Free Bookworm by Christopher Nuttall Page B

shortly. Millicent wouldn’t have been punished like that. But Millicent had powerful relatives and Elaine had no relatives at all. “Do you think that he wants to become Grand Sorcerer himself?”
    “He has the power and connections,” Daria muttered back. “And he has been master of the Peerless School long enough to grow bored. He might want to grasp the highest position in the world.”
    Elaine shrugged and turned back to watch the funeral. Each of the tutors and councillors had a chance to speak. Councillor Travis spoke briefly, but fittingly, commending the Grand Sorcerer for his services to the city. Millicent’s aunt didn’t speak at all.
    Finally, the Caretaker stepped forward again. “We shall not see his like again,” he said, softly. “And now we bid him farewell.”
    The casket blazed with a brilliant white light, so bright that Elaine had to cover her eyes from the glare. A faint afterimage seemed to hang in the air for a long moment, and then it was gone, reducing the Grand Sorcerer’s body to dust. His soul was long gone. And yet there were spells in Elaine’s mind that would have allowed her to call him back to the world...
    “Goodbye,” the Caretaker said.
    Elaine saw the expression on the Administrator’s face and shivered. The senior wizards were sharing the same thought. Their master was dead...
    ...And the contest to select the next master was about to begin.

 

    Chapter Seven
    “Put a smile on your face,” Daria urged. “This is supposed to be a party.”
    Elaine looked up at her. After the funeral, Hanson had invited Daria to a party in honour of the Grand Sorcerer – and Daria, ignoring Elaine’s protests, had insisted on dragging her along. Elaine felt terribly out of place; the singing, the dancing, the couples kissing in the rear of the vast hall...it all felt alien to her. How could she join the couples on the dance floor...even though part of her wanted to join them and dance the night away?
    “I should go home,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t belong here.”
    “Oh yes you do,” Daria said. “You deserve a chance to have some fun, you know? Come and dance.”
    “I can’t dance with you,” Elaine protested. “That’s...that’s not decent.”
    “I think no one bothered to tell those two that it isn’t decent,” Daria said, nodding towards two boys who were dancing together. “Which one of them is the girl, do you think?”
    Elaine flushed as Daria pulled her to her feet. “But I wasn’t going to dance with you,” Daria added. “You! Come over here.”
    One of Hanson’s friends came over, staring blankly at Daria. “You two are going to dance,” Daria said, firmly. She leaned closer to the boy’s ear and whispered something in it that made him flush. “And if he lets you down, I’ll cut off his...”
    The boy pulled Elaine’s stumbling form onto the dance floor before Daria had a chance to finish her threat. He clearly didn’t doubt that Daria’s wrath would be terrible if he messed up with Elaine. It felt harder to dance than Elaine had expected, even with a surprisingly patient tutor who didn’t seem to mind if she trod on his foot. The beat of the music was difficult to follow and she kept placing her feet wrongly, until she finally realised how to dance. And then the dance came to an end.
    “You just need practice,” the boy said, as the dancers filed off the floor. “And now...”
    Elaine watched him go and sighed inwardly. Of course he hadn’t wanted to dance with her. Daria had bribed or threatened him into cooperating and he was now off to collect his prize. The gods alone knew what Daria had offered him...but Elaine could guess. A dance, a kiss...or something more intimate. She didn’t really want to know.
    “That’s enough of feeling sorry for yourself,” Daria said, firmly, as Elaine appeared next to her. “I saw you smiling on the dance floor. Get back out there and get another guy.”
    Elaine flushed bright red at the