But Emily did kill a necromancer, she reminded herself. Necromancers were dangerously insane, yet extremely powerful. I wish I knew how she did it.
“I know.” Lillian looked up at her. “Are you still going to mentor me?”
“Yes,” Nanette lied. The die would be cast on Saturday. She’d flee the school on Sunday, win or lose. “And Penny is going to help you too.”
Lillian tensed. “Help me? Her?”
“She has to make it up to you, somehow,” Nanette pointed out, patiently. “And giving you some extra help will go a long way towards it.”
“And what happens if I refuse?” Lillian sounded reluctant. “I don’t want anything from her.”
Of course not, Nanette thought. She knew how she would have reacted if someone suggested she play nice with Ophelia. The wretched girl hadn’t tried to kill her. Penny nearly killed you.
“She does have quite a bit to offer,” Nanette said, instead. She felt a pang of guilt, which she ruthlessly pushed aside. “And you could ask for something you want in return for letting her help you.”
Lillian frowned. “Like what?”
“She could teach you how to duel,” Nanette said. “Or she could teach you how to fit into society. Or she could simply introduce you to powerful people who could do favours for you.”
“Really?” Lillian didn’t sound convinced. “I had the impression she wasn’t that important.”
“She’s Deputy Head Girl and will be Head Girl next year,” Nanette said. She rather suspected that wouldn’t be true. “No matter her origins, being Head Girl will open doors for her. She’ll have an apprenticeship, she’d graduate… and she’ll be in position to help you by the time you graduate. And she’ll be grateful if you let her kiss your ass a little right now.”
Lillian blushed. “Kiss my ass?”
“Old saying,” Nanette said. “The ass you kick on the way up may be the one you have to kiss on the way down.”
“Oh.” Lillian giggled. “I don’t think she’ll kiss my ass.”
“Not literally,” Nanette agreed. She leaned back in her chair and spread out her hands. “It’s like this. She screwed up, big time. It’s knocked her down a peg or two. She may continue to fall unless she finds a way to slow and stop the fall. If you let her help you now, showing she’s learnt her lesson, she’ll reward you when she’s climbed back up again.”
“I see, I think,” Lillian said. “And how do I know she’ll reward me?”
“Because it’s in her self-interest to reward you,” Nanette said. “If she cheats you, everyone will know she cheated you. They’ll never trust her again, no matter what she offers. She might not care about you, one way or the other, but she’ll care about her reputation. She’ll want to repair it… she does want to repair it.”
“And you think she can do it by kissing my ass,” Lillian said. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“That’s because you’re not thinking like her,” Nanette said. “Or the greater community.”
She grinned. “Look at it this way. There’s a man — a handsome man — who’s married to a friend of yours. He cheats on the friend with another friend and gets divorced. You think he’s really handsome, but would you marry him? Of course not. A cheater who cheats is always a cheater, a betrayer who betrays is always a betrayer… it’s not easy to like a betrayer, even if he betrays in your favour. You’ll always be wondering when it’s your turn to get betrayed.”
“And you think they’d care if she betrayed me?” Lillian snorted. “I’m a commoner.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Nanette assured her. She could tell Lillian hadn’t done much socialising outside her dorm. “They’ll look at patterns of behaviour. A person who betrays once, whatever the motive, might betray again. Safer to deal with someone who hasn’t betrayed anyone. And believe me, Penny knows it.”
“Very well.” Lillian held up a hand. “But I want you to be there too.”
“Of course.” Nanette grinned. She’d happily play messenger if it meant she got to rewrite the messages a little. Neither of the other girls would suspect anything until it was far too late. “I’m sure it will work out for you.”
She chattered to Lillian until Lights Out, then returned to the bedroom. Penny was already asleep, tossing and turning under the blanket. Her desk was covered with parchments, each one outlining part of the planned flying display. Nanette studied them for a moment, then undressed and clambered into bed. She had a week — just under a week — to finalise her plans, then place a knife in Penny’s back. She regretted it, even though she was fairly sure Penny would escape blame. The investigation would reveal the truth. And she’d have to be well away from the school by the time the penny dropped.
And if this goes wrong, she thought as she closed her eyes, I’m dead.
Chapter 10
“You have to give the papers to Betty,” Nanette said, calmly. “And make sure she understands she’s to use them.”
“I understand,” Lillian said. “I won’t mess up.”
Nanette nodded, dismissing the younger girl. The last week had been hectic, the student body consumed with a growing sense of excitement as the time for the flying display drew ever nearer. Penny might have been grounded — and Nanette was banned from the display anyway — but that didn’t keep her from running around like a headless chicken, constantly checking and rechecking her spellwork until the final hour. Nanette hadn’t expected it to be quite so hard to make the tiny changes, before convoying the documents to Lillian. She’d had fewer problems caused by people who actually were trying to stop her.
She smiled, coldly, as she made her way back to the bedroom. The morning had been spent in the hall, watching a series of speeches from former students who’d become important after graduating. Some of them she knew by reputation; others were complete strangers. She had no way to know if they really were as powerful and influential as they claimed, but it was quite hard to fool magicians. A person who lacked competence would reveal herself very quickly. Even the least amongst the teachers was an expert in her field.
Penny was lying on her bed when she entered, trying to look nonchalant. “Did they mention me?”
Nanette shook her head. “No. Were they meant to?”
“No, but… you never know,” Penny said. She waved a hand at the stone walls. “Out there, they’re heading down to watch the display. And they won’t know my team is following my plan.”
“Lillian will tell them.” Nanette had a feeling Penny was going to regret everyone knowing her name. “Don’t worry about it.”
She glanced at the clock. The display was scheduled to begin precisely at two o’clock. Half an hour to go. Her mouth felt dry. She didn’t dare start until the school was nearly empty. Once she started, she was committed. She snorted. She’d been committed from the moment she’d turned Nadine into a goldfish and taken her place. There was no way she could play the innocent, if she were caught. People would want to know how and why she’d done it.
“I do worry about it.” Penny stood and paced the room. “I… how can you be so calm?”
Nanette patted the bed beside her, inviting Penny to sit. “It doesn’t matter that much to me,” she said. “You did all the work.”
Penny eyed her, darkly. “Do you really think it doesn’t matter?”
“There’s nothing you can do about it now, is there?” Nanette smiled, dryly. Outside, she could hear feet pounding down the corridor. “All you can do is wait and see.”