Infinite Regress by Christopher G. Nuttall Page A

inside, that if she ever had children she wouldn’t make the same mistake. Her children would learn how to channel and use their magic as soon as they decently could. She looked at Caleb, knowing that he would agree with her. Children needed to be able to take care of themselves.
    She watched the last of the newcomers walking through the gate, then frowned as she saw Aloha emerge from the doorway and head straight towards them. The Head Girl was wearing a long white robe, charmed so it practically glowed with light. It was bright enough to draw attention from right across the room. Emily sighed inwardly—she’d been expecting a talk with Aloha at some point—and braced herself. The chat might not be remotely pleasant.
    “Emily, I need to have a word with you,” Aloha said. She looked at Caleb. “Can I borrow your girlfriend for a while?”
    Caleb glanced at Emily. “Emily?”
    “You go on ahead,” Emily said, reluctantly. “I’ll meet you inside.”
    She watched as Caleb strode off towards the gates, then glanced at Aloha. The older girl looked tired, even though it was only early afternoon. Emily supposed she would have been working hard to get the rooms ready for the new students and sorting out their schedules, rather than trying to sleep in one last time. The Fifth Years would be returning to work tomorrow, she knew, and she assumed the same was true of the final year students. She’d managed to sleep in until ten bells.
    “Emily,” Aloha said. “I owe you an apology.”
    Emily blinked. She hadn’t expected that .
    “I’m not happy about Master Grey’s death,” Aloha added, hurrying on before Emily could say a word. “I wish you hadn’t challenged him and I wish you hadn’t killed him, but I do understand what happened. He should never have accepted that challenge.”
    “I didn’t even realize it was a challenge,” Emily said.
    Aloha bowed her head. “I know,” she said. “He could have just ignored your ill-chosen words—or turned them into a lesson. Instead...”
    She shook her head. Emily felt a stab of sympathy, even though she knew Master Grey had deliberately set out to contrive an excuse to kill her. Aloha had practically worshipped the ground Master Grey walked on, seeing him as the embodiment of magical and martial prowess. She’d even hoped to plead for an apprenticeship with him, after completing her final year at Whitehall. And all those hopes were now gone.
    “You liked him,” Emily said. She found it hard to pick her next words. “But you didn’t know what he actually was .”
    “He was a great man,” Aloha said. There was a bitterness in her voice that shocked Emily to the core. “But I never realized he would stoop to such a level.”
    She had a crush on him , Emily thought. She’d never seen Aloha express romantic interest in anyone, let alone go out on dates like Imaiqah or calmly accept an arranged marriage like the Gorgon. But then, there were very few students at the same level as Aloha. Master Grey must have seemed far more capable than anyone at the school .
    “I didn’t either, until it was too late,” she said. She tried to think for a moment, but her thoughts kept chasing themselves in circles. What did one say to console a friend? “He would have killed me.”
    “I know,” Aloha said. She gathered herself. “I have treated you badly,” she said, clearing her throat. “And I offer my most humble apologies for my actions.”
    Emily nodded, recognizing the ritual apology. “I accept,” she said. “And I don’t blame you for liking him.”
    Aloha scowled. Emily wondered, suddenly, just how it would have played out if the duel had never happened. It was rare for a male to take on a female apprentice—and vice versa—but very few people would have questioned Master Grey choosing someone as capable as Aloha as his next student. And then? Tongues would have begun to wag, Emily was sure, if they’d started a romantic relationship... if, indeed,