Past Tense (Schooled in Magic Book 10) (24 page)

“It won’t harm her,” Emily protested.

“That’s not the point,” Whitehall said. “You are an
apprentice
. You should not be teaching
anyone
magic. There are rules, Lady Emily, and those rules exist for a reason. My master would not have forgiven me if I had taken on an apprentice myself, certainly not before I was granted my mastery. It doesn’t matter
who
you were trying to teach. All that matters is that you
were
teaching magic.”

Emily nodded. “I understand.”

“Glad to hear it,” Whitehall said. “You—and Julianne, once I have spoken to her—will spend the rest of the afternoon harvesting herbs and other ingredients from the forest. I’ll be sending Bernard and Robin with you. And I don’t want to see you back in the castle before twilight.”

Emily blinked. She’d expected something worse. Masters had complete power over their apprentices. Whitehall could have beaten her to a bloody pulp and no one would have given a damn, let alone tried to stop him. And maybe he should have. It was the second time she’d done something that could—that should—have gotten her in real trouble. The other masters would give him a hard time ...

... And sending her out of his sight would give him some time to think.

“I expect to see four full baskets of supplies by the time you come back,” Whitehall added, darkly. There was a hint of amusement in his voice. “I’m sure the boys will be happy to assist you.”

“I’m sure they will too,” Emily lied. Whitehall snorted, rudely. Apprentices—attached apprentices—were excused from chores. Bernard and Robin would be furious when they realized what they’d been signed up to do. “And thank you ...”

Whitehall scowled. “I hope you’re right about this, Lady Emily,” he said. “Because, if you’re wrong, it isn’t you who is going to pay the price.”

“I
’M SORRY I GOT YOU IN
trouble,” Julianne said, as they walked down to the courtyard. “I ... I just wanted to learn.”

Emily shrugged. She’d had to wait outside while Whitehall spoke to his wayward daughter, but Julianne looked fine. “What did he say to you?”

“Just said I should be very careful,” Julianne said. “And that I should tell Bernard before he hears it from someone else.”

“Rumors have a tendency to grow,” Emily agreed. Whitehall had taken it remarkably calmly, she thought. Had he been delighted to hear of something that could end the curse—or had he merely realized that there was no point in being angry? “You do have to tell him the truth.”

“They’re going to be annoyed enough at coming into the forest with us,” Julianne warned, ruefully. “And to think it would be enjoyable without them.”

Emily hid her amusement as they reached the courtyard. Bernard and Robin were standing in the open, looking up at the bright blue sky. Four large wooden baskets rested by their feet; a small knapsack, open to reveal a gourd of water, reminded her that they’d been ordered to remain out of the castle until twilight. Judging by the position of the sun, they wouldn’t be allowed back for at least seven hours, perhaps longer. She sighed, inwardly, as the boys noticed them. It was going to be a long day.

It could be worse
, she told herself, firmly.

“Lady Emily,” Robin said. His demon didn’t seem to be nearby, much to Emily’s relief. “I hear we’re meant to be sticking to you like a weasel that’s just ...”

“Thank you,” Bernard said, cutting him off. “Julianne ... are you all right?”

“Yes,” Julianne said. She sounded oddly exuberant—but then, Emily knew, she had reason to be. Her father might have been furious, yet he hadn’t outright banned her from using magic ... yet. “I’ll tell you the rest once we’re in the forest, if you don’t mind?”

Bernard shrugged, picked up two of the baskets and started towards the open gates. Robin smiled at Emily, made a show of picking up the remaining two baskets, then motioned for Emily to follow Bernard and Julianne. Emily sighed—she wasn’t sure she wanted Robin behind her—but followed the other two anyway. The air grew warmer—and sweeter—as they walked down towards the forest; she couldn’t help noticing that there didn’t seem to be a path leading away from the castle. But then, Whitehall had admitted that they’d hacked and slashed their way to the castle when they’d first arrived.

No Dragon’s Den here yet
, Emily thought. She looked back towards the Craggy Mountains and smiled.
And no Blighted Lands, either
.

