Free The Haunted Wizard - Wiz in Rhym-6 by Christopher Stasheff

think they would have said anything but ranting?"
    "Thanks, Papa," Matt said with a warm smile. He shrugged. "Anyway, why would a king or queen Page 37
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    remember one soldier out of all the rest? I don't expect he went along wearing sorcerer's robes."
    "Surely this sergeant you speak of would remember," Alisande said.
    "He should," Matt admitted, "but he saw the man's face in the moonlight, too, and tells me he wasn't one of their soldiers. Says he doesn't remember him being with the entourage at all, in fact." Papa stared. "You don't mean he was already in Bordestang, waiting for them to arrive!" Matt sat still for a minute. Then he nodded slowly. "Now that you mention it, that's a distinct possibility."
    "Perhaps not," Mama offered. "If he is a sorcerer, as you say, he could have come at any time, or even been with them, but invisible."
    Matt threw up his hands. "Almost anything is possible, when you're dealing with magic! Whenever he came over, though, I think he waited his chance, and when the princes went tavern-hopping, he stole Gaheris' purse while he was, uh, distracted, and waited for the brawl to start. Then he pulled out a doll that already had a lock of Gaheris' hair on it and stabbed it with a paring knife. Stabbed two or three times, just to make sure."
    Papa shook his head. "It seems so improbable! Why be there at all? And if he was, why not simply stab with a real blade?"
    "I was not aware that stabbing a doll made the wound show," Mama said slowly. Matt sat still again. Then he said, "You're right—it doesn't. That would have taken an extra spell."
    "Which your sorcerer might have cast, if he wished to place the blame on a man of Merovence," Papa pointed out.
    "I suppose so," Matt said, "so it cancels out." Alisande nodded. "The point was not the simple murdering of the prince—it was the provoking of war."
    "Oh, I don't know," Matt said slowly. "Why not accomplish two objectives with one murder? As you pointed out yourself, dear, nothing says the sorcerer was working for himself." Papa frowned. "Do you mean that someone else would have wished to kill Gaheris, and waited until his death could be useful?"
    "Yes, and with impending war to distract people from looking for the murderer, there'd be less chance of either boss or hit man being found out!" Matt said. "Let's think, now— who wanted Gaheris dead?" The room was silent a moment. Then Mama said, "Who did not?"
    "That was unkind!" Alisande cried.
    "Quite unkind," Mama agreed, "but probably true. Be honest, my dear—he was a very disagreeable young man. If you wish, you may count his friends instead of his enemies." Alisande was silent for a moment, then admitted, "I cannot think of any—but I do not know them well." Page 38
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    She looked up. "Sir Orizhan! There is one!"
    "Sir Orizhan was assigned to be the princes' companion and watchdog," Matt said. "That doesn't say he liked them."
    "But if he has known them for ten years…"
    "He could learn to really despise them," Matt finished for her. "But he's a very chivalrous knight. I don't think he'd let his feelings show."
    "Can you not read him at all?" Alisande challenged.
    "Well, I do get the impression that he didn't approve of Gaheris' taste in entertainments." Matt frowned, mulling it over. "In fact, I don't think he approved of Gaheris at all—but especially not as a fit husband for the princess Sir Orizhan had sworn to protect."
    "Ye—ssss!" Alisande lifted her head. "A true knight would make the welfare of his ward his first duty, would he not?"
    "Especially," Matt said, "if he liked her."
    "Why would he?" Papa asked. "She seemed little more pleasant than her future family."
    "How can you say that?" Mama challenged. "The poor thing spoke scarcely at all while we dined!"
    "When she did, though, she spoke rather sharply," Papa pointed