Bookworm Read Free Page A

read, whatever the rules said. She simply didn’t have the power to utilise many of the spells other wizards used daily, let alone dark spells that hadn’t been used since the Necromantic Wars.
    “Room Thirteen,” Miss Prim said, when Elaine emerged from the office. “Daphne’s on the desk, but she needs help finding material. Too many wizards up there and they’re getting impatient.”
    “Yes, Miss Prim,” Elaine said. She turned and walked down the corridor. Sometimes, the corridors shifted, seemingly at random, but this time the Library seemed inclined to remain still. Room Thirteen was larger than the foyer, with a handful of desks manned by grumpy wizards reading older books and making notes. A small line of wizards stood in front of the main desk, waiting impatiently for their turn. Elaine walked around the desk and looked up at the first in line – and realised, too late, that it was someone she already knew.
    “Frogeye,” a delighted voice said. “How nice to see you again.”
    Elaine wanted to sink into the floor. Of all the people who had to visit the Great Library – and who she had to serve personally – it just had to be Millicent. The one person she’d met whom she never wanted to see again.
    Wonderful , she thought, bitterly. This day just keeps getting better and better.

 

    Chapter Two
    “Millicent,” Elaine said. “I...”
    “I am absolutely delighted to see you, Frogeye,” Millicent said. She ran one hand through her long blonde hair, calling attention to the shamefully tight white shirt she was wearing. “This... girl wasn’t going to give me what I wanted.”
    Elaine winced, inwardly. Millicent, blonde, beautiful and with a magical pedigree as long as her arm, had decided to hate her from the day that Elaine had been accepted to the Peerless School. A young orphan girl couldn’t help Millicent with her carefully-planned career, so Millicent had felt free to pick on Elaine for five years of hell. Elaine remembered – she couldn’t forget – days when she’d discovered that someone had stolen her supplies, trapped her wand and scribbled on her books. And the week she’d spent as a frog after Millicent had decided to practice her transfiguration on an unsuspecting victim. No wonder Daphne had been uncooperative. Millicent had a remarkable talent for irritating people.
    “Here,” Millicent said, thrusting a sheet of paper at Elaine. “I want these books, now .”
    Elaine scanned the list, wishing that she was strong enough to stand up to Millicent. But Millicent only respected magical power and good breeding and Elaine had neither. No one knew who her parents had been, or why they’d chosen to abandon their daughter, but Millicent hadn’t hesitated to draw a possible conclusion. Illegitimate children were still regarded as shameful, even ones who showed signs of magical power. And Elaine’s power had never been significant enough to convince her unknown parents to change their minds.
    “You want all of these books?” Elaine asked, in surprise. None of them were on the prohibited list for a fully-qualified sorceress, but they were all alarmingly close to the line. Some of them had only been one vote from being added to the Black Vault. “Do you have...?”
    Millicent grinned as she produced a scroll and passed it over to Elaine. “My aunt, Lady Light Spinner, the next Grand Sorcerer, was kind enough to grant me permission to study how I liked,” she said. “Now hop to it, Frogeye, or you’ll be hopping around for the rest of the day.”
    Elaine rebelled the only way she could, by studying the parchment carefully. Lady Light Spinner was known to her, although she hadn’t realised that Millicent was actually her niece – but then, the family ties between the senior wizards were often confusing. And she did have the authority to permit Millicent to study any tome outside the Black Vault itself. Elaine checked the magical seal, doing her best to ignore Millicent’s