Michael Pryor - Moment of Truth

THE LAWS OF MAGIC SERIES

Book One: Blaze of Glory

Book Two: Heart of Gold

Book Three: Word of Honour

Book Four: Time of Trial

Book Five: Moment of Truth

Book Six: Hour of Need

Coming soon!

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Random House Australia. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the authors and publishers rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Laws of Magic 5: Moment of Truth

ePub ISBN 9781742740881

Kindle ISBN 9781742740898

A Random House book

Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd

Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060

www.randomhouse.com.au

First published by Random House Australia in 2010

Copyright Michael Pryor 2010

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Random House Australia.

Addresses for companies within the Random House Group can be found at

www.randomhouse.com.au/offices

National Library of Australia

Cataloguing-in-Publication Entry

Author: Pryor, Michael

Title: Moment of truth/Michael Pryor

ISBN: 978 1 74166 309 9 (pbk.)

Series: Pryor, Michael. Laws of magic; 5

Target audience: For secondary school age

Subjects: Spy stories

Dewey number: A823.3

Cover illustration by Jeremy Reston

Cover design by www.blacksheep-uk.com

Internal design by Mathematics

Typeset in Bembo by Midland Typesetters, Australia

Printed in Australia by Griffi n Press, an accredited ISO AS/NZS 14001:2004 Environmental Management System printer

Table of Contents

Cover

THE LAWS OF MAGIC SERIES

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-one

Twenty-two

Twenty-three

Twenty-four

Twenty-five

Twenty-six

Twenty-seven

Twenty-eight

Twenty-nine

Thirty

Thirty-one

Thirty-two

Thirty-three

Thirty-four

Thirty-five

About the Author

PREVIEW: The Laws of Magic Book Six: Hour of Need

For the author of the first proper book I ever owned: Johann Wyss

One

Aubrey Fitzwilliam was on a mission. Determined, unwavering, purposeful, he would not be diverted from his goal, especially since spring was in the air.

Aubrey had decided that he was committed to snaring Caroline Hepworth. No, he corrected himself, not snaring. Poor choice of metaphor. Winning her wouldnt do either, and he was staying well away from any idea of sweeping her off her feet. He shuddered at the prospect of calling it pitching woo, even if it would provoke her extraordinarily attractive laughter.

He would simply tell Caroline how he felt about her. He would be dignified, polite, sincere. He would be clear and forthright. Then he would listen to Carolines reaction patiently, not interrupting, and he would honour her intention. He would not argue, quibble or pretend that he was joking all along and that he actually had an appointment to hurry to.

He would begin this mission straight away. Almost, anyway. As soon as he had time, really, what with one thing and another. Or, rather, hed act when the time was right, for these things cant be hurried. Timing was everything, hed found or imagined in these matters of the heart.

Aubrey realised that Commander Craddock was talking and sending rather pointed glances in Aubreys direction. He composed himself and vowed that hed pay better attention. Even though he had been in Darnleigh House before, being part of a tour guided by the head of the Magic Department itself was priceless.

Aubrey had been surprised to see Commander Craddock undertaking such a menial task, especially in the tense times since the revelation of Prince Alberts claim to the throne of Gallia. Perhaps it said something about the mans professionalism, his sense of responsibility to the department he had steered for years.

Or it might just have been his turn, Aubrey thought as Craddock ushered the small band of irregular agents through the cryptology section. Aubrey sensed the magic in the large, clattering machines along one wall as they churned through possible solutions to intercepted communications. The rest of the room was taken up with desks behind which worked an assortment of operatives, frowning and scowling mostly, consulting reference texts and scratching away with pencil and paper and booths where telegraph operators tapped away on their keys, headphones covering their ears and with the distant gaze that comes from managing messages from far away.

Down two flights of stairs and they emerged into the second underground level. Research, Craddock said shortly, indicating the long corridor. It was the epitome of anonymity, with institutional green walls, frosted glass panels in many of the doors, grey linoleum so unremarkable that it could have robbed any number of banks with impunity no danger of its being identified. The doors were bare of signs, simply sporting numbers, nothing to give away what was going on inside but closed doors didnt stop magical awareness. Aubrey gritted his teeth as he sensed complex spellcraft at work. He had a typically disconcerting confusion of sensation his skin prickled with colour, hues that flickered between green and blue with immense rapidity but the shifting and intersecting nature of the many spells at play made it difficult to determine exactly what sort of magic was being undertaken.

Several others were also affected, to judge from the shifting stances and grimaces. A serious-looking fellow Woodberry, Aubrey remembered after a moments groping for a name put his hand up. What sort of research, sir? he said, in a voice that broke in the middle of his question. No-one laughed.

I cant tell you that, Craddock said. You could be a spy.

Woodberry went pale. I

Craddock held up a hand, stopping the protest before it had begun. A joke, Woodberry, a very mild joke. I cant tell you because I dont know if youre going to be involved in our research activities. Thats something well know by the end of the week.

Sir?

While youre here, youll be undertaking testing to see what talents you have that we can use.

Aubrey was intrigued but, despite his curiosity jabbing him, kept his hand down. He was trying to remain inconspicuous. While he was pleased at the invitation for special training, since it was a vote of confidence from Commander Craddock, he also didnt want the others to think it was only because he was the son of the prime minister.