True Magics (27 page)

“By the Four, what do they want?” Eileen hissed, her hand going to her rapier.

Across the street, Lord Cormac saw them, smiled, and waved.

Eileen’s hand squeezed so tight around her rapier grip that the leather in her glove squeaked.

“We should go,” said Thomas.

“
They
should go,” said Eileen. “This is our place and
they
don’t belong here!”

“No, they don’t,” agreed Thomas. “But anyone can walk the street and trying to make them to clear off will just make things worse.”

Eileen stayed where she was, her eyes locked on the three men. Cormac said something to Anthony, who laughed. Eileen’s face tightened and went red.

“Eileen,” Thomas said, “We have to go.”

“If you kill them the king will hang you,” said Henry. “And then you will never be a student.”

Eileen stayed where she was a moment longer, then turned on her heel and started walking the other direction. A block later she turned on Henry. “How did you know I wanted to kill them?”

“What else would you want to do?” asked Henry. “Given the way they treated you?”

“But I was actually going to,” said Eileen. “I was going to cross the street and…” Eileen started shaking. She put her hand on the wall beside them and stood there, head down and breath coming in short, hard bursts.

“It happens,” said Henry. “The way to not do it is to remind yourself of what’s important.”

Eileen looked up. “Is this what’s happening to George?”

“Maybe,” said Henry. “Thomas gets nightmares, George…” Henry shrugged.

“Does… does this happen to you?”

“Sometimes.”

“What do you do?”

“Concentrate on keeping you two alive long enough to get married.” Henry smiled as Eileen and Thomas both blushed bright red. “Now let’s get out of here. You need to study and Thomas and I need to spend another wonderful night searching the taverns.”

“And bookstores,” said Thomas.

“Well, we can’t forget those…”

By the time the midnight bell rang, Thomas was stumbling tired.

“I begin to think this is a waste of time,” said Henry.

“Maybe we should try surgeons next,” said Thomas. He shivered, as much from exhaustion as cold. “We can ask around and see if there’s anyone with a special gift for healing. Then I can ask to see them work.”

“Good idea,” said Henry. “Because these late nights are making it difficult to study.”

The next morning began too early, and was mostly a blur. Sir Walter gave another disappointed frown and then took Thomas outside and showed him how to climb a building. He made Thomas practice for the rest of the hour, coming in through each of the windows in the studio. It was wet, slippery, dangerous and exhausting. Thomas went home with a dozen new scrapes.

When Thomas, Henry and Eileen reached the Academy, there were new posters plastered on either side of the gates, covering all the others. Thomas whistled with surprise. “That’s nasty.”

“And impressive,” said Henry.

Two of the posters showed students dragging girls into the Academy. One had a pair of students, drinks in hand, throwing rocks at children. A fourth had a student threatening a merchant at sword-point. Two more had rather graphic depictions of students engaged in activities that had nothing to do with studying.

“Wow,” said Eileen. She pointed at one of them. “What are they doing?”

“Exactly what it looks like,” said Henry.

Eileen looked closer, then her eyes widened and she blushed. She looked away from the wall, to Henry and Thomas. “Do… do boys really do that?”

“Some have been known to,” said Henry, “Though I think they may be overstating some things for effect.”

I thought they were riled up before,
thought Thomas, staring at the posters.
This is like kicking a hornet’s nest.

The students inside, Traditionalists and Idealists alike, talked about nothing else between classes. Halfway through the morning, new posters went up on the Academy grounds: “All students, professors and masters are invited to the Assembly Hall at lunch, to discuss the grievous accusations levied against our most noble Academy and to hear the remedy for them.”

By the time Thomas, Henry and Eileen arrived at the Assembly Hall it was already half-filled. A dozen of the masters were there, including Theology, Rhetoric and Law. The students in the room were divided into Traditionalist and Idealist camps, and Keith was standing in the middle of the stage.

“Wonderful,” muttered Eileen. “And the solution will be, ‘let’s throw Eileen out of the Academy.’ Bets?”

“No bet,” said Thomas.

“Brothers! Look here!” Keith raised a hand with a copy of each of the posters in it. He displayed them one after the other. “Brothers! Look at this, the latest round of insults directed at our Academy!” Each poster received the expected boos and shouts of derision, plus some speculation on the ones with two students engaged together.

“Since the Festival of Rains, we have been being taunted!” continued Keith. “We have been insulted in the streets and we have been the object of scorn and derision!”

“So what else is new?” yelled someone from the Idealist side.

Keith ignored him. “Two days ago, students were booed in the streets! Yesterday, others were refused service in the Black Bull tavern. And today, another was attacked by mud-throwing children while their parents looked on and did nothing to stop them!” He threw the posters to the ground. “We are being mocked and ridiculed for one reason and one reason only!” He pointed to Eileen. “This is because that
girl
has been allowed to enter our Academy!”

The Traditionalists let up a resounding cheer of agreement.

“Liar!” yelled Graham Silvers. Thomas blinked in surprise as the young man leapt onto the stage. “The posters have nothing to do with Eileen. Is there a single one that shows a girl going to the Academy of her own free will? No!”

“The preachers are shouting about it in the streets!” Keith pointed a finger at Graham. “You just don’t want to admit that that chit is causing all this trouble!”

“Chit?” Eileen spoke the word through clenched teeth. To her credit, she didn’t move.

“They are slandering our Academy! They’re slandering us! And they’re doing it because of her!”

