The Magic Council (The Herezoth Trilogy) by Victoria Grefer Read Free Book Online

us.”
    Valkin
replied, “To be fair, the bear would eat one of us at most. It could kill us
all easily enough, though. That’s a point, Hune.”
    Hune’s
voice turned pleading. “Val, don’t make her give us the key. Please don’t do
it. I can see Ursa making the bear eat August to pay her back.”
    “Ursa’s
not that evil,” protested Valkin.
    “Val,
please!”
    The
oldest brother’s forehead creased in thought. “I still say Ursa wouldn’t feed
her to the bear. But Ursa would be angry. Quite angry, and as Neslan said,
that’s no good. She can hurt August other ways. Listen, I want to get away from
here more than both of you….”
    “I
doubt that,” Neslan grumbled to the floor.
    “…but
I don’t want to leave August in trouble. It doesn’t seem right somehow. Dorane
and Ursa are using us, right? To get something from Father. Would we be any
better if we used August to get free, and she was hurt in the process?”
    Neslan
said, “All I know is my stomach aches when I think about it. And that’s
generally what happens when I’m being wicked.”
    “So
we agree?” piped Hune. He finally sat up, letting his blanket settle about his
waist. “We all agree? None of us will take that key from August?”
    “Not
me,” said Neslan.
    “Nor
I,” added Valkin.
    “Me
neither,” said Hune, though without magic he would have found it next to
impossible to steal the key. He felt comforted by his brothers’ being in league
with him. His heart stopped beating quite so hard, and the tremors that had
been shaking him diminished.
    “Do
you think Dorane will come tomorrow?” Neslan asked. “It’s been a week since he
was here.”
    “Nine
days,” Valkin corrected him. “He comes every nine days. He should have been
here yesterday, but I doubt he’ll return, not after last time.”
    “How’d
he know about our magic?” Neslan asked. “Did he find out with a spell?”
    Valkin
said, “If that’s the case, we never saw him cast it.”
    Rexson
had taught the older boys that concealing their telekinesis was something
serious. Too young to understand the matter’s true importance, the princes were
moved by their father’s rare severity, his hard insistence, and did as Rexson
instructed. Even when Dorane and Ursa set their ambush, Valkin and Neslan knew
better than to set off a magic display. Somehow, though, Dorane had discovered
the princes’ power. He talked about it the day of the abduction, during his
first chat with them. He told all three their telekinesis made them special,
and they should have the right to use it; that they were part of a small but
respectable community, a community that could flourish if others would listen
to its problems. Those people who had magic to any degree, Dorane told them,
were suffering, suffering when their powers could work so much good in the
kingdom…. He always spoke that way, while his captive audience shared
uncomfortable looks in silence. To the boys’ relief, their confusion did not
provoke the sorcerer. He asked no questions and demanded no reply.
    In
the children’s eyes, Dorane had little but his magic to leave a lasting
impression. His hair was oily and mud-colored. His eyes were that same shade of
brown, like murky water. He had entered his mid-twenties and still suffered
acne on his chin. Not particularly tall, neither was he short, and while his
muscles far from sagged, they could have been tighter. Besides Dorane’s
appearance and his sharp, intense air, the boys knew little about the man
except his esteem for a magic he was unafraid to use. During the ambush, the
sorcerer had bound the princes and their guards with an incantation.
    Valkin,
Neslan, and Hune were ignorant of their protectors’ ultimate fate—leaving
the men tied up, Dorane had transported the princes to Ursa’s mansion, wherever
that was, and the boys had formed an unspoken pact not to mention the soldiers,
of whom they had been fond—but they had long since lost hope of