Nanette's Tale

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.”

Penny sat, reluctantly. “I suppose you’re right,” she said. “I just wish I could see.”

Nanette wrapped an arm around her shoulder, feeling the girl relax as the seconds ticked on. She understood Penny’s frustrations, although she didn’t share them. Lillian could try to tell the guests that Penny had prepared the spells, but it wouldn’t be the same. Her teammates would steal most of the credit and there was no way to stop it. And afterwards… her lips quirked. Penny might be better off not being credited with anything.

She felt another pang of guilt as she ran her hand down Penny’s back. She didn’t have to put the plan into action, did she? She could run and hide, but… there was no point. Cloak had her over a barrel. And even if he didn’t… she wanted — needed — revenge. She’d do whatever she had to do, betray whoever she must, if it gave her a clear shot at Emily. She wouldn’t just kill the girl. She’d burn down everything she’d created and dance on the ashes before cutting her throat.

Penny shifted. “I’m sorry you’re trapped with me.”

“I’m not.” Nanette turned her head towards Penny. “I like being with you.”

Their lips touched, lightly. Nanette felt a flush of pleasure as Penny’s arms went up and around, holding her close. It was tempting, so tempting, to just relax into the touch, to spend the next few hours making out instead of doing something — anything — else. But time was rapidly running out. The diversion was about to go into effect. And… if she was caught in the school, after the chaos faded, she was dead.

Penny sighed, pressing against her as Nanette triggered the spell. Her body seemed to soften, then sag to the bed. Her eyes were open, but glazed. Nanette breathed a sigh of relief as Penny succumbed to the compulsion. She’d steadily — and subtly — weakened Penny’s mental defences over the past few weeks, but it had been impossible to tell how well she’d done until she tried to take control. Now… Penny was hers. The entranced girl favoured her with a pleasant smile, her mind elsewhere. Nanette hoped she was happy, wherever she was. She wouldn’t enjoy her return to the real world.

Time to go, she thought, as she glanced at the clock. The school was silent. The entire population would be in the arena, watching the display. There’s no point in hanging around.

She opened her trunk, removed her knapsack, checked to make sure the second copy of Lamplighter’s Lines was where she’d left it and looked down at Penny. The girl’s lips were twitching, as if she were kissing an invisible face. Nanette smiled, trying to ignore the gnawing guilt. The first time she’d used the spell, she’d had a volunteer. Now…

“Stand up,” she ordered, quietly. In her entranced state, Penny shouldn’t be able to resist. “Come with me.”

Penny moved like a drunkard, her arms swinging around as if she were trying to dance or fight. Nanette took her hand and guided her to the door, then into the empty corridor. She listened for a moment, just to make sure she couldn’t hear anyone, before steering Penny down the corridor and up the flight of stairs. Penny seemed to glide through the air, unbalancing with every third or fourth step. Nanette started to tighten her grip before she caught herself and cast a levitation spell. If she squeezed too tightly, if she brought Penny out of the trance, she’d know something was wrong.

She felt nervous as they half-stumbled, half-glided towards the library. The wards didn’t bar their passing. Penny’s mere presence was enough to subvert wards that would have balked at Nanette alone. Nanette smiled, then unlocked the door and steered Penny into the library. The chamber appeared deserted, but… she ordered Penny to stay put as she checked the stalls and the librarian’s office. She didn’t have to subvert those wards to confirm the chamber was empty. The library felt eerie as she turned back to Penny. She thought she saw things lurking in the shadows, hiding at the corner of her eye. She blinked, and they were gone.

The wards must be having an effect on me, she thought. She’d seen stranger things, a long way from human civilisation. Or perhaps they’re trying to drive me out.

Her lips quirked. Wards weren’t very smart. It wasn’t easy to fool them, but it could be done. Even wards linked to wardmasters could be circumvented, if one put enough thought and magic into the process. The magicians couldn’t respond to alarms if the alarms never sounded. She silently thanked Aurelius for her lessons as she walked back to Penny. The girl’s hands were encircling the air, hugging an invisible friend. She was deeply entranced.

