Veilspeaker (Pharim War Book 2) (8 page)

“You saw him?” the king asked. “You didn’t report him?
This is not looking well for you, Baron.”

“I didn’t know you were looking for him until I came
out of the south tower. I didn’t think it was the best idea to be walking
around in his condition, but he wasn’t on the run as far as I knew.”

Villia raised a hand. “There is evidence enough to
hold Osmund.”

“But...”

She looked Jez in the eye. “We cannot ignore the fact,
Baron Jezreel, however, once your new information comes to light, I’m sure he
will be released.”

“What new information?” Haziel asked.

Jez looked at Villia, and she nodded. Jez took a deep
breath. “Those men were killed by demons.”

“Demons?”

Varin laughed, but the other nobles exchanged glances.
For once Jez was happy about the rumors that had been circulated about him. They
should lend his words more weight.

Villia raised a hand and the room went silent again.
“There’s more.”

Varin paled a little, and Jez suddenly found his mouth
going dry. The thing he was about to accuse Varin of was worse than murder.
Summoning creatures from the abyss to take a mortal life was one of the most
perverse acts a person could do with magic. Every eye was on him. He swallowed
and forced himself to speak.

“We found the summoning circle in your quarters, Lord
Varin. The demons were summoned by you.”

The room went completely silent. Varin
stared at Jez with his jaw practically on the floor. The illusion on Lina’s
face wavered for a second before solidifying. The king’s expression shifted
between shock and rage. Osmund looked up, and the men standing over him were
too distracted to stop him. He glared at Varin, and for a moment Jez thought he
saw the other boy’s eyes glowing, but if they had changed, they returned to
normal after barely a heartbeat.

“You would dare accuse me of that?” Varin’s voice
shattered the silence.

Lina’s face twisted in a scowl. She might have said
something, but her words were swallowed in the commotion as everyone in the
room started to shout. It went on for several seconds before the king cleared
his throat. Those nearest to him went silent, but some of the other nobles were
still crying out at Jez. Haziel rose, and as people saw him, silence spread out
from the throne like a wave. When the entire room had quieted, he sat down. His
eyes locked onto Jez.

“I presume you have evidence of this?”

“Your Majesty,” Varin said with barely controlled
outrange. “Surely, you can’t believe him.”

“Lord Varin, you have been accused of a high crime by
a noble of this court before witnesses.” He let the last word hang for a second
as he glared at Jez, and Jez wondered if he should’ve addressed this quietly.
“I cannot ignore that. Baron, this is a serious accusation. What proof do you
offer?”

Jez hesitated. “I smelled it, Your Majesty.”

Some of the gather nobles snickered, but the king
raised a hand, silencing them. “You smelled it?”

“When I saw Sileon and the dead guard. I smelled
sulfur in the air. It happens sometimes when I run into demon magic.”

Varin sneered. “You expect us to believe you can smell
demons?”

“It’s not an unheard of ability,” Villia said. “I’m
told the baron has a natural skill at binding. That would lend itself to such
an ability. I would think you’d know that. Dusan had unusual abilities of his
own, the two of you were friends once.”

“Ridiculous.” Varin waved at the bound Osmund. “He’s
just trying to throw suspicion off of that thing.”

“Mage Villia is a higher authority than you in this
matter, Varin. If she says such an ability can exist, I have no reason to
doubt.” Haziel returned his gaze to Jez. “I still haven’t heard any reason to
accuse Lord Varin.”

“Like I said, Sharim and I saw the summoning circle in
his quarters. It was hidden, but Sharim was able to take down the illusion
hiding it for a few seconds. I recognized the symbols. Something like that is
only used to summon powerful demons.”

“When Villia sent you to deliver a message,” Varin
said in a flat tone.

Jez met Varin’s stare without flinching. It was the
king who eventually spoke, and Jez realized the entire room was staring at the
two of them.

“I was not aware you had advanced so far in your
studies,” Haziel said.

Jez looked away for a second. “I haven’t. Not exactly,
Your Majesty.”

“Explain.”

Jez looked around at the gathered nobles. He was about
to ask the king to speak in private, but the look on Haziel’s face told him the
king had little patience left. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but
it did no good.

