Veilspeaker (Pharim War Book 2) (6 page)

“Oh?”

“What if no one is treating your accusations of Lord
Varin seriously because the king already knows?”

Jez’s mouth went dry. He considered not answering, but
Sharim was already risking himself by helping. Jez nodded.

“Then, the king is my enemy.”

Sharim paled. He glanced at the door
as if expecting guards to burst through and arrest them. Jez waited for him to
turn back. He was sweating and his eyes darted around the workshop.

“You know about Dusan?” Jez asked.

“Your father?”

Jez tensed. “My adopted father.”

Sharim’s head bobbed. “Oh yes. I’m sorry. I forgot.”

“There were...things Dusan needed in Korand. Villia
says Dusan manipulated the king into giving him the barony, but I’m not so
sure.”

“Dusan gave up his lands north of Rumar for that
assignment.”

“I know.”

“It wasn’t exactly a good deal. The timber industry
alone was worth almost as much as the gem mines of Korand. The gold mines are
worth more.”

Jez cocked his head. “You seem to know a lot about
it.”

Sharim shrugged. “I grew up in Ebon. It was the center
of Dusan’s lands before he surrendered them to the crown.”

“I don’t suppose you know anything about his
relationship with the king.”

Sharim shook his head. “I was already Mage Villia’s
apprentice when Dusan got the appointment, but they didn’t exactly discuss it
with me.”

Jez got up and paced back and forth through the
workshop.

He stopped in front of the half-carved statue of the
dog. Villia hadn’t done much work on it, but now the dog’s body was emerging
from the stone. It almost looked like it was trying to climb out of the rock
and come into the open.

“Maybe if I expose Lord Varin, I can convince Villia
to support me openly.”

“How do you intend to do that?”

“What would it take to block a divination like that?”

“It’s not something that can be done easily. Varin
would’ve had to do a major ritual, maybe even with a focusing stone.” Sharim’s
eyes wandered up to the ceiling while he thought. “He couldn’t have had much
time to put it together. No one knew Osmund was going to be alone and in the
city where he could be easily attacked. Varin almost certainly has a greater circle
somewhere. We could try finding it. I’m not sure there’s anything else Mage Villia
would accept as proof.”

“But that would be a little obvious, wouldn’t it? It’s
not like greater circles are easy to hide. I mean wouldn’t he destroy the
evidence?”

Sharim shook his head. “If he did, he wouldn’t be
protected.”

“So then, I have to find this circle. Where could he
put it?”

“Somewhere out of the way, obviously,” Sharim said.
“He’d have to go there regularly to pour power into it.”

“His quarters, then.”

“Don’t you think that would be a little obvious?”

“If, as you say, he didn’t have a lot of time to set
up this ritual, he wouldn’t have had very many options.”

“That’s true, I guess.”

“Let’s go then. Where are his quarters?”

Sharim raised his hands and started shaking his head.
“Now, just a second. I didn’t say I would help you.”

Jez stood up. “Fine. I’ll find out myself. Thank you
for the information.”

Jez turned but he hadn’t made it to the door before he
heard the chair scraping across the ground. He turned and saw Sharim walking
toward him.

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t help you either.” Sharim
paused and took a deep breath. “Villia told me about the runes they found in
Dusan’s lair.” Jez’s jaw dropped, but Sharim shook his head. “Nothing specific,
but she said that from what she could tell, he was trying to summon a great
evil. She was scared. I’ve never seen her like that. If Varin is trying to do
the same thing, he has to be stopped.”

Varin’s chambers were in the north
wing of the keep. Sharim put illusions on them to hide but as soon as they
neared, the illusion fell. They exchanged glances, but Jez shrugged. Certain
parts of the Academy were warded against illusions as well. There was probably
some way to get around that or else Lina would never be able to maintain her
disguise. Such a thing was normally done with a command word or talisman, but
figuring that out was more trouble than it was worth. A pair of guards in the
livery of Lord Varin stood at the door to the chambers. They stiffened as Jez
and Sharim approached.

“I have a message from Mage Villia for Lord Varin,”
Jez said.

