strictest confidence and you must not breathe a word of it outside my office.” Tom and Laura nodded their understanding.
“We must find the people Snood works for. We must root them out and destroy them. They threaten the security of the Empire and the Royal Family. I have formulated a plan, but it relies on your cooperation. Are you ready and willing to serve your country?”
Laura and Tom looked at one another. An imperceptible nod passed between them. Laura spoke for both of them, “Yes, sir. We are prepared to serve the Queen in any way we can.”
Trelawney relaxed, if they had not been willing agents he could not, in all conscience, have sent them on such a dangerous mission.
“Good. I cannot prove anything against Snood. He has been clever in covering his trail. Nevertheless, his very cleverness will prove his undoing. I plan to promote him.” Trelawney paused while Tom and Laura stared at him in surprise.
“There is a training school for MM3 agents, you two are a couple of years too young for normal entry into the school, but we sometimes make exceptions in special circumstances. I am going to send you there. It is a self-contained facility out in the country. I plan to promote Snood to take up a post as a teacher within it. As an expert in Spellbinding, he will tutor you, Laura.”
“This mission will be dangerous. I want you to find out who he works for and report back to me and no one else. You must find ways to protect yourself, but do not tell anyone in MM3 including me, what those protections are. It might be that even this conversation is overheard.”
Trelawney leant towards them and dropped his voice.
“Snood has some reason to kill you. He has already tried through Carmichael , and I’m sure he killed the boy to cover his tracks. Having heard all this, are you still willing to undertake this mission?”
“Yes sir, we are,” Laura said without even a glance at Tom.
“My secretary will take care of anything else you need and answer any further questions.”
They realized they had been dismissed and left the room to join Belinda in the outer office.
“We were told you could supply us with anything we wanted?” Laura asked Belinda, “Because I have a list.”
As soon as she finished the list Belinda smiled. “Follow me; I think you’ll find we have everything you need.”
A short while later, Laura and Tom found themselves alone in a small oak paneled room. Heavy black curtains covered the windows while a single gas mantle provided the only light. Laura had in front of her the strongest Spellbinder paper the Ministry of War were able to produce, along with a bottle of the best copper based ink and a variety of metal pens.
She also had a set of copper plates within which each bind would be placed. The copper plates could be compressed against the paper, removing air and providing a heat-conducting surface to help preserve the bind. This did not help a lot, the paper would still burn to dust eventually, but it was the best that current technology offered.
Laura made a drawing of Tom again, taking her time and getting it as perfect as she could. She included the same elements as in the previous bind, but this time she attempted to increase his healing power, drawing him confident and powerful. Tom watched and wondered how disappointed she might be if she was ever to compare the real thing with her drawing.
Laura then drew herself, also naked, and tried to encapsulate her own power in the drawing. She knew for a fact that no Spellbinder had ever tried to increase their power, or anyone else’s for that matter, by using a bind. Laura’s opinion was that there had to be a first time for everything, and that this was the ideal time to try out her idea.
When she finished her drawings, she asked Tom to use his power to heal them, for him to run his finger over the lines of the drawing and to try to apply his gift as if he was filling the paper with the power to heal. Neither of
“We must find the people Snood works for. We must root them out and destroy them. They threaten the security of the Empire and the Royal Family. I have formulated a plan, but it relies on your cooperation. Are you ready and willing to serve your country?”
Laura and Tom looked at one another. An imperceptible nod passed between them. Laura spoke for both of them, “Yes, sir. We are prepared to serve the Queen in any way we can.”
Trelawney relaxed, if they had not been willing agents he could not, in all conscience, have sent them on such a dangerous mission.
“Good. I cannot prove anything against Snood. He has been clever in covering his trail. Nevertheless, his very cleverness will prove his undoing. I plan to promote him.” Trelawney paused while Tom and Laura stared at him in surprise.
“There is a training school for MM3 agents, you two are a couple of years too young for normal entry into the school, but we sometimes make exceptions in special circumstances. I am going to send you there. It is a self-contained facility out in the country. I plan to promote Snood to take up a post as a teacher within it. As an expert in Spellbinding, he will tutor you, Laura.”
“This mission will be dangerous. I want you to find out who he works for and report back to me and no one else. You must find ways to protect yourself, but do not tell anyone in MM3 including me, what those protections are. It might be that even this conversation is overheard.”
Trelawney leant towards them and dropped his voice.
“Snood has some reason to kill you. He has already tried through Carmichael , and I’m sure he killed the boy to cover his tracks. Having heard all this, are you still willing to undertake this mission?”
“Yes sir, we are,” Laura said without even a glance at Tom.
“My secretary will take care of anything else you need and answer any further questions.”
They realized they had been dismissed and left the room to join Belinda in the outer office.
“We were told you could supply us with anything we wanted?” Laura asked Belinda, “Because I have a list.”
As soon as she finished the list Belinda smiled. “Follow me; I think you’ll find we have everything you need.”
A short while later, Laura and Tom found themselves alone in a small oak paneled room. Heavy black curtains covered the windows while a single gas mantle provided the only light. Laura had in front of her the strongest Spellbinder paper the Ministry of War were able to produce, along with a bottle of the best copper based ink and a variety of metal pens.
She also had a set of copper plates within which each bind would be placed. The copper plates could be compressed against the paper, removing air and providing a heat-conducting surface to help preserve the bind. This did not help a lot, the paper would still burn to dust eventually, but it was the best that current technology offered.
Laura made a drawing of Tom again, taking her time and getting it as perfect as she could. She included the same elements as in the previous bind, but this time she attempted to increase his healing power, drawing him confident and powerful. Tom watched and wondered how disappointed she might be if she was ever to compare the real thing with her drawing.
Laura then drew herself, also naked, and tried to encapsulate her own power in the drawing. She knew for a fact that no Spellbinder had ever tried to increase their power, or anyone else’s for that matter, by using a bind. Laura’s opinion was that there had to be a first time for everything, and that this was the ideal time to try out her idea.
When she finished her drawings, she asked Tom to use his power to heal them, for him to run his finger over the lines of the drawing and to try to apply his gift as if he was filling the paper with the power to heal. Neither of
Similar Books
