Veilspeaker (Pharim War Book 2) (13 page)

“The king’s mages are out looking too. Some of them are
binders.”

“You know this would be too much for an ordinary
mage.”

“It’ll be too much for you if you’re too tired to
stand.”

Jez held up his hand and sniffed at the air, but he
didn’t smell anything. He poked his head around the corner, but the hall was empty,
and he motioned to Osmund that they should keep going.

“I’m fine.”

“No you’re not. You’re losing yourself again.”

Jez paused and looked at his friend. “That’s not going
to happen. Sariel shut away those memories.”

Osmund looked pointedly at the crystal sword. “Sariel
also has to respect mortal choice. You’ve been relying on that sword almost
exclusively. You studied binding for a reason, after all”

“I don’t know the best way to bind every demon,” Jez
lifted the sword. “I know this will work, though.”

“You don’t necessarily need the best way,” Osmund
pointed out. “Does it really matter if you use the second best way? Or the
third, as long as the demon is gone?”

Jez let out a breath. “Not really.”

“Maybe you should put the sword away, at least for
now. It’s not like it takes you a long time to bring it out.”

“Am I really that different?”

“Since we’ve gotten here, practically all you’ve cared
about is finding who was summoning demons.”

“It is kind of important.”

“Definitely,” Osmund said. “But it shouldn’t be all
you’re worried about. This is your first time in the capital, and you’re a
baron. You’ve ignored court politics. Did you even step out of the keep?”

“There wasn’t really time.”

“That’s my point.”

Jez pursed his lips and nodded. The sword dissolved,
and Jez felt half dressed. The ache he’d gotten used to receded. He drew his
physical sword and though the weapon was light compared to other such blades,
it felt heavy and clumsy, and Jez suppressed a shiver. Osmund was right. Jez
had known drawing too deeply of his power might burn through his flesh, but he
hadn’t expected the trickle he’d been accessing to cause any lasting harm. He
certainly hadn’t thought it would affect his mind. He would have to be careful
with how he used it.

His senses of mystical forces dimmed as they descended
into the dungeon. Jez tried to make idle conversation, but he had trouble
splitting his concentration away from their search. He looked down at his
weapon, and his hand itched to hold his real sword. He told himself that was
only because they were in the midst of danger. It was a reasonable enough
explanation. He just wasn’t sure if he believed it.

The first level of the dungeon was empty, though Jez
couldn’t help but glance at the two cells Osmund had broken out of. The melted
bars still hadn’t been repaired. Jez could almost feel ambient power emanating
from them, though he was almost sure it was his imagination.

As they went into the lower level, the wards thinned,
and he knew it wouldn’t be nearly as difficult to access his power. No one had
been down here in a long time, and the wards had been allowed to decay. None of
the lanterns were lit, and Ziary summoned a ball of flame to float over his
hand and light the way. They moved forward, but the floor here was uneven. Jez
stumbled, and his foot splashed into a puddle. He groaned as a wave of stagnant
stench rose from the water.

“Ugh,” Osmund said. “That smells terrible. Can we just
go back? They’re obviously not here.”

Jez started to nod, but paused. How had water gotten down
here? He’d seen none on the floor above. Granted, it could’ve been here for a
long time, but there was another possible explanation. After all, it had almost
made them turn away.

He wove a ward against illusions of all types. It was
an effort to push it past the wards, but as soon as he did, the smell vanished.
Jez and Osmund exchanged glances, and Jez closed his eyes. He wove a larger
ward, one that could encompass the entire floor. Someone cried out, and Jez and
Osmund rushed forward. There, in one of the open cells wearing clothes that
were more rag than formal attire sat Lina and her father.

The two backed up when they saw Jez
and Osmund. Lina’s eyes were locked on Osmund. Their clothes were ripped and
Varin had a bruise on the left side of his face. He stood up straight and tried
to appear confident, but his voice wavered.

“Baron, you will escort us to the king.” He glanced at
Osmund. “I will do you a favor and not report his escape, but he must leave
now.”

Osmund laughed, but he stopped when Jez glared at him.
“Osmund has been declared innocent of any wrongdoing in attacking Lina as well
as for the death of your men.”

