True Magics (56 page)

Now, Academy classes were on a break. The students were spending most of their time in the taverns and theatres, worrying about how they had done on their exams. Thomas, with a confidence born of hours of study, knew he’d passed everything. Henry was sublimely unconcerned. Eileen had been a wreck for a week, pacing and swearing and trying unsuccessfully to distract herself.

Today was the day they were posting the results. It was also the day Thomas had promised to demonstrate lightning to the Master of Sciences.

Once magic was declared legal and Thomas had admitted to having it, he had been deluged with requests for demonstrations, lectures, and papers explaining how it worked. He’d refused them all during exams, but now, with nothing else on his plate, had to give in. The Master of Sciences was determined that, if magic was a natural force, it was a measurable one, and therefore Thomas needed to submit to being measured.

“Here they come,” said Thomas.

Eileen was wearing her green dress and bodice with her white blouse. She’d declared once she’d written the exam that she’d not wear the robe until she knew she’d been admitted. Claudine was with her, practically skipping with excitement. Since the declaration had been made, the Academy grounds were no longer off-limit to girls, and Eileen had invited Claudine as her guest. George and Linda followed right behind, with Linda leaning on George’s arm and laughing as they walked. George was carrying a large basket with him.

“Did they pack a picnic?” asked Henry. “Please tell me they packed a picnic.”

“Looks like,” said Thomas. He left Henry behind to kiss Eileen and take her hand. Claudine took Henry’s arm and together they all walked through the gates.

As the six of them walked across the commons toward the crowd a student, perhaps a year older that Eileen and possessing a shock of sandy blond hair and several more inches of height than Thomas, fell in beside them. He kept his head down and looked at the ground. Thomas waited for him to say something, but the young man was silent until they were nearly at the commons. Then he blurted. “I start fires.”

Thomas blinked in surprise. “What?”

“Fires,” said the young man. “I start them.”

“Well, don’t do it in the library,” said Henry. “They get upset about that.”

The light dawned on Thomas. “With magic?”

“Aye,” said the young man. “I start fires with magic. That is, I
can
start fires with magic. When I want to.”

“That’s wonderful!” said Thomas. “Can you control it? Enough to light a candle or something?”

“Aye, I can do that,” said the young man. “A candle is easy.” He stood straighter. “I never told anyone before.”

“Can’t blame you,” said Thomas. “What’s your name?”

“Brandon,” said the young man. “Is… there any way for me to have magic like yours?”

“I can teach you some things,” said Thomas. “But magic is only really powerful if a group of magicians work together. Would you like to be one of the king’s magicians?”

Brandon looked wary. “Can I stay at the Academy?”

“I did,” said Thomas. “And I’m the head of them.”

“I’ll do that, then,” said Brandon. “I’ll do that today, if I can.”

“Tomorrow,” said Thomas. “I’ll introduce you to Sir Walter. He’s in charge of us.”

“Another one,” said Henry, as Brandon headed away. “Impressive.”

“There’s a thousand of us here,” said Thomas. He faltered. “Eight hundred now, I guess. It makes sense that some would have magic.”

“Good day, Thomas Flarety,” said the Master of Sciences, a large man with a bushy beard and eyes shining with excitement. “I hope this will be suitable.”

This
turned out to be an archery butt, set on the far side of the commons, about twenty yards away. Thomas nodded. “I would suggest no one stand near it. And we should have buckets of water standing by, to put out the fire.”

“Excellent ideas,” said the Master of Sciences. “Should have thought of that myself. Of course, I’ve never dealt with magic before.”

It took a while longer for the buckets of water to be in place, and the students to be pushed back far enough that Thomas judged it safe. Half the student body had turned out to watch the event, at it took a fair bit of convincing to get them to move. Then the Master of Sciences and his professors insisted on standing equidistance from each other down the short length of the field, to see if they could measure the speed of the lightning’s passing.

“Right,” said the Master of Sciences. “Everyone cover your ears. Thomas. When you are ready!”

Thomas was amazed at how nervous he felt.
It would be just perfect to not have this work, this one time. I can just see it happening.
Thomas took a deep breath, raised his hand and willed lightning to hit the target. There was a clap of thunder, and the archery butt exploded in a flaming mass of hay and wood.

The students stared in awe, and then began cheering.

“You’re their favourite new trick,” said Henry.

“Wonderful,” said Thomas. “That’s not going to make life harder at all.”

“Amazing!” said the Master of Sciences, “Absolutely incredible! Can you do it again?”

“I could,” said Thomas. “But after two, I tend to pass out, and given that they’re posting marks today…”

“Of course, my boy. Of course. Not to worry. But another day, perhaps? We’ve been trying to see the true power of lightning for years and having you cast the lightning would make it much safer, I think, than standing out in a thunderstorm waiting. Much drier, too. We just need a way to measure the power of it…” He wandered off, muttering to himself.

