Fallen Magic

One teleportation, quite a bit of surprise on my part and an hour of what was supposed to be unpacking but in reality was mostly reading about the tragic ending of the First Civil War later, I report to Electra’s office as instructed.

All of the staff offices are on the south corridor on the third floor. In a palace. In the Central Ring. I suppose it makes a sort of sense that the King would supply the premises for an institution he funds, but he surely owns properties that aren’t in the innermost circle of the City, next to his own residence and opposite the Abbey Royal and the Central Bank.

There must be a fascinating history to how this place came to be used as a school for magicians, and I’ve already resolved to find it out as soon as is reasonably possible.

I’m a little early, but I’m not alone in the corridor: a boy of about my age is standing next to the wall, toying with a small object in his hand. He looks up as I approach, and we study each other.

He’s a little taller than me, with short dark hair and angular features. His skin is pale, though not nearly as much as Electra’s, and his figure is mostly obscured by a robe similar to Electra’s but with scarlet lacing instead of her silvery-grey. There’s a strange tension in the way he holds himself that I can’t quite read. “Hello,” he says after a moment.

His accent is unmistakeable: a few of the girls at Genford had it, and most of the rest imitated it. It’s the cold, clear speech of a noble, and the precise tailoring of his robes leads to the same conclusion.

“Hello,” I reply. He’s still staring at me, and it’s becoming a little unnerving. “Are you a student here?”

He nods. “I only arrived a few hours ago.”

“So did I.”

“I suppose we’ll have classes together, then.” It’s impossible to tell from his tone how he feels about that prospect. “I’m Edward. It’s good to meet you.” He holds out a hand.

“Tallulah,” I reply, shaking it.

“Are you here to see Electra, as well?”

“Yes.” I’ve been assured that we won’t need any further discussion of my Fall after the encounter with my mother (I had to bite back several protests at that remark) but I’m still not sure I want this strange noble boy knowing I’m Malaina. “Should we knock?”

I indicate the door next to me, labelled E. James by a small gold plaque of the sort you see on doctors’ offices. Her surname is surprisingly ordinary.

Edward shrugs. “You can, if you like. I don’t mind waiting.”

I do mind waiting, so I rap sharply on the door.

“Thank you for waiting,” says Electra, her voice precise and measured, as if she were standing right next to us. “Miss James will see you shortly.”

I jump back at the first sound of her voice, then gather myself, annoyed at being so startled by an enchantment and that I’ve shown that in front of Edward. I suppose there’s nothing surprising about it. Electra is a magician, after all, so enchanting her office door is a perfectly normal thing to do.

I’m just not used to magic.

Edward seems to be completely ignoring my reaction, instead stepping closer to the door and resting his palm against its surface. Nothing happens. He pauses and then takes a single step back and throws something at the door – the object he was holding, a small marble.

It hits with a faint thud and then falls to the ground.

“Thank you for waiting. Miss James will see you short – “

The enchantment-Electra is interrupted by the door swinging open and the real Electra standing just inside, glaring at us. “Please do not throw things at my door,” she says.

“I was testing the enchantment,” Edward explains before I can say a word. “Clearly not activated by contact alone, but also not sensitive to the type of object with which it is touched. A brief period of contact, possibly, or the force of the impact. I’d need to carry out further tests to be sure which.”

Before I have a second to think this is my new classmate? Electra says “Edward has been raised with magic for his entire life. There is nothing miraculous or supernatural about it to him; it is something to be studied and analysed and understood. He is not a typical student. Tallulah, you are neither required nor expected to keep up with him.”

Great. So not just a noble, some sort of magical prodigy. All I need.

“I suppose you might as well come in, since you’ve disturbed me anyway. Pick that marble up off the floor.”

We obey. Edward stops short partway through the door, leaving me stuck behind him for a second before he moves out of the way at a none-too-subtle cough from Electra. The door shuts smoothly behind me without being touched, and I try not to jump.

Electra’s office is painted a deep black, and rugs of the same colour have been laid across the stone floor. There’s no natural light, but a large enchanted lamp hangs from the ceiling and makes the room brighter than the sun would have done, to the point where the sharp contrasts are almost painful to my eyes.

Shelves run most of the way around the room. They’re filled mostly with old-looking books with titles like The Art of Wardsmithery from Ancient Times to the Present Day, but there are a few metal objects of unknown purpose. Set into the wall behind Electra’s desk is what looks like a set of ivory tiles, a couple of them faintly glowing. The desk itself is nearly empty, with only a selection of quills and a single stack of papers taking up space.

There are three armchairs, two on my side of the desk and one behind it; all of them, naturally, are black. “Sit down,” says Electra, walking around the desk to obey her own command.

We do so.

