And she was right. I couldn’t even do that.
“Your sister has magic,” Dad said, firmly. It was a tone that promised punishment to anyone who dared to disagree with him. “She just cannot access it. Being at Jude’s will help her to develop her magic.”
I swallowed, hard. “Dad…I can’t go.”
“You will,” Dad said. “The family needs the trinity.”
“We have a weak link,” Alana muttered.
Dad gave her a long considering look. “Do you still want to go to the party tomorrow evening?”
Alana winced. “Yes, Dad.”
“Then be quiet,” Dad ordered.
He looked back at me. “Caitlyn, I understand your concerns,” he said. “Be that as it may, you do have magic. You have to be trained to use it.”
“I don’t,” I said, miserably.
Alana had told me that I’d be disowned when I turned twelve, if I didn’t show any signs of magic. I didn’t want to believe her, but I’d always worried. She’d certainly made it clear that she would disown me, when she became head of the family. Her great and terrible future would be blighted by a powerless sister…
“You can and you will,” Dad said. “Your mother and I are in agreement. You and your sisters will enter Jude’s after the summer holidays.”
Bella looked…nervous. “We could learn from you instead…”
“You’re growing older,” Dad said. “And there are limits to what we can teach you.”
“And we have to make friends and contacts,” Alana added.
“Quite right,” Dad agreed.
He launched into an explanation of the problems facing our house, the same explanation he’d given me earlier. I barely heard a word. My sisters had spent the last four years tormenting me with magic, but now…now I was going to school. Jude was a good school, according to my parents, yet I’d heard horror stories from some of the apprentices. If you had strong magic, the school was great; if you were weak, you were picked on by everyone else. And the teachers did nothing to stop it. Alana and Bella wouldn’t have any trouble – the family name would make up for any problems – but me…? I’d be lucky if I wasn’t permanently trapped as a frog by the end of the first week.
Alana poked my arm. “Pay attention.”
I looked up. Dad was looking back at me, annoyed.
“Now, there will be some specific accommodations made,” he said. “Alana, Bella…you will not discuss your sister’s problems with anyone. You will both be under a binding spell to make sure of it.”
“But Dad,” Alana protested. “I…”
“The matter is settled,” Dad said, firmly.
Alana shot me a nasty look that promised trouble. A binding spell wasn’t particularly dangerous, not if cast by a skilled mage, but it was a very blunt way of saying that my father didn’t trust her to keep her mouth shut. It was an insult, in many ways. And I wouldn’t put it past my sister to figure out a way around the binding. Dad wouldn’t risk putting a strong spell on his daughter. If nothing else, Mum wouldn’t let him.
I tried, anyway. “Dad, I can’t work magic,” I said.
Dad cocked his head. “Do you want to work magic?”
I nodded. I’d wanted it ever since I’d understood that my parents were magicians. And I still wanted it. The power Bella wasted so casually…what could I do, if that were mine instead of hers?
“Then this is your best chance,” Dad said, seriously. He clapped his hand on my shoulder, reassuringly. I knew he meant well, but…“The tutors are the best in the world. They can teach you.”
“Your last chance,” Alana said.
I shook my head. I’d never been able to get a spell to work, not one. There were people with no talent who could do better than that. But me? I couldn’t cast a single spell.
Perhaps I should run away, I thought. It was a tempting thought. But where would I go?
Dad clapped his hands together. “Caitlyn, you can go,” he said. “Alana, Bella; I have some other matters to discuss with you.”
I nodded, then turned and left the study. My sisters were going to hate me after today. The binding wouldn’t hurt them – Dad would see to that – but it would be humiliating. I’d find it humiliating too, if someone had cast such a spell on me. And they had…
Revenge, I promised myself. Alana might have magic, but I wasn’t going to bow the knee to her. I wasn’t doing anything else until bedtime, so I might as well plan revenge. And then see if I can give her a fright.
Smiling, I hurried back to my room. I had some thinking to do.