Free Work Experience (Schooled in Magic Book 4) by Christopher Nuttall Page A

feelings, but they were in such a conflicted mess that it was impossible to sort them out. Giving up magic like that made her feel uncomfortable, yet there was a strange tingling in her hand that was almost pleasurable. “What...what happened to it?”
    “Here, the runes redirect the magic,” Lady Barb said. “When a ritual is used in the field, one of the magicians is placed in charge of shaping the magic and directing it towards its target, leaving the others vulnerable. Does it remind you of anything?”
    Emily shivered. “Necromancy.”
    Lady Barb nodded. “There are two differences,” she said. “First, the magicians involved in a ritual are giving up magic willingly – and a controlled amount of magic, rather than everything they have. Second, the magic gathered is not channeled through the prime magician’s mind, but through the spell-structure and runes he has created. Insanity is not a serious risk.”
    “I see,” Emily said. It was still almost impossible to even think about moving. “Can’t this be used to match a necromancer?”
    “Once or twice, if you happen to get lucky,” Lady Barb said. “But setting up a ritual can take time and effort. Necromancers don’t have to worry about it.”
    Emily nodded.
    Lady Barb squatted down until she was facing Emily, looking into her eyes. “Can you think of another danger?”
    The basic necromantic rite wasn’t complicated, Emily knew; Shadye might have taught her, but she could have figured it out from what she’d learned in books and private sessions with Mistress Sun. But it was all-or-nothing; the necromancer took everything his victim had, drawing it through his mind and driving himself insane. And yet...it wasn’t just magic they took...
    She shuddered. “Life force,” she said. “A ritual can be used to share life force.”
    “It can,” Lady Barb agreed. “And only necromancy is considered so vile.”
    Emily blinked in surprise. “Why?”
    Lady Barb gave her a reproving look. “Oh, Emily,” she said, in a voice more suited to an aged grandmother than a middle-aged woman, “you have so many years left and I have so few . Why don’t you give me some of your years?”
    She continued in a more normal voice. “There are rejuvenation spells that drain life force from their victim and give it to the caster,” she added. “If enough life force is drained, the victim will die of old age.”
    Emily shuddered at the implications. “A magician could have a child, then drain that child,” she said, remembering how her magic had concentrated around her womb. “Or they could kidnap a newborn and drain her. Or...”
    “It’s been known to happen,” Lady Barb said, shortly. “And while rituals require a degree of consent, you know how easy it is to just strip magic and life force from an unwilling victim.”
    She helped Emily back to her feet. “We need to leave the chamber to finish draining away the magic,” she said, as she picked Emily up in a fireman’s carry. “It will take some time for it to be clean again.”
    Emily nodded, still feeling exhausted. Lady Barb carried her out of the chamber and back up the stairs, then placed her down gently on a chair in the library. Emily sat there and watched as Lady Barb resealed the bookshelf, then walked away and left her alone. She couldn’t muster the strength to move until Lady Barb returned, carrying a mug of hot Kava in her hands. Emily took it and sipped gratefully.
    “Be very careful with the drink,” Lady Barb warned her. “If you spill it on a book, my father will come back to murder you personally.”
    “I understand,” Emily said, quickly. She’d always hated people who damaged books – and that had started on Earth, where truly irreplaceable books were rare outside academic libraries. Here, where only a relative handful of books were printed on her printing presses, a damaged book might be impossible to replace. “I won’t spill a drop.”
    “See that you don’t,”