Blood of Innocents (Book Two of the Sorcery Ascendant Sequence) by Mitchell Hogan Read Free Book Online Page B

and anyone they considered evil was slaughtered. To his mind, they were no worse than some of the criminal gangs he’d prosecuted.
    If Vasile got this wrong, Aidan might think they were being manipulated. Then Aidan and his fanatics would be likely to try to kill them all and torch the ship, and Mazoet was pushing him. He chewed his bottom lip. Think, curse you!
    With a sigh, Mazoet thumped his mug down on the table. “Such talent, and he doesn’t know where to start. A shame, eh, lads?”
    “What talent’s that, then?” asked Aidan. “And what’s the problem? Maybe we can help?”
    “I’m sure you could,” murmured Mazoet.
    Vasile shot him a dark look. Years hiding his talent, and now they wanted him to reveal it.
    He looked at Mazoet. “Do they need to know?”
    “About your talent? Of course! It’s very amusing.”
    “Amusing?”
    “Yes. Like a conjuror’s trick.”
    Vasile glanced at the jug of ale and licked his lips again. With a start, he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.
    “So what talent’s this, city man?” asked Chalayan.
    “Not drinking ale, that’s for sure,” quipped Aidan, and his men laughed with him.
    Vasile turned to him. He had never wanted—no, needed—to expose himself like this before, but perhaps there was a way that wouldn’t put them off side. He cleared his throat and spoke. “In Anasoma, I worked as a magistrate. Do you know what that is?”
    “You decided if someone was guilty or not?” asked Chalayan.
    “Close enough. I interviewed people who had petitioned us to judge on matters they brought to our attention, and also the people they accused. And sometimes other witnesses. That sort of thing.” He clasped his hands together. “A normal magistrate would manage to see maybe twenty to thirty petitions a week, while I got through closer to a hundred. Do you know what that means?”
    “That you didn’t care and weren’t very good?” Chalayan remarked.
    Both Aidan and Anshul cel Rau laughed.
    Vasile shook his head. “No. Far from it. I could see and resolve so many petitions as it’s… easy for me to tell if someone is lying, or telling the truth, or something in between.” He paused to let the information sink in. Mazoet’s eyes were fixed on him.
    Across the table, Aidan shrugged. “I can see how that would help you as a magistrate, but… Not much use anywhere else.”
    “That’s where you’re wrong. You see, it means I can work out what’s really happening when people are speaking: what they are hiding, or trying to hide, even if I don’t want to. Everyone has secrets they don’t want known, and they shade the truth when they think it will bring them some advantage.” Vasile was trembling now. It unnerved him to speak so openly of what he’d tried to keep hidden for years. “But I know. They can’t hide from me.” He paused and took a sip of water.
    Cel Rau looked disbelievingly at his fellows, while Chalayan shrugged.
    “I would imagine a great many people wouldn’t like that,” the sorcerer said.
    “No, they didn’t. But what they did like was using me when it was convenient, when my talents suited them and they needed an advantage over someone else.” Vasile closed his eyes, of a sudden tired for revealing a truth that had weighed on him like a giant boulder.
    “Well,” Aidan said, sitting back and peering into his mug, “I guess I could use a refill.”
    “No,” replied Vasile, eyes still closed, and Aidan raised his eyebrows. Mazoet smiled.
    “Why not?” asked Aidan.
    “Because your mug is still full.”
    “Why, so it is.”
    Chalayan and cel Rau laughed.
    “He probably saw you filling it a while ago and remembered how much you drank!” exclaimed the sorcerer.
    With a shake of his head, Vasile opened his eyes and met each of their gazes in turn. “Let’s have a wager. One of you state ten things that I couldn’t possibly know was true or not. I’ll tell you if it’s true or false. One silver ducat for each