Study in Slaughter (Schooled in Magic) (7 page)

She paused, looking around the classroom. “Do any of you want to leave now?”

No one moved.

“Good,” Lady Barb said. “I will now give you a brief overview of what we will be looking at over the year.

“First, we will be looking at more complex healing spells. You will learn how to manipulate the spells in response to feedback from the injury and how to compensate for unexpected responses. This is not an easy skill to master, but once you have mastered it you will be able to perform proper healing magic,
without
having to worry about finding a qualified healer afterwards. Those of you intending to become combat sorcerers or court wizards will find it a very useful skill indeed.”

She moved, pacing around the room. No one said a word until she started to talk again.

“Second, we will be looking at curse-breaking and other counters to magically-inflicted injuries. You will know, of course, just how easy it is to get injured while practicing magic—or how easily a mundane can be cursed by a magician. Healing such damage is an important part of your training. Again, it will be a very useful skill, once mastered.

“Thirdly, we will be looking at mundane healing methods,” she concluded. “As you may well expect, healing magic can be very draining. Mundane methods, healing without magic, may be nowhere near as convenient, but they may be all you have to use when you’ve drained your magic completely. Those of you who faint at the sight of blood are not advised to stay in this class, because there
will
be blood. And guts. And gore. Ideally, you will never have to actually
use
these skills, but they are an important part of becoming a healer.”

She paused. “Are there any questions?”

Emily hesitated. Something was missing, but it had taken her several seconds to realize
what
. Lady Barb had said nothing about any form of mental care or psychiatric treatment. Physical injuries were one thing; mental injuries were quite another. A knock on the head, she knew, could have effects that standard healing spells couldn’t cure. Indeed, they’d been told to avoid using the standard spells on skull injuries. It would be far too easy to accidentally disrupt someone’s mind.

But it was something she was going to have to ask later. She wanted to stay behind in any case.

“We’ve already looked at curse-breaking,” one of the other students said. She was one of the transfer students, Emily guessed, if only because she didn’t even vaguely recognize the girl. “Why are we going to look at it again?”

“Curses that attach themselves to the human body can have very nasty long-term effects,” Lady Barb said, simply. “There is, for example, a cutting spell that is completely impossible to cure using the standard healing spells. The designer of the spell actually wanted to ensure that the damage would get worse if the standard spells were used—and he succeeded, far too well. People have died because well-meaning magicians tried to use the standard spells to save their lives.

“In such cases, the curse must be removed
before
any form of healing can take place,” she added. “Failing to remove the curse would, at the very least, make healing impossible.

“There’s also the danger of the curse migrating from the victim to anyone else in the area, including the healer. Better to get rid of it as quickly as possible.”

She gave the girl a droll smile. “Does that answer your question?”

“...Yes,” the girl said.

Lady Barb clicked her fingers over the metal desk and a humanoid figure appeared. Emily stared, wondering how she’d managed to make the teleport spell work within Whitehall—and then realized that the figure had always been there, just hidden under an invisibility spell. No wonder she hadn’t seen him when she came into the room.

“This is Paddy,” Lady Barb said. “As you may have deduced, he is a homunculus, a copy of the human body. Paddy was created by a team of the most capable and dedicated healers in the Allied Lands to allow youngsters such as yourself a chance to practice without actually killing anyone. His responses to your spells will be identical to an actual human. Should you injure Paddy too badly, however, he will simply switch into regeneration mode and start rebuilding himself. So far, no students have ever actually managed to
destroy
him.”

There were a handful of nervous chuckles.

Emily studied the homunculus carefully. He had skin tinted a very odd shade of brown, no hair and wore nothing, not even a piece of underwear. She couldn’t tell if he was anatomically correct or not from her angle, but she had the feeling that the designers would have reproduced as much as they could. He would have been far less useful if he wasn’t as close to humanity as possible.