One of the guards snorted. “Is the baron reduced to
being a messenger boy now?”

Jez tried to look embarrassed. “Look, just let me in.”

The other guard let out a nervous laugh. He brought
his hand up and absently ran his fingers across his mail shirt. No doubt he’d
heard about the incident in the throne room. Jez briefly considered moving them
out of the way but decided against it. The second guard cleared his throat.

“Lord Varin is still in conference with the king.”

Jez pulled a folded sheet of paper out of his doublet.
“I need to leave this for him.” The guard reached for it, but Jez pulled back.
“Mage Villia put a ward on it to guard against any hand but Varin’s. I’m not
sure what will happen if you touch it.”

The guard pulled back as if he’d touched a flame. His gaze
was locked on the sheet of paper with wide eyes. The other took a step back and
didn’t seem to realize it until he backed up against the wall.

“Just let me in,” Jez said. “You can watch me leave
it.”

The guards exchanged glances. One gave a slight nod
and the other pushed open the door. Varin’s sitting room was even bigger than
Jez’s. It looked like it could hold a hundred people. A long table sat in the
middle of the room with a dozen chairs on each side. A massive window was
covered by velvet curtains, and a map of Ashtar hung from one wall. Jez’s eyes
instinctively sought out the Barony of Korand and his own hometown of Randak. A
massive picture of Lord Varin himself stared down at Jez as he walked in. Jez
extended his senses, trying to find any signs of a ward, but there was nothing.

“Do you sense anything?”

“I think so,” Sharim said. “There’s something hidden
by an illusion. Give me a second and I can take it down.” Suddenly, he spun and
stared into a corner.

“What is it?” Jez asked.

“Sorry, I thought there was someone there. It’s
nothing. Give me a second.”

Jez walked to the table slowly and placed the paper on
it. There was nothing written on it, and Varin would probably be upset when he
found out Jez had been in his quarters, but as low as Jez’s status already was
at court, he doubted anything worse could happen. He felt a hum in the air and
glanced at Sharim. The other boy had his eyes closed and was saying something
under his breath.

“Well?” the guard said from the doorway.

“We’re coming,” Jez said, but he didn’t move.

Sharim let out a breath, and Jez’s sense of protection
magic flared to life. There was powerful ward in this room, one of a complexity
he could scarcely imagine. A circle of yellow light came into being and runes
appeared in the air. They only lasted a second before fading. The guards said
something, but Jez wasn’t listening. He grabbed Sharim by the wrist and tugged
him out of the room. They had left the hall and were nearing Jez’s room before
Sharim managed to pull his arm free.

“What’s going on?”

“Didn’t you see the runes in the air?”

“Yes, but I didn’t recognize them.”

“I did,” Jez said. “They were the same kind Dusan used
when he was trying to summon a nightmare demon.”

Jez spent a few minutes telling Osmund
what had happened. The other boy was doing much better, and the healers said
his strength should return by morning. He was still having trouble staying awake,
but he made Jez promise to be careful before leaving. As soon as he stood to
leave, Paleel went to Osmund’s side to see if he needed anything. Jez nodded to
her and walked out. Villia was waiting for him when he came out of the sick
chambers.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?”

Jez looked over his shoulder at the door to the sick
chambers. He turned back to Villia and cocked his head.

“Talking to Osmund? He’s not contagious or anything.”

Villia narrowed her eyes. “That stunt you pulled in Lord
Varin’s room.”

“He didn’t see us.”

“No, but his guards did. More than that, by leaving a
blank paper, you ensured he would come looking for me wanting to know what it
was about.”

“Did he?”

“Yes. He was quite angry I had sent you into his
rooms.”

Jez tried to force down the lump that had formed in
his throat. “I guess we didn’t think that all the way through.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him it was a test for my apprentice and
apologized for not letting him know ahead of time.”

“He believed that?”

Villia shrugged. “Probably not, but he won’t call me a
liar to my face. My position is too secure. Now, tell me what you saw.”

Jez turned away. “Nothing.”

