Free The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes Page A

poking through the back rooms, Pyvic thanked the occupants of the tavern for their time and stepped outside into the cool darkness.
    Warden Orris had a big sweaty smile. "Well, Justicar, it doesn't look like you found anything, but I found us a lead!" "What's that, Warden?"
    "Akus split from Loch and Kail as soon as they landed, but before they broke out, he heard them talking about their plan!" Orris wiped his palms. "They're putting a team together for something."
    "How does that help us find them?" Pyvic asked, and then, to be civil, added, "Not that I'm complaining. Anything we learn can help us. If Akus can give us the names of contacts, we might be able to put a little pressure on them."
    Orris made a dismissive gesture. "We don't need to do that. Akus told me everything. They're putting a team together, and they're not leaving the province. That should do us just fine."
    Pyvic nodded again to be civil. "I'll question Akus as well; he might be more forthcoming with the threat of an unfamiliar face..."
    Orris coughed. "Well, the fact is, Akus didn't want to tell me anything. I had to let him go in exchange for telling me that." Pyvic stopped nodding. "Where is the prisoner now?"
    "Well, I promised," Orris said with a helpless shrug. "And he did help us out. Loch and Kail, they're the ones we want!"
    Pyvic tried to control his temper. "You let our prisoner go?"
    Orris laughed. "Don't worry so much, Pyvic. I put two of the men on him. If he tries to warn them, he'll lead us right to 'em instead."
    Pyvic felt a slow heat building in his gut, spreading across his chest, building in his throat until it finally came out with a hiss. "Idiot! You don't let a prisoner go when he tells you something you can't verify! You don't put two men on someone who's already escaped once!" Pyvic leaned in until he was inches from Orris's sweaty face. "I don't know whose ass you kissed to get this job, Warden, but this is my command. If you even think of questioning a prisoner without me present, much less offering him anything, I will have you charged with conspiracy to abet the escape of a prisoner, and you'll spend the rest of your days in the Cleaners scrubbing stones instead of pushing papers. Am I clear?"
    "Y..." The warden sputtered, stumbling back. "You can't talk to me like that!"
    "I'm guessing you've never served in the Republic's army, Warden." Pyvic had Orris backed up to the wall. "You disobeyed orders, you compromised my command, and you just let one of the mission objectives walk away. As the one who has to deal with that mess, I can talk to you that way. Now haul your sorry carcass after Akus with half the men."
    Pyvic turned his back on Orris and walked away, the rage within him vented but still there, smoldering. He could feel the warden's anger, could tell that Orris wanted nothing more than to lay into Pyvic.
    "You don't understand, Captain," Orris said through gritted teeth. "It's not about Akus. It's about Loch. Nothing matters except getting her back."
    "Get moving, Warden. That's an order." Pyvic turned and smiled. "And it's the last one I'm going to give you."
    Orris swallowed, then turned and yelled at the guards to get after Akus.
    "The rest of you, with me. Double-time to the town gates." Without turning to see if they'd follow, Pyvic ran into the night to see what he could salvage.

Five
    Hessler didn't know whether you had to be actually thrown in order for it to be considered "being thrown out". He wasn't, in fact, but the security attendants did hustle him down the front steps.
    "—conduct unbecoming a University Arcanologist, above and beyond the monetary cost of the infraction," the chair of Illusion was blustering, "makes it clear that this is no isolated matter that—"
    "As if you even care, Porisporant," Hessler cut in, adjusting his robes. "If you were smart enough to get away with it, you'd have done so in a moment, and then you'd be a wealthy man instead of a second-rate shadow-weaver chasing