He stopped. “It’s not for you, is it? It’s for Frieda.”
Emily nodded. There was no point in trying to hide it for a few seconds more. Cirroc had probably heard the rumors too. Emily had hoped that Frieda’s attack on Marian would remain a secret, but parts of the story had leaked out. Thankfully, the full truth hadn’t escaped or all hell would probably have broken loose.
“She needs a tutor,” she said. “Someone she’ll actually listen to.”
Cirroc raised an eyebrow. “And you think she’ll listen to me?”
“I think it’s her best chance,” Emily said. She’d read Cirroc’s record very carefully. “You got high marks in both alchemy and charms, plus you have experience in breaking down complex subjects for novice students. And you’re old enough for her to take you as a respected authority, rather than a fellow student. She might listen to you when she won’t listen to me.”
“I think you’ve never tried to tutor anyone,” Cirroc said, dryly.
Emily shrugged. She’d found it easier to tutor her mentees than Frieda. They’d seen her as a senior student, rather than a friend. Frieda, on the other hand, had too much experience talking to Emily as an equal. Emily couldn’t help wondering if Frieda had the same feelings towards Emily as she had towards Celadon. He was an equal and yet he was presuming to lecture her from a position of superiority.
“I can’t tutor her,” she said, shortly. “But you can.”
Cirroc made a show of considering it. “I suppose I could,” he said, finally. “What’s it worth?”
Emily looked back at him. “What do you want?”
She held up a hand before he could say a word. “I don’t have the time or patience to dance around the subject, with you hinting and me playing guessing games,” she added. “A simple statement of what you want will be sufficient.”
Cirroc grinned. “A date next weekend, in Dragon’s Den?”
Emily felt a hot flash of rage, then realized he was joking. “Pick something else.”
“We shall see.” Cirroc shot her a challenging look. “The second round of the dueling contest will be held next week, won’t it?”
“As you know perfectly well,” Emily said, dryly. She doubted anything short of an earthquake would convince Gordian to cancel it. “We have been discussing plans for the last couple of days.”
“Quite,” Cirroc said. “I want you to hand the dueling club to me.”
Emily fought down a smile. If Cirroc wanted to throw her in the briar patch, who was she to object? And yet, she would have to convince Gordian to let Cirroc take over. That wouldn’t be easy. Perhaps she could make him see that she really didn’t have the time to handle the dueling club as well as everything else, not if she was focused on the contest. Or maybe just make the transfer and then dare Gordian to do anything about it.
If he tries to override me, he’ll call my authority as Head Girl into question, she thought, wryly. And if he sacks me for gross insubordination, I won’t be Head Girl any longer.
She tried to sound reluctant, although she had the feeling she wasn’t fooling him. “Why do you want it?”
Cirroc stretched. His muscles bulged against his shirt. Emily tried not to stare.
“To you, the club is nothing more than fun,” he said. “To me, it’s a chance to make myself look very good to the dueling masters.”
“Fun,” Emily repeated. She wouldn’t have called the club fun. There were too many members who seemed to think that playing around with dangerous hexes was a perfectly reasonable way to spend the evening. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“Yeah.” Cirroc shot her a challenging look. “What else can you give me?”
Emily could think of a number of answers to that question, but most of them were either obscene or useless. Cirroc had a point. Practical experience running a dueling club would look very good on his record, as he’d said before. She could pour out enough money to smooth his path, but no one had enough money to guarantee he’d be taken as an apprentice. Real experience, on the other hand ...
And it’s not like I want to keep the job, she thought. I had to let Cirroc run the show last week, just because I was too busy to be there.
“I can let you take the club, as long as the Grandmaster doesn’t object,” she said. It would be easy to just leave Cirroc in charge, but that would cause problems further down the line. He might not be credited with running the club if he didn’t have the formal position. “I trust that will be satisfactory?”
Cirroc gave her a look that reminded her of a cat eating cream. “It will be more than satisfactory. We can organize the transfer after the second round.”
“You can run the contest too,” Emily said. She had the feeling he’d want that more than the club itself. He’d be showing off in front of the third and final set of representatives from the dueling club. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”
“Thank you.” Cirroc leaned forward, smiling. “And when do I start tutoring?”
“As soon as possible,” Emily said. She’d told Frieda to wait in the library, but she was reluctantly aware that Frieda might not have listened to her. Frieda had taken to vanishing at odd moments, spending as much time as she could out of the castle. For someone who was more sociable than Emily, Frieda seemed to be spending a great deal of time alone. “Now, if possible.”
Cirroc rose. “Well, I don’t have anything to do for the rest of the day,” he said. Emily fought down a flash of envy, mingled with the droll awareness that Cirroc would consider keeping his side of the bargain more important than his formal schooling. “Unless you want to go to Dragon’s Den.”
Emily shook her head. She’d found herself noticing men more over the past year, after she’d started dating for the first time, but she didn’t have the time to date. She honestly didn’t know how Imaiqah had managed it. And besides, Cirroc was handsome, but he had the kind of hard edge that worried her. She was fairly sure she was a more powerful magician than he was, yet she still found his obvious strength a little intimidating ...
And Caleb was hardly a weakling, she told herself as they walked into the corridor. For someone who would probably have been considered a nerd back on Earth, Caleb was amazingly muscular. But then, he had spent two years at Stronghold. Do you think he couldn’t have crushed your neck if he tried?