Chatoyant College, Book 9: Sundered

By Clare K. R. Miller

It’s the end of the semester at Chatoyant College, but that doesn’t mean Corrie, Edie, and Dawn have time to do nothing but focus on their finals. A few mysteries still remain about the book that was given to them, and Corrie is determined not to leave for the winter without releasing her ex-boyfriend, Paul, from the binding spell that was put on him against her wishes. Now that she knows how magic works, it’s not hard to disentangle the spell from the two of them... but her entanglement with Paul is far from at an end.

Meanwhile, Edie’s girlfriend is acting very strangely indeed—as is the faerie court. When winter falls, what will be sundered and what remains?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clare K. R. Miller
• Release date: Dec 6, 2020

Clare K. R. Miller

Clare K. R. Miller is a writer of urban and secondary-world fantasy and science fiction for teens and adults.

Book preview

Chatoyant College: Book 9

Sundered

Clare K. R. Miller

Smaragdine Books

It’s the end of the semester at Chatoyant College, but that doesn’t mean Corrie, Edie, and Dawn have time to do nothing but focus on their finals. A few mysteries still remain about the book that was given to them, and Corrie is determined not to leave for the winter without releasing her ex-boyfriend, Paul, from the binding spell that was put on him against her wishes. Now that she knows how magic works, it’s not hard to disentangle the spell from the two of them… but her entanglement with Paul is far from at an end.

Meanwhile, Edie’s girlfriend is acting very strangely indeed—as is the faerie court. When winter falls, what will be sundered and what remains?

Sundered (Chatoyant College, Book 9)

by Clare K. R. Miller

Smaragdine Books

Text Copyright © 2020 Clare K. R. Miller

Shareable under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Cover image by Clare K. R. Miller

Smashwords Edition

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, events, and locations are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons or events, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.

This file is licensed for private individual entertainment only. The book contained herein constitutes a copyrighted work and may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into an information retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electrical, mechanical, photographic, audio recording, or otherwise) for any reason (excepting the uses permitted to the licensee by copyright law under terms of fair use) without the specific written permission of the author.

Prologue: Rest

She was asleep until she felt something cool against her lips. Instinct and vague memories made her open them. Water trickled into her mouth, cool and refreshing. She drank, and drank again, until she had the strength to open her eyes and look up at the bare branches of the trees.

Her servant was above her, black eyes as wide as they ever got, holding the cup to her mouth. She smiled at it and reached out her left hand. Immediately, the creature scurried to her hand and supported her as she pushed herself up to lean against the trunk of a great oak tree.

She took care not to let herself too near to maples, though all trees held potential danger. If her sister knew she still lived, she might wish to remedy that. She had certainly tried hard enough.

But it had been some time now, and she was still safe. She took the cup from the servant and drank down the rest of the water. It cleared her mind, and she turned her attention to her wounds. She touched them one by one—there were seven of them—and grimaced as she did so, but though they were still red and inflamed, they had long since stopped leaking blood, and she believed that the redness and heat and pain were less.

She turned to the creature waiting by her side. And what of the court? Have you been back?

Its voice rattled like the wind through trees. Of course I have, mistress.

It had, because she had ordered it. She nodded. And my compatriots?

They have caused to be built a great throne, one larger and more splendid than the one to which you are accustomed, and that seats two.

She sighed and closed her eyes in other pain than from her wounds. She had believed that without her, things would go on much as they had when she was part of the court—her people could not avoid fighting among themselves, no more than the humans could. But it seemed that the others had come to some sort of truce. Perhaps three were necessary to form a balance.

And what other changes have they made?

None that I have seen, mistress. But I did not stay long.

No, because it did not wish to leave her side while she was so slow to heal. Bring me fruit from the market, and more water, and chamomile tea. An herb should be safe enough. And it would ease her tired mind. And if there is any news, bring that as well. When she was ready to sleep again, she would order it back to the court, to gather information there. It was not very intelligent, but until she could go herself—or another servant joined her, which was unlikely—it would have to do.