“Later on, you will be practicing certain spells on each other—as well as volunteers from the other classes,” Lady Barb continued. “However, for the moment, we will stick with Paddy, as you will be unable to cause permanent harm to him.”

She paused, her gaze moving from person to person. “I will be operating under the assumption that Paddy is a
real
human being,” she added. “If I think you’re cutting into him for the hell of it, or if you’re being careless because you think he isn’t important, you
will
regret it. A sadistic attitude to Paddy may lead to a sadistic attitude to one’s patients and that leads to a dangerously unstable healer. Or worse. I will not hesitate to kick you out of the class if I feel that you will prove a danger to others or...yourself.

“Healers have the most important job in the Allied Lands. It is vitally important that we do nothing to tarnish their good name. A healer who abuses his or her powers will be hunted down and executed, if they are not killed by breaking their oaths. Healing is serious business. If you’re here because you think the class will let you have a chance to look at naked bodies, think again.

“There are plenty of other courses you can take at Whitehall that you can actually turn into a career—or a vocation—if that is all you want. You do not need to feel that you are wasting your time here.

“I will tolerate nothing less than your
complete
concentration, dedication and focused study,” she concluded. “We have a
lot
of ground to cover, all of which will be mentioned on your exams—and tested, extensively. Students have been known to break under the pressure of healer exams. I know I felt myself pushed right to the edge when I was a student.”

Emily nodded in understanding. Her last set of exams had been nerve-wracking, even though Mistress Irene had hinted that the school might have given her a free pass, after she’d beaten Shadye. Somehow, it just hadn’t seemed right to accept the offer.
And
she’d wanted to know just how well she was doing, compared to the other students.

Lady Barb looked down at Paddy, then back up at her students. “If you don’t want to be here, you may leave now,” she said. “Everyone else, stand up and gather around Paddy.”

Emily watched in some amusement as a handful of students headed for the door and escaped out into the corridor, then she stood and walked to the main table. Up close, it was easy to see that Paddy was male; she blushed furiously when she saw his manhood between his legs. She wondered, absently, how they were going to practice working on a female body, then pushed the question to one side. It was something she could ask later.

“Feel free to touch his body,” Lady Barb said. “You’ll notice that it feels
human
.”

She was right, Emily realized, as she touched Paddy’s leg. It felt rougher than her own leg, but it was warm and very human. If his skin color hadn’t been so unnatural, he could easily have passed for a human being. But then, creating homunculi that could pass for a specific human was banned by the Allied Lands. The thought of being replaced by a copy was probably one of the nightmares that kept King Randor up late at night. Would anyone realize if the King were no longer himself?

Presumably, she told herself, the homunculus would be unable to
act
like the King—but there might be spells to ensure that wasn’t a problem. Or perhaps the entire court could be replaced, quickly and efficiently. Or perhaps the King’s brainwaves could be copied and used as a template for the homunculus...

Lady Barb produced a small knife and jabbed it into Paddy’s chest. The homunculus let out a cry of pain and everyone jumped.

“Human reactions,” Lady Barb said, flatly. “You’ll be expected to master spells that can cancel out pain, but there are some curses that counteract them—and situations where using them is dangerous to both parties involved. Paddy and I will be simulating such situations for you over the next few months and you will learn from them. By the time exams roll around, I expect you to have mastered the basics. If you haven’t, there will be no point in going for the exams.

“There are other spells that you are also expected to master,” she continued. “One spell cuts down on your own...emotional reactions, which can interfere with your work. Another prevents further infection, although there are dangers involved with casting the spell. A third is a very basic truth spell. You’ll discover, if you go into healing, that quite a few people lie about what happened to them. This can be dangerous, particularly if knowing the cause of the injury is required to fix it.”

Alassa stuck up a hand. “Can you give us an example of that, please?”

Lady Barb didn’t look pleased at being interrupted, but she answered the question anyway.

