Rise of the Arcane Fire (The Secret Order) (5 page)

“There is no such man within or associated with our Order,” someone insisted. “A man with a clockwork face is impossible. To integrate a mechanical structure with living tissue is beyond the scope of any invention by an Amusementist. It must have been your imagination.”

I felt as if my cheeks were on fire.

“While my imagination might be remarkable, I doubt it is capable of conjuring this,” I said, pointing at the bomb.

The voices swelled, and the bell clanged. “Order, order!” the leader shouted. “This is all very unsettling. Lawrence, if you would take this abomination to the archives, we will study it at length once the Academy is in session. I’ll leave you in charge of the investigation. Thank you for bringing it to our attention, Miss Whitlock. Please return to your seat.”

That was all? They intended to study it at a later time? I let my mouth hang agape for only a moment before I caught myself. Yet another man stood in the front row and placed his hand on the rail. This one had large front teeth and a twitchy, rabbity look about him. “Miss Whitlock should be escorted out immediately. No one who is not a sworn member of the Order or a nominated apprentice with a family legacy is allowed within these walls, much less a woman. She should not remain here, in spite of her ill tidings.”

I turned to the man, but he lifted his weak chin, keeping his narrow-set eyes on the leader and refusing to acknowledge my existence.

“Furthermore,” he continued, “we should punish Oliver for giving her the password only to bring us this news, which he could have easily delivered himself without defying our traditions.”

I turned to Oliver, feeling suddenly ill. He was my friend. He had done nothing that deserved punishment. The young duke stood. I expected him to be angry. Instead he looked as if he were about to laugh at a secret joke. He placed a hand on his waistcoat and smiled. “I didn’t bring her here to give us news,” he said. He looked me in the eye and gave me a mischievous wink. “I brought her here to nominate her as an apprentice.”

The room exploded in angry shouts as if the bomb had just gone off.

ME, AN APPRENTICE? ME? THIS
is what I’d thought I wanted. I had spent months diligently studying the equations and theorems Simon Pricket had explained in painstaking detail in his journals. I had tortured myself with them all day, every day, until my head had swum with equations. Even so, I couldn’t manage to properly compress a spring. If I became an apprentice, every effort I made would be scrutinized. The pressure would be unbearable.

But I could learn. With the right instruction, I knew I could learn.

“Preposterous!” The fat one with the jowls chose to speak again. “It is a proven fact that the female brain is simply incapable of reasoning on a high enough level to comprehend the mechanics of what we create, let alone actually
invent
something.”

I furrowed my brow. Who exactly had proven that as fact? I might not have known what my potential was, but I wasn’t about to let some fat old codger decide it for me. A chorus of “hear, hear” echoed around the room, only I couldn’t hear anymore through the furious rushing sound in my ears. They weren’t even going to give me a chance.

I opened my mouth to speak.

“Miss Whitlock has a very gifted mind,” Oliver cut in before I could say a word, looking unshaken by the turmoil. “I’m sure she will prove herself well, given the opportunity.”

Clenching my teeth, I decided to hold my tongue, lest it grow sharp. I needed to keep control of myself, but they all acted as if I weren’t even in the room, let alone standing right before them.

“It isn’t simply a matter of having a gifted mind,” another man retorted. “It is a matter of education as well. She will have to compete with peers who have been highly trained in mathematics and science, where she has had what? The limited knowledge of some governess trained to teach her how to properly pour her tea? I wouldn’t want to see the poor girl humiliated. It’s not fair to her.”

This was the argument against me? I could show him where to pour his tea.

Another man stood. I squinted in the dim light, sure that I recognized him. He had round spectacles and a long patrician nose. He had been a close friend of my father’s, and had often visited the shop. “The sons of the merchants often don’t have the privilege of a boarding school education, and yet they manage well enough. Lest we forget, this girl is the grandchild of two of the best minds the Order has ever seen. I know for a fact that George used to teach her regularly.”

“Yes, Ezra, but if you second her nomination, it would surely ruin her.” I turned around to another man, about my father’s age, with a predominant bald spot that made him look a bit like a monk. I could only assume the enormous sideburns clinging to his cheeks were meant to make up for his lack of hair elsewhere.

