The Master Magician

They reached the door, which Bennet opened for Ceony. A broad hallway, painted white with dark-stained oak floorboards underfoot, greeted them. An oriental rug of burgundy and navy covered most of the floor. At the end of the hall spiraled a set of white-banistered stairs. The left side of the hall opened onto a grand sitting room, complete with a fainting sofa and a pianoforte. A five-tiered crystal chandelier hung above a crystal table in the center of the room, upon which sat a tray of unused teacups. It looked very much the opposite of Emery’s front room—surfaces were uncluttered, or they only sported one or two pieces of show, such as a vase or music box. It all looked rather immaculate.

The right side of the hallway opened onto a smaller room. It had a small table with four chairs and a granite fireplace but didn’t appear to be meant for dining. Perhaps snacking? Ceony wasn’t sure what sort of rooms could fill a house this size, particularly one that was only home to two people.

She tore her eyes away, trying not to stare. “So you signed up for paper?”

Bennet laughed an awkward, airy laugh. “Not really. I was assigned it by Magician Aviosky. She didn’t give me much room for negotiation.”

“She didn’t give me any, either,” Ceony agreed. Bennet seemed pleased to hear that he was not alone in his experience.

She wanted to add, But I’m glad it turned out this way, but Bennet interrupted the thought with, “Well, I’ll start the tour here. Down this way is the leisure library and the guest lavatory, as well as Magician Bailey’s office, but don’t go in there unless invited, and if the door’s closed, don’t knock. He doesn’t like being disturbed when he’s working.”

“Working on what?” Ceony asked, followed by, “Where is Magician Bailey?” Shouldn’t he be giving her the tour?

“Um,” Bennet said, glancing up and down the hallways on either end of the spiral stairs. “I think he’s in his office. He was in there before you came; he’s getting ready for your testing. There are preparation materials of some kind. He couldn’t really tell me what.”

Ceony nodded slowly. It made sense, at least. But so far Pritwin Bailey’s reclusiveness made Emery look like a socialite.

“Down here”—Bennet gestured to the left—“is the kitchen, the casual dining hall, and the formal dining hall. You can tell the difference by the table size and the lighting. The formal dining hall has color-shifting glass and a longer table.”

“Oh,” Ceony said. Color-shifting glass? That was a spell she didn’t know. She’d have to look it up and learn how to cast it. Her youngest sister, Margo, would faint to have such a spell in her bedroom!

“The chef will be here in about an hour,” he added. “Past the stairs—”

“Chef?” Ceony asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” Bennet said. He smiled and brushed hair off his forehead with his free hand. He certainly was a handsome man. “Magician Bailey has one come in every weekday, and on weekends we fend for ourselves.”

“I can cook,” Ceony offered as Bennet moved to the base of the spiral stairs. “I don’t mind. I enjoy it.”

“Really?” Bennet asked. He glanced from her face to her feet and back again. “This weekend, maybe? Magician Bailey won’t cancel his cook . . . Besides, I’m sure you’ll be busy. With your preparations for the test and all.”

Ceony nodded.

“Past the stairs is the sunroom, and through there the greenhouse, though I only have a few plants thriving at the moment. Magician Bailey hasn’t tried to grow anything for a while. It’s a lot of work. And there”—he pointed to a back corner of the house with his suitcase hand—“is a storage room and the hallway to the servants’ quarters, which we don’t use.”

Ceony committed the layout to memory, though the last bit proved difficult, as she hadn’t seen the rooms herself. The house was so large she wondered if even her quick memory would be able to master it.

Bennet continued the tour through the second and third floors, pointing out the music room, the technical library (where all his study materials lay, along with two very large maps), a few guest bedrooms, his bedroom, a drawing room, trophy room, deck, and study. Farther in, he indicated another drawing room, two “dressing rooms,” a materials room for magic crafting, a private sitting room, a study just for apprentices, and an assortment of different-sized lavatories. A small one resided just outside Ceony’s bedroom. If the sheer, needless vastness of the mansion didn’t make Ceony’s head spin, the idea of having her own bathing room did. Even at Tagis Praff she’d never had that luxury.

Bennet opened the door to her room, which had indeed been overwarmed by the afternoon sun. It had a long off-white rug running perpendicular to the dark oak floorboards, which readily creaked under their footsteps. A rather large bed with rose-colored blankets sat in the middle of the room, extending out from the length of wall between two westward-facing windows. A dainty glass table and two white chairs for private breakfasting were arranged in one corner. Against the wall with the door rested a large wardrobe, and across the corner from it, a tall dresser.

It was one of the smaller bedrooms Ceony had seen in the mansion, but it was easily two and a half times the size of her room at the cottage.

The cottage. Ceony missed it already.

Bennet set her suitcase down on one of the chairs. “I’ll give you a chance to settle in, and I’ll call you down to dinner, unless you’d like to eat alone in your room.”