Her servant scurried up into a tree. She dug her nails into the soil to touch the metals in the earth and rested.

Chapter 1: The Library

Sunday, November 23

As it turned out, Dawn had to save most of her homework for later that evening—she’d almost forgotten her shift at the library. She spent a few minutes talking to Rico, then wrote a note for Naomi saying that they needed to talk, though it wasn’t urgent. Then she bundled up, because the cold weather was really arriving in earnest, and hurried off to the library.

Emi greeted her with a wide-eyed expression of shock. Dawn! You’re a minute and a half late! I’m shocked and appalled, really I am.

Dawn grinned, though she had been nervous she would be in trouble for her lateness. Emi’s sarcasm, however, assured her that she was not. Sorry about that. It’s been really hectic lately. I almost forgot.

Oh, that reminds me. Emi swiveled her chair around to keep facing Dawn while Dawn signed in and hung up her coat. Are you willing and able to pick up some extra hours during finals? We have to keep the library open twenty-four hours for people pulling all-nighters, so you might have to be here in the middle of the night. On the plus side, there’s usually not much work to do and you can pull your own all-nighters.

Dawn was nodding before Emi had even finished talking. With her course load, she was sure she would be pulling some all-nighters, and forcing herself to be in the library the whole time wouldn’t hurt. I can do that, definitely. Plus I can use the money to buy some extra awesome Christmas presents. When does it start?

We open at the regular time on Friday the 12th, then don’t close at all until finals are done on the 19th. I’ll put you down for some of those hours. We won’t make up the work schedules until finals schedules are written up, though, to make sure nobody is working during their finals.

Sounds good to me. Dawn pulled her gloves out of the pockets of her coat and pulled them on. She needed her hands to warm up if she was going to be dealing with books. She was about to head up to the second floor to look for books that needed to be re-shelved, assuming that Emi didn’t have any specific job for her, when she remembered the books that had come in with Mardalan’s book and turned back.

Hey, remember that box of donations you had me shelve a couple of weeks ago?

Sure, said Emi.

Do we have a record of what was in there?

Emi looked confused with her eyebrows pulled together, but she turned to the desk computer. Yeah, of course. Let me look it up.

Dawn stood there for several moments in silence while Emi typed and clicked the mouse before Emi finally said, Huh.

What is it?

I can’t find any record of those books. I’m sure I remember them—there was that one on magic you were looking at, right?

Yeah, that’s why I wanted to know what the others were. Dawn decided not to discuss her exact reasons with her boss—it wouldn’t help her to know.

Emi shook her head. Well, I can’t find any record of that book. I guess nobody got around to putting the books in the inventory—or, you know what, I bet it’s just that the source wasn’t noted. That happens all the time. Because I’m sure I wouldn’t have had you shelve the books if they weren’t in the system yet. People need to check those out.

Dawn nodded. I know there were some history books that have been in demand lately. She remembered those titles, at least. Well, it’s not a big deal. Will you let me know if you come across the information?

Yeah, sure. Emi waved her away. Be off with you. There’s shelving to do.

Aye, aye, Dawn responded with a half-smile, walking toward the steps. Her mind was whirling as she trudged up. Could Professor Lal have deleted the record? That didn’t seem like it would be useful—though if she wanted to get rid of the Swick book, it would make sense to have it deleted from the library system. Lal had said she was going to talk to the librarians about it, hadn’t she? Dawn wasn’t sure. And what if the oversight with the listing was due to some interference from Mardalan? That sounded a lot more likely. Maybe she’d tampered with more than one book, or created more than one, and wanted to make sure they were kept separate.

Well, that just solidified Dawn’s intentions. She was going to find those books, as many as she could, and check them for magic. If there was anything suspicious, she would check them out and take them to Professor Lal. If Mardalan was trying to mess with them, Dawn was determined to stop her.

