An explosion shook the room. She ducked as hot liquid splattered everywhere, despite the wards. The tutor cleaned up the mess with a wave of her hand, then dispatched the unfortunate brewers to the gym mistress. Nanette winced, although she knew the tutor couldn’t take risks. They weren’t brewing harmless potions, not now. A single mistake could easily get them killed.
“Not bad,” the tutor said, when she inspected their work. “However, next time, I expect both of you to do the brewing.”
“I’m not very practiced,” Nanette said. Penny had insisted on doing the brewing personally, if only to ensure Nanette didn’t make a mistake. “I…”
“Then it’s time you got practiced,” the tutor snapped. “You can attend my evening sessions, every Monday and Thursday night.”
Nanette nodded. Behind her, she heard more snickers. She was getting sick of that sound already. And it was only her very first day. The sooner she inspected the library and found a way to get the book out, the better. She’d leave the students with a little present as she left, she decided. Perhaps she could give Lauran and her fellow mean girls a taste of real danger.
Penny nudged her as the bell rang. “What do you have after lunch?”
“Emotional Stability,” Nanette said. She was quite curious. Neither Mountaintop nor Whitehall had had anything of the sort. “What is it?”
“You’ll be in with the little girls,” Penny said. She sounded genuinely sympathetic, rather than mocking. “Sorry.”
“Thanks,” Nanette said. She packed up her books and followed Penny to the door. “Lunch now?”
“Yeah.” Penny groaned. “And it’s a Monday too.”
Nanette said nothing as they walked down to the dining hall and took their place. The food looked awful, compared to the dinners served at other schools, although she had to admit there was a lot of it. Boiled ham, boiled potatoes, boiled vegetables… the smell made her stomach churn, even though she knew she should be grateful to have it. The younger students handed out plates of food and poured glasses of water, then hurried to their own tables before the second bell rang. Nanette forced herself to eat. She wasn’t that hungry, but she’d learnt the hard way to eat when she could.
“This weekend, try and eat in Pendle if you can,” Penny said. “The food there is much better.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Nanette said. She grimaced as she tasted the ham. She had no idea what it had been boiled in, but her imagination provided too many answers. Brine? Or something even worse? “How do you keep from starving?”
“Midnight feasts,” Penny said. “We’ll have one in a couple of weeks. Just you wait and see.”
Nanette nodded and surveyed the room. The girls looked strikingly alike — the younger ones in grey, the older ones in black — but it was easy to pick out the cliques and factions. Lauran was holding court in the middle of a group of girls who were clearly from magical families… Nanette blinked in surprise as she realised the group had girls of all ages. Mixed-age groups were largely unknown at Mountaintop. Even the quarrels hesitated to recruit people who were too young. The only student they’d sought to recruit before she entered her final year was Emily. Nanette had never been considered…
She put the surge of sudden hatred out of her mind as her eyes swept the room. One clique was probably composed of aristocrats, girls from a dozen different nations bound together by a shared belief their blood made them superior. She didn’t recognise any of the faces, but that meant nothing. The paintings she’d seen bore very little resemblance to reality. Another clique was clearly composed of commoners, banding together against the magical and mundane aristocracy. And there were more… sporty girls, smart girls, girls who were more interested in girls than boys… it was easy to pick them out. Nanette smiled, coldly. She hadn’t wasted her lessons after all. Who knew? Maybe she could find a way to turn the class divisions to her advantage.
There may be no boys here, she thought, but otherwise… it’s just like Mountaintop.
Penny nudged her. “I’m meant to be going flying after lunch,” she said. “Are you going to join me?”
“I can’t,” Nanette said. She rather doubted Penny had forgotten. The Young Head Girl was trying to put her in her place. “I’ve got the new class. Remember?”
“Yes,” Penny said. “I remember.”
Rubbing it in a bit, aren’t you? Nanette tried to look downcast. As long as you don’t guess the real secret…
She shrugged, dismissively. “If flying is so great, why isn’t it taught at the other schools?”
“Women are better at it,” Penny said. “And they don’t want us to show up the boys.”
Nanette frowned. It was possible, she supposed, but unlikely. She’d studied the charms carefully. There was no hint they’d work better for women, unlike some of the spells she’d seen that were linked to virginity or… or simply couldn’t be applied to the other gender. She wasn’t sure what would happen if a man cast an anti-cramping spell, but she was certain it would be pointless. And besides, who in their right mind would give up a source of power just because women were better at it than men? The magical community wasn’t mundane.
“Really?” She tried to sound doubtful. “Is that true?”
“Yep.” Penny winked. “And there’s also the prospect of being able to fly away from an unwanted husband.”
“Or simply turning him into a frog,” Nanette pointed out. A sorcerer would be able to stop his wife flying away, if he wished. “Why waste energy on flying away?”
Penny shrugged. “That’s what I was told,” she said, as the bell rang. “And you know what? It doesn’t matter. Flying is fun!”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Nanette said. “What now?”
“Now, you go study with the little girls,” Penny said. She patted Nanette’s back in mock-commiseration. “I’ll see you afterwards.”
“Sure.” Nanette stood and glanced around the room. The cliques really were for girls of all ages. What was so bad about studying with the younger girls, if it was a class one had never taken? “I’ll see you this evening.”
Chapter 5
For a moment, as she stepped into the Emotional Stability classroom, Nanette honestly wondered if she’d got the wrong room. It didn’t look like a classroom. There were no chairs, no desks… just comfortable cushions scattered randomly across the carpeted floor and giant stuffed animals resting against the walls. A soft radiance with no discernible source bathed the room in light. It looked more like a nursery than anything else, although it was strikingly depersonalised. There were no paintings of a child’s parents or grandparents, no sweet little homilies carved on the walls…
“Ah, you must be Nadine,” a voice said. “Welcome, welcome.”
Nanette turned to see an elderly woman leaning on a cane. “I’m Duchene,” the woman said, pleasantly. “Headmistress, for my sins.”
“Ah.” Nanette stumbled into a hasty curtsy. “I… have I got the right room?”
“You have,” Duchene said. She walked past Nanette and into the room. “You’re just a little early.”