In Treachery Forged (The Law of Swords) by David A Tatum Read Free Book Online

revealed his identity, but he’d been fairly careful with it since that incident with the indiscrete messenger. It’s not like Sho’Curlas knew he would be in this particular village on this particular day when even he had no idea he would be here. Worrying about her being a spy was blatant paranoia.
    He felt he could trust her, although he didn’t know why he felt this way. Perhaps it was because, given the magical strength displayed earlier, she could have already wiped the floor with him easily. Despite many opportunities, she hadn’t done anything to him. She had yet to give him her name, however.
    Still, he followed her all the way to the ferry without question. She appeared to be planning to join him on the trip across the river. At least, he figured that when she paid both their fares.
    “You don’t have to do that,” he noted, embarrassed. “I’ve got more than enough money to pay for the trip.”
    She just shrugged, and then got on board the ferry. He followed her, feeling increasingly unsure of things, and allowing that paranoia to creep back in. After all, she had hardly said anything since he met her. It might help if he knew why she was joining him on the trip across the river, at least. Or even just what to call her.
    “So,” he began hesitantly. There were so many questions to ask her, but what to ask first? “What’s your name?”
    She seemed to not hear him at first, holding out her hand. It was then he noticed the whirlwind of dust that had been surrounding her since he’d first seen her was disappearing... or rather, was collecting in her hand. It didn’t take him long to realize that what she was collecting was a very fine form of magic powder. It wasn’t the usual iron powder, but rather a fine, silvery-colored powder based on nickel -- more expensive, less effective, but favored by certain mages because it was easier to conceal. That little act just added to his questions about her.
    When she finally collected the last grain of dust, she poured the handful of magic powder into a pouch around her belt -- one of several, Maelgyn noticed. He only had one pouch, himself, and he didn’t know why someone would need more than one. Perhaps it could be because she had more than one kind of magic powder; he had noticed that the iron powder she had made from the thug’s weapons had been poured into a different pouch. However, there seemed to be more pouches than there were commonly available types of magic powder. That question, like many others, could wait, however... at least until he got her name.
    “Euleilla,” she answered finally, sitting back on their bench. Even though she was just sitting, every move she made now seemed hesitant and uncertain, whereas before it was nonchalant and confident.
    “Okay,” Maelgyn replied. “That answers one of the questions that have been burning in my mind for the past half hour. I suppose the next would be... are you following me, or did you just coincidentally need to cross the river yourself?”
    “Following,” she said, smiling. Well, ‘smiling’ perhaps wasn’t the right word – she always seemed to be smiling. However, her lips twitched a bit to make him think she was smiling more honestly, like she was just joking with him. He didn’t get the joke, however.
    “Er, I see. Why?”
    She shook her head. “No questions, now. Napping. Wake me when we’re across.”
    That, he realized, was the longest sentence he had yet heard her speak. At least it showed him, finally, that she could say more than one word at a time. Still, it was a rather... frustrating answer considering all of the questions he had.
    “Now just hold on, h―” Maelgyn suddenly found his jaw magically clamped shut, unable to say anything.
    “Shh,” she hushed, ‘smiling’ once again. “Later. Nap, now.”
    His jaw was released from whatever hold she had over it, but he didn’t say anything. After all, it was pretty obvious she wasn’t going to answer any more