The forest was ... odd, she discovered, as they walked into the trees. She’d expected darkness, but instead enough light burned through the overhead canopy to illuminate their path. Flowers—many unrecognizable to her—grew everywhere; she could hear birds and insects buzzing through the trees, the sound rising and falling from a faint background note to an almost overpowering racket. And magic ... magic was everywhere. She could feel it tingling along her skin, see flickers of blue light at the corner of her eyes ...

She found herself smiling as the sensation grew stronger and glanced at Robin. He was smiling too, an open, honest smile that set off an odd flutter within her heart. Robin was ... sardonic, sharp-edged, when he wasn’t trying to flirt with her; now, there was something gentle and relaxed about him that she found far more likeable. He reminded her, just a little, of Caleb. And, up ahead, Bernard and Julianne were holding hands. Emily couldn’t help being touched by the way they held one another. They walked in silence, the magic humming around them. Butterflies flew beside them for a long moment before vanishing into the distance.

Robin cleared his throat. The spell was broken. “So,” he said. “To what do we owe the pleasure of our afternoon walk?”

“I was studying magic,” Julianne said. She turned to face Robin and Emily, still holding Bernard’s hand. “I ... I convinced Emily to teach me.”

Bernard’s eyes went wide. “And your father didn’t disown you?”

“He didn’t,” Julianne said. “But he wasn’t too pleased.”

“He’s secretly pleased,” Bernard said. He sounded as if he wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. “If he wasn’t pleased, you would have been severely punished—or disowned.”

“This
is
a severe punishment,” Robin said. He held up the baskets. “Do you realize how long it will take to fill these?”

“It could be worse,” Bernard pointed out.

Emily nodded. Julianne could have been beaten—or disowned. And being disowned would be a fate worse than death. Julianne would have to leave the castle and make her way to the nearest settlement—wherever that was—and hopefully find a place there. She had magic—and her potions—but would it be enough to keep her alive? Emily wouldn’t have cared to try it in this time period and she had
far
more magic at her disposal than Julianne.

“Yeah,” Julianne said. “It could have been.”

She looked at Bernard. “I’m going to keep studying magic,” she said, softly. “Is that a problem?”

Bernard shook his head. “I promised to teach you magic,” he said. “And I don’t mind if you learn from someone else.”

“But what about children?” Robin asked. The look Julianne gave him, by rights, should have blasted him into ashes. “You want someone to carry on the family name, don’t you?”

“It shouldn’t be a problem,” Emily said. “Julianne has been doing magic for a long time.”

Robin gave her a disbelieving look, so Emily explained what she’d discovered about potions and how they tied into elemental magic and alchemy. Bernard seemed to believe her when she explained the dangers of using overpowered spells—although he wasn’t happy with the suggestion he might be sterile—but Robin seemed much less inclined to accept it. Emily wasn’t too surprised. Robin had moved ahead by leaps and bounds, at least in part, because he’d used demons. The idea that he might have made a terrible mistake was unacceptable to him.

And the idea he might be sterile is worse
, Emily thought. There had been husbands in the Cairngorms—and Zangaria—who’d beaten their wives for not getting pregnant or for giving birth to girls. None of them had wanted to face up to the fact that it might be their fault.
He won’t want to admit it at all
.

“If that’s true,” Bernard said, when he’d finished, “we should all be learning potions.”

Robin snorted. “Good luck trying to teach them to the others.”

Bernard nodded, ruefully.

Julianne cleared her throat. “You don’t mind?”

“I don’t mind you learning magic,” Bernard said. “I can swear that as ... as an oath, if you wish.”

He swallowed, hard. “Will you marry me?”

Emily had to smile as Julianne wrapped her arms around Bernard and kissed him, hard. The magic seemed to grow stronger as the kiss became deeper and deeper, Bernard’s hands running up and down Julianne’s back. They separated, just for a moment, their eyes shining as they kissed again and again. Robin caught Emily’s arm and pulled her back, quietly encouraging her to give the couple some privacy. It was unlikely they’d go much further than kissing in the forest ...

But Whitehall will probably explode with rage if she loses her virginity before the wedding night
, Emily thought.
And Bernard ... Bernard may have to be released from his apprenticeship before he can marry her
.

