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

that I am the traitor because of my possible connection with him?”

“Well I know I’m not the traitor, and I don’t see who else it could be!”

“What makes you think he’s my father?”

“You look like him, Aliana!” Kataleya yelled with a strong gesture. “You have his bronze skin!”

“That’s it?” Aliana asked incredulously. “You’re saying all of this just because we share the same skin color?”

“You told me your father is probably someone with money. Your mother has light skin, and you do not. He has money. He has your skin. He’s known to have consorted with common women. I bet if we look closer, we’ll see other similarities as well. I don’t mean to offend you or anyone here; I’m just trying to prove my innocence. You have to understand that these are clues we shouldn’t overlook.” She glanced desperately at the rest of us. “Right? This is important to discuss!”

“But no one else here has seen Luther,” Eden countered. “We don’t even know if what you say is true.”

“Come on!” Kataleya’s voice broke as if she might cry. She had a breath, clearly gathering her strength. “I’m telling you the truth. I’m being honest. I always have been, but I’m suspecting that Aliana has not been honest with us. She claims that she doesn’t know her father. I think she does. I think she has been working with him for a while now. And I think he’s the one working with Cason. It makes much more sense than it being my family, who have always been open about our dealings with the king. My father couldn’t hide something like plotting with Cason, but Luther could. He’s always been secretive. Reuben, you have to admit that what I’m saying is at least likely.”

Reuben thought with a crinkle in his brow. “I suppose it is likely.”

We all slowly turned to Aliana.

Her eyes went wide. “I have never heard of the man! Never! I’ll swear on anything! I swear on my life. I swear on my mother’s life.”

She sounded to be telling the truth, but so had Kataleya.

I wondered if it was possible that Aliana had been sharing information with her mother without knowing that her mother was sharing it with Luther. Aliana could’ve been helping our enemies without even knowing it. She admitted that she had told her mother about my range of mana.

Yes, that seemed possible. Our enemies could’ve seen us leaving the castle and plotted the attack without someone here being a traitor. Or was that just what I wanted to believe?

It was, because I had forgotten to consider the callring. If the traitor was Aliana’s mother all this time, and Aliana wasn’t aware, the ring doesn’t make any sense. Somebody used the callring and hid it in Kataleya’s room, and it had to be someone who knew the implication, someone who really was working with Cason.

Some bickering started to break out, but I raised my voice and stepped into the circle. “Hold on!”

They quieted.

“Let’s think about all the possibilities before we start accusing each other.”

“Too late for that,” Michael corrected me.

“Before we make this worse,” I added.

He nodded.

“Let’s say we trust this dark mage we captured from the forest, though we should admit that the information he gave the king could be wrong.”

I waited to see some people nodding before continuing.

“So if we trust his information to be right, then only Kataleya’s father or Luther Prigg, who might be Aliana’s father—but we don’t know that for sure—are working with Cason. Right?”

More nodded.

“I really think he’s Aliana’s—” Kataleya said, but I raised my hand to cut her off.

“Wait. Please let me finish.”

“All right.”

“A callring was found in Kataleya’s room. We know someone could’ve planted that there, or perhaps even the king’s councilman put it there. We know that’s possible, Kataleya.”

“I’m glad to hear you say it.”

“We also have to look at the possibility that just because it might be Kataleya’s father or Aliana’s possible father, that Kataleya or Aliana might not be the ones who are helping them work against us.”

“Oh come on, Jon,” Reuben said with a roll of his eyes. “What are the chances of that?”

“It’s not chances we’re talking about here. We were betrayed. That’s a fact. Cason knew where I would be and when I would be there. He tried to corrupt me. Grufaeragar almost died, and so did you, Reuben. Later, a prisoner talked and we found a callring. These things happened. There is an explanation for them, and chances have nothing to do with it. We have to look at every possibility. You must at least admit that it is possible that someone besides Kataleya or Aliana is responsible for this?”

“Fine, I admit that.”

“We also have to admit,” I continued, “that having a traitor in the castle could cause us serious damage later. However, there’s probably nothing we can say right now that is going to prove who it is. None of us has any evidence, or it would’ve come out already. We only have theories. So what we need to do first is figure out who it can’t be.” I noticed Kataleya looking at me as if she didn’t like what I was saying. In fact, most of my peers didn’t seem to appreciate these words. But I didn’t need them to appreciate my words. They just had to listen.

“Think about it,” I added. “Finding out who’s the traitor is important, but it’s also a waste of our time right now because we can’t prove anything except who’s innocent. That’s what I say we do. Going forward, we keep tabs on those of us who might’ve done this, and we move on. Let the king figure out what to do when we get back. I came here to learn an illusion, and I know it’s going to take me time, so we can’t stay here arguing all night.”

“I agree, Jon,” Kataleya said.

Everyone was nodding now.

“So who’s innocent then?” Michael prompted. “Obviously me, because, uh…”

“You’re too dumb to have done this?” Eden teased.

“Right.