“They’re doing it because of the king!” said Graham. “And if you’d bothered to look at
all
the posters and listen to everything the preachers are saying, you’d know that. This whole thing is about the king! The Academy is just a tool they’re using. And you know what?” He turned to his audience. “No matter what the preachers are saying, no matter what the people in town are doing, what goes on in the Academy is not the town’s business. It’s our business! And whether or not you agree with Eileen joining the Academy, the town can keep their noses out of it!”

The arguing rose to new heights. Thomas tapped Eileen and Henry, and led them out of the building. “Nothing they say in there is going to change anything. Let’s get lunch.”

They collected their rapiers and stepped out of the grounds into the street. Eileen touched Thomas’s shoulder and pointed.

Robert, with his blue cloak and the green coat, was leaning against a wall across the street, waiting.

15

Thomas put on his friendliest smile and went over. “I’m glad to see you again, Robert. How are you?”

The man looked around them, saw no one else near, and leaned in close to Thomas. In a tight, awed, whisper he said, “It worked!”

“Excellent!”

Robert smiled, wide and shy. “I can’t believe it worked. Where did you learn it?”

“It was in a book.”

Robert shook his head. “Spells in books don’t work.”

“Most don’t,” said Thomas, remembering the many books he’d had to go through to find real magic. “But some do.”

“We never found any,” said Robert. “We figured they didn’t work, from the books.”

“We?” said Thomas. “Who is we?”

“That’s why I came today,” said Robert, “After what you told me, well… there’s some others who’d like to be told some things, too. They’d like to meet with you. Tonight.”

Oh, thank the Four.
“When tonight?”

“After the first night bell,” said Robert.

“Where?”

“They don’t want you to know that,” said Robert, he dipped his head, looking embarrassed. “They don’t know you.”

Thomas remembered what he had said to Malcolm Bright. “Fair enough. But I can’t meet them if I don’t know where to go.”

“I’ll guide you there,” said Robert. “Where will you be after the first bell?”

“The Broken Quill,” said Thomas. “Student pub. Do you know where it is?”

Robert nodded. “I’ll see you there.” He shook Thomas’s hand and walked off.

“Good news?” asked Eileen, coming up behind him.

“Very,” said Thomas, feeling elated. “Dinner at the Broken Quill. I’m buying.”

“Magic words,” said Henry.

“Which means you’re buying lunch,” said Thomas. “Green Griffon, everyone?”

The Academy continued to buzz for the rest of the day, and feelings ran ever higher. Henry rallied the Idealist and had them working hard to collect the last signatures before the end of the day. The traditionalists argued and pointed to the posters around the school as reason to not sign.

At the end of the day, Michael and the others from the company declared they were going to spend the night putting together the petitions and making certain everything was order. “We’ll get a room at the Quill and do it there.”

“Sounds good,” said Thomas. “I’ll have to step out for a bit, though.”

“Sure,” said Wilson. “Shirk the work.”

They all ate a very good pork stew and drank hot, mulled wine at the Broken Quill. The petitions were ordered and counted, though Michael refused to tell Eileen how many signatures they had, which sent her mad with curiosity.

At the first bell of the night, Thomas, Henry and Eileen stepped outside. Robert was waiting for him.

“Well, he’s prompt, I’ll give him that,” said Henry.

Thomas shook Robert’s hand. “Robert, may I present Eileen Gobhann and Henry Antonius.”

“I was told you were to come alone,” said Robert. He looked at his feet. “I can’t take you if you don’t come alone.”

“Of course,” said Thomas.

Eileen frowned. “I don’t like it.”

“I’ll be safe enough,” said Thomas. He hugged Eileen. “Not to worry.”

Eileen glared at Robert, but said, “Fine.”

“Not quite,” said Henry. He stepped very close to Robert. “If Thomas does not come back to us by morning—Robert Smithson, Baker—we will be very, very upset. And there will be no place in this city where you can hide from us.” He pointed a finger at Eileen. “Ask Thomas what Eileen did to the last person who kidnapped him.”

Robert looked ready to bolt.

“Enough, Henry,” said Thomas. “I’ll be back before morning, I am sure.” He gave Eileen a kiss. “Henry will walk you home.”

“Be careful,” said Eileen, kissing him back

Robert led Thomas away from the Broken Quill. After a few blocks, he asked, “What did Eileen do? When you were kidnapped?”

“You really don’t want to know,” said Thomas. The stench and screams of the magician burning alive leapt up into Thomas’s mind. He shuddered. “How far do we have to go?”

“A fair way,” said Robert. “But I promise, you’ll be home before the midnight bell.”

They made their way across town, skirting the old city wall and the fashionable districts to the more comfortable and worn areas where tradesmen and their families lived. They ended up near the shipyards, on the other side of the city from the merchant docks. The streets were dotted with signs for shipwrights and carpenters, rope-makers, sail-makers, brass-workers and a dozen other professions besides. It was a working area and mostly quiet this time of night, save for the odd tavern with light and laughter coming out of it. Robert avoided those, crossing to the other side of the street to stay out of the light from the tavern’s torches.

They stopped outside a large, shuttered building. The sign marked it as “O. G. Redcappers, Sail-makers.” Robert looked to make sure no one was in the street. When he was satisfied, he produced a key and opened a side door. “This way.”

He led Thomas up a flight of narrow stairs to and down a hallway to an equally narrow door. Robert knocked three times, then three more, then took out another key. He unlocked the door, knocked four times and pushed it open.

The room beyond was dark, and lit by a single candle. Six figures in dark cloaks sat around a large table. No one’s face was visible in the dim light. Robert gestured for Thomas to go in first and closed the door behind them. Thomas heard the lock click shut.

“Who is this one who wishes to join our company?” rumbled the black-cloaked figure at the head of the table, in a voice too deep to be that of a woman.