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THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION. ALL OF THE CHARACTERS, ORGANIZATIONS, AND EVENTS PORTRAYED IN THIS STORY ARE EITHER PRODUCTS OF THE AUTHOR’S IMAGINATION OR ARE USED FICTITIOUSLY.

“Fallen From Grace”

Copyright © 2011 by M. J. Putney.

All rights reserved.

For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

St. Martin’s books are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

ISBN: 978-1-4299-9648-8

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Excerpts from Allarde’s Diary

October 13th, Year of Our Lord 1801

I’M DOOMED.

Any minute now, I’ll be summoned to the headmaster’s office and expelled from Eton. It’s an upsetting prospect even though I never wanted to come here.

But my father said that heirs to the Duke of Westover always go to Eton, and that was that. (I’m still waiting for someone to explain why Eton is called a “public” school when every boy here is wellborn and from a wealthy family.)

Still, Eton has been better than I expected. I’ll miss the old place and the friends I’ve made here.

Which, if any, will still be my friends now that it has been scandalously revealed that I have magic? I’ve never understood why people of my class loathe and despise magic and mages when the common folk think magic is a blessing. This hatred made even less sense after my cousin Elspeth was exposed as a mageling. There is nothing wicked about Elspeth. Poor Elspeth, condemned to Lackland Abbey.

Now it will be “Poor Allarde.”

Even Eton’s fagging system wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. The theory is sound: Acting as a servant for seniors teaches humility since even the highest-born must learn to serve instead of being served. The fag-masters in turn learn to exercise authority and to be responsible for those beneath them. It’s like a rehearsal for being lords of our estates. I hadn’t realized I needed to learn that, but I did.

Since the system can mean that younger boys are bullied by the older ones, I was relieved to be assigned to Lord Smithson the first year. He was the easiest and most likable of the seniors, and I missed him after he left for Oxford. I’d assumed our paths would cross in the House of Lords eventually. Not now, though. Not if my father disinherits me so I can’t inherit the dukedom.

Though my other fag-masters didn’t measure up to Smithson, they’ve been tolerable. That changed this term. My new fag-master, the Dishonourable George Crickle, is a brute. He didn’t just demand that his fags polish his boots, he kicked us with them. Now I understand why one hears tales of abuse at Eton and similar schools.

Not that he dared raise a hand to me since I grew so much over the summer. I’m taller than he is and much better at sports.

Though I had heard from younger boys that he was dreadful to them when there was no one around to interfere, it wasn’t until this morning I realized just how vile he is. I was passing by his room when I heard a horrible muffled cry, like a wounded animal.

Should I have walked away? If I had, I wouldn’t be waiting for expulsion. But I couldn’t ignore such pain.

I was horrified to open the door and see that Crickle had bound a boy’s wrists to his bedpost and was beating him with a riding whip. His victim was the youngest of his juniors, Blakely Minor, a shy little fellow who never causes trouble. Crickle was out of control, drunk on his own violence as he thrashed with all his strength.

I loathe admitting it even here, but I was so enraged that I lost control as thoroughly as Crickle. My magic didn’t appear until after I started at Eton. Up till now, I’ve concealed it without a problem. Though I haven’t been able to resist experimenting to see what I could do, I’ve always done so in secret and recorded my results only in this bespelled journal that no one else can read.

My greatest talent seems to be moving objects by magic. With practice, the objects have become rather large. Other members of the nobility would certainly not approve. It’s a stevedore’s ability, not the least bit lordly. But I love feeling the rush of magic and strengthening my power by trying ever more difficult tasks.

Even so, I truly have no idea how I managed to tear the bronze statue of Henry VI off its pedestal in the middle of the school yard and hurl it into Crickle’s bedchamber. My intention was to free Blakesley Minor, then give Crickle the thrashing he deserved.

But furious magic seared through me like lightning as I untied the cravat holding Blakesley Minor’s wrists to the post. As soon as he was free, I smashed a fist into Crickle’s ugly face. I felt his nose break. God help me, but I was glad.

I managed to resist the desire to pound him again. Instead, I half-carried Blakesley Minor across the room to the corridor.

Crickle was screaming threats when the massive statue hurtled through the window and crashed down on the bed where he lay bleeding like a pig. Glass and pieces of stone exploded through the room like musket balls.

