“Your father was very insistent,” Gordian informed her. “He appears to believe it would be useful.”
Emily frowned. Void—her father, as far as anyone outside a select group knew—wouldn’t have found it easy to convince Gordian to let her study Soul Magic. Soul Magic was extremely dangerous, even in the hands of a trained Healer. It was normally hedged around with all sorts of warnings and oaths, just to prevent accidents. She wasn’t even sure she could keep up with the other students in the class. Prospective Healers would have been studying it last year.
He thinks it might be useful, she thought. Why? She’d have to write to him, soon.
“Understood,” she said, finally. She was going to be very busy. Perhaps she could work her way through her schedule, then put some of her classes off until she had a grip on everything else. Or perhaps that was a little optimistic. “Is that the only major addition to my schedule?”
“For the moment.” Gordian shrugged. “You’ll have quite a bit of free time on your schedule, but ... you’re expected to actually use it for study. Running down to Dragon’s Den every day will cost you.”
“I know,” Emily said. She hadn’t had much free time over the past year, not since she’d returned to Whitehall. It had been easy to decline the handful of invitations to visit Dragon’s Den or go walking up the hillside. She supposed it would have been harder if she’d still been dating Caleb. “I’ll be spending most of my free time in the library.”
“And running the dueling contest.” Gordian’s lips twitched. “And doing everything else a Head Girl is supposed to do.”
Emily groaned. “Is sleep included on the list?”
“I believe it’s an optional extra,” Gordian said, deadpan. “Pencil a nap in for some time next week.”
Emily had to smile. “Is there no spell that allows someone to go without sleep for a full year?”
“Only if you don’t mind seeing things after the first few days,” Gordian said. “I believe the hallucinations can be quite unpleasant.”
“I know,” Emily said. They’d been warned, time and time again, not to abuse wakefulness potions. One or two doses might be tolerable, but after that the side-effects turned nasty. It was better to sleep than risk stumbling around in a daze. Cabiria had taken five doses last year and wound up sleeping for a week when they’d caught up with her. “I won’t risk it.”
“Very good.” Gordian glanced at his watch. “We’ll discuss the other matters later, when we have time. Make sure you bring your proposal to me before term starts.”
“Yes, sir,” Emily said.
“And one other thing,” Gordian added. His voice was suddenly very hard. “Do you recall what you were told, last year, about punishments for younger students?”
Emily had to force herself to recall. “We were told that if we issued unjust punishments to our mentees, we would share them.”
“Correct.” He pointed a finger at her. “That is also true—perhaps more true—of being Head Pupil. You have significant authority over your fellow pupils, even the ones your age. Abusing it will not be tolerated.”
Emily nodded. “I understand.”
“Very good,” Gordian said. “You may go now.”
Chapter Three
AS SOON AS SHE WAS OUTSIDE Gordian’s office—and antechamber—Emily leaned against the stone wall and closed her eyes. It was hard, so hard, to think clearly. Head Girl? She had never expected to be Head Girl. No one had even suggested she might be in the running for the nomination! Hell, if anyone had suggested it, she would have assumed that failing four of her eight exams would have disqualified her. God knew she wasn’t going to get full marks for the exams she’d retaken ...
She took a deep breath, centering herself as she clutched the two scrolls to her breast. Head Girl ... she could cope. She’d have to cope. It wasn’t something she’d wanted—she’d always assumed that her feelings would be taken into account—but there didn’t seem to be any way to get out of it. The election wouldn’t even have been a close-run thing, not if ten out of fifteen senior tutors had supported her. That was enough of a majority to ensure that Gordian couldn’t simply veto her election.
And that would be great, if I wanted the post, she thought. There were too many things she had to do to welcome more work. This is going to keep me very busy.
She opened her eyes and looked down at the first scroll. It was a list of duties, ranging from the simple to the complex. She would have to do all of them, while somehow keeping pace with the rest of her classmates. She’d assumed she’d have plenty of time to catch up and move ahead, now that she was single again. Instead, she was going to be wasting valuable time trying to handle the Head Girl’s responsibilities as well as her schoolwork. Patrolling the corridors, supervising trips to Dragon’s Den ... offering advice to younger students ... she had no idea how she was going to cope. She wasn’t even sure what she’d be asked. She’d never bombarded the Head Pupil with questions.
The second scroll was an updated timetable. Emily glanced at it, wondering just why nearly all of her classes were in the morning. It looked as though sleeping in was going to be impossible, even though—as a Sixth Year—she wouldn’t have the bed tipping her onto the floor if she didn’t get up before classes began. She wondered, absently, why the tutors were punishing themselves too. They could sleep in too ...
She put both of the scrolls in her pocket and walked back to the stairs, heading down towards the lower levels. The school was surprisingly quiet. She didn’t see anyone as she reached the bottom of the stairs, not even a handful of cleaning staff. No doubt the students she’d seen earlier had headed back to their bedrooms, if they’d finished their exams. The library wouldn’t be open until classes resumed, unfortunately. Emily had considered trying to sneak in herself, but she knew that would be far too revealing. Besides, she had no idea what protections Lady Aliya and her staff might have added over the last few months. They wouldn’t be connected to Whitehall’s wards.
They were trying to upgrade the whole system, after the entire school nearly collapsed, she reminded herself. The library had been a ghastly mess. Hundreds of students had worked hard just to put the books back on the shelves. They didn’t want to rely on the school’s wards again.
She frowned as she heard the sound of raised voices, dead ahead of her. Lady Barb was arguing with Sergeant Miles, their voices echoing down the corridor. Emily froze, unsure what to do. She couldn’t quite make out the words, but they sounded angry ... she shivered, remembering the one time she’d seen Sergeant Miles mad. He was so calm—normally—that his anger had been frightening.
The sound cut off, abruptly. A moment later, Lady Barb strode out of the office.