Hunted Sorcery (Jon Oklar Book 2)

by B. T. Narro

  Kataleya nodded. “I had a feeling that was on your mind.” She sat down beside me. “I assume The Pearl is one of those things you’d rather not speak about?”

  “It is.”

  “Then we can not speak together if you would like?”

  “I would.”

  She sat down close, our arms grazing. I found myself pleasantly distracted by her proximity, thinking about how it might feel to put my arm around her.

  I didn’t quite understand these sudden urges. Were they only because she was beautiful and showing interest, and I was that easy? Perhaps. My relationship with Joanne had developed only because of how forward she’d been with me, but I never had much of an urge to put my arm around her. We did not spend any time cuddling together.

  I knew one thing. I certainly wasn’t thinking about The Pearl anymore as my mind drifted to other more pleasant things.

  “Can I ask you something?” I said.

  “Always.”

  “Is it my imagination or are you, uh, interested in me in some other way?” I didn’t know how else to figure out what was going on.

  She smirked as she looked down. “Aren’t you bold today.”

  “Oh, I—”

  “No, I was sure you’d noticed by now. I just didn’t think you would mention it. Just trying to distract yourself right now, I assume?” she asked lightheartedly, giving me an easy out.

  I took it. “Uh yes, that’s it.”

  “Well, there are some things we shouldn’t discuss, and this is one of those things. Oh good, your chair has arrived. Not a moment too soon.”

  She hurried away from the well with another smirk, this one aimed at me.

  It seemed pretty clear that Kataleya saw the same thing in me that I did in her, a very pleasant view. But I wasn’t sure there was anything more to it for either of us.

  Happy at least there was something we shared, I held a smile as I approached the servant who’d brought my new training object.

  The chair from the keep was not what I would call an old chair. It would fetch a nice price in Bhode, with smooth wood not blemished by time or use.

  Nonetheless, I thanked the servant and got to work. The spell was actually quite simple once I figured out how to cast all five notes without hurting myself. It was what to do after the spell was casted that I still needed to figure out.

  Over the next few hours, I got to know my mana a lot better. The spell required me to have a mastery over it. Directing my mana wasn’t at all like aiming an arrow. Trying to encircle the backrest of the chair and locking my mana in place was more like using a grabbing tool of some kind to take hold of a cup without it slipping out. I continuously knocked the chair over, and I continuously drew looks from my peers.

  “Oy,” Aliana complained just before lunch. “How long are you going to be throwing that chair around? I’m trying to focus over here.”

  I could tell the anger she displayed was only halfway serious, but it was still enough to fill me with guilt.

  “I don’t know. This could take days.”

  “No,” Remi told me forcefully. “The chair banging has to stop soon or I’m going to burn it.”

  Remi seemed a lot more serious than Aliana.

  “You need something heavier,” Michael suggested. “Something that won’t fall over.”

  “How about you?” I asked.

  “Sure, I’m just going to stand with my arms up, for hours, while you slam my body with dvinia. That sounds like a fine afternoon.”

  Only Kataleya didn’t seem bothered by it. But the rest had a good point. I would probably drive them crazy if I kept loudly knocking the chair over the whole day, and I couldn’t use any of them to practice on instead.

  Leon emerged from the great hall. Everyone hurried to return to their training except me. I went to pick up the fallen chair as I showed Leon a look that I needed help.

  He walked over. “I’ve been watching. You can’t be discouraged already. It’s probably going to take you days.”

  “I would be fine with that, but the noise is distracting everyone else.”

  “I’m going to burn that chair, Leon, if I have to keep listening to Jon tossing it around,” Remi told our instructor casually, no anger in her tone.

  “The chair was a good idea,” Leon told me. “Maybe you can go back to it once you’ve improved, when you can lift it without knocking it over.”

  “Is there something heavier I can use that’s about the same width?”

  “Yes, yourself.”