Chapter 2: Problem Books

By the time Dawn’s shift ended, not only was she starving, but she had hardly found any of the books. She managed to check on the titles of the ones she did remember in the library computer system, and found that four of them had been checked out (including The Practical Use of Magic, which was under her name, of course) and three were on the shelves. When she located the ones on the shelves, she realized she had no idea how to check them. Two were history books and one was an upper-level philosophy text. She didn’t know enough about either subject to tell whether there was misleading information in them. She flipped through them quickly, checking to see if there were any mentions of magic, but didn’t see anything.

So over dinner—with Corrie, Edie, Roe, Annie, Rico, and Duncan—she brought up the topic. I’ve been trying to check on the other books that were donated along with the Miranda Swick book, but I don’t know what I’m looking for, she said. We should have asked Professor Lal what she did to check for malevolent magic on the book.

We could try her office again after dinner, said Corrie. But if there wasn’t any malevolent magic on that book, don’t you think the other books would be fine?

Not if Mardalan is being more subtle than that, said Roe. The other books could just be a way to sneak in the magic book, or they could be part of her plan… whatever that is. To mess with us.

Exactly, said Dawn. Of course, part of the problem is that I don’t remember what all the books in that box were, and they weren’t entered into the system.

What do you mean? said Edie. Don’t they have to be available?

Dawn nodded. They’re all in the computer system—at least, I assume they are, because all the ones I checked on are. But whoever entered them didn’t include the date of donation or where they came from. So I can’t track them down by whether or not they were in that box. They’re just books in the library like any others.

Is that unusual? Corrie asked. Because that seems like just the sort of thing she would do to throw us off…

I’m not sure, said Dawn. "I mean, Emi seemed to think it happens a lot, but it’s not supposed to. But I really don’t know how Mardalan would prevent us from entering things into the library computer system properly, or erase the information once it was in. I thought maybe Professor Lal had done it, to keep people from putting the books back together, but The Practical Use of Magic is still in the system."

We should definitely ask her after dinner, then, said Corrie.

Edie nodded. I’m in.

Count me out, said Roe with a grimace. I’ve barely written a paragraph on my rough draft and it’s due tomorrow. I have to get something down.

Annie, Rico, and Duncan all had homework to do as well, so Dawn (after receiving a kiss for luck from Rico) and her two friends set off for Professor Lal’s office from the dining hall. The air smelled sharply of frost, and the clouds were thick; Dawn thought she would be surprised if it didn’t snow before morning.

The magic professors’ office hall was dark, and though they knocked on Professor Lal’s door anyway, they received no answer. They briefly considered asking the little old woman down the hall to look for her, but decided there wasn’t any reason to be in a hurry.

They trekked to the library after that. It was open until nine on Sundays, which gave them an hour to look. Dawn led Corrie and Edie to the history section and pointed out the two books that had come in the box with the magic book. But maybe there’s nothing we can do about it if they are problematic, she said.

Nonsense, said Corrie, pulling off her mittens and grinning. We can do magic.

All we know is elemental magic, said Dawn.

That’s not true, said Corrie. We know trance magic. Well, you and I do. Edie can be our lookout.

Edie laughed. I guess that works for me.

You think we should go into trance and see if there’s any magic in the books? Dawn asked.

I assume there’s magic in the books, said Corrie. But maybe there will be more magic, or different magic, in the books from Mardalan.

Dawn nodded. Okay, I guess that makes sense. She got down on the floor and settled into a cross-legged position for trance."

I’ll stand at the end of the aisle, said Edie. She walked down to the end, looked both ways, and gave a thumbs up. There’s no one else here.

Dawn gave her a thumbs up back, glanced at Corrie, and took a deep breath, centering herself in preparation for trance.

Chapter 3: Glow

When Dawn opened her eyes, she could see all the magic around her. For a moment she was overwhelmed by her two friends—Corrie just had so much magic, and Edie’s was so strange and sparkling. But her internal eyes quickly adjusted, and she could see the haze of magic all around her. And it really was all around; as Corrie had predicted, all the books seemed to have a little magic in them, more than other inanimate objects. Dawn wondered whether that was something inherent to all books, or whether they had picked it up from being on a magical campus and used by people who did magic.