“You’ve both missed the Headmaster’s official welcome, since you’re starting classes three days late. But such is the nature of Malaina, and of the timing of birthdays. Happy sixteenth, incidentally.”

“Thank you,” Edward replies. He must be Siaril, then: that School Awakens on the magician’s sixteenth birthday. I probably could have worked that out anyway, knowing that he’s noble and that most of the old Siaril families send their children here.

“This little meeting is to make you both aware of the rules of the Academy, in general and as they apply to you in particular, and also of the dangers of magic. Once that has been done, you will have your first lesson in magic. Shall we begin?”

She snaps her fingers, and a pair of knives fly out from the sleeves of her robes and towards us. I’m not fast enough to dive out of the way or even to make it out of the depths of the armchair before the blade of one is pressed to my throat.

I freeze. What is she – how – what do I do? I don’t even dare to speak, knowing the knife is that close and that one wrong move could be fatal.

Electra is watching us calmly from across the desk. She’s smiling.

Okay. Think, Tallulah. I’m not dead, so there must be some other point to this. I just need to figure out what it is.

“Whatever point you wish to make,” says Edward, voice strained but firm, “consider it made.”

“Very well,” Electra says, and for one horrible second I think she’s about to move the knife just a little further. But she makes beckoning motions with her hands, and they soar away from us and into her hands.

“What in stars’ names – why – “ I stammer, heart pounding, wondering whether I should just get out of this room –

“I presume you are aware of the consequences of harming me,” says Edward. The knife may be gone but the strain in his voice is not.

“Naturally,” Electra replies. “It is fortunate that I had no such intention.”

“No such – then why – “

“I needed you to believe that I intended to do you harm. That is the only reliable way of detecting class one mala sia.”

“So you’re either threatening innocent children with knives, or you’re provoking a monster that could destroy you as easily as blinking,” I say, the shock fading a little.

Electra shrugs. “This new to your powers, and on grounds of my choosing? I think I could take you down with minimal collateral damage.”

“And – that’s not how mala sia work! You can’t become that less than a day after – “

“What makes mala sia,” Electra explains, “is the willing acceptance of the destructive power that Malaina – Edward, where are you going?”

He’s standing up and walking towards the door. “I don’t feel safe in the same room as someone who’s prepared to do things like that.” He tugs the door handle, and it doesn’t open. “Please open the door.”

I get to my feet, my legs trembling, and join him.

“Your father would do far worse than that,” says Electra.

“Not without cause. And never to me. I’m following the first rule of managing Malaina: extract yourself from the situation causing loss of control.”

He’s Malaina? Of course he is; Electra did that test on both of us. I’m impressed that he’s maintaining this much coherence if he’s close to an episode.

The door swings open, and Edward and I stumble out.

“I am aware,” says Electra to our backs, “of what you will do if I do anything else that is remotely inappropriate. Under those terms, and remaining where you are, would you be prepared to continue our meeting?”

We stop.

“First,” I say, “explain what that was.”

“It can’t hurt to hear that explanation,” Edward adds. “If she has hostile intentions then she’s choosing a strange way to go about it.”

Electra’s lips twitch in amusement. “As I was saying, the common factor that links all mala sia is the acceptance of their destructive power. Most mala sia are class two, which means that they came to that point by means of failing to escape the situation that caused their Fall or an equivalently traumatic situation. A very rare few, though, immediately embrace their newfound power. Some out of a misguided belief that they can control or direct it; others who want to watch the world burn. That is class one, and such people can present the illusion of control until they execute the specific destruction they plan – except where their lives are in immediate danger. Does that satisfy you?”

Edward and I glance at each other.

“That is all true,” he says. “Given that she believes she can win a fight against a mala sia under these circumstances, it is not unreasonable. The alternative is that she was attempting to provoke me into an active episode, but if that was her intention then she could have succeeded by simply refusing to open the door for long enough. Tallulah?”

He analyses her behaviour in the same way he did the enchanted door. I can’t work out what he wants from me. I can’t get over the part where she just – it doesn’t make any sense that the woman who just magically held a blade to my throat can be the same one who gave me the answers I desperately needed only a few hours ago.

Edward’s analysis does make sense to the part of my mind that is capable of setting all that aside and looking at the situation logically. And the alternative is finding another teacher I don’t even know and begging them for help because of something that might not even be a problem.

“I’m prepared to stay.”

Edward’s eyes flick from me to Electra and back. “Then so am I.”

“In that case, allow me to continue. What I have just explained means that, no matter the circumstances, no matter how bad your situation is: there is nothing that you cannot make worse through an active episode. There is no justification for giving in to it.”

“If it’s a choice between that and death – “ Edward suggests.

“Then you choose death.”

