And then the lanterns dimmed, just slightly.
I tensed. Someone was outside the main door ... no, someone was trying to use magic to open the main door. It couldn’t be my parents. Mum was in the garden, picking herbs for a potion she wanted to try; Dad was playing host to our very unwelcome guest. And besides, they would have knocked - loudly - if they’d wanted to come in. Very few people would enter a magician’s workroom without permission. The servants certainly wouldn’t dare. My list of suspects was very short indeed.
Alana, I thought. She’s been quiet - too quiet - since Dad yanked all three of us out of school.
I slipped back to the mirror, moving as quietly as I could. I’d had far too much practice in sneaking around over the years, although it wasn’t as much use as I’d hoped. Even a relatively young magician like my sister could cast wards to protect her belongings. Picking up one of the earrings, I cupped it in my hand and walked to the other workbench as I heard the sound of someone opening the door. It was very quiet, so quiet that I knew the intruder meant trouble. There’s nothing quite so alarming as the sound of someone doing everything in their power not to be heard. Alana must have assumed that her silencing spell had actually worked. It had, but the runes I’d carved into the door had drawn on the magic to dim the lanterns, then cancelled the spell.
Good thing she didn’t cast the spell on herself, I thought, as I kept the earring pressed against my skin. It shouldn’t make a difference, according to the books, as long as it was touching me. She might have noticed that the spell had failed if she’d intended to ensure that she couldn’t hear either.
I kept my back to the door as stealthy footsteps echoed down the tiny corridor, even though I wanted to turn - or run. I had too many bad memories of being hexed to feel calm when my sister was behind me. Alana had to be annoyed about something. Our parents had told her, in no uncertain terms, not to use magic anywhere near my workroom. Even Alana would have hesitated, normally, to defy Dad. He wasn’t the sort of person anyone defied twice.
“Freeze,” Alana said.
I felt the earring grow warm in my hand, tingling just for a second. Alana made a sound that cut off so sharply that it made me jump. I turned, slowly. Alana was standing there, utterly unmoving. A surprised expression dominated her frozen face. I walked towards her slowly, wondering just how long she’d intended to freeze me. She knew - now - that spells simply didn’t cling to me for long. It was very possible that she’d never bothered to calculate just how long her spell should have left me frozen.
And spells do cling to her, I thought, feeling a flash of vindictive glee. Alana was a powerful and skilled magician, for her age, but I didn’t think she could unfreeze herself without being able to move her hands. Even an upperclassman would have problems. She might have trapped herself until midnight.
“That was stupid,” I said, doing my best to imitate the tone my mother used when she was reprimanding us for being foolish. “Using magic in here? You could have triggered an explosion.”
That wasn’t true, I thought. But as long as she believed it was true ...
I walked around behind her, wrapped my arms around her chest and picked her up. It wasn’t easy. Alana was lighter than me, I thought - she was certainly skinny - but she was as stiff and unmoving as a board. I half-carried, half-dragged her out of the workroom door, down the corridor and through the door into the main house. It was quiet, too quiet. I glanced in either direction, then manhandled Alana into the nearest closet and closed the door. She’d be stuck there until someone found her or the spell wore off.
Or if she manages to free herself, I thought. My sister had always been an overachiever when it came to magic. She might just make it.
I shrugged as I turned and walked back to the workroom. It was much more likely that she’d be discovered by one of the maids. They’d been working overtime, the last few days. I rather suspected that whoever found Alana would be tempted to leave her, but the maids would be reluctant to risk being fired. Alana was a vindictive person at the best of times.
And she left me in a cupboard too, hundreds of times, I thought. Perhaps I should have felt guilty. But I didn’t. She did far worse to me.
I sighed as I stepped through the door. I had work to finish before dinnertime. My parents would let me work until the wee small hours, if I wanted, but I knew I wouldn’t be in the mood. I knew it. Our family has the best chef in Shallot, but I wasn’t looking forward to dinner.
Great Aunt Stregheria was coming to tea.
Chapter Two
I WAS TEMPTED, VERY TEMPTED, TO pretend I hadn’t heard the dinner gong, when it echoed through the house. But I knew my mother would not be fooled. She’d spelled the gong to ensure that anyone within the grounds could hear it, even if they were in the library or a sealed workroom. I finished the last of the runes, put my protective charms back into place and then hurried to my bedroom. The maids had already laid my clothes on the bed.
At least they don’t have to worry about me warding my room, I thought sourly, as I closed the door behind me. My sisters could use magic to keep their possessions safe - and unhexed - but I wasn’t so lucky. They just have to worry about keeping Great Aunt Stregheria happy instead.
I couldn’t help feeling a flicker of sympathy. This time, thankfully, my parents had not insisted that we wait hand and foot on the old crone, but that meant that the duty was shifted to the younger maids. I didn’t think there was any crime that deserved such a horrific punishment. If Great Aunt Stregheria was rude and thoroughly unpleasant to us, her nieces, I dreaded to think how horrible she must be to minor family. I wouldn’t have been surprised if I’d been told the maids had quit on the spot rather than work for us any longer.