For an instant, all I felt was fierce exhilaration from the rush of power. That was followed by horror as I recognized how utterly uncontrolled I was.

Dear God, I could have killed Crickle without meaning to! Magic truly is dangerous. I’m dangerous. My hands are still shaking.

I’m grateful Crickle wasn’t killed, though he does deserve the broken leg. He’s too stupid and vicious to learn a lesson from this, but at least he’ll be slowed down if he goes after any more of the younger students.

The statue’s flight and crash into Crickle’s room were unmistakably a result of magic. The debris had scarcely settled when the chamber filled with other students and the hunt for the mageling was on. I’m ashamed to admit how close I came to letting Blakesley Minor be named as the mage. Since he was the one being beaten, he was the obvious suspect. No one seemed to think it might be me.

But poor Blakesley Minor was sobbing terribly and so gallant in trying to suppress his tears that I couldn’t let him be wrongly accused. So I raised my chin and said in my best “damn your eyes” manner that I was the mage.

I’ll never forget how the other boys gasped and drew back as if I were a leper. It was…chilling. This is what my life will be like from now on—those who were once friends avoiding me as if I’m some kind of monster.

One of the prefects had been drawn by the commotion. After I confessed, he ordered me to return to my room while he reported what had happened to the headmaster. I was tempted to ask if he wanted to try to make me obey just to see him flinch, but I didn’t. I am too afraid of myself to want to strike fear into others.

I’ve been writing in this journal ever since returning to the room. Describing what happened helps keep me from falling apart.

Dear God, what will my parents say???

There’s a knock at the door. It’s time to face my fate.

October 13th, 1801, in the coach taking me home

The carriage is bouncing so much in the rutted road that I may not be able to read my handwriting later, but no matter. I’ll never forget how I left Eton.

Though I knew I’d be expelled, I had no idea how quickly. The headmaster kept it short, saying it was a demmed shame that the noble family of Falkirk had been reduced to a demmed mageling, and that it was a demmed pity I didn’t have any normal brothers. For an educator, he has a limited vocabulary.

He said servants were packing my things and a carriage had been summoned to take me home immediately. I wasn’t even to return to my room. The sooner my poisonous person left the sacred precincts of Eton, the better. As I left his office, he muttered what a demmed pity it was, I’d seemed so promising.

I was escorted to the carriage by two burly footmen I’d not seen before. As they flanked me down the corridor, I sensed they had magic. Eton must have them on staff in case students like me turn out to be unruly magelings.

It’s perfectly acceptable for commoners to be mages. They like having power because it generally assures them a good living. My father’s weather mage at Kemperton earns a small fortune for maintaining good growing conditions in our area.

Down the stairs, out to the school yard, to a shabby travel coach waiting at the opposite end. And filling the yard was what looked like every student, master, and servant at Eton. There were hundreds, and I must walk through them to reach the carriage. I felt like a Christian tossed among the lions. But by God, I am a Falkirk of Kemperton, and I will not show fear.

Head up, I crossed the courtyard. The crowd parted like the Red Sea opening before Moses. (Surely Moses was a mage. Just look at his deeds!)

I heard muttered curses, saw hatred, loathing, and fear on their faces. If the Marquess of Allarde could be cursed with magic, was anyone safe?

A few faces showed sympathy and regret. But only one student stepped out to say good-bye. It was Blakesley Major. He’s a form ahead of me and I don’t know him well, but he offered his hand and said in a carrying voice, “Thank you for saving my little brother from that revolting bully. You will always have a friend in me.”

I was never so grateful for anything in my life. As I shook his hand, I said quietly, “Thank you. This may cost you in the future.”

“Not as much as rescuing my brother has cost you,” Blakesley Major said just as quietly. Then he stepped back and snapped a smart military salute. His father is a general, and he intends a military career himself. It didn’t seem proper to salute back, so I gave a formal nod of recognition and continued on my way.

I managed to maintain control until I was safely in the coach. Then I closed my eyes and shook as I left Eton forever. I know now what it’s like to ride in the tumbrel to the guillotine, as so many French aristocrats have done.

But I’m alive. And when I reach Kemperton, I must face my parents.

