Modern Magick

Alchemy and Argent: 5

Dear Mum, ran my text. Can we please borrow a couple of your best alchemists. URGENT.

'Think she will answer?' said Val.

'There's almost no chance of it.'

Val had been waiting in the Academy's entrance hall when I had finally made it downstairs, the tour having ended several minutes before. Denise must have noticed my absence then, if not sooner, but Val did not seem perturbed. She sat serenely near the door, unruffled. Only I knew her well enough to detect the signs of extreme boredom.

'Riveting tour, then?' I murmured as I hurried to join her.

Val gave me a sour look. 'I hope you appreciate the sacrifice I've made for you.'

'For us, Val. For the cause! Wait 'til you hear what I found.' I grabbed her chair and whooshed us out the door, waving cheerily to the woman on reception as we passed. Fortunately, there was no sign of Denise.

'It had better be good,' Val said once we were back outside in the sun. 'I had to hear every sodding detail of Crystobel Elvyng's life.'

'Academic career?'

'If she isn't the single most brilliant woman in magick, it isn't for lack of trying.'

'Childhood exploits?'

'Avid tree-climber, isn't that adorable?'

'Favourite brand of underwear?'

'Calvin Klein.'

I stopped. 'Really?'

'No.'

'Small mercies. Anyway, here's the scoop. I found zero promising-looking boxes of papers dumped at the back of a forgotten garret, but—' I ran quickly down my discovery and my list of not-quite-conclusions, or nearly baseless speculations by any other name. When I said them all out loud, they suddenly sounded ridiculous.

But Val nodded along, her head bobbing with each of my major points as we trundled around the square. When I'd finished, she said (to my secret relief): 'You really might be onto something there, Ves.'

I punched the air.

'Milady requisitioned some alchemist from the Court at Mandridore, no?' she continued.

'Yes, and maybe she ought to purloin a few from some other Court, too. Like Mum's.'

'Just what I was thinking.'

So I sent the text, just in case Mum was paying attention. And since she almost certainly wouldn't be, I also sent a note to Rob. It read: Ves & Val reporting. Strongly advise Milady requests a prominent Yllanfalen alchemist to attend at Home.

On second thought I added: If there are any. After all, I'd never heard of anyone bothering with alchemy in recent memory; but Milady had claimed the contrary. No one publicly bothered with it anymore, but that said nothing about private endeavour.

I wondered whether secret alchemical endeavour had played a part in the Society's recent history, and why no one had told me about it if it had. Van der Linden had never fully succeeded at turning worthless rubbish into priceless magickal jewels, and had eventually abandoned the project; his having done so was generally credited as the turning of the tide, the point where the magickal community turned away from alchemy, and began to see it as foolish.

But what if some part of his work had borne some kind of fruit after all, and was even now being employed across Britain? Or even just at Home?

Cursed secrets. I mean, I do get why alchemy's such an enthralling idea. Who wouldn't love to turn ordinary pebbles into ethereal rubies? Or lead into gold?