Hunted Sorcery (Jon Oklar Book 2), B.T. Narro [digital book reader txt] 📗

myself, frankly—when we both needed to go back to sleep. She could find out tomorrow…when the king had a plan. All of this would sound better coming from him.

Aliana give an irritated sigh. “You were shouting, ‘Run! Run! You have to run!’ I know you were supposed to be trailing Gregory Shaw today, and he used to visit Red’s Tavern when he was still a guard.” Her voice was tense.

I knew what she was really saying. Shaw was one of the people who’d harassed her while she worked there.

I wished I could tell her that he, along with a dark mage, had been brought back to the castle to be questioned and imprisoned. It would’ve been the case had Cason not intervened.

“Jon,” she said forcefully. “I know how much you need to sleep. We all do. Just tell me what happened so I can say what I need to.”

I didn’t understand what she needed to say, but she was right. I was too tired to play games.

“I ran into Cason Clay tonight. I had captured Shaw, one of his cohorts, and a dark mage, but Cason intervened. He killed one of the guards who was with me and let another go under the assumption the guard would quit and tell others what had happened, and unfortunately I think the guard will do what Cason wants. Others might quit as well.” I paused in case she wanted to interrupt, but she said nothing.

“Cason’s men were able to figure out who I was because of my skill with dvinia. It confirms what we suspected. They’ve had some way of gathering information about us. It seems to have stopped some time ago, however, because he wasn’t aware I could heal myself. My ankle was broken, so he figured I would be useless for a while, but I managed to heal it and walk back.”

Just louder than a murmur, she asked, “Did you try to run and that’s why you were screaming?”

“No, I was telling someone else to run. There was a girl there about our age. I watched Shaw and his friend harass her in the tavern before all this happened.”

“And Red did nothing to stop it,” Aliana added. “Right?”

“Right. She followed me afterward. She saw me fighting with them later and fetched the guards. She was still with us when Cason arrived, but she did run eventually.”

There was a moment of silence. I couldn’t see Aliana’s face to read her expression. She was just a shadow of hair and blanket.

“What did you need to say?” I asked.

“That I’m here for you. We all are. I think you forget it, or maybe you’re just too worried about protecting us to think of yourself. I know none of us are as powerful as you with sorcery yet, but we are trying just as hard. And we care just as much. You’re not here to protect us. We’re all here to protect the kingdom, and now each other.”

“I know,” I said.

“Then you seem to forget.” Her tone was friendly.

I appreciated her words. Yes, I was stronger than the others, for now—so the king had relied upon me, and I had relied upon myself even more than the king did—but it wouldn’t be that way for long. During the last week especially, all of my peers had made great progress. I had no control over the elements, but Remi made fire, Kataleya water, and Michael wind. They were strong mages now. Both Michael and Kataleya could even knock over a grown man with their mana, while Remi could burn one alive.

Additionally, Aliana was a good shot with the bow now. She’d learned incredibly fast, surprising me more each day. And I wouldn’t soon forget about her tracking skill. Her ability to use earth to sense weight and movement on the ground could be more valuable to our cause than my skill with dvinia. We were lucky she had been recruited by Barrett.

Aliana’s tone became serious. “At least tell me this punishment of yours is over now?”

“I have to wait until I speak with the king tomorrow to find out.”

She sighed. “Then you really ought to get back to sleep.” She moved off the bed. “You’re safe here. We all are.”

After she left, though, I got up and locked my door just to be sure.

CHAPTER FOUR

The typical nature of the next morning actually put me at ease. A manservant woke me up by unlocking my door and entering with my breakfast. I ate it sleepily as he stood at the door and said nothing. Then he collected the empty plate and watched me until I had gathered my clothes for my morning bath. It was to ensure I did not go back to sleep. The only difference today was that he left a pouch containing forty silver coins on the dresser near my bed.

The day of our weekly payment was actually yesterday. It was concerning that the king had taken an extra day to pay us. He didn’t seem like the type of man to forget. I was, however, very forgetful these days. Even though I had spoken to Michael yesterday about what we might do with the coin, I had later forgotten the king was supposed to give us our stipend.

Neither of us had any exciting plans with the coin, however. We still hadn’t spent all that we’d received the day after we came back from the forest, when we’d fought the dark mages from Rohaer, and I had spent the night in a prison cell.

I assumed most of the other sorcerers-in-training hadn’t used up all their coin either, except maybe Charlie. He was always leaving the castle and coming back with materials for his various projects.

I bathed in the boys’ bathhouse like I did every morning. Recently, however, I had to be quick about it so that I wasn’t tempted to relax and possibly fall asleep in the warm water of the tub. As soon as I was done, I was to leave