She could see a glow (and it was accompanied by a high-pitched whine, like a cross between a mosquito, a fluorescent light, and a tiny bell) several aisles up ahead, and knew what it was. That was where the magic books were.

There was nothing, however, unique about the two history books in front of her. She leaned forward, not lifting her legs away from the ground, and pulled one off the shelf just to check. Corrie did the same. They both inspected the covers and flipped through the books, but Dawn found nothing interesting. She closed her eyes, breathed deeply, and removed her trance connection, as Professor Agnew’s tape had taught them—drawing her roots back in and her attention back into her body. Then she opened her eyes again and looked at Corrie. Do you see anything?

Corrie shook her head, closing the book. Nothing special. Not here, anyway. She tried to put the book back upside-down, and Dawn took it from her hand and replaced it as it should be. She was the one trained to work in the library, after all.

Did you see that glow up ahead? Dawn asked, gesturing toward it.

Corrie nodded. I figured we should check it out next. Do you know what it might be?

Yeah, it’s the magic section. Well, let’s go. Dawn unfolded her legs and grabbed a shelf to help pull herself up. Corrie sprang lightly to her feet, but then let out an exclamation, wobbling on her feet and tipping over.

Almost immediately, both Dawn and Edie were there to help her stand up straight. Are you okay? Edie cried, worried.

I think so, said Corrie. Uh, this is weird. Let me sit down again for a minute.

Dawn and Edie lowered her to the ground, not trusting her feet. Dawn watched her with worry as she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She hoped she wasn’t getting sick. After a minute, though, Corrie opened her eyes and sprang up again. Dawn reached out to catch her, but she seemed to have her balance back.

I had to break trance, Corrie explained. I thought I might be able to move around while I was still in it, especially since we’re not going very far. But I guess not.

Dawn frowned. I wouldn’t think so. You’re rooted to the ground… well, metaphorically, but I’m not surprised you lost your balance.

Corrie shrugged. It might be something you can do with practice. This is only my second time, after all.

You should ask Professor Lal, Edie suggested.

Right, I’ll add that to my mental list for her. Dawn smiled and shook her head. It’s a good thing she doesn’t mind questions most of the time. We always have a long list of them.

They walked over to the magic section and sat down, Edie standing by the aisle to keep watch again. When Dawn was in trance again, she could see the glow and hear the sound more clearly, and realized that the sound was made up of a number of layers—some of the books glowed more brightly and some less, and the sound was louder or quieter in proportion. Some of the sounds were closer to a mosquito’s whine and some closer to a bell.

She picked a book off the shelf at random and looked at it. It was about divination, and the sound was more like the mosquito whine, with a softer glow. She opened the pages and flipped through, but none of the pages seemed any different from the others.

When she left trance, she glanced at Corrie and saw that her eyes were still closed, so she waited for her friend to come out of trance. Then she said, Well, they all definitely have magic in them, but I don’t think I can tell if any of them are malevolent or not.

Corrie nodded. I thought the ones that sound like mosquitoes might be bad, but maybe that’s just judgmental of me.

Dawn grinned, pleased that Corrie could sense the same things she could. Yeah, I don’t know either. I guess we should ask Professor Lal. I’m sure she’ll understand.

Corrie stood up and stretched. Well, we can’t do that until tomorrow.

Dawn nodded and stood up. You’re right. We should stop worrying about it and get some homework done.

Chapter 4: Trance Repeated

Monday, November 24

Corrie was delighted at first to have another day of trance in magic class. It wasn’t that she thought she needed the practice—there was no way she could overdo trance like she had with elemental magic, and she was pretty much confident with any type of magic now. But she was glad that she was able to make up for the problems she’d had in Friday’s class, when she had been unable to achieve trance at all.