“Penny,” she said, quietly. “Open the restricted section.”

Penny stumbled forward. Nanette braced herself, knowing she might have to start running at any second. It was easy to give simple directions to the entranced girl, but more complex orders might defeat the enchantment. She wished, suddenly, it was as simple as getting a password out of her and using it to defeat the wards. That would have been easy. She could have entranced Penny, taken the password and then put her to sleep before raiding the library. As it was… she had no idea how the wards would react if she stunned Penny. There was a very good chance they’d raise the alarm.

She watched, feeling dirty, as Penny opened the section. The cage doors swung open, wards parting as they sensed an authorised user. Nanette gently pushed Penny forward, following her into the cage. The books seemed to look back at her in disapproval, their spines sparkling with wards that would do everything from colour her hands if she so much as looked at them funny to freeze her in place or turn her into a rat. Her eyes narrowed as they wandered the shelves, picking out Lamplighter’s Lines. The book was rare, but it wasn’t that rare. There were books on the shelves in front of her that were worth a great deal more. She was tempted to try to steal them instead, despite the risk. It seemed a lot of trouble for one book.

The notes must be very important, she thought, as she ordered Penny to remove the book and carry it out of the cage. The girl obeyed, a blissful — and creepy — smile on her face. What are they?

Penny started to lower her hand, threatening to drop the book. Nanette caught it, placed it on the nearest desk and ordered Penny to sit in the corner. The enchantment would keep her in her fantasy world. She sat down, opened the knapsack and removed the second copy. The spells seemed confused as she put the books together, spine to spine. She gritted her teeth, then began the transference spell. The wards shimmered around her, as if they weren’t quite sure what to make of it. She hoped they didn’t decide to raise the alarm.

There’s only one book keyed to the security spells, she told herself. And that’s all the wards need to keep them happy.

She concentrated, holding the security spell in her mind as she transferred it from one book to the other. It was a relatively simple enchantment, simple enough to make it difficult to fool. She could have overpowered it in an instant, or simply torn it away from the books, but that would definitely have set off alarms. Sweat prickled down her back as she guided the spell forward, holding it together as she moved it to the other book. She held her breath as the enchantment took root. If it failed…

The spell solidified, again. Nanette sat back in her chair, breathing a sigh of relief. As far as the wards were concerned, the second copy had become the first copy. No, it had always been the first copy. She took a moment to centre herself, then carefully separated the books and placed the school’s copy on top of her bag. It wouldn’t do to mix them up, not now. She smiled at the thought as she looked at Penny. She’d gone too far to be stopped. And she was damned if she was going to be defeated by her own stupidity.

She picked up the school’s copy and flicked through it. Whoever had owned the book had written a lot of notes, but none of them seemed particularly new or insightful. Nanette had read newer books covering the same points, presenting them as long-established facts rather than new discoveries. She didn’t see anything new, certainly nothing that appeared unique. The whole mission struck her as pointless. There were definitely darker — and more interesting — books in the cage.

But it’s what he wanted me to do. Nanette looked at her repaired wrist. And he paid for it.

“Penny,” she said. “Come here.”

The enchanted girl ambled forward, swinging her hips in a ludicrously sexy manner. Nanette wondered, idly, what she was seeing. Or where she thought she was. The enchantment didn’t force its victim into a specific scenario. Instead, it guided the target into crafting their own reality. It worked, if only because the victim didn’t want to look away. Their own mind filled in the gaps. Penny was trapped, and would remain so until she fell asleep or was shocked back to reality. Nanette watched her, carefully, as Penny took the copy. The moment she fell asleep, the spell would collapse.

“Put the book back on the shelf,” she ordered. “And then close the cage.”

Her heart beat like a drum as Penny drifted back into the cage. The alarm would be raised, sooner or later, but she wanted to put as much distance as possible between herself and the school before the staff realised something was wrong. And they would, if Nanette was still in the library when Penny fell asleep. The wards weren’t supposed to allow Nanette to enter without the Deputy Head Girl.