October 17th, 1801, my room, Kemperton Hall, Shropshire

Waiting, waiting, waiting. As I write at my desk, I can feel the generations of Falkirks who have loved this land, going back before they were even named Falkirk. The land lends strength, and I need that.

Soon my father will return home from the Assizes. He will be informed of my presence. Then he’ll read the letter from Eton and discuss the matter with my mother. When they have decided what to do with me, I will be summoned for judgment.

This is far more difficult than waiting to learn my fate at Eton. That’s just a school, but these are my parents.

I was born long after they had despaired of having children. I have always tried to live up to their hopes for me. Now I’ve failed, and in a disastrously public way.

Every boy at Eton will write home about my shocking misbehavior. My disgrace will taint my parents as well since magic generally comes through the blood. When my father takes his seat in the next session of the House of Lords, other lords will whisper and draw away, fearing he might influence them with evil magic. All because I lost my temper and was revealed as a mage in England’s most aristocratic school!

As heir to the dukedom of Westover, I would inherit my father’s title and the entailed property even if I was mad or a murderer. Why do I have to suffer the affliction of magic, which is the only grounds for disinheritance? Though disowning an heir is not required by law, in practice a mageling is virtually always chopped off the family tree.

This is particularly true if there is a normal younger brother who can inherit. No wonder aristocratic children with magic hide their abilities!

But I have no brothers, no close cousins in the line of inheritance. There are distant cousins, I suppose. So what will my father do? Though I’ve always expected to be the next Duke of Westover, I can live without the title. But can I live without Kemperton, which is entailed to go with the dukedom?

Once again a knock on the door signals that I am called to my fate. At the sound, my hand clenched and the pen spattered a great black blot on the journal page. Just as I am a great black blot on my family.

Two hours later

It could have been worse, I suppose, though I have never seen my father look so sad. But he did not blame me for what I am. He was very calm as he discussed what must be done. He doesn’t want to disinherit me, but feels he must if I choose to embrace magic.

If I am willing to swear off magic, I must go to Lackland Abbey and be cured. When I marry, I must take a wife who is from a completely non-magical family.

Under those circumstances, my father can dismiss my magic as a minor aberration that I have outgrown. My children will probably be untainted. Since my family is well-respected, most people will be inclined to give me the benefit of the doubt if I live a blamelessly mundane life.

Though I felt pain at the thought of never wielding my power again, Kemperton is worth it. I agreed to cooperate fully with the program at Lackland Abbey so I will be cured as quickly as possible. I will not even look at girls with magic. We shook hands on it. Then I thanked him for his generosity and left.

My mother was waiting for me outside my father’s study. Her eyes were red from crying as she hugged me and said it was all her fault. Apparently there is some history of magic in her family, though not so close and so powerful that she thought any child of hers would be a mageling.

I hugged her back, thinking how lucky I am that my parents don’t despise me. Perhaps my magic did come from her. But I wouldn’t have wanted a different mother.

October 25th, 1801, Lackland Abbey

This pestilential place is worse than I expected. Though the abbey is cold, gray, stony, and blasted by wind and rain from the North Sea, that’s not unusual in England. Far harder to bear are the beastly magical suppression spells that smother the entire property.

Apparently the monks who built this place drove out every trace of magic because they considered it evil. Even though I agreed to come here and be cured, I didn’t realize how wretchedly empty I would feel with my abilities crushed.

But most of the students are decent fellows. I quite like my roommate, Halliwell. All of us have had to live with being different, constantly fearing discovery. That fear is now behind us since we have been discovered. Our common goal is to be cured so we can leave and reclaim as much of our lives as possible.

Surprisingly, a few of the boys refuse to renounce their magic. They intend to become practicing mages when they leave at age twenty-one. They are here because their families want them cured. Or maybe the families want to be seen as condemning magic. Either way, no one can be cured without wanting it to happen.

The masters are well enough. Most classes are similar to what I studied at Eton. The canings are no worse than at Eton. (No better, either.)

The most amiable of the masters is Mr. Stephens, who is the youngest. He teaches magical control and is the one who will eliminate our magical abilities when the time comes. For this he must be a mage himself. He was once a Lackland student, so he understands better than the others what it is like to be cursed with magic.