However, it quickly got boring. They stayed in trance the entire class, and Professor Lal had them look around at each other and try to see each other’s magic. Evidently, the rest of the class needed practice seeing the magic that was around them, or at least Professor Lal thought they did. Corrie certainly didn’t seem to need it. Everything was bright and vivid to her.

Except for Professor Lal’s magic—that seemed oddly cloaked somehow, like there was a misty veil shading her. There was a glow somewhere in there, but Corrie couldn’t pinpoint it. Hadn’t Dawn said that there was something different about the professor’s magic? Corrie tried to focus, but by the time she’d made up her mind to work on seeing Professor Lal’s magic clearly, the class was being told to bring themselves carefully out of trance.

We won’t see each other until next week, said Professor Lal once everyone was out of trance, looking around at them. Is anyone remaining on campus for the Thanksgiving holiday? When no hands were raised, she nodded. I would like you to practice magic while you are away, especially if there are any areas you feel uncomfortable with, but please—be careful. If I could, I would only allow you to practice magic within this building, as it is specially shielded, but I know that is impossible. However, if you are practicing elemental magic, please use all reasonable caution; I would prefer if you did not practice fire magic at all. If you are practicing trance magic, please make sure you are in a quiet, shielded space. However, unless you are in a magical space, you may find the results rather underwhelming. Please do not practice trance magic on campus without supervision. Corrie exchanged a guilty look with Dawn at that. Professor Lal had warned them to be careful just the other day, hadn’t she? Well, nothing seemed to have gone wrong at the library.

I will be available with my usual office hours until Wednesday afternoon, Professor Lal continued. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. I am happy to set up tutoring times as well, though I will probably not have time for those until after the holiday. All right, have a lovely break, all of you, and come back prepared to work.

Most of the class left, chattering about the upcoming break from classes and their plans to spend time with their families. Corrie was looking forward to Thanksgiving, too—her mom and grandmother always made a great little feast, though her excitement was tempered by her plans to work at a nearby department store for Black Friday. But she and Dawn stayed behind, and Roe, a little uncertainly, with them.

Professor Lal smiled at them, leaning back against her desk as they approached her. Hello, Corrie. I trust you have no more trouble with trance?

Corrie shook her head, smiling. Not at all. It’s great now. But we had a few questions to ask you.

The professor nodded. Ask away, though I don’t have much time.

I didn’t think of this until after we talked to you yesterday, Dawn said, "but there were a bunch of other books in the box along with the one Mardalan wrote—The Practical Use of Magic. At first I just figured those were camouflage, but she could have done something to the rest of the books, couldn’t she?"

Indeed, that is well thought of. Do you have a list of the books?

Dawn shook her head. That’s part of the problem. Apparently their origin wasn’t recorded, and I can’t remember all of them. I mean, they’re all in the library system, I just don’t know which ones came from that box and which didn’t.

Hmm. Professor Lal tapped her fingernails against the desk. Do you have copies of the listing of the books from before and after the day they were added?

Dawn wrinkled her eyebrows, confused. I don’t know, I mean, it’s all in the computer.

There are computer techs who work in the library, are there not? Ask them to see if they can find copies. I don’t pretend to understand computers, but that should be able to be done.

Oh, that’s a good idea, said Corrie. It probably has lots of backups. They can find the backups from before and after.

Dawn nodded. Okay, I’ll try that. I also noticed that the Miranda Swick book was still in the system.

Professor Lal smiled. It is not now. I spoke to the librarians this morning and had it removed, though I have not yet destroyed the book. It has occurred to me that it might provide a useful link to its creator.

Chapter 5: Connection

Corrie’s eyes widened. A link to Mardalan? Do you mean that you could use it to find her?

Alas, no. Professor Lal pursed her lips and shook her head. I have already attempted that, and was unsuccessful, as was a colleague of mine whose job it is to find things. All we can be sure of is that she was not on campus. But if we do find her, or at least have more information, the book could allow us to communicate with her or perhaps to affect her magically—this is not something you will learn unless you take more advanced classes, but I am sure you have heard the term sympathetic magic. If you affect something that someone has put a great deal of energy into, the effect may transfer back to that person. Of course, Mardalan may also have shielded herself from it in some way, but I think that keeping the book available is a wiser choice.

