Thank-you for finding the angel-in-rio post! I thought it was summer (June-August) as well, so I don't know how I missed it. Maybe when Lord Derby's investigation is over I'll develop that world a little more -- or feel free to suggest some characters you'd like to see more of yourself :)
Over-run the word limit again... it's a good job you like Elizabeth!
Tremors Elizabeth sat back down while Lord Vileburn did something with the rep-tile and it shrank smoothly back down to its original size. The artefacts of the spell-construction, the brightly coloured geometric shapes, faded away like chalk graffiti vanishing in a rainstorm and the office that was revealed seemed oddly dark and tawdry now. "I swear the office gets smaller every time I use this thing," said Memnith, voicing her thoughts. "I mentioned it to the King once and he had the architects measure the entire Palace of Westminster and check it against the plans." "That must have taken days!" said Elizabeth, sitting upright. Her brow creased as she considered the sheer size of the palace -- essentially a large complex of connected buildings that housed much of the bureaucratic functions of the capital as well as a few private rooms for the King. "Weeks," said Memnith. "We kept finding spaces unaccounted for, and they all had to then be checked out. We discovered four forgotten storerooms, a set of stables that had been accidentally walled up sometime in the 1800s, a bathing chamber probably last used before that, an entire sub-kitchen containing eight bodies, and fourteen secret corridors." "And that's just what you're allowed to tell me about," said Elizabeth lightly. The look on Memnith's face made her realise that her joke might be more accurate than it would be wise to ask about. "Well, did you at least find out if the office was shrinking?" "No," said Memnith. "There isn't enough space for this office on the plans, and the rest of them seem to be accurate, so it looks as though this office was magically created. Which means it might actually change size to suit itself."
Elizabeth's hand flew to her mouth, and though she wanted to scream at Memnith that he was once again breaking the first rule of magic, which was to never use magic you didn't understand, she clenched her chest and reminded herself firmly that he was a Lord Magical. Memnith watched her with a gaze filled with mirth and curiosity. "You'll hurt yourself," he said, noting her stiff posture and the tiny movements of her jaw as she stopped herself from speaking. "Yes, the first rule of magic is to never use something you don't properly understand. But it's there for students, and it's really more of a guideline. There is so much out there that we don't understand, and maybe don't have time to understand. The first rule of the Kingdom is to do as the King says, and the King does not want a magically created office in his palace that doesn't have a magically-capable guard on it." Elizabeth swallowed hard and made herself put both hands back in her lap. Relaxing out of her stiff-backed pose was more than she could do just yet though. "So... you're forced to be here?" "Yes," said Memnith. "If the magic that creates this office does something unexpected it's my job to sort it out. This is actually a little more like a prison than an office." Elizabeth's fingers twined around each other, her hands turning over and over in her lap. "This," she said at last. "This isn't really." "What your teachers prepared you for? Welcome to the real world," said Memnith. "It's like being born again, I know. It's a shock, you start screaming, and you're really not certain you signed up for it." Despite herself Elizabeth shook with laughter and as she lost control to it she finally relaxed again. She bent double as her chest heaved and the laughter took over her completely, until finally she lifted her head, almost exhausted from the effort. The whole room shook, tremors rippling the floors and walls, and the yellow intrusions that the rep-tile had shown became visible in outline again. There was a ghostly hint of men standing around, something rocky, and then a smell of beer and tobacco. Bright white light seared through the whole scene and a wash of warm air bathed both of them. Then it was gone again.
3 comments:
Thank-you for finding the angel-in-rio post! I thought it was summer (June-August) as well, so I don't know how I missed it. Maybe when Lord Derby's investigation is over I'll develop that world a little more -- or feel free to suggest some characters you'd like to see more of yourself :)
Over-run the word limit again... it's a good job you like Elizabeth!
Tremors
Elizabeth sat back down while Lord Vileburn did something with the rep-tile and it shrank smoothly back down to its original size. The artefacts of the spell-construction, the brightly coloured geometric shapes, faded away like chalk graffiti vanishing in a rainstorm and the office that was revealed seemed oddly dark and tawdry now.
"I swear the office gets smaller every time I use this thing," said Memnith, voicing her thoughts. "I mentioned it to the King once and he had the architects measure the entire Palace of Westminster and check it against the plans."
"That must have taken days!" said Elizabeth, sitting upright. Her brow creased as she considered the sheer size of the palace -- essentially a large complex of connected buildings that housed much of the bureaucratic functions of the capital as well as a few private rooms for the King.
"Weeks," said Memnith. "We kept finding spaces unaccounted for, and they all had to then be checked out. We discovered four forgotten storerooms, a set of stables that had been accidentally walled up sometime in the 1800s, a bathing chamber probably last used before that, an entire sub-kitchen containing eight bodies, and fourteen secret corridors."
"And that's just what you're allowed to tell me about," said Elizabeth lightly. The look on Memnith's face made her realise that her joke might be more accurate than it would be wise to ask about. "Well, did you at least find out if the office was shrinking?"
"No," said Memnith. "There isn't enough space for this office on the plans, and the rest of them seem to be accurate, so it looks as though this office was magically created. Which means it might actually change size to suit itself."
Elizabeth's hand flew to her mouth, and though she wanted to scream at Memnith that he was once again breaking the first rule of magic, which was to never use magic you didn't understand, she clenched her chest and reminded herself firmly that he was a Lord Magical. Memnith watched her with a gaze filled with mirth and curiosity.
"You'll hurt yourself," he said, noting her stiff posture and the tiny movements of her jaw as she stopped herself from speaking. "Yes, the first rule of magic is to never use something you don't properly understand. But it's there for students, and it's really more of a guideline. There is so much out there that we don't understand, and maybe don't have time to understand. The first rule of the Kingdom is to do as the King says, and the King does not want a magically created office in his palace that doesn't have a magically-capable guard on it."
Elizabeth swallowed hard and made herself put both hands back in her lap. Relaxing out of her stiff-backed pose was more than she could do just yet though.
"So... you're forced to be here?"
"Yes," said Memnith. "If the magic that creates this office does something unexpected it's my job to sort it out. This is actually a little more like a prison than an office."
Elizabeth's fingers twined around each other, her hands turning over and over in her lap. "This," she said at last. "This isn't really."
"What your teachers prepared you for? Welcome to the real world," said Memnith. "It's like being born again, I know. It's a shock, you start screaming, and you're really not certain you signed up for it."
Despite herself Elizabeth shook with laughter and as she lost control to it she finally relaxed again. She bent double as her chest heaved and the laughter took over her completely, until finally she lifted her head, almost exhausted from the effort.
The whole room shook, tremors rippling the floors and walls, and the yellow intrusions that the rep-tile had shown became visible in outline again. There was a ghostly hint of men standing around, something rocky, and then a smell of beer and tobacco. Bright white light seared through the whole scene and a wash of warm air bathed both of them. Then it was gone again.
Greg - no worries :)
Well, it's a good thing I like your writing in general, really. But yes, I am fond of Elizabeth in particular.
I like how they just skimmed over the eight bodies bit. And that tremor at the end doesn't seem like good news, but I suppose time will tell...
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