November 3rd, 1801, Lackland Abbey

Sports are even more important here than at Eton. I suspect the headmaster wants us to tire ourselves out on the playing fields rather than rioting and tearing the buildings down. I look forward to the games each afternoon so I can exhaust myself and sleep well. I have had my old nightmare more frequently since I came here.

November 15th, 1801, Lackland Abbey

The boys’ school is separated from the girls’ by a magical wall. There are holes in the stonework that make it possible to speak through the wall, even to touch fingers. A spell makes it impossible to go over the wall or to brick in the holes.

Did the early monks and nuns build it like this to test their resistance to the temptations of the flesh? There are many flirtations between male and female students. I avoid the wall, of course. I cannot have anything to do with mage-born girls.

November 23, 1801, Lackland Abbey

I saw Elspeth today! I had just finished a game when I saw a flash of silvery blond hair through one of the wall holes. It’s a rare shade, and sure enough, the hair belonged to my cousin. I was amazingly pleased to see her.

She’s very petite. When we were children, I once asked if she was a fairy changeling who had been swapped in the cradle for the real Lady Elspeth Campbell. She laughed and said she was quite sure that she wasn’t, but her magic came to her so early that once or twice I’ve wondered if she really is a fairy.

She told me straight off that she has openly embraced her magic and will endure Lackland Abbey until she can leave at twenty-one. I was startled by that, but apparently she is a gifted healer. They are the best accepted mages, so she will be able to support herself in comfort.

She’ll surely marry, too—she’s beautiful. No aristocrat would want a wife with her abilities, but there are good men of lower rank.

Elspeth said something odd about how there is more to Lackland Abbey than is apparent. There are rumors of chalk tunnels below the abbey, like the tunnels below Dover Castle, which is only a few miles away.

Perhaps the monks used them to age wine? She left me curious.

November 26th, 1801, Lackland Abbey

Curiosity is a nuisance. Have quietly gone out the last few nights to see if I could find entrances to the rumored tunnels. No luck.

November 28th, 1801, Lackland Abbey

The world has turned upside down. Tonight I found the way down into a vast maze of chalk tunnels beneath the abbey. They were carved centuries ago. In the center is a hall where magelings from the school and the village meet three times a week to study magic. These rebel students call this maze the Labyrinth, and Elspeth is a leader among them. There are two adult mentors, and the male is Mr. Stephens.

Though magic is suppressed above the surface in the abbey, it is concentrated belowground. The magelings who meet here call themselves Merlin’s Irregulars because they are an “irregular” magical militia sworn to defend Britain if necessary. Though peace negotiations are now in process between us and France, there will be no peace as long as Napoleon lives and lusts to conquer all Europe.

I was invited to join the Irregulars. Does my duty to help defend my country come before my duty to my parents and my heritage? I don’t know.

If called on to fight in battle, I would do so without hesitation. But magic? My peers would consider that disgraceful, yet I have a rare ability that could be valuable to Britain. Would it be cowardly of me to refuse to use my abilities simply because some would condemn me?

Or am I using patriotism as an excuse to use magic? It was exhilarating to be among magelings who are proud of what they do. I envy that pride. But if I embrace magic, I will lose Kemperton and break my parents’ hearts.

If any students find the Labyrinth and refuse to join the Irregulars, they are given a spell of forgetting and sent back to their beds. After serious thought, I swore the oath making me an Irregular with the stipulation that I might later renounce my magic, but if I am called on to serve England before then—if Napoleon invades—I will fulfill my vow.

I am troubled but excited.

December 5th, 1801, Lackland Abbey

Magic comes in so many wondrous and fascinating varieties! The more one practices, the stronger one’s powers become. We teach each other, after our studies, we drink tea and eat cakes brought from the village and relax together. I have never had such comrades.

The girls are equal partners with the boys. That startled me at first since it is not the way of the world, but now I find it welcome. Many have equal powers, after all.

Elspeth is the most powerful healer in the Irregulars. I keep my distance from the girls, though most are pleasant. I don’t wish to be tempted.

Luckily, that hasn’t been a problem.

Next week I will go home to Kemperton for the Christmas holidays. Much has changed in me since I left Eton and entered Lackland. I no longer worry that my magic will be discovered.

Now I worry about whether to renounce it.