“Eileen! Eileen!” William was running toward them from the library. “They’re posted!”

The words electrified the crowd. Students took off at a run toward the library and the large posting board that was put there every spring.

Eileen stood frozen in place. “He means the marks, right? Just the marks?”

“Oh, no,” said Henry. “They post the names of the admitted as well.”

Eileen’s fists went to her mouth and she began shaking. Thomas held out his hand, but she didn’t move until George pushed her from behind. “Well don’t stand there like a lump. Go see!”

Eileen stumbled forward, catching Thomas’s hand to regain her balance. She didn’t let it go. She started walking toward the board, slowly at first, then faster and faster until she was running across the grounds with Thomas beside her.

A crowd several hundred strong surrounded the boards. Students pushed their way forward to see their marks, only to be pushed aside moments later by others. Shouts of joy mixed with groans of disappointment and cries of despair. Eileen, Thomas’s hand still firmly in hers pulled up at the back of the crowd. “How do I get through?”

The students in front of her turned at the sound of her voice. They tapped the ones in front them on the back. “She’s here!”

Word spread through the crowd. The young men began moving out of the way, until Eileen had a clear path. She let go of Thomas’s hand and started walking forward. The students on either side followed her movement, craning their necks to watch.

“They’re listed by grade,” said Thomas, following her. “Then by last name.”

“Here!” said Michael. He and the other ten survivors of the company were standing in front of the New Admissions list, resolutely facing out. “We haven’t looked yet,” he said, stepping aside. “No one has.”

Eileen took his place in front of the board. One hundred twenty-five new students were admitted to the Academy every year, and five pages with twenty-five names each were nailed to the board. Eileen put her finger on the bottom name on the last page and ran it up. Then she did the same with the second last, and the middle page. Her hand started trembling as she went to the second page, looking at the higher and higher scores beside the names of the boys who would be attending the Academy.

A third of the way up the page of the highest scoring new students, Eileen’s finger stopped. She stayed there a moment then, in a voice they could barely hear, said, “I’m in.” She turned, her eyes meeting Thomas’s. For the first time in months, Thomas saw nothing in them but joy. “I got in.”

Eileen ran forward and jumped into Thomas’s arms. “I got in!”

The Student Company let out a cheer, and Thomas squeezed Eileen tight while she laughed and cried with joy.

It took a nearly an hour before Eileen could break free of the crowd. Half the students congratulated her, then the Master of Rhetoric and Professor Dodds, then the Headmaster himself. When the last hand was shaken, Henry pulled the bottle of wine from George’s basket and declared it time for lunch. The six sat together on the common, surrounded by the company, sharing the food and wine and laughing. The students peppered Eileen with advice and Claudine declared that she would be taking the exams next spring.

When the last of the food and wine was gone, Henry announced that he would buy them all a round at the Broken Quill, so they could properly toast Eileen’s victory. The students cheered and as a group they all walked to the gate. Eileen held Thomas’s hand and leaned on his shoulder.

“I can’t remember when I’ve been this happy,” she said.

“Thomas,” George’s voice came out half-choked. He pointed. A carriage stood on the other side of the gates. John Flarety and Lionel Gobhann were standing in front of it, and Magda Gobhann and Madeleine Flarety were inside, peering out the windows. All four looked worried.

“Oh, by the Four,” Thomas barely breathed the words.

Henry looked at the carriage, then at Thomas. “What?”

“Our parents,” said George. “They’ve come. All of them!”

“Really?” said Henry, who sounded like he was enjoying himself way too much. “You stopped a war two months ago. How frightening can this be?”

“I have to tell my parents about the magic,” said Thomas.

“I have to tell them I got into the Academy,” said Eileen. “I mean, they knew I was trying, but…”

“If you’re going to worry about anything,” said Henry, “worry about explaining what you two have been doing since exams ended.”

Eileen spun around and raised a warning finger. “My parents don’t need to know
anything
about that!
No one
needs to know anything about that!”

“If you don’t want anyone to know,” said Henry, “then you should really learn to be quieter.”

Eileen swung a fist at him and Henry dodged out of the way. Thomas caught her other hand and pulled her to him. George opened his mouth to say something to Thomas but just then Madeleine Flarety spotted them. “Thomas!” His mother raised an arm and waved. “Thomas!”

Thomas looked at his parents’ concerned expressions, then at Eileen’s furious face and George’s baleful glare. He began laughing. He took Eileen’s hand in his and pulled her forward. “Come on. All of us.”

Hand in hand, with Henry and George beside them, Thomas and Eileen walked through the Academy gates to face their families.

Copyright

True Magics

Copyright © 2015 Erik Buchanan

Cover © 2015 Alex White

Cover Model: Erick Fournier

www.dragonmoonpress.com

www.erikbuchanan.ca

http://dragonmoonpress.com/2013/04/24/copyright/

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