The Right Side of History (Schooled In Magic Book 22), Christopher Nuttall [books to read romance TXT] 📗

They could be overseeing private meetings, she thought. Alassa had explained to her, more than once, that most big meetings were only for show. The real work was done in side meetings between one or two ambassadors, then presented to the rest of the attendees as a fait accompli. This conference operated on a far bigger scale, but she imagined the basic concept would be much the same. The kings and patriarchs would draw up the agreement and expect the rest of the Allied Lands to bend the knee. But they’d have trouble doing that now even without Void’s interference.

She felt exposed as she walked through the chamber, trying not to shiver at the blank looks surrounding her. The guests were so deeply entranced they were utterly unaware of her presence. A handful had dropped their glasses when the spell hit, their clothes and feet stained with expensive wine. Emily saw one man who’d cut himself, his blood dripping to the floor. The spell had to be strong, if the pain hadn’t woken him. She tightened her mental defenses as she reached the far end of the chamber and stepped into the rear section, where the other guests would be waiting. If Void saw her coming and targeted the spell on her, she wasn’t sure she could resist long enough to escape.

He might have cut himself in a bid to escape, Emily thought, as she kept moving. And, if so, it failed.

Her heart sank as she looked around the smaller chamber. Master Lucknow stood in front of her, his eyes blank. The nasty part of her mind wondered if she should slit his throat now, even though he was completely defenseless. He’d arrested her, he’d plotted to have her killed - or worse - and... she put the thought firmly out of her head. Jan stood beside his master, remnants of a tray of drinks pooled around his feet. Emily leaned forward and kissed him before she could think better of it, hoping it would jerk him out of the trace. But it didn’t work. Jan stood there, his face as blank as his master’s. Emily felt her heart ache as she turned away. Jan had risked everything to save her life and she couldn’t even begin to repay him.

Lady Barb was standing by the far side of the room, as if she was on the verge of walking out. Emily touched her forehead lightly, calling on her every reserve to analyze the spell holding her in place. It was... a contradiction. Strong, yet subtle; immensely powerful, but somehow delicate enough to avoid doing permanent harm. It was like looking at a spider web made of cold iron or steel. A chill ran down Emily’s spine as she considered, for the first time, turning around and running for her life. Whatever Void was doing, it had snared most of the powerful and influential people in the Allied Lands. She might be snared too if she stayed in the castle.

I can’t leave her, she thought, as she tried to break the spell. It was so gossamer-thin that trying to remove it ran the risk of actually doing serious harm. Emily knew Lady Barb well - knew that Lady Barb would sooner die than be a slave - and yet she hesitated to try to undo the spell. She was tempted to try to free Master Lucknow first, even though that would just give her another enemy. He might blame her for everything that had happened since the conference began. But what can I do?

She reached out gingerly, very gingerly. The spell should have been easy to remove, yet it was not. It was drawing power directly from the nexus point itself. Subtle magic, but staggeringly overpowered. Lady Barb’s mental defenses were strong, but she’d been overpowered with ease. Emily would sooner have faced a necromancer. Void knew too much to be taken lightly. And yet... she carefully probed for the link to the nexus point and snapped it. The spell started to fade. Slowly. Very slowly.

Emily tensed as she sensed a flicker of alarm moving through the school’s wards. Gordian had surrendered them... or simply been overwhelmed. She cursed him under his breath. A strong man in his position could have accomplished much, certainly if he’d managed to keep Void away from the nexus point. He might not have realized the danger... but he definitely should have. Gordian had believed Void was Emily’s biological father. He could have used his own blood to link into the nexus point.

Which wouldn’t have worked, she thought. But Gordian should have assumed it would.

She studied the charm for a long moment. It was fading. Lady Barb would snap back to herself, sooner or later. And yet, did she have time? If Void knew she was awakening... Emily turned away, pausing as she looked at Jan. He’d risked everything for her, Emily’s mind reminded her again and again. She owed him. She touched his forehead lightly, carefully cutting the link between the charm and the nexus point, too. He’d also wake up shortly. Hopefully, Lady Barb and Jan would have time to realize what had happened and free the others.

Emily took a breath as she stepped through the rear door and hurried down to the lower levels. She wanted to seek out the teachers she knew and free them, or find Frieda and her other friends, but she didn’t have time. The wards were churning now, warning their new master of what she’d done. Emily was torn between the urge to run and a desire to look Void in the eye and demand to know why, exactly, he’d betrayed her. It made no sense. He could have put a knife in her at any moment, while she’d been living in his tower. Why go to all the trouble of assigning Nanette to watch her when he could have killed or enslaved her easily?

He could have