A Little Knowledge by Emma Newman

deal to me.”
    Cathy managed a smile and then slid down in her chair with relief once her mother had left. She rested a hand over her stomach, feeling like everything had been churned up inside her by her mother’s visit.
    Then Cathy remembered the letter. She retrieved it from the drawer, steeled herself for the contents, and pulled the piece of paper out of the envelope. Unfolding it, she found only black dust. Cathy stared at the blank page, trying to recall the wording before throwing it into the fire. There was nothing to be done when nameless enemies used the same Secrecy Charms as her friends. Then the door burst open and Elizabeth flew into the room.
    “Oh! How wonderful! How many new dresses may I have? I don’t want any like that one you’re wearing now, it’s simply hideous. Now, sit down and listen carefully. I have a list of characteristics my future husband must have and they are all very important.”

6
    Sam applauded, stifling a yawn. He’d lost track of how many speeches he’d sat through since he’d arrived, and none of them had contained anything of use.
    They were in the swankiest hotel in Manchester, all thirty-two of the Elemental Court, and the atmosphere was charged with excitement when he entered the conference room. Mazzi came straight over to him, shaking him warmly by the hand and guiding him to meet a few people before the first item on the agenda started. He was introduced to Lord Copper first, a short man with black hair and dark brown skin who spoke with an unidentifiable accent that sometimes sounded Spanish. He met Lady Silver, whose long auburn hair featured a prominent white streak that seemed to glow. She was from Russia and smiled often, but didn’t spend much time with him.
    Then the speeches started. He’d sat there, eager for answers to so many questions. He wanted to learn about their history, the relationship each of them had with the Sorcerers, whether any of them had had dealings with the Fae. But none of them talked about anything like that. Most gave a potted summary of business growth, tonnes extracted, projects in the pipeline—all the sorts of things found in the Financial Times that had never interested him.
    Lord Gold was a jeweller, and Sam had almost laughed out loud at hearing about a necklace he was working on as part of his presentation. But then Sam realised he was as much a cliché: Lord Iron, the blacksmith. Mazzi had told him that sometimes they were chosen thanks to an affinity when working the metal. Sam listened intently when Lord Copper spoke, hoping for just a passing reference to the way copper rendered the Fae weak and their magic inert. Nothing. He spoke passionately about how his personal intervention had increased the number of tonnes of copper being shipped out of Zambia and Sam’s shoulders began to knot with tension. He was certain there had been something in the information Leanne had left to him about the acid runoff from a Zambian mine creating horrific ecological problems.
    As Sam was the new kid on the block, he was supposed to speak last. Mazzi had said that not all of the court would speak, which was something, but the longer the day went on, the more uncomfortable Sam felt. Most of the people there were the sort of hard business execs he was allergic to; they spoke of “achievements” that were environmentally devastating. It was all about driving up profits and production with nothing about how short-sighted the activity was. Everything they talked about sounded like mundane super-rich crap.
    There was no hint of anything esoteric when they talked about the element in their title, nor any sense that they embodied its qualities, as he had been told he embodied iron in the eyes of the Fae. Sam knew he was more than just a super-CEO; he’d walked a path between the worlds, broken the beauty of Exilium, and scared the shit out of Lord Poppy. But he had the feeling that if he talked about any of that, they’d laugh him out of the