But then, she didn’t need to work, not if she didn’t want to. The family would take care of her for the rest of her life.
Dad clapped his hands, the sound echoing outside the room. I groaned inwardly – even that simple spell was denied me – and watched as Lucy wheeled the food into the room. The last day of school, it seemed, was special. Cook had produced his finest roast beef, then used magic to keep it hot until we were ready to eat. Lucy might be a maid, but even she could cast the spells to release the food. She’d always been nice to me, at least when she knew I was listening, yet I’d seen her cast a few disdainful glances at me when she’d thought I wasn’t looking. I don’t know why. Alana had targeted Lucy with a few nasty spells before Mum had put a stop to it. Whatever Mum had said to my sister had clearly been effective.
“Let us eat,” Dad said, after casting a spell to make sure the food was safe to eat. I don’t know why he bothered – the cook had been with the family longer than I had been alive – but he insisted on checking, every time. He’d taught us all the spells too, although I couldn’t make them work. Someone who wanted to poison me would have an easy time of it. “Lucy, carve the meat.”
Henry, the cook, had exceeded himself – as usual. I would have enjoyed the meal, I thought, if I hadn’t been brooding. Alana had probably ensured I wouldn’t get to enter upper school, even if my father shovelled money in their direction. Madam Rosebud was probably already complaining to the headmaster about my cheeky attitude. And if I didn’t get to go on, what then? There were no apprenticeships for students without powers, at least in Shallot. I couldn’t even get hired as a sailor until I was older!
And I’d still need some spells if I wanted to sail, I thought, numbly. What can I do with no magic at all?
“I worked out the last stages of the potion,” Mum said. “The idiot who wrote the book left out two steps and altered five of the quantities.”
“Well done, Mum,” Bella said. “Can anyone brew it now?”
“Caitlyn can’t,” Alana said. She snickered. “Zeros can’t brew potions.”
I felt my cheeks heat with helpless rage. Mum had taught me how to brew, but – of course – I lacked the magic to trigger the cascade that turned the potion from a mixture of odd ingredients to something useful. It didn’t matter how carefully I followed the instructions, or what changes I made if I felt like experimenting… nothing worked. Alana or Bella could take a potion I’d brewed and trigger it, but I couldn’t trigger theirs. Maybe I was doomed to work in an apothecary. Someone who had enough magic to start the cascade, but lacked the patience to brew the mixture properly…
“That’s very good, dear,” Dad said. “Are you going to write it up?”
“I think so,” Mum said. “It isn’t anything worth trying to reserve for the family.”
“Don’t let Stregheria hear you say that,” Alana said. She was trying to be grown-up, acting as though she was an adult already. “She’d expect you to reserve it.”
Mum looked annoyed, her lips thinning until they were almost invisible. Great Aunt Stregheria certainly would expect the recipe to be held in reserve. She was a selfish old biddy, utterly devoted to herself. Mum had never liked her, even before she’d turned us into frogs. I’d heard, afterwards, that Mum had been on the verge of calling Stregheria out for a duel. Stregheria was old and powerful, but I wouldn’t have bet against my mother. She was powerful too.
“There is little to be gained by keeping it back,” Mum said, stiffly. “It’s a basic healing potion, not something radical.”
I listened, absently, as we finished our dinner. I’d hoped, as soon as Lucy had removed the plates, to be allowed to leave, but no such luck. Dad told all three of us to follow him to his study. I sighed, even as Alana exchanged excited looks with Bella. Dad’s study, to them, was a hall of wonders. To me, it was just another dangerous room in a dangerous house.
It was, in many ways, the sort of study I’d like to have. The walls were lined with bookshelves, including many volumes I knew were unique or forbidden; the chairs were charmed to be comfortable, all the better to allow my father to work. But I also knew the room was strongly warded, so strongly warded that even Mum couldn’t enter without permission. Alana had tried to sneak in a few times, but she’d always been caught. Dad had not been amused.
“Your mother and I have made some decisions about your futures,” Dad said, once we were sitting on comfortable armchairs. They were so large that I half-wondered if someone had cast a shrinking spell on me when I wasn’t looking. Even Dad looked small, sitting on his chair. “The three of you will be going to Jude’s.”
It was so unexpected that I didn’t quite grasp what he’d said, not for a long chilling moment. It had to be a joke, a cruel joke. Even my sisters looked shocked. Alana actually paled. And why not? I’d long since given up hope of going to Jude’s. Entering a school for magicians without magic…it would have been safer to cover myself in fish sauce, then go for a swim in the shark tank.
“Dad,” Alana managed, finally. “Caitlyn can’t go to Jude’s!”
Dad fixed her with his stern look. “And why not?”
Bella spluttered. “Because she’s a zero!”
“Caitlyn defeated a spell that bested me,” Dad pointed out, icily. “Can either of you say the same?”
“…I,” Bella said. “Dad…”
Alana took over. “Dad, she hasn’t been able to cast a single spell,” she said, talking about me as if I wasn’t there. “She can’t even do this!”
She waved a hand in the air. Sparkling light appeared out of nowhere, surrounding her like a halo. It was a very basic spell, perhaps one of the most basic. Light could be bright, perhaps even blinding, but it couldn’t cause any real harm. Most parents preferred to use light spells to teach their kids because the risk of accidentally starting a fire or injuring themselves was minimal.