Read Online Shadow Grail #2: Conspiracies by Mercedes Lackey, Rosemary Edghill - Free Book Online

subject. “I don’t think it’s about money, Muirin. We saw the records. You saw them. This … This Tithing went back maybe to the beginning of Oakhurst, and that would be more than thirty years. So what if the wizard war that Doctor Ambrosius told us about is already going on?”
    “And he hasn’t mentioned anything?” Muirin asked dubiously.
    “Well, wouldn’t you freak if he did? I know I would.” Spirit chewed a nail.
    “Don’t do that, it’s disgusting,” Addie said automatically. “And you’re already freaking.”
    “Well someone should!” Spirit hoped she sounded resolute instead of hysterical, but in her own ears she sounded shrill.
    “Okay, let’s break this down.” Addie ticked off a one on her fingers. “Oakhurst has been graduating kids since the seventies. So some of them were our parents. And when we were born, we automatically became Oakhurst Legacies, so when we were orphaned, we ended up here. So, if this wizard war has already begun, everyone here is an orphan. And if it hasn’t ”—she ticked off a two —“some of the kids here have live parents and were sent here for training in magic. Because Oakhurst is safe.”
    “But didn’t Doctor Ambrosius just give us that speech about how Oakhurst is our real family?” Spirit replied, more confused by the minute.
    Muirin snorted. “Every fancy school I’ve ever been to gives you that speech. It’s supposed to build togetherness.”
    Addie nodded her agreement. “And who talks to each other here? I mean the way we talk. How much do you know about Jenny or Claire or Kristi or even Brendan? Cadence is one of my closest—well, I can’t even call her a ‘friend,’ really—here, and I don’t even know what city she grew up in, or if she had any brothers or sisters. When Burke told me about his family, I was shocked . Yes—shocked! Because nobody here tells anybody else anything real. Half the student body could have families, Spirit, and none of use would ever know.”
    “Maybe everyone here with families just wishes they were orphans,” Muirin suggested mockingly.
    “So either the wizard war has started and we’re all orphans—because of the Evil Wizards—or it hasn’t and we aren’t.” Addie looked pleased with herself. “Logic is your friend.”
    “Thanks so much, Mister Spock,” Spirit replied. She frowned, thinking she was missing something. Whatever it was, she’d have to hope it would come back to her later. “So … how do we find out about people’s families? Set up an online poll?”
    Muirin grinned gleefully. “We hack the school computer and get into the student and graduate databases, of course! I’ve been wanting a really good excuse to do that for ages!” Then she jumped to her feet and grabbed Spirit’s hands. “But meanwhile, there’s something vital we need to take care of right this minute, or it’s going to be too late.”
    *   *   *
    Spirit shivered in the cold of the storage room and eyed the double rack of dresses with dismay. She liked clothes. She did. That was why she’d wanted to learn to sew. But getting set up to make your own clothes was almost as expensive as buying them—she could mend, and embroider, and make alterations, but that was about all. But she liked clothes. So she should’ve been in heaven. Right?
    These aren’t clothes. These are terrifying implements of torture.
    Pastel pink warred with hot pink, eye-searing blue, turquoise, deer-hunter-orange, and a lot of sequins and metallics. The one thing there didn’t seem to be here on the Isle of Misfit Dresses was anything knee-length or shorter. I guess Oakhurst doesn’t consider anything that’s not down to the ground to be formal enough.
    “So as you see, this is where bridesmaid dresses go to die,” Muirin said scathingly. “The New Year’s Eve thing is a formal dinner and dance. That’s full formal, meaning floor-length. And if you don’t have your own formal you have to get one from here. You can