True Magics (41 page)

Henry picked up Claudine over his shoulder and jogged out of the square. Thomas kept walking backwards, letting the men come towards him. When they were twenty feet away, he drew his rapier and dagger. The men slowed.

“Typical!” sneered one. “Always has to go for his blades!”

“Let see you fight like a man!”

“Come on, boy! Put down the weapons and fight for real!”

Not a chance
, thought Thomas, still backing away. The men followed him to the edge of the square, but stopped there. Thomas kept walking backwards for another twenty yards, then turned and ran, not sheathing his weapons until he caught up with Henry.

“That was bad,” said Henry.

“And going to get worse,” said Thomas. “We have to get to the Academy.”

They reached the Street of Smiths and found it buzzing like a kicked hornet’s nest. There were men and women in the streets, angrily talking to one another. It looked like more posters had been put up the night before, but there were only scraps of them remaining on the walls. Big men with hammers in their hands stood in groups arguing, while the women clustered together having arguments of their own.

One of the smiths spotted them. “You lot!” he raised his hammer and waved them off with it. “Clean out! We’re closed! No business today.”

“We’re not here for business,” said Thomas. “We’re friends of George Gobhann. What happened?”

“Those Church bastards took Smith Franklin’s wife, is what happened,” said the smith. “And Smith Grayson’s mother!”

Eileen.
Thomas’s heart leapt into his throat. “Did they take anyone else?”

“Thomas! Here!” George waved from the steps of the Guildhall. Thomas left Claudine with Henry and ran to the stairs. “It’s all right,” said George. “I mean, she’s all right. They didn’t take her. She’s inside.”

Thomas pushed past George and ran into the Guildhall. Eileen, rapier and dagger on her hips and robe on her arm, was talking to Linda.

“Eileen!” Thomas shouted. Eileen spun and ran towards him. They met in the middle of the floor, wrapping each other in their arms. Thomas squeezed her hard. A cold knot he didn’t know was there loosed itself in his stomach. “I never thought,” Thomas whispered. “I didn’t think they’d come here.” He squeezed her tighter.

“I’m all right,” said Eileen. “I’m all right. They didn’t come to our house. They rode in after the midnight bell. There were a bunch of them on horses. Thirty at least. They had swords out and no one could challenge them and…”

“She tried to go after them,” said Linda. “By herself. George told me.”

“You didn’t,” said Thomas, releasing Eileen enough that he could see her face.

“I did,” admitted Eileen, blushing. “George stopped me. He said there wasn’t anything to do except get killed. He held on to me and wouldn’t let me go.” Eileen shook her head. “I have some nasty bruises from that.”

“So does he, I imagine,” said Thomas.

“I can’t believe they would do this to us!” cried Linda. “To claim that there is witchcraft here…”

“They did it all over the city,” said Thomas. “And they took Malcolm Bright and his wife. We found Claudine hiding beside the fountain at our house and took her in for the night.”

“Claudine?” Eileen’s eyes went wide. “Is she all right?”

“Her feet are cut up and she’s scared and angry,” said Thomas. “But she’s here.”

“Eileen’s friend?” said Linda. “She stayed with you?”

“There was no other place,” said Thomas.

“She can’t stay with two young men!” Linda looked appalled. “Her reputation…”

Not what I’m worried about, but reason enough.
“That’s what we thought.”

“This meeting is for guild members and their families only,” said Master Smith Gatron from behind them. “You need to be on your way now, Thomas.”

“Father!” said Linda. “Thomas and Henry have Claudine Bright with them. Her parents were taken!”

“What? It’s happened all over the city?”

“Yes, sir,” said Thomas.

“Madness! This is totally against the rule of law!” The Master Smith shook his head. “It is completely wrong.”

It certainly is,
Thomas thought.
The law wouldn’t even allow their arrest without…

The idea flashed into his brain so fast he nearly staggered. He missed what Master Gatron was saying. It wasn’t until there was silence that he realized the Master Smith was looking at him. “I beg your pardon?”

“I said is the girl all right?”

“No,” said Thomas. “Her feet are cut up from running barefoot and her parents are missing.”

“She has to stay with us,” said Linda.

“Why were her parents taken?” asked the Master Smith.

“Why was Franklin’s wife?” said George, coming in. “Or Grayson’s mum?”

“Or anyone else, for that matter,” said Henry, stepping into the Guildhall with Claudine on his arm. “Master Gatron, you remember Claudine Bright, daughter of the merchant, Malcolm Bright?”

Claudine’s eyes were still red and swollen from crying, and she walked with a limp. Her hair was a tangled mess and the hem of her night-dress peeked out from beneath the robe.

“What have they done to you?” demanded Linda. “Father, she must stay with us. She must!”

The big man nodded. “Of course. Take her to our house.”

“You promised,” said Claudine, looking at Thomas. “You promised you would help them.”

“I will,” said Thomas
And now I think I know how!

Thomas led Eileen and Henry away from the Street of Smiths at a jog. They circled around the square rather than going through it, and slipped onto side streets when crowds got in their way. When they reached the Academy they found eight students on guard at the gates, and hundreds more inside on the common. Angry words filled the air. Several students were bleeding. Others were bruised and battered. One sat with his back against one of the trees, shaking uncontrollably while his friends sat beside him, looking helpless.

“Thomas!” called Michael. “Here!” The Student Company was together. “We’re thinking we should go get our armour. What do you think?”

“I agree,” said Thomas. “But we need something else, first.”

“What?”

“Lawyers,” said Thomas. “Lots of them.”

24

“Lawyers?” repeated the Master of Laws, leaning back in his chair. “Against the High Father’s Church?”

“Yes, sir,” said Thomas.

