Vale of Dreams (Fey Academy for Spies, #2)

by C.N. Crawford

“Do you know what a Hemlock Oath is?” he asks. Vaguely, I remember that term from my studies as a cadet in Avalon Tower. “It’s a dark magic ceremony, practiced by Fey. The oath-takers bind their lives to a promise, and if the promise is broken, they die a horrible death, as if poisoned by hemlock.” “You’re right, essentially, but I don’t know why you call it dark magic. I’d call it useful magic. Humans made up something much worse, didn’t they?” “What are you talking about?” “They have binding covenants written on parchment, the language complex and tedious. An elaborate, arcane process navigated by advocates and proctors in the inns of court.” I stare at him. “Are you talking about lawyers? Contracts?” “And when the covenant is broken,” he goes on, “the proctors battle each other, sometimes for years, while their pockets and purses fill with gold, until finally, the winner is chosen by a be-wigged magistrate in a robe. Now, that’s a strange and dark practice.” “Point taken.”