Free Bookworm II: The Very Ugly Duckling by Christopher Nuttall Page A

have felt like to be at Jamal’s mercy. How could he defend his brother, even if he now shared the same magic? Besides, it wasn’t as if Jamal had shown him any kindness since it had become clear that he had no magic.
    “My brother,” he admitted, reluctantly. His father would be furious, but Johan found it hard to care. A thrashing would be better than the sense of disappointment that radiated from his father every time he came face to face with his powerless son. “And he thought that they were getting uppity.”
    Elaine’s face twisted. “I have no doubt he did,” she said. “Do you know who else was involved?”
    “Some of his friends,” Johan said. “I don’t know their names. We were never introduced. He was so scared of having them think that he had weak blood that he never introduced me to any of his friends. But you can get it out of him ...”
    “The Inquisitors probably can,” Elaine agreed. “Do you know the name of the druids who tested you for magic?”
    Johan frowned, surprised by the sudden question. “No,” he admitted. “But wouldn’t there be records?”
    “Depends how much your father paid out in bribes,” Elaine said. Her lips turned downwards, briefly. “I’ll check the records here, then find out from your father if necessary.”
    Johan yawned suddenly. “Sorry,” he apologised. “Why am I tired?”
    “You haven’t eaten for two days,” Elaine pointed out, dryly. “I’ll order you some food, then you can rest before we start carrying out more tests. There are quite a few oddities about your magic.”
    “ My magic,” Johan said, with heavy satisfaction. “Are you going to teach me how to use it?”
    “I don’t know yet,” Elaine told him. “But I do know that the Grand Sorceress is very interested in your progress.”
    Johan looked at her, thoughtfully. Once, having wealthy and powerful people paying attention to him would have seemed welcome. Now, it was downright terrifying.
    And yet he was a magician!
    “I should ask you,” he said. “Has this ever happened before?”
    “A mundane developing magic?” Elaine asked. There was an odd note to her voice, a suggestion that she wasn’t quite sure she was answering the right question. “No, it hasn’t. And that’s why it bothers us.”
    Johan nodded in understanding. If anyone could develop magic, the Empire’s social structure would be upended and destroyed. He could understand, now, why the Grand Sorceress was so interested in him ...
    He’d been right. It was definitely terrifying.

 

    Chapter Seven
    More disturbed than she wanted to admit, Elaine ordered dinner for both of them and then concentrated on analysing the wards surrounding the chamber. They were some of the most complex wards outside the truly ancient buildings, constructed by some of the best ward masters in the Empire. Among other things, they monitored the condition of patients within the hospital, alerted the staff if anything went wrong and prevented self-harm or suicide. And Johan’s magic, whatever it was, had damaged them.
    The wards tracked and nullified bursts of uncontrolled magic. It wasn’t uncommon for magicians to lose control of their magic when they were ill or badly injured; the wards should have tapered any burst of magic down and redirected it somewhere harmless, if they hadn’t managed to simply absorb it. But Johan’s magic had burned through them as easily as fire burned paper. The wards had been badly damaged, rendered utterly useless.
    And it happened so quickly , Elaine thought, that no one managed to sound the alert .
    She looked back at Johan as a nurse entered the room, wheeling a trolley of food ahead of her. It smelt better than she recalled, the last time she’d been in hospital, but then she’d been so desperately worried about her new talents that she hadn’t really been able to enjoy a few days of rest. And besides, Johan did come from a powerful family. The hospital administrator was probably trying to