Good thing they didn’t demote Penny when she blasted Lillian, Nanette thought. That might have been awkward.

She watched Penny gliding back out of the cage, her hands moving in a manner that that suggested she was unsure of whether or not she had a purpose. They moved in fits and starts, starting to drop to her sides before being raised again to carry out her orders. Nanette smiled as the cage door closed, feeling a flicker of victory. She’d transferred the spell, put the copy in the original’s place, and now…

“Sit down and enjoy yourself,” she ordered. She didn’t need Penny any longer. The girl could lose herself completely in her fantasy if she wished. “And don’t go to sleep.”

A dull alert flickered through the wards. Nanette tensed, expecting to feel magic crackling around her at any second. But nothing happened. It took her a moment to realise the diversion had finally gone into effect. She glanced at the clock, noting it had taken longer than she’d expected for her hacking to work. The flyers had cast the spells in the wrong order, creating a whole new framework of magic. She wasn’t sure if it would kill anyone — it depended on how quickly the staff and guests reacted — but she was certain it was a display they’d never forget. And Penny was lucky not to be there.

She scooped up the stolen book and shoved it into her knapsack. The clock ticked faster now. It wouldn’t take long for the staff to realise what had happened and come looking for Penny. Once they found her, they’d realise she’d been enchanted and start looking for the enchantress. Nanette hoped they’d check Nadine’s suite in Pendle. The aristo brat didn’t deserve to spend the rest of her life as a goldfish. Probably. If nothing else, the experience would probably teach her a lesson or two.

A surge of magic flashed behind her. She sensed it, too late. A hex slammed into her back, blowing her right across the room. She cursed her mistake as she hit the far wall and crashed to the floor. She’d lowered her protections when she’d enchanted Penny. It had been the only way to do it, but she hadn’t thought to rebuild them when she’d left the bedroom. She could have kicked herself. Making that sort of mistake at Mountaintop was just asking to be hexed, or forced to act like a buffoon, or turned into a frog.

And the alert snapped Penny out of it, she thought numbly. The impact had jarred her badly enough to make it hard to focus. A desk floated into the air and threw itself at her. She tried to dodge, too late. She felt her arm break — again — as the desk struck her. Good thing she’s not thinking too clearly either.

“You…”

Penny threw a wave of magic at her. Nanette felt herself lifted into the air and pressed against the wall. She forced herself to think, to try to muster a countercharm, as Penny advanced. Her blonde hair was billowing around her, as if it were caught in a storm; her eyes flashed anger and murder and a guilt Nanette didn’t understand. She’d never looked more beautiful. And terrifying.

She’ll set off the alarms if she does something more dangerous, Nanette thought. It looked as if Penny didn’t want to really hurt her. That was going to change. She’d seen one girl hex another girl into a bloody mass for cheating on her and… and what she’d done to Penny was far worse. She couldn’t have been angrier if Nanette had slipped her a lust potion and then had sex with her. All she has to do is aim at the wall and fire.

“What did you do to me?” Penny raised a hand. The pressure on Nanette’s ribs started to grow. “What did you do?”

Nanette found herself speechless. There was no good answer she could give. The confusion in Penny’s eyes was the only thing standing between her and death. She wasn’t sure what was real and what was part of the fantasy, not yet. It would take time for the disconnect between wherever she thought she’d been — and where she was — to settle. But it wouldn’t take long. Wherever Penny had been, it wasn’t the library.

“What did you do?” Penny’s voice rang with betrayal. “What did you do?”

“I…” Nanette started to gather herself to cast a counterspell. It might set off the alarms, but Penny was going to do that anyway in a moment. “I gave you what you wanted, and you…”

Penny’s magic grew, pressing Nanette harder and harder against the wall…

… And then she crumpled to the floor as someone hexed her in the back. The magic vanished a second later. Nanette fell to the ground, her legs buckling. And…

“Nadine,” Lillian said. “What happened?”