“They won’t do anything too stupid,” Robin assured her. His face twisted into a warm, unguarded smile. “Or at least nothing more than they’ve already done.”

He shook his head. “I cannot
believe
her father took it so calmly. My master would have screamed the place down.”

“He’s a calm man,” Emily said. “And we opened up a whole new field of magic.”

She sighed inwardly. Whitehall had been careful not to use any of the demonic spells.
His
spells were still sloppy, compared to the spells Emily had been taught in her first year, but they did far less damage. She rather suspected that the
lack
of mental damage explained why Whitehall was nowhere near as unpredictable as some of the other masters.

“If you can teach apprentices to brew potions,” Robin said. “Do you think many will want to learn?”

“It’s a good way to learn how to control your magic,” Emily said. She glanced towards Bernard and Julianne, still kissing deeply, and sighed. “They need it, I think.”

“Perhaps,” Robin said.

He looked at her. “I could teach you how to summon a demon ...?”

Emily blinked. Where the hell had
that
come from?

“I wouldn’t want to know,” she said. She’d learned how to summon two demons at Mountaintop, but she had no intention of doing it ever again. Demons simply could not be trusted. And, no matter how smart the DemonMasters were, the demons were probably smarter. “Why are you offering?”

“You’ve taught me something useful,” Robin said, evasively. “And I wanted to teach you something too.”

“Learn to brew potions and I’ll call it even,” Emily countered. She wondered, suddenly, if Master Chambers had ordered Robin to make the offer. Whitehall would be furious if he caught her experimenting with demons—and he’d be right. “You’ll find it very useful.”

“I suppose,” Robin said. The magic surged again, humming around them. She couldn’t help wondering if it was responding to Bernard and Julianne. “You’re a very interesting person, Lady Emily.”

“Just Emily, please,” Emily said. She understood why Whitehall and the other masters addressed her as
Lady Emily
, but Robin was only a year or two older than her. “And I’m not that interesting.”

“You are,” Robin said.

Emily shook her head, keeping one eye on Bernard and Julianne. How long could they keep kissing? But then, there was something strikingly romantic in the air. Her heartbeat started to race as she turned back to Robin. When he was silent, when the magic was billowing around them, she couldn’t help finding him attractive. And yet there was Caleb, waiting for her in the future. She didn’t want to betray him.

And then the tingle rose up around them, stronger than before. Robin took a step forward, leaning forward to kiss her. Emily felt her body respond, her lips parting slightly as they kissed. She
wanted
him suddenly, wanted him with an intensity she couldn’t explain; she wanted him to kiss her again and again ...

Emily shook her head, firmly. “No.”

She stepped back, breaking the embrace and crossing her arms under her breasts. Robin stared at her, a conflicting mixture of emotions crossing his face.

“No?”

“No,” Emily said. She readied herself, unsure just what he would do. Some men could turn very nasty if they were rejected: Robin might, particularly after she’d kissed him for a handful of seconds. Her lips tingled, mocking her. She
still
wanted to kiss him. “We can’t ...”

Robin stared at her for a long moment, then turned and stalked away. Emily was torn between going after him—no one should be on his own in the forest—and honoring her commitment to Whitehall and staying near Julianne. And yet, being on his own was probably what he needed. He wouldn’t want to see her and he wouldn’t want to see Bernard making out with Julianne, not when he’d been denied the chance to make out himself.

Men
, Emily thought.

She took a deep breath, focusing her mind. Her body was sweaty, although she had no idea when she’d started to overheat. There was
definitely
something odd about the forest, an aura of raw magic that she didn’t recall from her time. But then, she’d sensed more magic when she’d stood on the battlements and peered into the darkness. Had something happened, between Lord Whitehall and her time, to drain the magic? Or ...

The nexus point
, she thought.
It’s no longer oozing magic into the world
.

Bernard and Julianne finally separated and started to make their way back towards her, holding hands. Emily wondered, ruefully, if she’d need to create a glamour for Julianne; her lips were puffy and swollen. And Bernard’s weren’t much better. Whitehall would have to be blind to
not
realize that Bernard and Julianne had been kissing. He might take a dimmer view of that than Julianne learning magic.