“What?” Lina’s eyes widened and her voice was a
shriek.

“You’re right about one thing. The king wants to see
you.” Jez took a step forward and lifted his sword. “He wants an explanation
for why you were summoning demons.”

“What? That’s ridiculous. Haven’t we already dealt
with this nonsense?”

“It was clever of you to hide the summoning circle in
Lina’s room.” Osmund said. “We didn’t find it until it was too late.” He turned
to Lina. “Or was it you that did the summoning? Is that why you’re here? The
demons got away from you, and you were looking for a place to hide?”

Varin took a step forward and moved to walk past them.
“I will not stand here and be accused.”

He grunted as a blast of wind knocked him back and
held him against the wall. Lina stood on shaky legs and stepped forward, her
hands moving. She froze when Osmund lifted his sword and held it to her neck.

“None of that,” Osmund said, his voice dripping with
rage. “We’re not going to underestimate you.”

“Why are you doing this?” Varin struggled to speak
against the wind.

Jez waved at Osmund, and the lord slid to the ground
as the wind died. He looked up, but all confidence had drained from his face.
He tried to speak but couldn’t seem to find his voice. Jez wove a ward,
separating him from any power he may have. Varin’s shoulder slumped, and Jez
did the same to Lina immediately after. She glared at him, but he ignored it.
His workings would fall in the level above them where the wards were still
strong, and he would have to redo them once they got back into the keep. For
now, however, their power was bound, and it should easy enough to get them
upstairs.

“We found more than enough proof,” Jez said. “Will you
come with us, or do we have to bring you by force?”

“How dare you!” Varin’s face was twisted in anger.
“You, a mere peasant...”

He stopped when Jez summoned a ball of water around
his hand. The shifting liquid reflected the light of Osmund’s flame, and it
crawled up his arm giving it a wicked sheen.

“You can’t be serious,” Varin said, though he no
longer sounded so sure. Jez glared at him, and Varin took a step back. “This
has to be a misunderstanding.” He looked at Lina. “We’ll come with you, and
clear up this matter.”

Jez nodded and let the water around his arm splash to
the ground, but he held his sword toward Varin. He motioned with the weapon for
them to go first. At first Lina just stared at him, her eyes wide, but when
Osmund cleared his throat, she scrambled to the stairs with her father right
behind her. Jez’s wards fell under the stronger working protecting the main
level of the prison. They moved through it in silence and continued up to the
keep. As soon as they were up, power flared in Lina, and she vanished. Jez was
ready, and he wove a ward against illusion, counter her working. Before he’d
even finished, he felt her power fizzle. She appeared, and immediately, he
turned his power to weaving another ward of binding. He felt it slide into
place between her and her power. Varin just stared at her as if unwilling to
believe what she’d just attempted. He didn’t even flinch when Jez’s ward cut
him off. Jez put his sword directly at Lina’s back.

“Go,” he said.

She let out a whimper but when she nodded, she wore a
half smile that unnerved Jez. He marched them down the hall, drawing the eyes
of servants and lesser nobles as they passed. They went to the where they had
taken the king after rescuing him. Jez pushed open the door and a breeze
brushed past him. Papers had been taken from shelves and a map of the city had
been rolled out. Haziel was speaking to the captain of his guard. Villia and
Sharim stood behind the king. Sharim was weaving a working Jez didn’t recognize,
but the apprentice let it go when he saw Jez was looking. Haziel looked up when
Jez stepped inside with the prisoners. Anger flashed in his eyes when he saw
Varin and Lina, and for a second, Jez thought he might call for their execution
then and there, but a quiet fury settled on his face.

“Varin.”

Varin winced at the lack of title, and he bowed deeper
than Jez had ever seen him. “Your Majesty, I don’t know what this boy has told
you but...”

“The
baron
saved my life, and he showed me
proof of your treason. The only reason I haven’t locked you up is your long
years of service. If you’re next words aren’t an explanation of your acts, I’ll
have you thrown in prison.”

“Your Majesty, I never summoned...”

“Guards!” The two men outside came in. “Throw these
two in dungeon. I never want to see them again.”

“Your Majesty, I should go with them,”
Jez said. “We need to keep them cut off from their power until they get to the
dungeon.”