He stood in the middle of the rise and gave me a patronizing look. “How is the girl supposed to find a respectable husband if she pursues this course of action? We’ve all been through the Academy. It’s not possible for her to be chaperoned at every moment. We cannot guarantee her safety, and her reputation will be in shambles. The Whitlock and Reichlin lines are too important to tarnish in such a manner. Let her attend the Society balls, find a good match, and allow her husband to take his place among us. That is only proper. It’s what her father would have chosen for her, and we must do right by him.”

At this point I felt the anger inside me about to boil over. I supposed he thought I should be grateful for his concern for my future marital status. Frankly, I found it unbelievable that any woman would marry him, with two rangy squirrels clinging to his cheeks.

I didn’t even bother to look as another man shouted, “What of the boys? We must think of them and their education. How can they possibly learn the intricate nature of design with a young lady in their midst? It would be too much of a distraction and unfair to them.”

Enough! This was my life. They had no right.

“I accept,” I announced. My voice projected through the entire assembly, without the aid of the machine on the podium. The men’s voices quieted as I once again felt the weight of all their stares.

“I accept the nomination.” I stood as tall and straight as I could. It confounded me that here in England, an empire that had given rise to our glorious Queen Victoria, and the great Elizabeth before her, men could be so thick. Without this chance I could not prove my worth to the Order. But I would be damned before I let the lot of them cow me.

The old man at the podium gave me a condescending grin. “I’m afraid no one will second the nomination.” He lifted the baton to strike the bell. “If there is no further business, I motion to adjourn.”

The gallery remained silent. The leader shrugged. “Nigel, please escort Miss Whitlock from the premises.”

No. My heart raced as I looked toward Oliver. He spoke frantically with the man beside him. This was my only opportunity to become a true Amusementist. I wanted this. It was what I was meant to be. I knew it with all my heart.

“Wait,” I shouted. “Please!”

The man with the monocle who had escorted me in laid a viselike grip on my arm and pulled me from the podium. I stood fast against his hold. I didn’t wish to be brushed aside. I felt it would crush me.

I looked around the room, but it was just a sea of faces, blurring through the beginnings of stinging tears. I would not let them fall. Not here. I wouldn’t assure their victory in such a way.

A tall man stood. He was the one with the slick blond hair and sharp-looking beard that had protested whatever the Amusementists had decided as I had come in. I turned to him. If he seconded the motion to adjourn, it was over. Silently I pleaded that those words would not come from him.

“I second,” he announced, and the weight of his words fell like the blade of the guillotine.

The old goat at the podium nearly bleated his approval. “Good. Motion to adjourn is final.” He lifted his hand to strike the bell.

“No.” The man tucked his thumb into the pocket of his waistcoat in a casual way. My heart pounded like an executioner’s drum. He cleared his throat, then rocked back on his heels as he said with a ringing voice, “I second the nomination of Miss Margaret Whitlock as an apprentice.”

I froze, as did Nigel, though he did not let go of my arm. My shock mingled with newfound hope that was slowly turning to joy.

The voices erupted again, reminding me of a pack of barking dogs. I ignored them and watched the man who had just seconded my nomination. He didn’t bother to look at me, but instead remained nonchalant as he waited for the furor to die down. At one point he pulled out his pocket watch and inspected the time, then tucked it back into his waistcoat with a smug grin.

“What do you mean by this, Lawrence?” the old man at the podium snapped. “You of all people should realize the integrity of the Academy and seek to protect it.”

“Indeed. As headmaster, the Academy is my responsibility,” he answered in a cool voice. “And if I choose to give Miss Whitlock a position there, then I am the one who will handle the matter.”

Headmaster? I grinned before I could help it. Surely no one could protest if the headmaster himself wished for me to attend the Academy.

“Why would you do such a thing?” someone shouted.

The headmaster turned, his long face scowling. “Perhaps I see it as a challenge,” he answered with a hint of irritation in his voice. “Isn’t that what this Order takes pride in?”

