Disciple of War Disciple of War (Art of the Adept #4) - Michael G. Manning Page 0,240

to hear about the king’s choice for governor of Darrow.”

“Really?”

“I’m sure most thought it would be you.”

Will smiled. “I would have refused. As it is, I feel badly for Lord Nerrow—he’s still stuck in Maldon overseeing things. I’m sure he’s glad to hear that Lord Bradshaw will be taking his place so he can return and see his family.”

“Even so, you led the campaign. Yours should be the greatest reward.”

“I’m still not comfortable being a duke. The last thing I want is more money or titles,” said Will.

Master Courtney’s expression seemed to indicate he thought that to be an odd sentiment, but he didn’t argue the point. Opening the door, he wished his former student well, and then Will was on his way.

***

Martin Bradshaw opened his eyes and stared around the dark interior of his room. Something was wrong, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it might be. His wards were still intact, and they were far more thorough than the simpler wards that the military sorcerers were putting around the walls of Klendon. Nothing could pass through them without alerting him.

Gradually, he became aware of a darkness in the corner of the room, a place harder to see than the other corners, as though his eyes didn’t want to look there. Clenching his jaw, Martin focused his attention and brought his wayward eyes under control.

His heart skipped a beat when he finally spotted two eyes staring back at him. A man sat unnoticed in the chair there. “Good evening, Martin,” said the visitor.

Martin recognized the man immediately, but that only increased his fear. “How did you get in here?”

“I walked. No one paid much heed to me for some reason.”

“The wards—”

“Are still intact, as they still will be tomorrow. You know why I’m here, don’t you?”

“No idea. Unless you blame me for what happened. I had no say in who the king appoints to govern the—”

A source-link flashed into existence, and Martin found both his voice and his body paralyzed. The man rose from his chair and walked over to stare down at him. “I’m going to return your ability to speak in a moment, and when I do I want answers, not lies. This will be your only chance to convince me you deserve to live.”

“It was the king’s idea,” said Martin the instant his voice returned. “Not mine! I never wanted to do any of it. I like you, William! If anything, I would have preferred we become allies. Now that you’ve escaped all his traps, we have an opportunity to work together.”

Will’s eyes were cold as he stared at the man he had once thought might be his friend. “A partial truth, not that it matters. I lied—I’m going to kill you whatever you say. Would you like to know why?”

“They’ll know it was you. Think it through, William! What’s the king going to do once they find your traces in this room?”

Will held up one hand. It was covered in a particular frequency of void turyn. “They’re not going to think a human did this. I can assure you of that.”

Martin’s eyes went wide with fear. “How?”

“The same way I bypassed your wards, not that it should matter to a man who is about to be dead. It’s enough that you know that the identification spells they try to use won’t show them my face, no matter who casts them. I’ve tested it to be sure. Even my lovely wife returned a blank when she tried it, and she’s closer to me than any of the king’s investigators.”

Martin started to reply, but Will paralyzed the man’s throat again and continued, “Speaking of my wife, she’s half the reason you’re dying tonight. I might have forgiven you for trying to have me killed, but she nearly died at the same time. The second reason is my friend, Bug. He died apologizing for what you forced him to do.”

“It was clever how you tried to frame Lustral, but it was also your undoing. Even after Selene figured out that one of the two of you must have approved the gold transfer, I still might have thought it was him, but after Bug brought me Lustral’s research journal, I knew that that didn’t make sense.”

Will leaned closer, his eyes burning with dark fury. “But it was talking to your other master, Grim Talek, that made everything clear to me. Until then, I didn’t realize he was also pulling the strings, and that the silver tablets were