Divided against Yourselves (Spell Weaver) by Bill Hiatt Read Free Book Online

but if you have been watching me as long as you say, you would have known I would come to visit Carla.”
    “True enough, Taliesin—but you are rather late tonight, aren’t you? I expected you to be already gone when I got here.”
    And so I would have been normally. Gianni’s unexpected arrival slowed me down just a little.
    “You also pretended not to know exactly where your sister was at first.”
    “Until I stood right by her bed and held her hand, I could not be absolutely sure that Carla was truly Alcina. The seer gave me no help on that. Alcina could have been someone else. You know how faint any sign of consciousness is in this girl,” Morgan said, pointing at Carla again. “Even the call of blood is weak. I had to be very close to be certain. I wasn’t trying to lie to you, Taliesin. Nor was I trying to create this awkwardness here.” She nodded in the direction of the helpless Gianni. “I had hoped to have a conversation under better circumstances.”
    “Prove that to me by letting Gianni go,” I said in as commanding a tone as I could muster. “I can’t take your protests of good intention very seriously when you threaten a young boy.”
    Morgan’s smile was cold enough to freeze even White Hilt’s fire. “You ask far more than you are willing to give, Taliesin. Have your men sheathe their swords, and I will give Gianni to you.”
    “Do it,” I said to the guys.
    “Tal!” said Shar in alarm. While he held Zom, he was immune to Morgan’s magic, but sheathed, the sword did not protect him.
    “Morgan, another tynged I think. No one in this room will harm anyone else in this room until I declare the negotiation at an end.” Since we outnumbered Morgan seven to one, that agreement was favorable enough that she should be willing to take it, and she did. The guys and Nurse Florence nodded agreement, some of them rather sullenly.
    For this tynged all of us raised our right hands, and again the golden sparks crackled, this time in an eight-pointed star formation. (Only someone who knew magic could set a tynged , but anyone could be bound by it.) Once I was sure the tynged had taken hold, I gestured for the guys to sheathe their swords, which they did with a notable show of reluctance. Actually, with the tynged preventing them from harming Morgan while our talks continued, they could just as well have kept their weapons out, but Morgan wanted them away, so away they went. I did notice that Shar kept his hand on Zom’s pommel so that he remained protected. That didn’t violate Morgan’s demand, so I let it pass. After all, he was the one she nearly killed before.
    Looking around to satisfy herself that there was no sign of treachery, Morgan gently let the sleeping Gianni down on the edge of Carla’s bed. Stan and Gordy pulled him over to our side of the room, and Nurse Florence got him situated in the room’s only chair. I did a quick brush across his mind to make sure that he was only sleeping and not under some more malicious spell. Then I turned again to Morgan.
    “Now, Morgan, short of awakening someone’s previous lives, how can you prove that you have the knowledge you claim?”
    “Well,” replied Morgan slyly, “I can hardly just tell you how the spell works. Then any collection of spell casters with the right amount of power would do the job. You wouldn’t need me.”
    “What do you suggest then?” I asked impatiently.
    “Let me raise the power again without casting it at anyone,” suggested Morgan. “Taliesin, you have felt this spell yourself. You and the water witch over there have both seen it in operation. Surely you can sense enough from such a display to test the truth of my words.”
    “It’s too risky!” pronounced Nurse Florence immediately. This time she spoke aloud instead of just thinking. I couldn’t help but be a little irritated at the obvious attempt to force my hand.
    “The tynged would stop me from actually aiming it at anyone,” said Morgan to me,