“Don’t give me that, boy.” Villia’s voice came from
everywhere at once, and it echoed in the long corridor. Even an empty suit of
armor seemed to be speaking. Jez jumped and looked back at her. “Sharim told me
about the circle, but he didn’t know what he was looking at. He said you
mentioned Dusan.”

Jez hesitated for a second before nodding. “I saw some
of the same symbols Dusan used.”

“Then you did see his lair before the king’s mages got
to it?”

“Yes.”

“What was he doing?”

Jez looked around. Villia pursed her lips but nodded
after a few seconds. She motioned for him to follow, and they went to her
workshop. She waved a hand, and when she spoke, her voice came out sounding
flat. The sounds drifting in from outside became a muted buzz.

“I’m shielding us from sound. Even if anyone would
dare to try to listen in, they wouldn’t be able to hear us. Now, tell me about
Dusan.”

Jez nodded and briefly related how Dusan had
eventually summoned the demon lord Marrowit, only to have it destroy him. Jez
had followed the demon into the dream world and defeated it in its place of
power and thus utterly destroying it. The only thing he left out was the truth
about his own past, letting Villia believe he was a limaph.

“The runes that appeared in the air in Varin’s
quarters,” Jez said. “They were the same ones Dusan used.”

“You think he’s trying to summon this Marrowit?”

“Maybe. He would have no way of knowing Marrowit was
destroyed.”

Villia looked at him for several seconds before
nodding. “All right. I believe you. We’ll need to gather proof before we can
move against Varin, though.”

“What do you mean proof? There’s proof in his
quarters.”

Villia shook her head. “And I can take the king to see
that, but Varin is still an influential noble, who is extremely skilled at the
politics of the court. He’ll likely have plans in place in case he’s
discovered. He may even be implementing them now, with the stunt you pulled.”

Before Jez could say anything, a boy wearing purple
livery burst into the room. His face was flushed, and he was sweating from the
effort of running up the stairs.

“Mage Villia. Murder. The king. Immediately.”

He spoke between breaths and leaned heavily on
Villia’s table. Villia and Jez exchanged glances. Villia walked to the boy and
gripped his shoulders.

“Calm down. Say it again, but this time slowly.”

The boy nodded and took a minute to catch his breath.
“Mage Villia, the king requires your presence immediately. There’s been a
murder.”

Jez stayed by Villia’s side as she
pushed past the guards in the north wing of the keep. They turned down the hall
leading to Lord Varin’s chambers, and Jez stopped in his tracks. The coppery
scent of blood filled the air, and he almost gagged. Two still forms sprawled
across the floor. The first was a bearded man with a black eye and a crooked
nose. Jez recognized him as one of Lina’s bodyguards. The second dead man was
Sileon.

Each body had a slash across its stomach. Jez started
to examine them, but his stomach churned as his lunch threatened to come up. He
turned away for a few seconds. When he looked again, he focused on their faces.
They were pale in death. The guard’s mouth was open, and his eyes were wide.
He’d had green eyes. Jez didn’t think he’d ever seen anyone with green eyes. He
thought about that for several seconds before shaking his head to clear his
thoughts. This was no time to lose his wits. He examined the other corpse.
Sileon looked like he was trying to scream. His eyes were closed and his arms
were outstretched as if trying to push someone away. The one commonality was
that their expressions were frozen in terror.

“What happened?” Villia asked.

For the first time, Jez realized there were others in
the area. Three guards stood near the bodies. The king was a little ways away
flanked by two others. Lina stood next to her father. Her face looked a little
green, but she didn’t turn away.

“Lord Varin sent me to summon Lady Lina,” one of the
guards said. “When I returned with her, we saw...” His face drained of color,
and he reached up and tugged his collar. “They were already dead.”

Lina looked up and her eyes locked on Jez. She pointed
at him and screamed. Jez could almost hear the hatred in her cry.

“It was him! He accused Brallion of attacking his
beast, and he was upset that my father hired away Sir Sileon.”

“What?” Jez said. He glanced at Villia and she put a
hand on his shoulder.

“It wasn’t,” she said.

“Are you sure?” Haziel asked as his eyes flickered to
the sword Jez wore at his hip. “Lady Lina makes a good point, and we’ve already
seen his ability against armored men.”