The Wizard Book
Page 52
If they managed to build an organization of hundreds in an area senators more or less controlled, Kara imagined what this brotherhood could do in a place that was forbidden to the Order. One that was more accessible to the emperor or his allies. There could be thousands of them out there. Maybe tens of thousands.
“Now is the time to go into Veneguard and the Land between the Rivers and eradicate them before they create any more problems,” Stephen told her.
That was the easy thing to do. Show this pitiful human to Cuttland’s senators and their armies would take over both territories. Something bothered Kara about that. Sure, she didn’t want to offer the Casti and the rest of them additional resources and she did want to give Tamzin a chance to clean her house. And she definitely didn’t want anyone else getting their hands on the treasure trove of information hidden inside Sem’Dhar’s head, which could lead to a great amount of trouble for her. But there was something else. Then Kara remembered what Maya had told her. She had ignored it until now.
“Do you know anything about that priest of the Sun God in Riffland?”
“I know he’s dead and his claims were most likely real. Apparently he can resist us. But the priest in Hilderfort is alive and well. He is immune as well, but your human seems to have things well in hand. I’m not sure why they didn’t kill him already.”
“My human?”
Stephen laughed. “Come on! Don’t act so innocent! One of the reasons everybody thought you were dead was because that human of yours was acting so crazy and we all believed you would never give her up. That was brilliant, letting her think you were dead, there was no other way she could be so believable, so she can convince everyone else.”
“You’re talking about Aleyna?”
“Of course! Who else could I’ve been talking about? She has been acting so erratic she almost killed Julia’s cousin. Granted, he had been incredibly rude and obnoxious but…”
“When did that happen?”
“Sorry, I forgot you are not connected to her and didn’t know. It happened at a meeting of human lords in Western Suttland and somehow this priest she had been spending a lot of time with was invited. Sarah, Christian, Aidan, they were all there. She actually killed a man.”
“I’m sure she had her reasons.”
“He had been equally obnoxious and, after all, he was just a human. Who cares?”
“You’re right. Do you think you could infiltrate this brotherhood?”
“Infiltrate? This is no time to be subtle. We should send an army and a few hundred senators and clean that cesspool. And then we should move on to the sorceress land. We should’ve never allowed places in the empire to be forbidden to us.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t have, but we did and now they are forbidden. The situation is more complex than you imagine, so do you think you can keep this a secret and just infiltrate the brotherhood as a favor to me?”
“I don’t think I can or that I should. These guys are willing to give up their lives to kill us and don’t have anything else to lose. Infiltrating them would take time we don’t have.”
“What would you like in return for doing what I ask?”
“You are willing to gamble the future of our race because you don’t want Cuttland senators to get Veneguard.”
“I honestly think sending hundreds of senators to Veneguard is a bad idea until we know more about this brotherhood.”
“We will find everything we need from Sem’Dhar. He attacked you, remember that?”
“Yes, he attacked me, not you, and it should be my decision what to do with him.” Stephen didn’t agree with her. “So I’m guessing he is the only one who knows about the connection between the brotherhood and the emperor. With something like this, you keep things compartmentalized, am I right? You made a mistake by bringing him here, you know,” Kara said and used her power to shatter Stephen’s control and take over the count. “Now you have no proof. What you do from now on is your choice and it will define our relationship.”
“You are a bitch, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but I would never risk our race for personal gain. I think caution is the best choice.”
“What do you want?”
“I want him inside Veneguard and possibly in an audience with Sem’Dhar.”
“Fine! I’ll see what I can do.”
Stephen didn’t like being put in this kind of a position. He didn’t like his choices being taken away. Kara would react the same way. But the truth was he was not her, there was a massive difference of power, and in the end he could not do anything that would incur her wrath.
“What do you think he is going to do?” Michael asked when they were alone.
“I don’t know!”
“Do you think he might go to your enemies from Cuttland?”
“It’s possible.”
“We have a problem, don’t we?”
She liked that Michael said we, when obviously it was her problem. “We have more than one.”
“You haven’t severed the connection to your friend. As I remembered it you were quite distraught because you thought she was dead.”
“I would never cut the link between the two of us.”
“How could that have happened?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care. I will figure it out eventually, but right now I’m just happy that she is alive that nothing else matters. We have to get to Suttland!”
The End… for now.