Rebel Magisters Read Online Free Page A

dumped a dish of paper clips on the floor and handed me the dish. This was a little easier for me, as it was a use of magic I’d taught myself when I’d discovered my powers. After the third paper clip, however, the task became more difficult, as I found myself battling with Henry. He moved them so that I had to redirect the ether, and we had a tug of war with each other over the last clip. It was fortunate that the wards muted sound in the room because I couldn’t hold back a cry of victory when I wrested the clip away from him and landed it in the dish.
    “Excellent! This may prove to be your area of expertise,” he said, sitting in his desk chair and removing the spectacles I knew he didn’t need. I thought for a moment that this meant he was ready to let me rest, but instead he held up the butterfly net and said, “Make it look like a fan.”
    I tried not to groan out loud. Illusions were the most difficult thing for me, and I’d never seen another magister other than Henry perform one. But Henry said they’d once been a staple of magic, before magisters grew lazy and complacent with their position in society, and he wanted me to have every advantage. I stared at the butterfly net for a long time, picturing the fan I would make it look like. Next came the hard part, shaping the ether around the net to give it the illusion of a fan. It flickered back and forth between the reality and the illusion for a moment before finally settling on the illusion.
    “Good,” Henry said. “Now, have you read any good books lately?”
    “Books?” I asked, baffled by the abrupt change in topic.
    Henry laughed and pointed at the net, which still looked like a fan. “Good work, Verity! You managed to maintain the illusion while you were distracted. Now let’s see how long it will last. Tea?”
    Breathing a little heavily from my exertions, I wiped beads of sweat off my brow and said, “Please.”
    “Then boil the water.”
    I should have known better than to expect him to give me a break so soon. This was a tricky use of magic because it required finding just the right amount of heat. I’d already broken three teapots when I got it wrong. I activated the ether around and within the teapot, fighting to keep the excitement slow and under control. When steam came out of the spout, Henry measured tea into the pot, and I slumped back in my chair. The fan was flickering, but it was still visible. I allowed myself a small smile of triumph.
    “Much better,” he said. “Perhaps I won’t have to order another box of teapots.”
    When it appeared that I really was getting a break this time, I thought it might be an opportune time to bring up what Alec had asked me. “Some of the Mechanics are back in town. I ran into Alec in the park today.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Even after that narrow escape?”
    “They believe that was more about the machines.” I tried to think of how best to phrase the next part. While I wanted to be honest with him, I preferred to steer him in the most reasonable direction. “They’ve taken what you said about playing at revolution to heart and are trying to plan rather than just making noise. They believe their machines really are the edge they need to defeat the magisters, but they need to make more machines, and for that they need funding. They asked me if you had any ideas.” I didn’t feel it too dishonest to avoid mentioning them wanting money from the Bandits. If Henry thought of that, it was up to him.
    “Mass production of machines like that? Do they know how much that would cost?”
    “I’m not sure.”
    “I suppose they could start with some existing machines and fit them for new power supplies, so they wouldn’t have to start with smelting iron, but still, the materials, the facilities, and the manpower—well, they’re essentially creating a new industry. They wanted my input on this? Why? Because I’m the only rich person they know?”
    Now I had no choice but to tell him.