THE LAWS OF MAGIC SERIES
Book One: Blaze of Glory
Book Two: Heart of Gold
Book Three: Word of Honour
Book Four: Time of Trial
Book Five: Moment of Truth
Book Six: Hour of Need
Coming soon!
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Random House Australia. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Laws of Magic 5: Moment of Truth
ePub ISBN 9781742740881
Kindle ISBN 9781742740898
A Random House book
Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060
First published by Random House Australia in 2010
Copyright © Michael Pryor 2010
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Random House Australia.
Addresses for companies within the Random House Group can be found at
www.randomhouse.com.au/offices
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication Entry
Author: Pryor, Michael
Title: Moment of truth/Michael Pryor
ISBN: 978 1 74166 309 9 (pbk.)
Series: Pryor, Michael. Laws of magic; 5
Target audience: For secondary school age
Subjects: Spy stories
Dewey number: A823.3
Cover illustration by Jeremy Reston
Cover design by www.blacksheep-uk.com
Internal design by Mathematics
Typeset in Bembo by Midland Typesetters, Australia
Printed in Australia by Griffi n Press, an accredited ISO AS/NZS 14001:2004 Environmental Management System printer
Table of Contents
Cover
THE LAWS OF MAGIC SERIES
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
Twenty-seven
Twenty-eight
Twenty-nine
Thirty
Thirty-one
Thirty-two
Thirty-three
Thirty-four
Thirty-five
About the Author
PREVIEW: The Laws of Magic Book Six: Hour of Need
For the author of the first proper book I ever owned: Johann Wyss
One
Aubrey Fitzwilliam was on a mission. Determined, unwavering, purposeful, he would not be diverted from his goal, especially since spring was in the air.
Aubrey had decided that he was committed to snaring Caroline Hepworth. No, he corrected himself, not snaring. Poor choice of metaphor. ‘Winning her’ wouldn’t do either, and he was staying well away from any idea of sweeping her off her feet. He shuddered at the prospect of calling it ‘pitching woo’, even if it would provoke her extraordinarily attractive laughter.
He would simply tell Caroline how he felt about her. He would be dignified, polite, sincere. He would be clear and forthright. Then he would listen to Caroline’s reaction patiently, not interrupting, and he would honour her intention. He would not argue, quibble or pretend that he was joking all along and that he actually had an appointment to hurry to.
He would begin this mission straight away. Almost, anyway. As soon as he had time, really, what with one thing and another. Or, rather, he’d act when the time was right, for these things can’t be hurried. Timing was everything, he’d found – or imagined – in these matters of the heart.
Aubrey realised that Commander Craddock was talking and sending rather pointed glances in Aubrey’s direction. He composed himself and vowed that he’d pay better attention. Even though he had been in Darnleigh House before, being part of a tour guided by the head of the Magic Department itself was priceless.
Aubrey had been surprised to see Commander Craddock undertaking such a menial task, especially in the tense times since the revelation of Prince Albert’s claim to the throne of Gallia. Perhaps it said something about the man’s professionalism, his sense of responsibility to the department he had steered for years.
Or it might just have been his turn, Aubrey thought as Craddock ushered the small band of irregular agents through the cryptology section. Aubrey sensed the magic in the large, clattering machines along one wall as they churned through possible solutions to intercepted communications. The rest of the room was taken up with desks – behind which worked an assortment of operatives, frowning and scowling mostly, consulting reference texts and scratching away with pencil and paper – and booths where telegraph operators tapped away on their keys, headphones covering their ears and with the distant gaze that comes from managing messages from far away.
Down two flights of stairs and they emerged into the second underground level. ‘Research,’ Craddock said shortly, indicating the long corridor. It was the epitome of anonymity, with institutional green walls, frosted glass panels in many of the doors, grey linoleum so unremarkable that it could have robbed any number of banks with impunity – no danger of its being identified. The doors were bare of signs, simply sporting numbers, nothing to give away what was going on inside – but closed doors didn’t stop magical awareness. Aubrey gritted his teeth as he sensed complex spellcraft at work. He had a typically disconcerting confusion of sensation – his skin prickled with colour, hues that flickered between green and blue with immense rapidity – but the shifting and intersecting nature of the many spells at play made it difficult to determine exactly what sort of magic was being undertaken.
Several others were also affected, to judge from the shifting stances and grimaces. A serious-looking fellow – Woodberry, Aubrey remembered after a moment’s groping for a name – put his hand up. ‘What sort of research, sir?’ he said, in a voice that broke in the middle of his question. No-one laughed.