So if you destroyed the book, it could hurt Mardalan? Dawn asked.

Perhaps, if I did it in the correct way. Most likely, however, it would simply destroy the link.

Corrie nodded. So you want to keep it as a connection, and an advantage over her. That makes sense.

And no one else is going to read it and get messed up by it as long as you hang onto it, Roe put in.

Professor Lal nodded. Exactly.

We were wondering about the other books, though, Dawn said. We tried to see if they have any magic on them but we realized we don’t know how to sense malevolent magic like you did. Uh, I know you said to only do trance if we were in a safe situation, but we didn’t try to do any magic. We just went into trance and looked at the books.

That should be safe enough as long as you did not try to interact with any magical books, the professor said.

Corrie decided not to mention that they had both taken books down from the shelves and looked through them. It hadn’t hurt them, after all. Can you teach us how to sense malevolent magic, like you did with the book?

Sensing the intent of magic takes a great deal of practice. She drummed her fingernails on the desk. Normally, that is not something you would learn to look for until the next level of magic classes, but I can give you and your friends the basics, as I do wish you to have better ways to protect yourselves. I think it will have to wait until after your holiday, however.

In the meantime, do you think you could check out the books in the library? Dawn asked. See if any of them were affected by magic? I think a lot of the books that went with Mardalan’s book have been checked out, but some of them are still on the shelves.

I do make a regular check of the magic books, but these are in different subjects, correct?

That’s right, said Dawn.

Yes, said Professor Lal, I believe I can make a general check of all the books in the library. That should not take long.

That leads to my other question, said Corrie. I tried to move around while I was still in trance but I guess because I was still grounded, I got dizzy. Is it possible to move around?

That is another thing that comes with practice, said the professor with a smile. You can learn to keep your anchor moving. Feel free to practice, as long as you do so in places where you will not be injured if you fall. I will always encourage all of you to practice if you have received the basics already. In fact, that is what much of the upper-level magic courses are about.

Great! said Corrie. She was already imagining wandering around campus in trance, looking at all the interesting magic around her. She could figure out if the magic on campus was pooled in certain places. That would be fun. And she certainly didn’t mind practice.

If that is all, I have other work to attend to, said Professor Lal, straightening up and looking at all of them with her eyebrows raised.

I think so, said Dawn. Sorry for all the questions.

Nonsense. I am a teacher. I am glad to answer your questions if I can. Now have a lovely holiday, all of you.

Professor Lal left the room, and the three of them followed, only turning a different direction, since she was going to her office and they were leaving the building. Do you really think Mardalan would have messed with some of the other books? Roe asked.

I don’t know, said Dawn. But I guess we’ll find out.

Chapter 6: Information Exchange

They had a surprise at dinner that evening—at least, it was a surprise to Corrie. Leila joined them in the dining hall. She and Edie were waiting there at their usual table, along with Rico and Dawn, when Corrie arrived. She paused before approaching them, unsure for a moment whether her discomfort was with Leila or with the idea that she would be a fifth wheel, then shook her head at her own silliness. She and Leila had made a truce, and should be getting along fine now. And since no one had informed her that there would be a couples’ night in the dining hall, and they were sitting at the usual table, they were probably expecting her.

Still, when she did reach them and greet them all with a smile, she put her coat down to claim the seat next to Dawn, across from Leila. Good to see you, Leila! she said brightly, hoping her facade wasn’t too easy to see through. What brings you to the dining hall this evening?

Leila smiled. It seemed stiff, or maybe it was just the way she was sitting with her back completely straight, holding a fork with three fingers as though she was unused to doing so. Edith invited me, and I thought it would be a lovely change of pace.