Edward and Electra stare at each other for a long moment. He looks away first. “Understood.”

“Tallulah?”

I blink a few times. “I don’t intend to find myself in that sort of a situation.”

“Few people do. It is unlikely but hardly impossible.”

“I understand, then.” And I do, here and now, when my life isn’t in any danger (Electra’s knives not withstanding). But if I do ever find myself in that position, would I be able to choose to die knowing I had a chance of saving myself?

Stars, I don’t know.

“Good. Now, as Edward correctly pointed out, the first rule of preventing active episodes is to remove yourself from the situation causing it. Any teacher will accept an imminent episode as a valid reason to leave class, though you are – no, neither of you two are the type to find excuses to get out of class. In the event the episode is brought on only because of your own mind, you find someone you trust and tell them. And if there’s no-one you can trust, find me.”

I certainly don’t trust Electra. Maybe I did a little before the knives thing, but you can’t really look at someone the same way once you’ve realised they can do something like that with a smile on their face. And Edward is the only other person I know here and we’ve barely met.

“If you can’t remove yourself from the situation… each Malaina has their own coping mechanisms. You’ll have to develop your own. Focusing on your breathing tends to be a good starting point. Edward, I will advise that you don’t try to resist an episode through sheer force of will. That will inevitably fail, and the backlash when it does will make it all the more dangerous. Understood?”

“Yes.”

“You can assume I understand what I’m told unless I state otherwise.”

“And you can assume I don’t appreciate backtalk, and if you do that in my classes you will be disciplined. Now, Malaina students are subject to the same rules as those from other Schools by default. The only addition is that you must report any episodes to me as soon as is practical.”

Edward raises his hand.

“Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like this?” Electra asks. “Very well, say whatever it is.”

“I’d like to report a passive episode which occurred about three minutes ago,” says Edward. “The cause was a teacher threatening me with a knife. I followed the appropriate procedure and would like assurances that the teacher in question will not repeat her behaviour.”

Electra sighs dramatically. “She will not as long as you do not cause her any trouble, I am sure.”

I raise my hand.

“You don’t have to do that if you have a question, Edward just thought that was a clever way to get around my request about backtalk. Which, for his information, it is not.”

“You said by default. That implies that there is some other non-default state.”

“I should have expected the lawyer’s daughter to notice that. Yes, in the event that active episodes become a regular occurrence or have dangerous consequences, additional measures can be put in place to ensure the safety of all our students. But I hope that will not be necessary.”

So do I.

“Each teacher is entitled to enforce their own rules within their classroom, and discipline their students as they see fit. I will supply you with a copy of each set of rules. You will be respectful to all students, teachers and other staff,” she recites. “We do not tolerate bullying, harassment or violence and especially not the use of magic to further those aims. With regard to the use of magic outside classes, it is permitted, but only magic which you have been taught in class and only when the teacher of that class has not instructed you otherwise. Edward, I know you do not have the slightest intention of obeying that rule – “

“Of course I intend to obey the rules – “

“And your father has submitted a note requesting your exemption from it. That leaves me in a rather difficult position: one of the core tenets on which the Academy was founded is that all students are treated equally, but your father has the power to make my life extremely difficult if he so chooses. Besides which enforcement of that rule is always rather difficult if the student is not a complete idiot. So here is what I am going to do: if you are seen breaking that rule by any member of staff, or if you cause any damage beyond your own ability to fix, you will face the consequences of that. If you are asked by anyone about your breaking of that rule, this conversation did not happen.”

Edward smiles a little.

“Most of the rest is housekeeping business, and can wait,” Electra continues smoothly as if she hasn’t just tacitly given Edward permission to break the rules. “Now, we come to the matter of your timetables. I’m afraid neither of you will be pursuing your chosen elective courses.”

“What? Why?”

“But I – “

She holds up a hand for silence, and gets it. “Edward, you cannot take advanced practical courses until you are a qualified magician and have passed the prerequisite courses, which you have not. Neither is there an option to complete those classes in a shorter period as you suggested. You will take only the standard courses, with the exception of Advanced Magical Theory. Besides, your possessing two Schools means you’ll have to work twice as hard as you otherwise would, which should at least be enough to keep you occupied.”

Edward gives Electra a look that suggests he doesn’t consider that matter settled.

“As for you, Tallulah, I am forbidding you from taking the Certificate of Education this year – and yes, I am entitled to do that. Given the role that academic pressure played in your Fall, subjecting yourself to more of it seems foolish at best.”

I have to admit she has a point, but it’s still frustrating. I thought I had a plan to get my life back on track, and now I don’t. And I could have coped with it, couldn’t I?

Couldn’t I?

“Thank you for your patience with that,” says Electra with barely disguised sarcasm. “Now. Shall we learn some magic?”