Fists of Justice (Schooled in Magic #12)

They didn’t sign up for this, she thought, numbly.

She held Caleb’s hand, gritting her teeth as the roar grew louder. The railway station was also under siege, hundreds of men and women gathered outside despite the curfew. Emily suspected the council had made a mistake by ordering everyone to be inside by nightfall, even though she knew they’d had little choice. They lacked the manpower to enforce it, let alone any more draconian measures they might have in mind. Even with the Hands of Justice backing them up – and there were no Hands in sight – the Guard was still badly outnumbered.

The roar faded as they made their way through the crowd and down the street. She didn’t envy the clerks, many of whom were carrying documents to Bankers Row. Markus accompanied them, along with a handful of other magicians, but she had a nasty feeling that there were magic-users who had also lost their investments. Sienna might have banned her children from investing in the railway, yet others might not have been so prudent. In hindsight, she should have asked if Alba and her family had invested…

A dull red glow appeared in the distance, casting an eerie light over the city. Emily tensed, glancing from side to side. The handful of people on the street – hurrying home, she assumed – didn’t look threatening. And then she realized the glow was coming from the richer part of the city…

She looked at Caleb. “What’s that?”

Caleb’s voice was grim. “Fire.”

Emily swallowed, hard. Beneficence had a fire service, she’d been assured, but would the firemen get to the blaze in time to save whatever was burning? Or would the flames spread out of control? The city was built of stone, but that might not make a difference if the wind fanned the flames. If the poorer parts of the city caught fire, hundreds of thousands of people would die or be rendered homeless. The fire service would just have to wait for the blaze to burn itself out.

“I can’t see what’s burning,” Caleb added. “But Vesperian’s mansion is over there.”

“Yeah,” Emily agreed.

Caleb was probably right. She had a feeling he was right. Vesperian’s mansion was the most logical target for the mob, after all. The City Guard might not have had the manpower to protect the mansion. Or, perhaps, they would not have tried. Letting the mob run riot for a few hours might just burn off its energy before it started rampaging through the city at random. Who knew? Perhaps the guardsmen had studiously looked the other way. They’d lost money too.

She wondered, as they turned down a street, if Tyron and his mother had escaped. They’d been advised to flee, but had they? She wondered if she would have fled, if she’d found herself in such a trap. It was a trap, too. Tyron owed more money than he could possibly repay. The smart move would be to grab whatever he could and run for his life before the mob caught him.

Caleb muttered a curse under his breath as they turned a corner. A nasty-looking crowd had gathered outside a closed bar, yelling loudly for the bartender to come out and start pouring the booze. Emily didn’t blame the bartender for not showing, not when the crowd looked disinclined to pay for the drinks. A number were already drunk, singing tunelessly as they poured more and more beer down their throats. Others picked up makeshift weapons and hacked at the door, trying to break it down. Emily hoped – prayed – that the bartender and his family didn’t live above the bar. But, judging from the other bars she’d seen, she suspected it was a forlorn hope. The bartender wouldn’t be able to afford lodging away from his bar.

The crowd rippled. “A whore,” someone shouted. “A whore!”

Emily felt a flicker of panic as the crowd surged towards her. They didn’t know who she was, part of her mind noted; they certainly didn’t care. They’d just seen a young woman with only one protector. They thought they could just brush Caleb aside and do whatever they liked to her…

She stepped forward, casting a spell. The magic billowed around her, then lashed out, picking up the crowd and throwing them down the street. She felt a pang of guilt as some of them landed badly, breaking bones; she forced the guilt away, reminding herself that the crowd wouldn’t have hesitated to gang-rape her, then beat her to death. And they would have killed Caleb too…

The magic grew stronger, slamming into the stunned crowd. How dare they? How dare they? A mundane woman wouldn’t have stood a chance if they’d caught her, no matter who or what she was. Emily felt her anger grow stronger, felt the ground shaking under her feet…

Caleb caught her arm. “You’ll bring down the whole street. You have to stop!”

Emily rounded on him, then caught herself as she controlled her rage. She’d nearly lost control. The magic faded, slowly. A roof tile fell to the ground with a clatter. Further down the street, she thought she heard something shatter into a million pieces. The remainder of the crowd – those who could still walk – ran for their lives. Emily couldn’t help feeling, with a flicker of grim satisfaction, that they weren’t drunk now.

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