January 15th, 1802, Lackland Abbey

Returning to the abbey was depressing, but I’m glad to see my fellow Irregulars. Last night a new student from the girls’ school discovered the Labyrinth. Lady Cynthia Stanton is a real stunner. Tall, blond, almost too perfectly beautiful to be real. If she weren’t a mageling, she’d bring every gentleman in London to his knees when she had her season. But since she has magic, all of that is now denied her.

Perhaps that is why she is so bad-tempered. She is like a wasp looking for someone to sting. Even though she has a great deal of power, I was privately glad when she refused to join the Irregulars. The mentors laid a forgetting spell on her so she won’t come here again. She is no loss.

April 9th, 1802, Lackland Abbey

I tire of my recurring nightmare, though it is less disturbing now that I have accepted its message. Fate comes to us all.

May 7, 1802, Lackland Abbey

I almost jumped out of my skin when I returned to my room last night after a session in the Labyrinth. Halliwell spoke up in the darkness to ask if I was sneaking out to meet a girl somewhere. I have a bespelled stealth stone that provides protection from casual notice when coming and going to the Labyrinth, but it hasn’t the power to conceal me from my roommate. Since I trust him, I gave a brief but honest explanation.

He said he’d heard rumors but had no interest in looking for tunnels since he hasn’t enough magic to risk ruining his life. He will not betray me to the school masters. Not that they can do much to me even if my sins are revealed, since I’m already in exile.

October 4th, 1803, Lackland Abbey

The more I use my magic, the harder it is to imagine allowing myself to be “cured.” Power is as much a part of me as my blood and bones. I’m grateful that I don’t yet need to decide which path to take yet. But the day will come.

October 13, 1803, Lackland Abbey

There was another new student at the Labyrinth tonight. I looked across the room, and was immediately riveted. When I inquired, Elspeth told me the girl is Lady Victoria Mansfield. She’s a daughter of the Earl of Fairmount and a younger sister of Lord Smithson, my first Eton fag-master.

They look nothing alike. Smithson is large and blond, she is petite and graceful as a fairy sprite. Her hair is shining and dark, and she has an energy and presence that make her stand out even in a crowd of extraordinary magelings. Knowing I was a mad fool, I introduced myself, mentioning that I’d known her brother at Eton.

She looked up at me, her eyes vividly blue. As soon as our gazes met, I felt a sense of connection. She….

I have no words for how she made me feel.

I’M DOOMED!

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PROLOGUE

London, late seventeenth century

“Be damned to all mages!” the earl snarled as he stormed into the coffee house.

Sally Rainford, the proprietress, rolled her eyes silently. There were more than a thousand coffeehouses in London, but hers, the King’s Cup on Saint James Street, had the most aristocratic patrons. And most, like this earl, were a plaguey nuisance.

The earl gestured to Sally to bring coffee, then claimed a seat at the communal table occupied by a dozen or so of his fellow aristocrats. “We must make the practice of magic illegal in England!”

Make magic illegal? How could they ban something so natural? Keeping her thoughts to herself, Sally assembled a tray with coffee, a small pot of cream, and little bowls of shaved chocolate, cinnamon flakes, and chipped sugar.

The cool viscount sitting opposite the earl arched his brows. “That’s rather extreme, my dear fellow. What happened?”

Sally carried her carefully prepared tray to the earl. She’d rather pour the coffee on his head, but that would be bad for business.

“A poxy mage used his power and almost seduced my youngest daughter.” The earl stirred a spoonful of chocolate shavings into his coffee with angry jabs. “I’ve made sure the brute won’t seduce any more wellborn young girls, but if it hadn’t been for his magic, he would never have dared try.”

Sally stifled a snort. Maybe it made the earl feel better to blame a mage, but young girls often had roving eyes.

“Was it Hollinghurst? That young beast has used magic to seduce other women,” a tight-lipped baron said.

The earl gave a sharp nod. “But seduction is not the only trouble mages cause. We should ban the lot of them!”

“Lord Weebley uses magic to cheat at cards,” another man growled. “I’m sure of it, but I’ve never had proof. Bloody impossible to prove magical cheating.”

The scowling baron stirred sugar chips into his coffee. “Magic is a tool of the devil, and it’s time we banned it. Who hasn’t suffered at the hands of mages who use their vile powers to cheat and manipulate? I say it’s time we start to burn witches again!”