“Quite a few curse wounds come from trying to break into a magician’s property,” Lady Barb explained. “In that case, speaking with the magician who created the spell can be quite useful—but the victim may not want to be publicly identified as a would-be thief. Other curses, including those used by angry husbands or wives, need the active cooperation of the caster to break. And then there are the diseases that are spread through sexual contact, where we need to heal everyone involved.”

She smiled, rather dryly. “Healing is a dirty job, no matter the prestige that comes with it,” she warned. “Those of you who wish to stay in this class can read
An Introduction to Healing
, which you will find in the medical library next door, over the rest of the week. You will find it a good introduction to what we are going to cover—and where it will lead. If you decide that you don’t want to carry on after reading the book you may leave. No one will hold it against you.”

Emily watched as Lady Barb cast a handful of healing spells on Paddy, all more complicated than the spells Emily had learned last year. Some of them seemed automatic, others required careful fiddling...rather like dismantling a set of charms, she realized. Maybe the two disciplines were closer than she’d thought.

“Formal classes will begin on Monday,” Lady Barb concluded. “If you don’t come back, I honestly don’t mind.” There were some chuckles from the students. “But if you do, I expect you to work.”

Alassa tugged at Emily’s arm as the students began to disperse. “You coming to dinner?”

“I need to talk to Lady Barb,” Emily said, quickly. She should have mentioned it to Alassa earlier, but there hadn’t been an opportunity. “I don’t know how long I’ll be.”

“We’ll see you at dinner then,” Alassa said. She winked, mischievously. “I have teamwork to plan.”

Emily rolled her eyes. Alassa’s new obsession might be fun for her, and those who enjoyed team sports, but not for anyone else. But then, Emily had never actually played...

“Good luck,” Alassa said. “See you at dinner.”

Chapter Six

E
MILY,” LADY BARB SAID, WHEN THEY
were alone. “What can I do for you?”

Emily hesitated. Lady Barb...was a complex person, someone who had seemed to dislike her at first, but had also helped her to overcome some of her demons. Her lessons in combat, both magical and physical, had been painful, yet they had also been very welcome. And she’d never known Lady Barb to be less than completely honest with her. No one else, even the Grandmaster and Void, had been so honest.

And there was her resemblance to Sergeant Harkin...

“I need to ask you a favor,” Emily said. She wasn’t sure
what
to say. “And I need some advice.”

Lady Barb quirked an eyebrow, then nodded and strode over to a desk in the far corner of the room. It must have had some aversion spells on it, Emily realized as she followed her tutor, because she hadn’t realized it was there until Lady Barb had drawn her attention to it. There were two chairs, one on either side, both covered with books. Lady Barb motioned for her to take one of the chairs and started to transfer the books on the other to the table. Emily hesitated, then did the same for her chair.

“Be careful with that book,” Lady Barb advised, as Emily reached for the final book. “You cannot open it until you have spoken the Healer’s Oath.”

Emily nodded, feeling her fingertips skittering over the cover. “Why not?”

“There are spells that...that can create obligations between those involved,” Lady Barb said, shortly. “One of the aspects of the Healer’s Oath is to put aside all obligations that might otherwise be assumed. Those who refuse to take the oath are not supposed to know how to cast the spells.”

Her expression darkened. “Which may not have stopped them from leaking out,” she added. “But it’s difficult to know for sure.”

She sat down on the chair and rested her elbows on the desk. “So,” she said. “What sort of favor can I offer you?”

“I need an advisor,” Emily said. She knew that bluntness would get her further with Lady Barb than being coy. “And I need some advice.”

Lady Barb studied her for a long moment. “Do you understand the obligations and rights of an Advisor?”

“I think so,” Emily said, carefully.

“You could come to me at any time, if you needed advice,” Lady Barb said, flatly. “I wouldn’t be able to share whatever you told me with anyone else, unless I believed that you posed a clear threat to others. But you would also have to
listen
to my advice on any subject...given your rather curious legal position, you might be better off without an advisor.”