Edie smiled at Corrie, though she was toying awkwardly with her own fork. I just thought, Leila never eats with us, but that’s half of our social time, so it seems wrong not to include her.

Corrie nodded. Makes sense to me. Well, I’ll be back in a few. I’m starving.

By the time she returned with a bowl of alphabet soup and a slice of thick brown bread, Annie and Roe had also joined them at the table. She relaxed fractionally at that. At least she wasn’t the only uncoupled one now. Though maybe her discomfort meant she should be looking for a new boyfriend. She certainly wouldn’t mind some aspects of it…

Lost in her own daydreams and her furtive glances around the dining hall, trying to see if she could spy out any cute guys, she missed part of the conversation going on around her. She only started paying attention when Leila said, It really does not bother me. I am quite used to the cold.

But you don’t have to be out in the cold all the time, Edie responded. And you’ve said the cold makes you slow down. If you come inside where there’s heat, you’ll feel better.

Corrie blinked at them. Is Leila not going inside? You can’t take classes without going inside, can you?

We’re just talking about our dorm, Edie explained.

You need an ID card to get inside Gilkey, Dawn said.

Well, I know that, Corrie said, momentarily confused. Then she realized that even if Leila did have a Chatoyant College ID, she wouldn’t have one that said she lived in Gilkey, so she wouldn’t be allowed in without someone to let her in from the other side. Oh, you mean she should be able to come in when no one is expecting her?

Exactly, said Edie.

That makes sense to me. Corrie slurped up some of her soup, thinking. Most boyfriends and girlfriends can’t do that either, but they can call when they’re coming over. You don’t have a cell phone, do you?

Leila shook her head. I would not enjoy using one even if I could obtain one.

Don’t you have a phone in your dorm room? Roe asked. That would be easier than a cell phone, wouldn’t it?

Leila cleared her throat, staring down at her mostly-empty plate. I do not actually have a room on campus.

Oh, said Roe. Uh, sorry.

I thought Professor Lal might be able to get her an ID card to let her into Gilkey, said Dawn. Or one of the other faerie teachers. They have authority to get it and they would understand.

And I said that it is not necessary to go to that much effort, said Leila. And I doubt that Lal, or any of the others, would be willing to give me access like that for free.

What if it wasn’t for free? Corrie was thinking, remembering what they knew about Leila and Mardalan—what little there was. We could do an information exchange.

What do you mean? asked Edie.

Mardalan is your sister, right? When Leila nodded slowly, Corrie continued. We don’t know where she is. I’m assuming you don’t either, but she’s still trying to mess with us. If you could tell us and Professor Lal everything you can about her, I think that would be a fair trade for letting you in to see Edie.

Leila tapped her fork against her plate, her slim brows drawn together. I could give you some information, she said. But I doubt that it would be a fair trade.

Chapter 7: Social Circles

Why not? asked Edie, frowning.

Because, said Leila, there is very little that I know about my sister that Lal does not know. That is, I believe Rook knows her rather better than I do, and as she is trying to harm students I am sure they have shared all of their information in an attempt to stop her.

But she’s your sister, Corrie said, confused. Don’t you know her really well? She looked around the table, trying to get agreement from her friends. I mean, I don’t have any siblings, but I always thought if I did have a sister we would tell each other all our secrets.

Edie laughed. Yeah, I can tell you never had a sister. She and Leila smiled at each other. It made Corrie happy to see that.

Dawn looked at Rico and shrugged. I’m an only child too. I mean, I’m pretty close to some of my cousins, but I wouldn’t expect to know more about them than their friends do.

I’m sure I know more about Duncan than anyone else, except maybe his mom, said Rico, but we’re not really brothers, we’ve just been friends all our lives. I don’t have any siblings.

I’m an only child too, said Roe.

So am I, said Annie, laughing a little. It was a little absurd that so many of them were only children.

Well, my siblings and I definitely don’t tell each other everything, said Edie. "Leah used to ask me for advice sometimes, but not since… not in a few years. I email