“Can I make my brother disappear?”
“Can I make my math teacher disappear?”
“Can I make a dragon appear?”
"Is everybody ready?" Lark shouted over them, cutting off the tirade of questions. “It’s time to say the magic words.”
“Expelliarmus."
Abracadabra was so last generation.
Nearly all the coins clattered to the ground. Except one. Lulu held up empty hands. Her fingers were steady. Her eyes were bright with triumph.
“Whoa,” came a chorus of appreciation from the boys.
“How’d you do that?” said the loudmouth who had been so certain a moment ago that magic was no place for girls. He stepped over his coin and came up to her.
“I just followed the instructions,” said Lulu.
That was the trick about magic. It was all mostly a set of instructions to be followed. Follow the right sequence, and it worked like magic. That, and having the right sized coin.
Typically, girls’ hands were smaller than most men’s. Lulu would’ve never been able to perform the coin trick with one of the regular sized coins. The instructions had been the same, but Lark had given her an advantage because of her sex.
With a flick of her wrists, Lulu made the coin reappear. Lark hadn’t taught that bit yet. But if a smart person simply reverse-engineered the trick, it was pretty much common sense.
The boys cheered. They shoved the naysayer out of the way to get to Lulu. Many asked for her help. At the end of class, Lulu came over to Lark to hand back the coin.
"Keep it.”
Lulu’s face lit up like the inside of a wand. "I love magic. But my mom wants me to be practical, to become something like a lawyer or doctor."
"The law and medicine are a kind of magic," said Lark. “Lawyers can free people from imprisonment, and doctors perform medical miracles every day. But real magic is better."
"I didn't know girls could be magicians. Just assistants that men put into a box and cut in half."
"It's all just an illusion. The assistant does all the work."
"Sounds about right," Lulu said, rolling her eyes at the young boys filing out of the room.
"Not all guys are bad," said Lark. “Most of them aren’t, to be honest.”
Lark had found herself one of the good ones in Omar. He hadn’t once tried to stuff her in a box or cut her in half. He made her sparkle from the inside out. And he was all too happy to give her the entire spotlight.
Never had she been with a man who made her feel that way. She doubted there was anyone else like him out there. At least not a man who wasn't taken. The Nobles of Córdoba were a different breed.
Walking into the great room where she would be meeting Omar later that night, she saw two other nobles sitting next to the women who they’d given their hearts to.
"They are utter scum,” growled Prince Alex.
The prince wore a scowl on his typically carefree face. Beside him sat Jan. Her jovial features were pulled with concern.
“Why can’t they just leave well enough alone?” asked Zhi.
Lark was used to the duke’s serious expressions. But there were angry lines at the corners of his mouth. Spin rested a hand on his arm as though she were pulling him back from a fight.
Lark looked in the direction of where all their gazes were trained. The sound of the television was loud now that the two men had quieted.
"The marquise has gone and done it again,” said a familiar voice. Larked looked up to find the reporter-assistant from her showcase a few days ago. “He's found another mediocre talent with legs for days and bankrolled her. Lark Voorheen was suddenly catapulted from magician’s assistant to a full-blown magician overnight after catching al Shariff’s eye. Now, the citizens of Córdoba will have to suffer through another starlet whose only talent is on the casting couch."