world.
âAngela, you canât be serious,â our aunt demanded, apparently shocked that her niece would overstep her authority like this. âIt could be dangerous-â
âAristea knows that,â Angela said easily, signing her name. âSheâs a big girl; she can take care of herself. Iâve got the address and I can go and get her whenever I want, and she can take herself off the enrolment register whenever she wants to. This is a huge opportunity for her, and since nobody present is her mother, nobody present gets to tell her what she can and canât do. If she wants to go,â she dropped the pen, âshe can go.âÂ
In a flash of pale purple, the contract disappeared from the tabletop. We all jumped a little, startled by the unexpected disappearance.
âWell,â my aunt said, visibly deflated, and then said nothing more on the matter. The remainder of breakfast was quite awkward, my aunt acting as if none of the preceding conversation had occurred, and I was quite glad when they left.
âWhoa,â Angela muttered as she locked the door behind Kelly. âI hate it when she does that.â
âTries to control us?â I guessed, clearing the table.
âActs like parenting you is a competition,â Angela corrected, coming back to help me. âIâm sure she thinks Iâm an epic failure.â
âWell, I think youâre pretty awesome,â I said, carrying the plates to the sink. âMaybe the very best sister anybody ever had, ever.â
Angela smiled and wrapped an arm around my shoulders in an affectionate sort of snuggle. She kissed my cheek.
âDonât you forget that when youâre the rich, famous star of the White Elm.â
On Sunday March first, at noon, the first students arrived. From the fourth-storey window of Renatusâs huge study, Lord Gawain watched the gate with mild interest. Three White Elm members, Glen, Susannah and Emmanuelle, were standing guard, interviewing each person that came to the gate, checking their keys to ensure they still had them, probing their minds for signs of treachery, and separating them from their guardians. Lord Gawain watched as the gates were closed, locking out a pair of parents and locking in their teenage son now that theyâd said their goodbyes. Emmanuelle led the boy to the manor, where, Lord Gawain knew, he would be left in the library with Aubrey and Anouk to await the coming of the other thirty-seven students who had signed the contract.
âWas the map clear enough?â Lady Miranda asked concernedly. Sheâd been pacing around the study for the past hour, unable to sit still. Most of the students had elected to be picked up by a White Elm councillor and displaced here, but some had decided to make their own way.
âIâm sure it will be fine,â Lord Gawain answered calmly. âIf anyone is still missing by this evening, we can have Qasim find out where they are, and send Elijah or Renatus to collect them and bring them here.â
Leaning relaxedly against his beautiful, antique, oak desk, Renatus nodded. Elijah was the White Elmâs most reliable and most established Displacer â he could teleport an object, himself or anyone else with very little effort, and had been doing it since he was eleven. Renatus was also very good at displacing, although not as reliable and spot-on as Elijah because displacement was not his first skill. Of course, Renatus was very multitalented. The secretive position in the White Elm heâd inherited from Lisandro required him to be.
Another family had arrived on their own. This one had a pair of identical twin girls â Lord Gawain knew that these girls must be Kendra and Sophia Prescott. They had strong names (both meant wisdom) but were half mortal, on their fatherâs side.
Magic was a complex and sometimes uncertain science. Hereditary power was more of a likely theory than a fact, because
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