Disturbed, Sally pressed a hand to her belly. It was too soon for the babe to show, but her husband, Nicodemus, came of a Kentish family known for magical ability. Likely this child would be a mage, too, since Sally was a talented hearth witch. That was why her coffee was the best in London.

It hadn’t been all that long since witch hunts were common, but these days, most people had come to see the value of magic. Plus, witches had started calling themselves mages, which didn’t sound so wicked.

Sally didn’t think that the bad old days would come again now that magic was so widely accepted. But far too often she heard patrons of the King’s Cup make angry comments like these. Friends who worked in great houses reported similar remarks. Maybe in time the fancy folk would disdain all magic and leave the benefits to commoners like her.

A tall, lean man whose dark wig cascaded past his shoulders had been lounging by the fire. Raising his voice to carry through the coffeehouse, he said, “A total ban would never work. Most Englishmen like magic. They celebrate if their children show strong gifts since such talents can be profitable.” He stroked his thin moustache idly. “No point in passing a law no one will obey.”

Sally gave thanks that the most important man in the room was showing his usual good sense. His opinion encouraged others to speak up. A duke said thoughtfully, “A total ban wouldn’t be in our best interests. I almost lost my wife and son in childbirth, but a mage healer saved them both.”

“Can’t afford to get rid of weather mages, either,” a gruff northerner said. “As wet as it is in Westmoreland, most years my tenants’ crops would rot in the fields if I didn’t employ a good local mage to send half the rain away.”

Sally nodded approval. The Rainfords were best known for their weather magic, and it was men like the northerner who kept them prosperous. Her husband’s earnings had enabled them to start the King’s Cup.

The tall, dark-haired man drawled, “Perhaps social censure might serve you better than a law. The aristocracy is small compared to the great mass of Englishmen. Though it’s not feasible to ban magic throughout England, influential gentlemen like you should be able to drive magic out of the nobility. Leave it to the lower orders.”

There was a pause while all the lords in the room considered the words. The angry earl said slowly, “We should speak out about how unsporting and vulgar magic is.”

“We can give the cut direct to mages. Involve our wives, since they rule the social world.” The cool viscount gave a faint smile. “My lady recently complained about a mage duchess who uses power to enhance her beauty. My wife was furious. She and her friends will gladly use their influence to make magic unfashionable.”

“My mistress has strong illusion magic, and she can change her appearance to look like any woman I fancy,” another lord said. “It’s like having a harem of the most beautiful women in England!”

There was a burst of laughter from the other men. The viscount said, “I foresee a world where people of our sort are above magic, but we benefit by how commoners use it.” He smiled slyly. “My mistress has very similar talents.”

Sally sniffed but kept her gaze down while the lords raved about all the ways they could demonize magic among their own kind. Mostly the lords didn’t notice her unless they wanted more coffee, but if someone saw the expression of contempt on her face, there might be trouble. These men had power, and it was best not to offend them. Wiser to concentrate on shaving chocolate and nipping loaf sugar into small pieces.

Sally set a pan of coffee beans to roast, thinking the viscount was right. Foolish aristocrats would drive the mages from their ranks. She touched her stomach again. Her babe would have magic. When it was born, its talents would be welcomed, and that was as it should be.

But she felt sorry for those poor doomed magelings who would be born to the nobility.

CHAPTER 1

England, 1803

Lady Victoria Mansfield flew high, high over her family’s estate. Arms and legs outstretched, long skirts fluttering around her knees as she gloried in her freedom and in the soft scented wind.

She laughed with delight as she saw the familiar Somersetshire hills from above. Here was the vast stone length of her home, Fairmount Hall, there the beautiful gardens that ran to the bluffs. Waves crashed far below, and gulls soared at Tory’s height, their cries haunting.

She swooped down to investigate the round stone dovecote. Doves squawked in protest when she flew inside. Startled, she almost plunged to the ground.

Concentrate on staying aloft. With a giddy rush, Tory swooped up again, soaring through the door of the dovecote and into the sky. Perhaps she should fly to the nearby estate of the Harford family. The Honorable Edmund Harford was the eldest son and heir to his father’s title and property.

She’d always admired Edmund. He was back from university for the summer and she wanted him to see that she had grown. Perhaps he’d think she was almost as pretty as her older sister, Sarah.