“It had the same symbols Dusan used in his lair in
Kunashi.”

“I knew you had seen it,” Varin cried out. He turned
to the king. “Your Majesty, I know you think Dusan did terrible things, but he
was also a genius in multiple schools of magic. Even the Academy masters had
never seen his equal. I’ve been trying to reconstruct his research. If this
child has information...”

“Dusan got his knowledge from demons.” Jez’s voice was
practically a shout.

“You don’t know that,” Varin said. “You weren’t with
him long enough for him to reveal his secrets to you.”

“He didn’t need to reveal anything to me,” Jez said. “If
you’d seen what he did—”

“Enough.” The king’s voice cut through the
conversation. “Varin, I know Dusan was your ally, but what he did bordered on
treason. I will not permit you to do the same. That being said, Jezreel, the
knowledge Dusan had is not for you to hide or dispense.”

“Actually, it is, Your Majesty,” Villia said. “What
any mage learns in his own research is his alone, and with respect, matters of
magic are under the domain of the masters of the Carceri Academy, not yours.”

“But it wasn’t his research,” Varin said. “It was
Dusan’s.”

“It was research he should’ve never done,” Jez said.
“It’s research you shouldn’t be doing.”

“I will research whatever I choose.” Varin banged his
fist on the table.

“He makes a good point,” the king said. “If Dusan’s
knowledge is for Jez to keep, then any research Varin does is his alone.”

“That’s technically correct, Your Majesty,” Villia
said, “but as you pointed out, what Dusan did was very nearly treason. If Varin
is duplicating his efforts, he must be stopped.”

The king pursed his lips but nodded. “But is he doing
it?”

“I’m not,” Varin said.

“I saw it,” Jez replied and the lord narrowed his
eyes.

“This is easily resolved,” Villia said. “We need only
go to Varin’s quarters. If my apprentice was able to find the circle, I can do
so as well.” He turned to Varin. “Provided you have no objections, of course.”

“I most certainly do,” Varin said. “I will not stand
here and be accused.”

“You will permit us to look.” Varin’s eyes practically
bulged at the king’s words but Haziel continued. “From what I’ve been told,
what Dusan did was foolish and dangerous. We both know you aren’t half the mage
he was, and I won’t have you taking such a risk in my keep.” The king motioned
to Villia. “Let’s go.”

“That went better than expected,” Jez
said.

He was walking alongside Villia. Haziel, Varin, Lina,
and half a dozen guards followed a few steps behind. The other nobles had tried
to follow, but a curt command from the king dissuaded them. Once again, Villia
had formed a barrier so they could speak without being overheard.

“Only because it was before the other nobles,” Villia
said. “We forced the king’s hand, and he won’t soon forget that.”

“But once we show him the circle, he’ll have to
forgive us, right?”

Villia sighed. “You still don’t understand, do you?
Officially, there’s nothing for him to forgive us of, but this will severely
damage our influence at court, though yours more than mine.”

“You know, I really don’t care about that anymore.
Once I get Osmund out of trouble, we’re going back to the Academy. If I have my
way, I’ll never come back here again.”

Villia snorted. “Well, I can’t say that I blame you,
but it’s not wise to dispense with court politics entirely. If you’re not
careful, you might find pieces of Korand taken from you and given to your
rivals.”

Jez grumbled under his breath that they were welcome
to it. His rank had brought him nothing but trouble. Then again, he might not
be able to get back into the Academy without it. He sighed and shook his head.
He just couldn’t win.

They made their way through the keep until they came
to Varin’s quarters. A pair of guards stood watch, but a gesture from the king
dismissed them. Villia turned to Varin and motioned for him to let them in. He
scowled but pushed open the door. He stepped inside and spread his arms.

“There. You see? There’s no summoning circle. Can we
get back to dealing with the actual murderer?”

“It was hidden by an illusion when we were here
before,” Jez said.

Haziel nodded at Villia. “Mage Villia, if you please.”

