She paged Dr. Hendershaw, and a moment later I entered the head principal’s office. Hendershaw was sitting behind her desk, typing away on a keyboard with her eyes fixed on the monitor. The keyboard made odd sound effects reminiscent of the Three Stooges as she struck the keys, but Hendershaw didn’t pay it any mind. A lot of inanimate objects on campus tended to become a little wonky after a while from a phenomenon known as animation. It was a side effect of being exposed to both magic and the electromagnetic fields generated by electricity. Any object could be affected given enough exposure, but electronics were doomed from the start.
Hendershaw motioned for me to sit without looking up. I did so, trying hard not to fidget, and failing. The principal was a short, plump witch with toady eyes behind her Coke-bottle glasses. Unfortunately, I was pretty certain she was a member of the “judge me by my mother” party. Rumor had it Hendershaw had been the alchemy teacher when my mom was a student here, the one who’d given her the bad grade. Whenever I saw Hendershaw, she kept her gaze locked on me as if I were a hellhound she thought might bite her the moment she wasn’t looking.
She finished typing and addressed me at last. “Do you know why I’ve called you down here?”
“I’ve been elected class president?”
Hendershaw’s eyes flashed dangerously. “You’re here because the Magi Senate has decided to make a change in your magical status.”
“Come again?”
“You’re no longer going to be required to dream-feed every other week.”
“I’m being cut off?”
“Of course not. You will now be required to feed more often.”
“What? Why?”
Hendershaw took off her glasses for a moment and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “We’ll get to that. First let me caution you about the risk you’ll be undertaking. Since the ratification of The Will Act, there has been a tight restriction on the amount of magic a person is allowed to channel, hence the limitation to your dream-feeding.”
I cut her off, impatient to get to the point. “Yeah, I learned that in orientation. It’s also why witches like you are only permitted to own two magical instruments at once.”
She glowered at me, but not before her eyes flicked to the fountain pen sitting in a holder next to her keyboard. Must be her wand in disguise.
“Yes, well, I’m glad to hear you listened so well then,” said Hendershaw. “Let’s see if you can do so again now. Shall we?” Her expression dared me to respond.
I kept my mouth shut.
Hendershaw continued. “As I was saying, the restrictions are even greater for underage magickind. Everything is always so much more exaggerated to a child. The smallest slight from a peer seems like the end of the world. Before The Will it wasn’t uncommon for serious injury to occur on a weekly basis, sometimes even death. But you children are so much safer now.”
I gritted my teeth, in actual pain from the effort of holding back a wiseass remark. I didn’t appreciate being referred to as a child.
“Now, however, the senate has decided to increase the frequency of your dream-feeding to three times per week.”
I sat up, my stomach lurching. “Seriously? Why so much?” Sitting on sleeping strangers once every two weeks was bad enough. The last thing I wanted was to do it more often. Unlike a lot of my peers, I didn’t give a crap about making my magic more powerful. I had a hard enough time handling what I already had, thank you very much.
“Because,” said Hendershaw, “Lady Elaine believes you are a dream-seer.”
“A what?”
“Dream-see-er,” a raspy voice enunciated from behind me.
I jumped even as I recognized that unpleasant sound from the night before. I turned to see Lady Elaine standing in the doorway. She looked the same as she had yesterday, old and skeletal. She seemed to favor dark, snug-fitting clothes, but the purse slung over her shoulder was bright pink and as big as a pillowcase.
“You have the ability to see the future through dreams,” she said.
“Ah, Lady Elaine, so glad you made it.” Hendershaw stood up and motioned the other woman to take her seat. Lady Elaine came forward and assumed the position behind the principal’s desk.
I sat and stared, feeling as if I’d swallowed a jar full of spiders, hundreds of little hairy legs scurrying around in my tummy.
“Now, young lady,” said the oracle, “the gift of dream-seeing is very rare, and very important. You should feel honored.”
“Oh, I’m thrilled.” I felt like throwing up. “But how can you be sure I’m a … a dream-seer?”
“The signs are unmistakable. The moment The Will spell detected your magic failing, there was little doubt it could be from anything else.” Lady Elaine set her massive purse on the table, bumping the pen holder.
“Yes,” said Hendershaw, rescuing the pen—most definitely her wand—before it fell to the floor. She spoke in a hurried tone that gave me the impression she was trying hard not to be excluded. “However, the ability only works with the appropriate partner. In your case, Elijah Booker.”
I grabbed the arms of my chair to keep from falling out of it. My eyes darted between the two women as I prayed one of them would smile and admit this was some cruel joke. They looked back at me with matching serious expressions.
I cleared my throat. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
Lady Elaine said, “From this day forward and until such time as circumstances change, you will only be permitted to dream-feed with Eli.”