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.Although, she had to admit, after sleeping on the hard ground more than once, anything would have felt comfortable.“Good night,” Alassa said.“Lady Barb will wake us in the morning.”Emily closed her eyes and…She snapped awake, her eyes springing open and peering into the darkness.Something was wrong.She couldn’t say what had woken her, except perhaps the training and experience the sergeants had hammered into her head.One of their many tests had been to have someone sneak up on the pupils while they were sleeping, ready to perform a nasty trick that would teach them not to fall asleep in hostile territory–or at least to set wards and other traps to ensure that sneaking up on them wasn’t easy.Emily still remembered the humiliation of waking up to discover that she–and the other Redshirts–had been tied up and rendered completely helpless.Someone with bad intentions could have easily slit their throats while they were sleeping.For a long moment, she heard nothing, apart from a faint snoring from Alassa.They had never shared a room together before, but Aloha snored and Emily had eventually grown used to sleeping through it.And then she’d learned how to cast silencing charms that had made the whole matter irrelevant, leaving her to wonder why she hadn’t thought of it earlier.Emily listened, carefully, unsure of what had awoken her.And then she heard the very light tread of someone trying hard not to make a sound.The sergeants had taught her how to listen to her surroundings.She’d been blindfolded while the other trainees tried to sneak up on her.One of them–Jade, she recalled–had the bright idea of tossing a shoe over her head to create a distraction, for which he had received a pat on the back from Sergeant Miles.Now, though, she held herself still as she listened, trying to pick out the sounds of individual people.Someone was in the room.One person, she decided, after a long moment.There only seemed to be one person in the room, apart from herself and Alassa.And it probably wasn’t Alassa or one of her escorts; surely, not even Nightingale would come into the princess’s room while she was sleeping.Besides, he would probably have announced himself, rather than sneaking in…unless he wanted to peek at a sleeping beauty.Emily pushed the thought aside savagely as she strained her ears for other clues.Nightingale would have to be insane to try to sneak up on a sorceress-in-training.Emily braced herself, recalling what she could of the room’s layout.The trunks were at the far end of Alassa’s bed; they hadn’t had time to push them to one side.Her own bed was in one corner…maybe she could roll out of bed without being heard.But then, if someone was trying to sneak in, they’d be listening carefully for signs of trouble.Emily peered into the darkness, wondering if she dared use one of the spells Sergeant Miles had taught her.She could see in the darkness like a cat, if she used the spell, but it would also reveal that she was awake.If, of course, the intruder was sensitive to magic…Maybe it’s the Prince, hoping for a more intimate meeting, Emily thought, then dismissed it with a shrug.Hedrick hadn’t shown the imagination necessary to be a royal brat, let alone a royal would-be rapist.And Alassa wouldn’t have led him on like that.Could it be the other Prince? Some instinct told her that it was unlikely, although she wasn’t sure why.Too many of the lessons the sergeants had taught her to trust her instincts without really knowing why she knew something.But she had to do something.Carefully, she concentrated on the spell that had plunged the room into darkness.It was still there, still drawing on her mana; it needed so little power that she could have maintained it all night without feeling the drain.Closing her eyes, Emily reached out towards the spell and cut off the mana.It faded away rapidly, allowing the candles to shine out and illuminate the room.They weren’t particularly bright, not compared to a magical light, but anyone who was used to the darkness would think that they had suddenly stared into the sun.Emily heard a curse in a feminine voice and opened her own eyes, using one hand to shield herself.One of the maids stood at the far end of Alassa’s bed, holding a stone wand in one hand.Emily threw a freeze spell, as she had been trained to do in Martial Magic.The maid lifted the wand and deflected it, somehow [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Although, she had to admit, after sleeping on the hard ground more than once, anything would have felt comfortable.“Good night,” Alassa said.“Lady Barb will wake us in the morning.”Emily closed her eyes and…She snapped awake, her eyes springing open and peering into the darkness.Something was wrong.She couldn’t say what had woken her, except perhaps the training and experience the sergeants had hammered into her head.One of their many tests had been to have someone sneak up on the pupils while they were sleeping, ready to perform a nasty trick that would teach them not to fall asleep in hostile territory–or at least to set wards and other traps to ensure that sneaking up on them wasn’t easy.Emily still remembered the humiliation of waking up to discover that she–and the other Redshirts–had been tied up and rendered completely helpless.Someone with bad intentions could have easily slit their throats while they were sleeping.For a long moment, she heard nothing, apart from a faint snoring from Alassa.They had never shared a room together before, but Aloha snored and Emily had eventually grown used to sleeping through it.And then she’d learned how to cast silencing charms that had made the whole matter irrelevant, leaving her to wonder why she hadn’t thought of it earlier.Emily listened, carefully, unsure of what had awoken her.And then she heard the very light tread of someone trying hard not to make a sound.The sergeants had taught her how to listen to her surroundings.She’d been blindfolded while the other trainees tried to sneak up on her.One of them–Jade, she recalled–had the bright idea of tossing a shoe over her head to create a distraction, for which he had received a pat on the back from Sergeant Miles.Now, though, she held herself still as she listened, trying to pick out the sounds of individual people.Someone was in the room.One person, she decided, after a long moment.There only seemed to be one person in the room, apart from herself and Alassa.And it probably wasn’t Alassa or one of her escorts; surely, not even Nightingale would come into the princess’s room while she was sleeping.Besides, he would probably have announced himself, rather than sneaking in…unless he wanted to peek at a sleeping beauty.Emily pushed the thought aside savagely as she strained her ears for other clues.Nightingale would have to be insane to try to sneak up on a sorceress-in-training.Emily braced herself, recalling what she could of the room’s layout.The trunks were at the far end of Alassa’s bed; they hadn’t had time to push them to one side.Her own bed was in one corner…maybe she could roll out of bed without being heard.But then, if someone was trying to sneak in, they’d be listening carefully for signs of trouble.Emily peered into the darkness, wondering if she dared use one of the spells Sergeant Miles had taught her.She could see in the darkness like a cat, if she used the spell, but it would also reveal that she was awake.If, of course, the intruder was sensitive to magic…Maybe it’s the Prince, hoping for a more intimate meeting, Emily thought, then dismissed it with a shrug.Hedrick hadn’t shown the imagination necessary to be a royal brat, let alone a royal would-be rapist.And Alassa wouldn’t have led him on like that.Could it be the other Prince? Some instinct told her that it was unlikely, although she wasn’t sure why.Too many of the lessons the sergeants had taught her to trust her instincts without really knowing why she knew something.But she had to do something.Carefully, she concentrated on the spell that had plunged the room into darkness.It was still there, still drawing on her mana; it needed so little power that she could have maintained it all night without feeling the drain.Closing her eyes, Emily reached out towards the spell and cut off the mana.It faded away rapidly, allowing the candles to shine out and illuminate the room.They weren’t particularly bright, not compared to a magical light, but anyone who was used to the darkness would think that they had suddenly stared into the sun.Emily heard a curse in a feminine voice and opened her own eyes, using one hand to shield herself.One of the maids stood at the far end of Alassa’s bed, holding a stone wand in one hand.Emily threw a freeze spell, as she had been trained to do in Martial Magic.The maid lifted the wand and deflected it, somehow [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]