  “I tried that already. My mana doesn’t want to grab me.”

  “This isn’t about what your mana wants. It’s about what you want. The better you can control it, even against its own will, the better off you’ll be. Start slow. Don’t add G to the spell yet. Your goal today should be to create a floating cushion of dvinia that you can lean against without it breaking.”

  “That’s too easy.”

  “Then make your goal to stop yourself from falling. You will jump onto it when you’re ready. When the dvinia can catch and hold you, then you’ll be strong enough to start thinking about grabbing someone to stop their movement. Lifting them is going to come a lot later. Practice on yourself,” he repeated. “And trust me. Your control over mana will improve overall this way.”

  I had almost forgotten that I had seen dark mages like Scarlett catch themselves with dteria. She had done so after jumping from the second floor of the keep, when she surely would’ve broken something but instead was swept up by her own energy at the last moment and landed safely.

  I wanted to be able to lift my enemies off the ground, but Leon’s advice was sound. Not only would this help me practice, but it was a useful skill. I had broken an ankle when Cason had thrown me into the air. He had effectively taken me out of the fight, and an ally—a guard of this city—was dead because of that.

  I was eager to start training again, but Leon announced to everyone that it was time for lunch. The filling meals kept me in good spirits. So had the notion that I’d saved most of the coin from my weekly stipends. I didn’t know what I would be doing with it in the future, but it was nice to know I had plenty.

  As at every meal, I sat beside Michael, across from Reuben and Charlie. The four girls still sat together as well. Even during the days when they had fought over who might be the traitor, their seating arrangements had remained the same. The only difference was how quiet they were. It was nice to hear them chatting again, almost as if nothing had come between any of us.

  That changed in an instant. I could feel the shift before I knew what was happening. The girls had gone quiet, all of them staring toward us, but it wasn’t us that took their focus, I soon realized, as Aliana stood quickly with shock on her face.

  I looked back toward the entrance of the dining hall. I recognized Aliana’s mother entering, her hands and ankles bound by metal cuffs as she took tiny steps awkwardly. Byron Lawson escorted her past us, two guards with him.

  “Who is that?” Reuben asked.

  “Aliana’s mother,” I told him.

  “You’re joking,” Michael said.

  “I’m not.”

  Gwen Forrester passed by her daughter. Aliana’s eyes were glistening with tears. “Why is she in cuffs?”

  “Ali, it’s not what it looks like,” said her mother. “Allow me to speak with the king.”

  “Bring her here,” Nykal called as he stood from the royal table. “Where was she found?”

  All of us gathered around the royal table to listen.

  “The large abode belonging to the dark mage of Jon’s first encounter,” Byron answered. “She was in the cellar.”

  That house?

  “I was told you had already searched the premises,” Nykal said.

  “We have, several times. We’d questioned the neighbors around the area as well. The owner never returned after Cason rescued him. Gwen was put in the cellar sometime recently.”

  Aliana asked Byron, “What do you mean by all of th
is? Mother, what’s happening?”

  Gwen looked at Byron as if asking permission. He nodded. “Go ahead. The king needs to hear this as well so we can make a quick decision.”

  “A couple of men broke in while I was asleep,” she told Aliana. “Dteria users. They wore masks. They roped me up and gagged me, and took me to the place the head guard mentioned. They bound my hands and feet and tossed me in a cellar. I was there for days. I’m all right,” she told her daughter. “They sent someone to feed me.”

  “My god,” Aliana said, her eyes wide with shock. She gaped at Barrett. “This is why you couldn’t tell me anything about the questioning of my mother. You couldn’t find her!”

  He nodded. “We didn’t want to alarm you.”

  “Who cares if you alarmed me? I deserved to know!”

  “This is a conversation for another time,” Byron interjected. “Our opportunity here might be short-lived.”

  “What do you mean?” the king asked.