I didn’t know what to think. I only felt the swelling of gratitude that at least one man embodied what the Amusementists stood for. Other than him, and Oliver, the lot of them could rot, in my opinion.

“It is unfair to ruin the child’s future in such a way,” another protested.

The headmaster tilted his head. “Whatever happens here will not be spoken of in proper society. Or am I mistaken, and this is
not
, in fact, a secret order?”

“But would that be enough to protect her?” someone shouted.

“It would if she were my ward,” Oliver proclaimed. “It’s the least I can do for the memory of George and Elsa. She would be part of my family, and any who dishonor her would answer to me.”

Lawrence grinned and gave Oliver a nod. “It is settled, then.”

My elation felt full to bursting at his words. I would not disappoint Lawrence’s faith in me. None of the others mattered. He was willing to see me as a person with potential. I owed my loyalty and my dedication to the headmaster.

“Settled!” The blustery old fool with the flappy jowls stood with his face as red as a baby’s smacked bottom. “I propose the removal of Lawrence as headmaster of the Academy at once!”

The headmaster arched a brow and looked down his long nose at the man. All the men around the older man with the jowls seemed to wither. They shifted uncomfortably in their seats just like errant schoolboys, leaving the old man standing alone and flustered.

“It has been six years since the Academy has convened,” the headmaster said. “This will be the largest class in history, from five different countries, no less. I will gladly turn over my duty to any here who wish to dedicate every moment of their lives to the education of twenty-five young men”—he glanced at me and grinned—“and one young lady.”

All talk died down immediately. I almost laughed as all the rest of the Amusementists cast their eyes to the floor. Clearly, no one wished to be saddled with such a responsibility. I couldn’t hide my smile as my gaze met Oliver’s. He gave me a sly grin and a nod.

The headmaster held his hands out in mocking disbelief. “No one? Well, then, in the interest of preserving the Academy, I shall gladly serve as headmaster, and I second the motion to adjourn.”

The man behind the podium clanged the bell. It rang out with a defeated tone, and I fought the urge to dance. The Amusementists began congregating and shuffling up the stairs, huddled in conversation about everything that had transpired.

Yes! The battle had been won.

Oliver leaned over and said something to Will. Will nodded, then spared me a glance. I smiled at him, but he didn’t return it. He seemed lost in thought and concerned about something.

The elation I had been feeling cooled somewhat as I wondered what was wrong. Will slipped out the door in the back of the chamber as Oliver climbed down the steps to the floor and met me there.

“Leave her to me, Nigel,” he said, taking my arm.

I had completely forgotten about the old man with the monocle. He seemed at a loss for what to do with me as well, and he shook as if coming awake, then nodded.

“Yes, yes, of course.” He hurried off after the other Amusementists, leaving me alone with Oliver.

Oliver took a step toward the stairs, and all my strength rushed away from my body as soon as I tried to move.

“You did well, Meg.” He patted my arm, and I felt my strength returning. When I had first met him, he had been living in the servants’ quarters of his own abandoned estate, and his choice in clothing had been eccentric to say the least. Now he was the very image of a dashing young duke in the finest of style. If I had been any other girl in London, I might have swooned. But I never held to such nonsense. Oliver was like a protective older brother. Perhaps “protective” wasn’t quite the word, but a brother nonetheless, and now he had declared me a part of his family.

“You could have warned me,” I said as we ascended the stairs.

He just chuckled. “You are always at your best when facing the unexpected. You will do well.”

Would I? I really had no other option. I had just proclaimed in front of a room full of Amusementists that I was more than worthy to be an apprentice. These men were capable of bending the fabric of reality, and I couldn’t invent a simple frog. “I’m not so certain, but thank you.”

Oliver stopped at the top of the stair and turned to face me. “Listen, Meg. That doubt has no place here. Maybe others can afford it, but not you. I wouldn’t have nominated you if I didn’t have complete faith that you will make fools of the lot of them. Prove me right.”

I nodded. His faith in me bolstered my spirits, but it didn’t quash the niggling doubt that lingered in my mind. “I’m just glad Will was nominated as well. Thank you for that.”