Villia inclined her head and closed her eyes. Jez did
the same, trying to find some sign of the working hiding the circle. He had
tried to learn illusion at the Academy, but he was hopelessly inept at it, and
he had no sense of it. He opened his eyes, giving the effort up as pointless.
Villia spoke after a few seconds of tense silence.

“There are a few illusions here,” she said without
opening her eyes. “I’m going to start taking them down. I would recommend Lady
Lina leave.”

“You will not give me commands in my own quarters,
mage,” Varin said.

“I was not intending to be rude nor was it a command.
It’s the nature of illusions to be difficult to tell apart, and I wouldn’t want
to take hers down by mistake.”

Lina paled a little, and her fingers went to her
cheek. She removed them a second later and clenched her teeth. The scar
appeared, though almost instantly, she returned her hand to face to cover the
mark.

“You may continue, Mage Villia. I have removed my
illusion.”

Jez and Osmund exchanged glances, and Lina grew red
when she saw the expressions on their faces but didn’t say anything. Villia
nodded. She splayed her fingers and violet motes appeared around her hands. The
gold frames of the paintings dimmed, and the sunlight streaming through the
window suddenly didn’t seem so bright. The entire room faded. All the changes
had been subtle, and the chamber was still ostentatious, but it lacked the
radiance it had held a second ago.

Varin frowned. “Are you satisfied now?”

“Villia?” Jez asked.

Villia opened her eyes and shook her head. “That’s it.
There are no other illusions in the room.”

“But the circle,” Jez said.

“If there was a circle here, it is gone.”

“Now that we’re done wasting everyone’s time, perhaps
we can get back to the sentencing,” Varin said.

“But...”

The king’s voice cut Jez off. “Lord Varin is right,
Baron. You’ve wasted quite enough of our time with this baseless accusation.”

“I saw the circle,” Jez said.

“Did you smell anything?” Villia asked.

“What?”

“You said you can smell demonic energy. The circle in
Dusan’s lair required an enormous amount of power. If the one you saw was
anything like that one, it would be extremely difficult to hide it from your
senses. Do you smell anything?”

“No.”

“What about before. If Sharim really took down an
illusion hiding it, you would’ve smelled something then. Did you?”

Jez thought back and shook his head. “No, but I know
what I saw.”

“Your Majesty, I’ve had quite enough of this,” Varin
said as he scowled at Jez.

Lina was standing next to him. The illusion over her
scar had been reapplied. She wore an expression similar to that of her father,
though if anything, she looked even angrier.

“As have I,” the king said. “Baron Jezreel, this was a
clumsy attempt to divert attention, and I see no option but to take it as proof
that your man is guilty and that you were trying to hide it. You are hereby
forbidden from leaving the keep until we’ve determined whether or not you gave
the order for your bodyguard to commit those murders. As for Osmund himself,
out of deference to your position, I will not execute him. He is hereby
sentenced to life in prison.”

Sharim ran the crystal through the
water in the silver saucer. Once again, it clouded, and Jez thought he could
see images inside. After a few minutes, the clouds vanished. Sharim let out a
breath.

“I’m sorry. I still don’t get anything.”

“Can you try scrying for something else? Something
simple.” Jez put his hand behind his back. “How many fingers am I holding up?”

Sharim smiled and walked over to the water barrel to
empty the saucer. “It doesn’t really work that way.”

“I was hoping that with the circle gone divination
would work again.”

“Maybe he made another one.”

Jez nodded. “Maybe.” He looked at the large blue
crystal sitting on a nearby table, almost a perfect match for the one at the
Academy. The speaking stone had been in the workshop when they’d gotten here.
“I think I should contact Master Besis. This is getting too complicated.”

“It won’t work,” Sharim said. “That’s why Villia had
it brought here. I tried to contact my parents earlier today, and it failed to
establish contact. It makes sense since the speaking stones use a form of
divination.”

“They do?”

Sharim nodded. “You’re basically scrying each other.
The crystals do all the work, but the magic is the same.”

Jez let out a breath in frustration. “I don’t know
what to do. I was sure we had him. You saw the circle too right? I wasn’t
imagining that.”

“I saw it,” Sharim said. “I didn’t know what the runes
meant, but I saw it.”