Tory banked into the wind and turned east toward the Harford estate.

A horrified cry shocked her awake.

Jolted from sleep, Tory realized she was floating a yard above her rumpled bed, terrifyingly unsupported. Her mother, the Countess of Fairmont, stood in the doorway, her expression horrified. “Victoria,” she breathed. “Oh, please, no!”

Tory glanced up into the canopy above her head. A spider had spun a web in the corner, and the ugly creature was looking right at her.

She shrieked and crashed down on the bed, her breath whooshing out as she flopped onto her stomach. Shaken and afraid, she pushed herself up with her arms. She couldn’t really have been flying! “What…what happened?”

“You were flying.” Her mother closed the door, her white-knuckled hand locked around the knob. “Don’t ever do that again!” she said, voice shaking. “You know how society feels about mages. How…how your father feels about them.”

“I can’t be a mage!” Tory gasped, shocked by the impossibility of her mother’s words. “I’m a Mansfield. We’re not magical!”

At least not that Tory had ever heard. Seeing the countess’s guilty expression caused her to ask incredulously, “Mama, have there been mages in our family?”

Such a thing wasn’t possible. It just wasn’t! Magic corrupted, and she wasn’t corrupt. Yes, she’d felt herself changing as she grew to womanhood. Strange dreams, new desires. But those were just growing pains. Not magic!

Tory refused to believe her mother could be a mage. Lady Fairmount was considered the greatest lady in the county, an example to all wellborn young ladies.

And yet…guilt was written as plain as day on the countess’s lovely face. When the countess refused to reply, Tory’s world began to crack beneath her.

“Do you have magical ability?” she said, shocked and desperately unwilling to believe such a thing. Yet looking back… “You always knew what we were doing. Geoff and Sarah and I thought you had eyes in the back of your head.”

“There were rumors,” her mother whispered, tears shining in her eyes. “About my Russian grandmother, Viktoria Ivanova. The one you’re named for. She died when I was very small, so I didn’t really know her, but…it’s possible she brought mage blood into the family.”

Tory’s namesake had poisoned the blue-blooded Mansfield family with magic? And Tory might suffer for that? It wasn’t fair!

Feeling utterly betrayed, she cried, “How could you not warn me? If I’d known I might have magic, I could have guarded against it!”

“I thought you children had escaped the taint! I have very little power. Scarcely any at all. It seemed better not to worry you about such an unlikely possibility.” Lady Fairmount was literally wringing her hands. “But…you look rather like Viktoria Ivanova. You must have inherited some of her talent.”

Tory wanted to howl. Voice breaking, she said, “I’ve never floated like this before. It’s just a freak, something that will never happen again, I swear it!”

The countess looked deeply sad. “Magic appears when boys and girls grow to adulthood. It’s hard to suppress, but you must try, Victoria. If your father finds out, he’ll certainly send you to Lackland.”

Tory gasped in disbelief. Though children of the nobility who had magic were often sent to the prisonlike school called Lackland Abbey, surely she wouldn’t be forced to leave her friends and family! “You’ve managed to hide your power from everyone, and so can I. I’m another whole generation away from Viktoria Ivanova.” Tory drew a shaky breath. “No one will ever know about me, either.”

“The ability to fly is not minor magic,” her mother said, expression worried. “You may find it harder to hide your abilities than I have.”

“I wasn’t flying!” Tory protested. “I always toss and turn when I’m sleeping.” Knowing how feeble that sounded, she continued. “If I am cursed with magic, I’ll learn to control it. You always said I was more stubborn than Geoffrey and Sarah put together.”

“I hope you succeed,” her mother said sadly. “If your ability becomes known, I don’t think I’ll be able to save you from Lackland Abbey. God keep you, my child.” Silent tears fell unchecked as she backed from the room, closing the door behind her.

Leaving her daughter alone in a shattered world.

Tory struggled not to panic. She couldn’t go to Lackland Abbey. Even when students were cured and sent home, they were considered tainted, like the madmen at Bedlam Hospital.

Uneasily she remembered a story whispered by her best friend, Louisa Fisk. The daughter of a baron from nearby Devon had been sent to Lackland after her family discovered she was a mageling. The girl had been betrothed from birth to the son of a family friend, but the betrothal had been broken immediately.

