Disciple of War Disciple of War (Art of the Adept #4) - Michael G. Manning Page 0,44

living there, they had a different surname and no daughter. I checked with the neighbors just to be certain they weren’t lying, but I have little doubt that the girl’s name was probably a lie. Tomorrow I’ll go back to the service and see if I can find out who gave references for her since her personal information was fraudulent.”

“I had somewhat better luck,” announced Selene. “As expected, Lewis Arberry was not in the good graces of his father. In fact, he had been publicly disowned. Being a third son is bad enough, but without his father’s assistance he became nearly penniless. He abandoned his wife, and she divorced him last year. Since then he’s been living in a boarding house.”

“We should go search his room tomorrow,” Will mumbled around a mouthful of heavy bread.

“I already did,” said Selene. “There was little to find there.”

He nearly choked. “You were supposed to bring me along for anything dangerous!”

“You already killed the man,” she said dismissively. “I didn’t want to waste time, so I borrowed a few city guardsmen who were patrolling and brought them with me.”

“You can’t just borrow…” Will stopped as his wife raised one brow in askance, then he rethought his words. “Well, I suppose you can borrow the city guards, can’t you?”

She laughed. “It’s one of the perks of being royalty, but you could probably convince them to do the same once you proved your identity. Being a peer of the realm is almost as good as being royalty.”

Will still wasn’t happy about being left out, but he decided to pick his battles carefully. This one wasn’t worth it. “So what did you find?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she admitted. “It appears he was barely scraping by. But although the owner of the boarding house told me that Lewis had been on the verge of being kicked out for failure to pay his rent, last week that changed. He paid his back rent and had prepaid for the next three months. It seems he came into some money, though I failed to find any in the room.”

“I wonder how much they had to pay him to try and kill a royal,” mused Will.

Blake coughed. “For a princess, it would be a massive sum. Tens of thousands of gold marks. For a lord of the realm it would be less, perhaps only a few thousand.”

“Those numbers came readily to mind, didn’t they?” remarked Will.

“As you’re aware, I’ve led an interesting life,” said the manservant.

Selene broke in, “As desperate as Lewis was, he may have been willing to work for much less.”

“I hoped we would learn more,” said Will unhappily.

“I’m not done,” said Selene. “Tomorrow I’ll pay a visit to his ex-wife and daughter.”

Will frowned. “You said they were separated for a year.”

She shrugged. “Perhaps they were, and perhaps not. She’s still unmarried, but she’s managed to feed and clothe their daughter without much visible support. What would you do if you had to resort to crime to take care of your family?”

It became clear to him then. “You think he parted ways with her so she couldn’t be held responsible for his shady dealings?”

“Maybe. I’ll know tomorrow when I meet her.”

“I’m coming with you,” Will stated firmly.

“You’ll miss classes.”

He shrugged. “I can use the extra time to finish some of my reading.”

Selene smiled. “Be sure to bring his boots.”

The next day Will and Selene rose early, ate a small breakfast, and got moving. Neither of them could stand to wait any longer than necessary. Blake had his own lead to chase, so he didn’t come with them. Instead of taking a carriage, Will and Selene chose to walk since the weather was cold but fair.

Glancing over, Will noted that Selene was wearing her armored corset, an article of clothing that he heartily approved of now that he knew what it was. If she hadn’t been wearing it a few days before, he would have become an early widower. For his own part, he wore his hidden brigandine, but he intended to supplement it with an iron-body transformation before knocking on the door of their assassin’s former wife. He wished he could do the same for Selene, but the spell could only be used on oneself. His currently prepared spells included the iron-body spell as well as a force-dome and silver-sword spell.

They were headed for the merchant district, where Belinda Arberry lived along with her daughter, Theresa. They were almost halfway there when Will asked, “Are you sure it’s wise for us