The king nodded and waved him off. Jez walked out of
the room. Osmund started to follow, but Jez shook his head.

“We need someone here to protect the king.”

Osmund nodded and went back in, and Jez followed the
guards back toward the dungeon. Varin kept his head down. All signs of his
previous defiance were gone. He seemed like a man defeated. Jez wondered if he
really was innocent. Perhaps it had all been done by Lina. She still wore that
same half smile she’d had since they’d come up into the keep. They were halfway
to the dungeon when Villia caught up with them. She looked over her shoulder
and seemed somewhat surprised.

“Sharim was right behind me.” She was about to say
something else when she turned to Lina. “What’s going on here?”

“The king has commanded that they be thrown in
prison,” Jez said.

Villia rolled her eyes. “Yes, I gathered that. What’s
the purpose of the illusions?”

“What illusions?”

She raised an eyebrow and lifted a hand. Before she
could do anything, however, Lina vanished as did his sense of a ward on her.
Jez blinked but heard footsteps running down the hall. He turned to see Lina
running through the passage.

“How...” Jez started but didn’t bother to finish the
question. He took off after Lina.

He’d only gone a few steps when his nostrils flared
with the scent of sulfur. He skidded to a stop, dropping his metal sword and
holding out his hand to summon his crystal one, but he hesitated, his mind
going back to what Osmund had said. He took several steps back until he was
right next to Villia. He motioned for the guards to get behind him. They glanced
down the hall in the direction Lina had fled, but one by one, they complied.
Light drained from the lanterns on the wall as the hall darkened.

“Baron, what’s wrong?” one of the guards asked.

“Can you fight?” Jez asked, his eyes locked on the
pair of shadowy figures that had appeared at the end of the corridor and that
were slowly heading toward them.

“Of course we...”

Jez raised a hand and cut off the guard before turning
to Villia. She looked him up and down.

“I’m not...Where is your sword?”

The figures came closer, never moving faster than a
slow walk, but their images remained vague and indistinct. They were like
living shadows walking down the hall, and where their hands should be, they had
shadowy blades. Jez had no idea what they were, but he started weaving a ward
meant to bind incorporeal beings and give them physical form.

“Do you have a sword?”

Villia sputtered for a second. “Well, yes.”

“You should probably summon it.”

Twin bands of light shot forward from Jez’s hands,
wrapping themselves around the creatures. They staggered for a step but kept
coming, and the light continued to dim. For a second, Jez was seized by the
irrational desire to run. He clenched his teeth just as the guards took off in
the opposite direction. It was then that he recognized the supernatural fear
emanating from the shadow demons. A smile crept onto his face. He’d experienced
this before. It was one of the first bindings he’d ever done, when he’d faced
the phobos on his first day at the Academy. He made two circles with his left
hand and one with his right. Lights shot forward, splashing against the
creature on the right. He sent another binding against the left one, and the
desire to run vanished. Villia stepped next to him and held out a hand. A sword
made of shadows materialized in her hand. She inclined her head to Jez and
leapt forward just as the demons came into range.

The demons moved faster than Jez
would’ve believed possible after watching their slow advance. One blurred and
impaled Villia through the wrist while she was still in the air. She barely had
time to cry out before it slammed her into the wall. The stone cracked at the
impact. Villia grunted, and her shadowy blade fell from her hand, dissolving
before it hit the ground. She slid off the demon’s arm, and slumped against the
wall, unmoving. There was no blood though a faint violet glow shone from her
wounds.

Hastily, Jez wove a ward, holding sunlight in his
hands and crafting it into a pair of manacles. They shot forward and closed around
the demons’ legs. They stumbled, but a second later, darkness spread across the
chains, and they exploded in a flash of light. Jez threw himself back, and when
his vision cleared, the creatures were darker than they had been before and
were standing in the spot he’d been in just a moment ago. He held out his hand,
drawing of Luntayary’s power and calling forth the crystal sword. It appeared
just as one of the shadows brought a blade down on him. Jez batted it aside and
tried to stab, but once again, it moved too quickly and danced out of the way
with an almost casual ease. A chill ran down his spine as he realized these
beings were masters of the blade.