Rebel Magisters (Rebel Mechanics #2)(49)

There were more voices than I would have expected, but then I remembered how many people had been at Camilla and Brad’s house, preparing for the tea raid. If all those people were at the ball, the rebels might outnumber the loyalists, especially among the young people. If I wasn’t entirely mistaken, I also thought I heard the baron’s voice joining in, very softly.

“Should we go find them and get them to turn it off?” I whispered, directing my voice at where I thought Henry’s ear might be. The range of the device meant it had to be very close.

“They’ve made their point, and now it could get dangerous,” he murmured in reply. He began moving, guiding me and shielding me from the crush of humanity as we made our way very slowly through the crowd. My eyes had grown more accustomed to the darkness, and now I could make out the windows along the rear of the ballroom, as well as a faint light that I assumed was the entrance. That at least gave us a target to aim for.

Before we were halfway across the room, the sensation of being stifled lifted and the lights came back on. “I guess they won’t need persuading,” Henry muttered, and he changed direction, fighting our way to the governor’s dais, where the governor was having words with a few other nobles and some uniformed soldiers. As we approached, I caught the governor saying, “…the tea, and now this. You need to get things under control.”

“Of course, Your Grace,” the man he was speaking to said, bowing. “It’s probably just a prank. You know, those Rebel Mechanics are quite active here.”

“This is magic, so I doubt they had anything to do with this,” the governor snapped. “This was done by our people. I want to know who.”

Flora’s dance partner got her to the dais. Both of them looked somewhat the worse for wear, their clothes crumpled from the crush. “I’ll go bring you some punch, Lady Flora,” her partner promised as I took her arm to help settle her in her chair.

“Are you all right?” I asked her.

“What is this?” she asked.

“It seems to be a little political demonstration, but there doesn’t appear to be much more than this display. We should be perfectly safe.”

“I’m sending you home, right away,” the governor said. “Lyndon, you escort the ladies. I’ll sort this out here.”

Henry and I exchanged a glance. If the Mechanics had used the dampener, that meant they were likely outside, so leaving might not be the best way to keep Flora out of danger. Or had they brought the device nearby secretly and then hurried away with it? Surely the soldiers would have noticed if there were an angry mob outside. I couldn’t help but wonder if the timing of the device had been lucky coincidence or if they’d coordinated with the magisters.

Henry straightened and moved decisively toward Flora and me, acting the way I had seen him directing the Bandits or interacting with the rebels, but then he remembered that he was supposed to be the vague, absentminded amateur scientist, especially in front of the governor. He stopped and wavered, even swaying slightly. “Oh, dear!” he said, blinking rapidly behind his glasses. “I suppose I should have the carriage brought around.”

Before he could leave I called out, “Lord Henry! We need to get our wraps.”

“Of course! I’m sorry. It completely slipped my mind. I should escort the two of you to the cloakroom.” He took Flora’s arm and I prepared to follow behind them, but he gestured with his other hand, and I hoped I didn’t blush as I stepped forward to clutch his elbow. “Now, both of you hold on,” he said. He nearly tripped on the bottom step of the dais as he left, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing.

He might have been playing his role to the hilt, but he was quite adept at maneuvering us through a panicking mob. I barely brushed against anyone as we crossed the ballroom. All three of us paused to catch our breath when we reached the stairs where we’d entered. “We’ll go to the cloakroom and meet you back here,” I told him, and then I took Flora’s arm to guide her. It wasn’t nearly as chaotic here as it was in the ballroom, but there were still people frantically trying to leave.

“What is all this, Miss Newton?” Flora asked me as I draped her cloak around her shoulders. “Is there really a rebel group among the magisters?”

I was about to reassure her that it was nothing when I noticed that her eyes were bright and her face flushed. She was excited, not scared, which was both surprising and troubling. “There appears to be, though how serious they are remains to be seen. All they did was make a statement about freedom, when they could have done far more in this crowd.”

“But why would magisters want to rebel?” she asked, knitting her brow.

“I wouldn’t know. But perhaps you could write an essay on the subject for me, speculating on possible reasons.”

I expected her to protest the way she usually did about anything even resembling schoolwork, but she nodded as her eyes went unfocused in thought, as though she was already mentally composing.

When we made it back to the foyer, Henry was just returning. “It’s something of a madhouse out there, with so many people trying to flee all at once, and there seems to be a bit of a crowd outside, as well. There’s no chance of the carriage getting anywhere near us.”

“We’re not that far from home,” Flora said. “Couldn’t we walk? We’d be there sooner.”