Chapter 21

Alastair had to admit, the quartet’s music was lovely. With a flute of cider in one hand—perfectly crisp with a hint of lime—he kept time on his thigh with the other.

“Sir,” Quicksilver said, appearing at his side. “Come quick. It is urgent. Do not look worried. Let the show continue unhindered.”

Alastair rose, doing his best to appear unconcerned, and followed the elemental through a side door to a quiet antechamber. Away from the music, he could just hear something outside—a low roar, like that of some foul beast. Or beasts.

“What’s that?”

Quicksilver shot a look back at the door. “Shh. We should avoid frightening the students. However, the city is… rising up.”

“Rising up?”

“Rioting, sir. It started in the lower districts. This has occurred at times before but never so dire. Mayor Samuel Lamkin usually finds a means to quell things, but this time—”

The noise outside grew louder. Alastair swallowed hard. “The school’s defensive spells?”

“Strong and holding, sir. It is my belief they will prevail.”

Alastair shook his head. “That’s not good enough. We need to cast more. If you would gather the faculty, I can take lead. Let’s keep the party going on as long as possible until we get everyone assembled. You’re right. There’s no use scaring the kids. Once we have a grasp on the situation, we’ll go on lockdown. Get the students back to their Houses where there are additional defensive spells in place, and they’re all hidden. Just in case the worst happens and people get into the castle. First and second-years will need to be divvied up into the Houses based on available space. Start in Gallimaufry. They have the most unused beds.”

Quicksilver bowed low. He could always make more bedrooms if needed.

“It will be done, sir.”

Alastair was almost afraid to ask his next question, “Are there mages outside with them?”

“It is difficult to say, sir,” Quicksilver said. “I can cast a Seeking spell once I gather the faculty in here.”

“Good idea.”

If this was just a riot of common people, it was likely the wards would hold. But if mages were involved, and they set their sights on Emberstone, that could be very bad news indeed. The castle wards were strong, not unbreakable. A powerful or very clever mage could do some damage.

Quicksilver headed off, trying to appear calm as he slid back through the Entrance Chamber, and Alastair got to casting. First, he closed his eyes and sent a thread of magic out into the castle walls to diagnose what spells had already been used in warding.

Hm. Interesting.

The work was good—layers of charms dating back to the school’s founding, all woven together, year after year, into a seamless whole. They were refreshed once—no, twice—a year by the faculty. He’d seen the process a few times as a student, though he hadn’t been skilled enough in ward-casting to know what they’d been doing. Now he was. Each faculty member—one for each discipline—had always walked the perimeter, each doing their own type of work. Elemental did two rounds—one first to lay the foundation of the current year’s ward, and one more after everyone else had gone, cementing everything into place.

How would he strengthen an already well-warded castle? Simply doing more of the same wouldn’t suffice. If a mage unpicked the existing wards, they’d be able to undo one more measly layer. He would need to do something different.

“I hear you’re calling us in to work on the wards.”

Alastair knew that voice.

Ms. Shadow stood in the doorway—not wearing a costume, Alastair noted.

“I have some ideas,” she said. “Scrying Magic might be of some use to you here.”

She was calm, as if nothing were going on outside at all.

“What do you mean?” Alastair asked, trying to keep the panic from his tone. The roar of the crowd was getting louder.

“The Scrying Department does some work on the wards every year,” she said, “but it’s pretty limited. Intruder Detection—that kind of thing. I can expand that spell; use it to flag potential weaknesses in the castle, raise an alarm if anyone gets close to breaking them—even if they’re just planning it, not actually casting yet. I can also tell you now if there are Dark Mages outside. Quicksilver mentioned he was going to do a reconnaissance casting. I can do one quicker and better.”

“Uh,” Alastair said. She was like a drill sergeant. “Okay. Yes!”

“Right.”

She closed her eyes and clasped her hands behind her back. Then, quickly, she opened them again.

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“Two Dark Mages,” she said, tone clipped. “They’re obscuring themselves. I can’t tell who they are. They’re powerful, but I bet they wouldn’t make it through the normal wards. Still, we should do additional casting just in case there’s someone I’m not seeing. Ah, nibblefutz. They just noticed me looking.

“Obscura,” she whispered. “Makes sure they can’t reverse the Scry.”

Before she could say anything more, Ms. Snapdragon, Mr. Banner, and Mr. Kerplunk poked their heads in the room. The string quartet was still playing—but soon, the outside noise would be loud enough that the students would notice, even over the sound of the music. What then?

“We’re not great ward-casters,” Ms. Snapdragon admitted, “but we can add muscle to whatever you do. And we can round up students. We’re good at wrangling them, and we know them all. Huecloud and Monroe are with Quicksilver at the South Towers.”

“Great,” Alastair said, always happy for the help.

He started casting, trusting that the other faculty were skilled enough to join in on his spell-in-progress as they made their way over. Ms. Shadow’s magic weaved seamlessly in with his. Even though this was their first joint casting, it was as if they’d worked together for years.

He felt a new energy join the casting: Eloise. Then Sebastian. He could dimly sense that the quartet stopped playing, that some of the teachers were herding students into their Houses. He was too wrapped up in the spell to pay it much mind.

“Alastair.”

He was weaving a tricky bit of magic—a casting that combined a monitoring Scrying spell with a Summoning spell that would call a minor demon if the monitor was triggered. Ms. Shadow and Eloise stood beside him, working on their own parts of the spell.