It had taken a half-hour of waiting and pleading before the Master of Laws agreed to see Thomas. Now he stood before the man’s desk, hoping he could make the Master listen to reason. “They can’t have evidence against all of them. In fact, I’d be surprised if they had evidence against anyone they arrested. We go out, take depositions, go to the Church’s law courts and present a writ demanding proof of lawful incarceration for each person taken.”

The Master of Laws frowned and thought about it. “We’ll go see the Headmaster.”

In short order Thomas was at the Headmaster’s parlour, explaining his idea to the Headmaster as well as the masters of Theology, Law and Rhetoric.

“This does not seem like a wise course of action, Thomas,” said the Master of Theology.

“I disagree,” said Thomas, doing his best to sound sure of himself. “The law allows all accused a reasonable defence both against their arrest and against their trial. Even Church law.”

“There must be evidence,” said the Master of Theology. “Otherwise why arrest them?”

Because he wants to force the king’s hand!
Thomas made himself speak steadily, rather than giving the anger free rein. “If we really want to get the city on our side—on the king’s side –what better way?”

The Headmaster nodded. “He does make a good point.”

“Students have been assaulted this morning,” said the Master of Laws. “We can’t send them out alone.”

“We’ll protect them,” said Thomas. “Group us into companies. Send us out.”

“The older students,” said Headmaster. “No one under sixteen. The young ones stay on the Academy grounds, with older ones guarding them, in case things get even more out of hand.”

Not in case,
thought Thomas.
When.

The Headmaster called an assembly and for volunteers. As the third morning bell rang, two hundred fifty students marched out of the Academy. They split off into companies, each heading to a different part of the city. At his request, Thomas’s company got the Street of Smiths. Henry led another group to the shipwrights’ area. The senior law students—young lawyers, really—marched in the centre of each company, clutching leather briefs and papers as well as their weapons.

The streets were busy with people going about their day. Things could have passed for normal, were it not for the hushed voices people used when they spoke, and the houses where the doors had been smashed in.

The Street of Smiths was still busy and the smithies were open, but a group of men with sticks and hammers patrolled the length of it. They spotted Thomas and his troop immediately, and blocked the company’s way.

“You can’t come in here like that,” said one of smiths. He was a wide man, with a sturdy, knobbed stick in his hand. “We’ll not allow any more trouble here.”

“We’re not here for trouble,” said Thomas. “The Academy heard of the raids last night. We’re taking depositions, and creating a list of names of those taken. Then we will go to the Church courts to demand proof of lawful incarceration and, if no proof is offered, demand the freedom of the accused.”

“We’ll help anyone who has a family member taken by the Church,” added one of their lawyers—a plump, short man who’d won every award in law the Academy offered, and most of his cases to date. “We just need to learn what happened and who in their family was abducted.”

The smith frowned. “I never heard of such a thing.”

“It’s true,” said Eileen, stepping forward. “You know me, Smith Jeremy. I’m Eileen Gobhann.”

The smith looked close. “So you are. Didn’t recognize you in all that get-up. Is the Academy taking girls now?”

“Not yet,” said Eileen. “But I’m aiming to be first.”

“Well, if that doesn’t beat all,” said the smith. “Still, you can’t come here armed. We’ve decided we won’t have it. And there’s a curfew tonight, too, Miss Gobhann. We’re blocking the streets after the first bell of the night, and no one is getting in or out.”

“Fair enough,” said Thomas. “Can you tell Master Smith Gatron that we are here, and let him know why?”

“Aye, I can do that,” said Smith Jeremy. “But you lot wait here, all right?”

Master Gatron came quickly, with George beside him and Linda in tow. “Thomas Flarety,” he said. “What is all this?”

Thomas explained and the Master Smith nodded his agreement. “Use the Guildhall.”

“How is Claudine?” asked Eileen.

“Not well,” said Linda. “She’s been crying since this morning. She won’t talk to anyone, and she won’t eat.”

“Can I go to her?” Eileen asked Thomas. “Maybe I can help.”

“Go,” said Thomas to Eileen. “But only for quick visit. If she won’t come down, you have to let her be. We’ll need every sword we can get if things go badly here.”

Eileen followed Linda away, and Master Smith Gatron led the students to the Hall. The lawyers quickly set up on the tables, and the company, dividing into groups of four, went to the surrounding streets to spread the word. By mid-afternoon, they’d interviewed seven families whose wives, daughters, mothers or grandmothers had been taken. Claudine had been one of them. Thomas watched her come, leaning on Eileen’s arm, and had stepped far enough back that she wouldn’t have to talk to him. She was wearing a plain dress that mostly fit her, though the previous owner had obviously been a bit larger about the middle. She passed him without a look and mounted the stairs into the Guildhall.

“This is a good thing you are doing,” said Master Smith Gatron to Thomas as the afternoon wore on. “A very good thing. To offer these people advice and hope.”

“We had to,” said Thomas. “We couldn’t let the Church just take people away. Not after what they did to our friends.”

“Your friends?” Master Gatron frowned at Thomas. “You mean those ones you brought to George’s smithy three days ago? They were arrested by the Church?”

“Kidnapped,” corrected Thomas. “Arrest without proper cause or warrant, and without legal jurisdiction is kidnapping.”

“And you took them from the Church’s custody?”

“Yes.”

Master Gatron frowned some more. “Not with the Church’s permission, I take it.”

“Most certainly not,” said Thomas.

“That is…” Master Gatron searched for the word. “Surprising.”

Thomas found himself smiling. “It certainly was that.”

The second bell of the afternoon rang before Claudine came out of the Guildhall, walking between Linda and Eileen. She walked slowly down the stairs and stopped in front of Thomas. “Have you done anything, yet?”