I could hide Simon from the Humdrum itself.
I could hide him from everything he isn’t ready to face.
I could—I should!I should order him to go away—he’d still do it. He’d still listen to me.
But what if he didn’t…
Simon Snow, would I lose you completely?
11
LUCY
Hear me.
***
He was the first of his family at Watford, the first with enough power to get past the trials. He came all by himself, all the way from Wales, on the train.
David.
We called him Davy. (Well, some of us just called him daft.)
And he didn’t have any friends—I don’t think he ever had any friends. I don’t even thinkIwas his friend, not at first.
I was just the only one listening.
“World of Mages,” he’d say. “What world, I ask you—what world?This isn’t a school; schools educate people—schools lift people up—do you understand me?”
“I’mgetting an education,” I said.
“You are, aren’t you?” His blue eyes glinted. There was always a fire in his eyes. “You get power. You get the secret password. Because your father had it, and your grandfather. You’re in the club.”
“So are you, Davy.”
“Only because I was too powerful for them to deny me.”
“Right,” I said. “So now you’re in the club.”
“Lucky me.”
“I can’t tell if you mean that…”
“Lucky me,” he said. “Unlucky everyone else. This place isn’t about sharing knowledge. It’s about keeping knowledge in the hands of the rich.”
“You mean, the most powerful.”
“Same difference,” he spat. He always spat. His eyes were always glinting, and his mouth was always spitting.
“So you don’t want to be here?” I asked.
“Did you know that the Church used to give services in Latin, because they didn’t trust the congregation with God’s word?”
“Are you talking about Christianity? I don’t know anything about Christianity.”
“Why arewehere, Lucy? When so many others are refused?”
“Because we’re the most powerful. It’s important for us to learn how to manage and use our magic.”
