Trial By Fire (Schooled in Magic Book 7) by Christopher Nuttall Page A

the oaths, an outline of the questions they will ask you and details concerning your next two years of lessons, should you decide to continue,” she said, handing them out one by one. “It is no shame to decide you cannot go any further, but if you are unlikely to be accepted there is no point in going for the oaths. Read these papers now - I am required to certify you actually held them in your hands - and then ask any questions, should you wish to do so.”
    Because if we don’t read them, it’s our fault , Emily thought, as she opened the packet. There were only a handful of papers inside. You don’t get blamed for our stupidity, just for not giving us the option to learn .
    She pulled out the first page and skimmed it. It was a brief outline of the Fifth and Sixth Year Healing classes, covering topics from curse removal - she’d already done some curse removal - to mundane healing methods and surgery. It looked as though any prospective Healers would spend half of each week in class, or out on field trips. A number of items mentioned on the list were completely unfamiliar, although a couple did jog her memory. She resolved to use a memory charm to dig up the thought later, and moved on to the second paper.
    “I can’t qualify,” Alassa said. “I’m sworn to my father.”
    Emily nodded, scanning the second paper quickly. A prospective Healer had to separate himself from any formal obligations to his family, ranging from accepting debts and inheritances to carrying on a family feud. She couldn’t see many children from magical families accepting the oaths, unless there were plenty of potential replacements. Alassa, an only child, couldn’t abandon King Randor and Zangaria.
    “You can still complete this year,” Emily reminded her. She’d had only one year of training when she’d gone to the Cairngorms, but she’d managed to make herself useful. “It might be helpful in later life.”
    “I don’t think I’ll have time to minister to the ill,” Alassa said.
    “It might make you very popular,” Imaiqah said from the other side. “Helping...”
    Lady Barb cleared her throat. “Am I interrupting something?”
    Imaiqah, wisely, shook her head, and looked back at her packet. Emily smiled to herself and checked the third sheet of parchment. A Healer was sworn to do everything in his power to save lives, to forsake all debts that might otherwise have been incurred, not to take sides in political disputes, to keep the secrets of rich and poor alike...and not, under any circumstances, to use their powers for ill. The explanatory notes below the oath itself warned that a Healer could not kill, save in direct self-defense, and even then the oaths might kill them if there were any other options. Emily frowned, then looked up at Lady Barb. Surely she’d killed in the past and she was still alive...
    She shook her head, putting the question aside for later, and picked up the fourth sheet. It was crisp and clear, covering the questions that would be asked of any prospective candidate, starting with a warning that anyone who couldn’t give the proper answer would summarily be evicted from the class. Emily skimmed it and swore inwardly. The spells Aurelius had taught her, back in Mountaintop, would automatically disqualify her from taking the oaths, even though she’d never used them. Apparently, reading between the lines, she was only meant to learn them after taking the oaths.
    Because if I spent half my power in saving a life, the person I saved would owe me a considerable debt , she thought, numbly. Lady Barb was going to be disappointed, if she’d thought Emily would go on to be a Healer. She knew a spell that induced a form of cancer that killed within seconds, administered through bodily contact, and another that worked through sexual intercourse and did far worse than kill the victim outright. Those spells can be perverted far too easily .
    Lady Barb tapped the table, meaningfully. Emily jumped.
    “You