  “Based on Gwen’s description, we already found the man who was feeding her. He seems to be innocent, however. He was being extorted by the dark mages. They made Gwen his responsibility using threats. He identified one of the dark mages for us, however, and he is continuing to be questioned in case he might know something else.”

  “Where is this dark mage he identified?” Nykal asked.

  “Dead, unfortunately. We caught him yesterday, but he put up quite a fight and was slain in the process of capturing. We didn’t know at the time that he was forcing an innocent man to supply food for Gwen, but there is still an opportunity at hand. Cason obviously believes he has outsmarted us, hiding Gwen in a place we’ve already searched many times. He didn’t expect us to return today, and he probably doesn’t know that Gwen has been freed. I’m sure he’ll find out soon, though. Someone would check on her a couple times a day, isn’t that right?”

  “It is,” she agreed. “But there was no sunlight down there. I don’t know what time he tends to visit.”

  “Someone else besides the man who fed you would come to check on you?” the king clarified.

  “Yes, and I do believe the man feeding me is innocent. He was always kind. He spent more than he needed on the food he was forced to supply for me. I could tell he was not one of them. They told him they would burn down his business if I was freed before they decided it was time. I didn’t understand why I was there, and he didn’t know, either. I feared they were going to kill me.”

  I was full of conflicting emotions. I felt pity for Gwen for having to go through this, but admiration for Byron and his team of guards for the great work they’d done recently. The king certainly made the right choice putting him in charge.

  “What is the opportunity you speak of?” the king asked Byron. “A lead on Cason?”

  “Not him directly, but I think we have proof of who is behind the plot to steal from your tax collectors.” He lifted an eyebrow in Gwen’s direction.

  The king had a few heavy breaths as he gave Gwen a hard look. “Madam, what do you know about this?”

  “Nothing about that specifically, but Byron did tell me what has been going on. I had no idea, you have to believe me, your majesty. Aliana didn’t, either.”

  “Mother? What are you referring to?”

  “Tell me what you know, madam,” commanded the king in a cold tone.

  “May I have a moment to speak with my daughter in private first? She deserves to know before anyone.”

  “That might be true,” the king said, “but now is not the time to worry about who deserves what, for it seems that time is of the essence and lives are at stake.”

  “They are,” Byron confirmed.

  “I do not want to ask you a third time,” the king said.

  “I understand.” Gwen looked at Byron. “Should I tell him everything I told you?”

  “Yes.”

  “I didn’t understand at first why I was locked in that cellar,” she said after a quick glance at Aliana. “But the head guard explained it to me. You were looking for me for questioning because of a plot you uncovered. A noble family is working against you, and you know it could only be one of two families, the Yorns or the Priggs. From what I personally know, I can tell you with near certainty that it is the Prigg family that is working against you.”

  “Madam, I will preface this question by acknowledging that it is not just of me to force you to answer it,” the king said, “but it must be done. How can you be so certain about this?”

  It seemed that everyone, even the king, had a good idea as to why Gwen knew this.

  She showed another look toward her daughter, a pained expression seeming to ask for forgiveness. Then she told the king, “I don’t have many friends, your majesty. I don’t keep contact with many people. Only my daughter, my employer, and the father of Aliana. I know my employer very well. I’m sure he had nothing to do with this. But the father of Aliana…he is a man who has always been secretive and mysterious. He has been kind at times but callous at others.”

  Gwen took a deep breath and continued. “He’s shown more interest in Aliana in the last few months, asking much more about her than he ever has before. I told him everything he wanted to know, thinking this might bring him closer with his daughter. I figured he might finally wish to meet her, or at least allow me to reveal who he was to her without him cutting us off from his…financial support. I see now that I was wrong. He was getting all the information he could, not just about my daughter but about you, your majesty, and this castle. I’ve never felt so foolish in my life. I can only hope that you believe that I had no intention to hurt anyone, and Aliana certainly didn’t when she shared some of these details with me that I shared with him.”

