Scholar of Magic (Art of the Adept #3) - Michael G. Manning Page 0,207

remain still, and his eyes closed as he saw Lognion’s shoulder begin to move. He felt the air in front of his face move and something brushed against his chin, but no blow came. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Laina standing in front of him. Only one word emerged from her lips, “No.”

The king was studying her thoughtfully. “You’ve gotten much more protective of your brother, Miss Nerrow. I can only wonder what brought on such a transformation.” He made as though to swing at her, then began laughing as he saw the look in Will’s eyes. “Not to worry, William. If I plan on beating your sister, I’ll do it when you aren’t present. I’d rather not break my hand on one of those annoying shields.

“Back to business. You lied to me, William, while Miss Nerrow was kind enough to tell the truth. Do explain.”

“I stole Ethelgren’s Exhortation from Wurthaven, but when I attempted to use it my body was possessed by the spirit of Linus Ethelgren. He was intent on destroying the vampires, but his best solution was to destroy the entire city. Laina stopped him,” he answered.

The king looked at Laina. “That’s a truly outlandish story, but William seems to actually believe what he’s saying. What do you think, Miss Nerrow? Was that true?”

“No, Your Majesty.”

He frowned. “Now you both claim truth and my instincts agree. What part of William’s story do you disagree with, Miss Nerrow?”

“It wasn’t me who stopped Ethelgren,” she replied. “I helped, but it was mainly Will himself. He was in my body at the time and we worked together.”

The king glanced at Will, then nodded. “He believes you as well. Very interesting. Describe the scene to me, Miss Nerrow, leaving out nothing.”

Laina detailed her experiences and gave as accurate an account as she could manage. Some parts were necessarily confusing, and when she was done Will was required to do the same. The entire telling took almost half an hour, and Lognion rarely interrupted, doing so only to clarify details he was unclear on. When they had finished, he smiled broadly. “It seems I am in the presence of not one, but two heroes. Unfortunately, there were other witnesses as well, and their accounts, while similar in form, don’t contain the subtleties of whose spirit was in whose body at different times.

“Of course, in either tale, you present an inspiring figure, Miss Nerrow, and given your reputation as a public figure you’re a natural to take on the mantle of Terabinia’s savior.” Lognion paused, then stared sadly at Will. “In your case, William, I’m afraid that both your prior activities and what was reported this evening make you an excellent fit for the villain of our little play.”

“No.” Laina’s negative wasn’t a plea or a denial so much as a statement of fact.

The king arched one brow. “You have a different idea, Miss Nerrow?”

“I’ll tell the truth,” she responded boldly. “Try to spin whatever tale you want, but if you expect your heroine to cooperate, it won’t involve making a scapegoat of William.”

“You’ll do anything I ask of you, Miss Nerrow. Hasn’t William explained that to you yet?” His eyes flashed and he barked a command, “Kneel!”

Laina’s knees buckled, and she was genuflecting before she even realized what her body was doing. Will moved to stand in front of her. “Stop it.”

“I’m merely giving her a lesson, William. Not to worry, I won’t harm her. This time.”

Will glanced back and was pained by the expression of terror and confusion on Laina’s face. Her body had utterly betrayed her, and worse, she had no idea why. He had never told her about the truth of the graduation seal. In all honesty, he’d never really thought about the matter except as it pertained to Selene, but now he realized to his chagrin that the king’s leverage over him was much greater than he’d been willing to admit. Selene, Laina, Mark, Agnes, possibly even Tabitha. He didn’t think Tabitha had been to Wurthaven, but he wasn’t sure. Selene had started at an early age, so it was possible.

“Stand up again, Miss Nerrow. Do you have a knife on