When the girl finally left Lackland, she’d been forced to become a governess. A year later, she walked off a cliff.

Tory’s bedside candle cast enough light to reveal her dim reflection in the mirror opposite her bed. The rest of the family was tall and blond, while Tory was petite and dark-haired. The countess always said her dark hair, slim build, and slightly tilted eyes had come from her Russian grandmother. Tory rather liked her exotic looks. It was horrible to know they might have come with despicable magical ability.

But the magic didn’t show. With her wide eyes and a glossy night braid falling over the shoulder of her lace-trimmed white nightgown, she looked like any normal, harmless schoolroom girl.

Her gaze traveled around her bedroom. Her beautiful, grown-up room, redecorated as a present for her sixteenth birthday because Mama had said she was a young lady, and a lady’s room might make her less of a tomboy.

Tory loved the rich moldings, the elegant rose-patterned brocade upholstery, the carved walnut posts that supported the matching brocade canopy of her bed. It was the bedroom of a young lady who would soon be presented to society and would have her pick of the most eligible young men in England.

Her mother had given her this beautiful room but failed to warn her that she might be cursed with magic. It was damnable!

Tory shivered, wanting nothing more than to crawl into bed and pull the covers over her head. But she must discover if she truly did carry the taint of magic.

She sat on the edge of her bed and imagined herself flying as she had in her dream. She felt a fluttering in her midriff, but to her relief, nothing happened. She remained solidly on the bed.

But was she trying hard enough? She closed her eyes and thought of herself floating in the air. She concentrated so hard that her head began to ache. Still nothing.

She wasn’t a mage. It was some kind of misunderstanding!

Then the inner fluttering stabilized with a silent click. Dizziness—and Tory shrieked as her head bumped a yielding surface. Her eyes snapped open and she saw that her head was pushing into the bed’s brocade canopy.

Shocked, she fell, bouncing from the edge of the mattress onto the soft Chinese carpet. Knees bruised, she got to her feet and tested herself again. This time she kept her eyes open as she consciously sought that inner change.

Click! She rose from the carpet with alarming speed. Too fast!

With the thought, her movement slowed and she floated gently up to the ceiling. She felt light and no longer afraid as the air supported her as softly as a feather mattress.

For an instant, excitement blazed through her. She could fly!

Her pleasure vanished instantly. Wielding magic was vulgar. Dishonorable, even. Noble families like Tory’s were the descendants of kings and warriors. Mages were mere tradesmen like blacksmiths and seamstresses. A Mansfield would rather starve than go into trade.

Yet the pulse of magic that held her in the air felt so good. How could it be evil?

Her lips tightened. Teachers and vicars invariably said that feeling good was the mark of sin. She must never fly like this again.

But before she put magic away forever, Tory wanted to explore her amazing, appalling new ability. She tried to swoop across the room as she’d done in her dream, but the best she could manage was drifting a little faster.

She looked down onto the top of her bed’s canopy. Ugh! Dead bugs. She’d tell a maid to take the canopy down for cleaning.

Tory drifted along a wall until she reached one of the carved angels set in each corner of the room. This close, she saw patches where the gilding had peeled away from the wood. The bare spots weren’t visible from floor level.

She wasn’t really flying, she decided. Not like a bird, not like a Turk on a flying carpet. But she could float safely and control her direction and speed if she concentrated.

Her new ability wasn’t very useful, apart from allowing her to get books from the top shelves in her father’s library. Tiring, Tory descended too fast and banged hard on the carpet.

She winced as she rubbed the stinging sole of her right foot. She must take more care in the future….

No! She would never fly—float—again. Doing so was wrong, and exhausting as well. Tory could barely manage to climb the steps up into her bed.

Tory rolled into a ball under the covers, shivering despite the warm night. It was impossible to deny the truth. She, Lady Victoria Mansfield, youngest of the Earl of Fairmount’s three children, had been cursed with magic from her unknown great grandmother.

But she wouldn’t let it ruin her life. She wouldn’t!

M. J. Putney is the YA alter ego of New York Times bestselling author Mary Jo Putney. The winner of numerous awards for her historical romances, M. J. is fond of reading, cats, travel, and most of all, great stories. Visit her on the Web at www.mjputney.com.

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