  “So Luther Prigg really is my father?” Aliana asked dubiously.

  Gwen nodded. “And it seems like he’s a lot more than that.”

  They held each other’s gazes as the king shared a few quiet words with Byron.

  “Why is she still in cuffs?” Aliana asked.

  “They will have to be destroyed,” Byron said. “We don’t have the key. We carried her straight here.”

  “Mother, I’m so sorry.” Aliana hugged her.

  “Why are you apologizing, Ali? I’m the one who’s sorry.”

  Charlie approached. “I could melt the cuffs off right now if you’d like.”

  “Go ahead, Charlie,” the king said, then announced, “The rest of you, pay attention. Byron is right. This is an opportunity. Luther has kept Gwen from us. As soon as he finds out we’ve freed her, he is likely to flee the city.”

  “Maybe he already has,” Reuben said.

  “No, we have been watching him. All of you will go there right now. Byron’s guards will support you. Are they ready?” he asked the head guard.

  “Yes. I have a dozen men and could easily call upon more, but I didn’t want to tip off our enemies.”

  “Wait until we have the Prigg mansion surrounded, then bring in as many as you can. I want the Yorns to assist us in this.”

  “Thank you,” Kataleya said. “My father will be eager to help.”

  I could feel nervous energy in the air, murmurs buzzing. Gwen was rubbing her sore wrists as Aliana looked on with worry. The king lifted his arms to silence us.

  “Luther Prigg has a small army of swordsmen and some sorcerers. These soldiers have been promised to me when the time comes, ready to fight for our cause, but it is Luther who pays their salary. I cannot say with certainty which side they will choose, especially as it has now become clear that Cason is working with Luther. Byron will attempt to sway them from fighting, but there might be a conflict. All of you are under orders not to initiate a fight unless Byron gives the order. The mission is to arrest Luther peacefully and bring him here. He must remain alive at all costs. Do you all understand?”

  “We do,” I said, surprised that no other voices chimed in with me.

  All my peers were no doubt shocked, possibly too much to speak. Only Charlie seemed
relaxed as he raised his hand for a question.

  He started speaking before the king pointed to him. “Eden and I are not to fight, right?”

  “Eden no, but you will join everyone else, Charlie.”

  “What?” he huffed out.

  “Your ability to melt metal could prove extremely valuable here. You will be well-protected. Do not worry.”

  “I cannot stop arrows or sorcery! I can’t even melt a small dagger before it impales me. I need time for my spell to work.”

  “Leon, explain it to him. I need to discuss tactics with Byron. All of you must prepare to leave soon. Go together to the apartments and wait there even if you are finished preparing. No one is to leave each other’s sight.”

  “What does this mean about the traitor?” Eden asked.

  But the king had turned his back on us to talk with Byron.

  Eden’s question went ignored. Apparently, the king still thought one of us could be a traitor. There was still the callring that showed up in Kataleya’s room. It hadn’t been explained by this new evidence.

  Most of us were headed out of the dining hall, but I stopped when I noticed Aliana remaining with her mother. Leon approached them.

  “I’m sorry to hear what happened, Gwen,” he said. “But we need Aliana to get ready with everyone else. You’re welcome to come with us to the apartments.”

  “Thank you, Leon.” Then she told Aliana, “I wish we had some time to speak in private. There’s so much I want to say. At least let me tell you I’m sorry. I made a mistake about your father. I shouldn’t have trusted him.”

  “They say he’s one of the richest men in Lycast,” Aliana practically whispered. She glanced over to see who might be listening. I felt like I needed to know what was said between them, as I had been the primary target of Cason, but I didn’t feel right eavesdropping.

  I would have to ask Aliana later. I left with the others.

  Aliana, her mother, and Leon did follow behind me, but far enough that I couldn’t hear what they said.

  I noticed the king splitting off from Byron ahead of us. I ran to catch up with the head guard as he was exiting the great hall.