Veilspeaker (Pharim War Book 2) by Gama Ray Martinez Read Free Book Online

attended the Academy, didn’t he?”
    Sharim nodded. “After his father was raised to the
rank of Lord, he had the funds and prestige to attend as a member of the upper
tier.”
    Jez paused for a second, trying to puzzle out what he
would need to shield himself from divinations. “Protection and secrets.”
    Sharim inclined his head. “They say he was very good
at them.”
    Jez raised an eyebrow. “Those aren’t exactly noble
areas of study.”
    “Don’t you study protection?”
    “I’m not your average noble.”
    “Neither was Lord Durn,” Sharim said. “He didn’t
insist that his son study only proper fields.”
    “So he could’ve shielded himself against scrying?”
    “It’s still not proof. It could be anyone.”
    “Who else has the power?”
    Sharim let out a breath. “I’m not sure. I don’t know
for certain Lord Varin does.”
    “But you think he does.”
    Sharim paused and looked away. Jez cleared his throat,
and the apprentice met his eyes. He looked scared, but he nodded.
    “Well, you were right about one thing.”
    “What’s that?” Sharim asked.
    “It pointed me in the right direction. I just have to
find some way to prove Varin is responsible.”
    “There’s something you’re not considering, Baron.”
    “Oh?”
    “What if no one is treating your accusations of Lord
Varin seriously because the king already knows?”
    Jez’s mouth went dry. He considered not answering, but
Sharim was already risking himself by helping. Jez nodded.
    “Then, the king is my enemy.”

CHAPTER 12
    Sharim paled. He glanced at the door
as if expecting guards to burst through and arrest them. Jez waited for him to
turn back. He was sweating and his eyes darted around the workshop.
    “You know about Dusan?” Jez asked.
    “Your father?”
    Jez tensed. “My adopted father.”
    Sharim’s head bobbed. “Oh yes. I’m sorry. I forgot.”
    “There were...things Dusan needed in Korand. Villia
says Dusan manipulated the king into giving him the barony, but I’m not so
sure.”
    “Dusan gave up his lands north of Rumar for that
assignment.”
    “I know.”
    “It wasn’t exactly a good deal. The timber industry
alone was worth almost as much as the gem mines of Korand. The gold mines are
worth more.”
    Jez cocked his head. “You seem to know a lot about
it.”
    Sharim shrugged. “I grew up in Ebon. It was the center
of Dusan’s lands before he surrendered them to the crown.”
    “I don’t suppose you know anything about his
relationship with the king.”
    Sharim shook his head. “I was already Mage Villia’s
apprentice when Dusan got the appointment, but they didn’t exactly discuss it
with me.”
    Jez got up and paced back and forth through the
workshop.
    He stopped in front of the half-carved statue of the
dog. Villia hadn’t done much work on it, but now the dog’s body was emerging
from the stone. It almost looked like it was trying to climb out of the rock
and come into the open.
    “Maybe if I expose Lord Varin, I can convince Villia
to support me openly.”
    “How do you intend to do that?”
    “What would it take to block a divination like that?”
    “It’s not something that can be done easily. Varin
would’ve had to do a major ritual, maybe even with a focusing stone.” Sharim’s
eyes wandered up to the ceiling while he thought. “He couldn’t have had much
time to put it together. No one knew Osmund was going to be alone and in the
city where he could be easily attacked. Varin almost certainly has a greater circle
somewhere. We could try finding it. I’m not sure there’s anything else Mage Villia
would accept as proof.”
    “But that would be a little obvious, wouldn’t it? It’s
not like greater circles are easy to hide. I mean wouldn’t he destroy the
evidence?”
    Sharim shook his head. “If he did, he wouldn’t be
protected.”
    “So then, I have to find this circle. Where could he
put it?”
    “Somewhere out of the way, obviously,” Sharim said.
“He’d