Scholar of Magic (Art of the Adept #3) - Michael G. Manning Page 0,144

the streets tonight.”

He hadn’t seen anyone else on the street, but he could make some guesses in that regard. “Only the regular watch patrols are visible then,” he observed out loud. The Driven would be hidden.

“Yes, milord.”

“Sir is good enough for me, Lieutenant,” Will informed him. “My last official rank was ‘corporal’ and these days I’m just a royal-in-law. I don’t hold any titles.”

“Very good, sir. Where are we heading?”

“Just get me to the gates of Wurthaven. You can return here after that.” Lifting one crutch, he pointed in the direction he was going, then began to move. The men fell in around him. As they walked, he asked, “Tell me about last night. Something bad must have happened for His Majesty to have put a curfew in place.” Of course, he had been in the middle of his own struggle to survive, but he didn’t know what might have happened elsewhere in the city.

“Felt like the whole damn city went mad,” said one of the watch patrollers. A second later the man added a belated, “Sir.”

“I’ll tell it, Sims,” said the lieutenant. “Three homes were burned, and Father Latimer was found brutally murdered.”

Father Latimer was the high priest for the Church of the Holy Mother, the man who had performed Will’s own wedding ceremony. He could hardly believe his ears. “Was he?”

“All I know is hearsay,” admitted the officer. “But his body was cremated, on the spot, if that’s any clue for you.”

“And the homes?”

“They wasn’t random,” said Dan. “One was the high priest’s house, but the other two belonged to high ranking nobles. Lord Tintabel’s home was ransacked and his family murdered before the house was set afire. And Lord Nerrow’s place was—”

“Excuse me, did you say Lord Nerrow?” Will’s heart had frozen in his chest.

“Yes sir, the baron, Mark Nerrow. His home was vandalized and set on fire. Apparently, he put up a fight first, though. It wasn’t the first attempt, so he was ready for them. Still, it didn’t keep them from burning the place down around his ears.”

Will felt as if he was walking through a tunnel, for the officer’s words sounded as though they were echoing from miles away. “Did his family…?”

“Oh, they was all fine, sir. Do you know them? I should have said that first. Apparently, he held them off for a while, then they retreated inside. He had some sort of fortified basement ready. The fiends couldn’t get to him. After the fire burned out, they all emerged safe and sound this morning.”

The heavy lump in his chest eased slightly. “Where are they now?”

“I dunno, sir. Wherever rich people go when their houses burn down, I suppose. They might be at the palace.”

That made sense to Will, though he wished he could have offered his own home to them. But he’d been too busy nearly being murdered himself, and then he’d spent the day traveling through Hell and drinking with trolls. My life is beyond weird, he thought. “Any idea why those people in particular were targeted?”

“Nothing official,” said the lieutenant. “But my personal theory is that the Prophet is trying to destroy our morale.”

“The Prophet? He’s in no position to start a war. He lost most of his army recently. It will take years before he can afford to antagonize Terabinia,” argued Will. If anything, Lognion was preparing to attack Darrow soon.

“Maybe the Shimerans then?” suggested the officer. “Demons and vampires are about the same thing, aren’t they?”

Clearly, he wasn’t one of Wurthaven’s brightest graduates, thought Will, then he shook his head. “No, they’re entirely different.”

“Well, anyway, whoever it is that started all this, it seems to me they want to demoralize the people. That’s why they’ve gone after popular figures, well, except for Lord Tintabel. He wasn’t known for much aside from his paintings, but the priest and Lady Nerrow were obvious targets.”

That caught his attention. “Lady Nerrow? Is the baroness popular?”

“Not the baroness, sir, her daughter Laina. She’s probably the most popular person in all of Cerria right now. If something happened to