...”

“I don’t want to know,” Emily said quickly. She shared a look with Caleb and realized he was just as embarrassed. “I
really
don’t want to know.”

Imaiqah picked up the book and glanced at a handful of pages. “I don’t think anyone could do this either, unless they wanted to kill themselves,” she said. “And
this
was clearly written by a man pretending to be a woman.”

Emily sighed, hastily moving to a stall selling magical textbooks. Most were fairly common, she noted to her disappointment, but a couple were new. The prices, though, were staggeringly high. She made a mental note to look up both of the volumes, just to see if they really were rare or unique, then glanced at a couple of reprints. They were on demand in the library, she knew, and she could use a copy or two of her own.

“I’d like to buy some of these,” Caleb said. “Do you want to share?”

Emily blinked, then realized they would be sharing Fourth Year, even if the proposal fell though. They would both need copies. It wouldn’t be quite as convenient as having one of her girlfriends own half of the book — she dreaded to think what Madame Beauregard would say if she keyed Caleb into the wards protecting her room, to say nothing of her roommates — but it would be useful. Besides, they were going to be spending a lot of time together.

“Yes, please,” she said. She scooped up a handful of volumes and checked her money pouch. “Four gold each?”

“Looks that way,” Caleb said. “But try to haggle first.”

He stepped forward as the seller wrapped up the books, then started haggling. Emily watched in some amusement; the bookseller demanded ten gold, while Caleb offered one. Eventually, after much bickering, they finally settled on three, then went through another round of arguments over which coins should be accepted. The bookseller weighed the coins, bit them and finally tapped them with a wand, before grudgingly accepting them.

“Definite keeper,” Imaiqah muttered in her ear. Emily flinched. She hadn’t sensed her friend slipping up behind her. “You would have been overcharged by five gold if he’d just let you have your way.”

“I know,” Emily said. Bargaining wasn’t something she’d learned to do on Earth. But then, the value of coins was always what it said too, rather than going by both weight and the amount of pure gold in the metal. One thing she definitely intended to do, once she was established, was set up a proper bank and begin coining money. “Good thing he was here.”

“Quite,” Imaiqah said.

Caleb dropped the books into his bag, and followed them as they walked past the next set of stalls, all selling various different kinds of potions or enchanted artefacts. Emily couldn’t help noticing that one was manned by Yodel, who’d sold her the first two trunks she’d owned. But she’d also managed to get him into trouble...she knew she should go talk to him, but she didn’t want to face him again. She promised herself she’d visit him after the Faire, and walked onwards.

“I think some of those are colored water,” Imaiqah commented, pointing at a stall selling love potions. “Anything really strong would be illegal.”

Emily nodded. Love potions were almost always forbidden; even brewing the mildest version could get a student in real trouble. They were no better than date rape drugs, she considered...and, for once, the locals agreed. If they weren’t used, sometimes, for legitimate purposes, they would be banned outright. The Faire wouldn’t tolerate anyone selling
really
strong brews in the open.

“It’s a common trick,” Caleb said, suddenly. “But they also help people overcome their nerves.”

“If they don’t know the trick,” Emily said. She shook her head. “Placebos only work if someone doesn’t know they’re useless.”

“That smells lovely,” Frieda said. She caught Emily’s hand and pulled her towards a food stall. “What is that?”

Emily smiled. “Burgers,” she said. She had tried to explain the concept to Bryon, last time she’d been in Cockatrice, but she hadn’t realized it would spread out of the castle. “Real burgers.”

She joined the line of people waiting for a burger, smiling at just how much the cooks had duplicated from Earth. They hadn’t produced fast food-sized burgers; they were offering burgers the size of dinner plates, with everything from makeshift relish to mustard and mayonnaise. Large bowls of lettuce, tomato and everything else one could want were piled next to the barbeque, where the burgers were being prepared. She took her burger — the cook’s eyes went wide when he finally looked up and saw her; he shoved it at her and refused to take any money — and then loaded it with relish, mustard and lettuce. It tasted heavenly.

“It looks like a giant sandwich,” Caleb said. He’d gone to a nearby stall selling fried chicken and, Emily was amused to notice, French Fries. “What does it taste like?”

“Wonderful,” Frieda said, between bites.

“You have to make your own,” Emily said. It wasn’t something she had ever been able to do on Earth. Cheap burgers weren’t particularly healthy — or meaty. “Take a burger, pour everything you want into the bun, then eat.”

“These are good, too,” Caleb said. He held out the paper wrapper of fries. “Try one.”

Emily took one of the fries and nibbled it, thoughtfully. It didn’t taste anything like she’d expected; it tasted far better. Perhaps it was the open air, she decided, or perhaps it was the natural ingredients. Caleb finished his chicken, then went to get a burger for himself.