Free Blood of Innocents (Book Two of the Sorcery Ascendant Sequence) by Mitchell Hogan Page B

he surveyed the children and the market. Too busy. Too many eyes. He placed the coin in the girl’s palm.
    “The man said, ‘Stay with your friends until the spirit comes. It can’t hurt you then.’” She nodded, and her friends nodded along with her.
    “Anything else?”
    “West. The man said west.”
    With a grunt, Mahsonn turned and strode away quickly, leaving them to squabble over the coin.
     

Chapter Five
    Through the wooden hulls of the ships, someone screamed. Raised voices followed the wailing, and boots thumped along decks, some toward the sound, while others away.
    Lady Felicienne wriggled in her hammock then twisted to scratch her back. Screams in the night didn’t bother her anymore. Neither did the roaches in her room, nor the rats she caught glimpses of through half-lidded eyes when falling asleep.
    The hold was packed with crates and barrels, some old, and some more recent, though most of their contents were new. The small number of ships her men had managed to clear in the Cemetery served as her base these days. Having fled her rooms in the keep at the first sign of trouble, she had gathered the few soldiers and functionaries she felt she could trust, and organized a tactical retreat. Far from being scared, she had recognized the patterns around her and knew the invasion would succeed early on. She’d sent her man Avigdor to rifle through desks and closets for whatever they could carry to help her once they escaped, mostly purses filled with ducats and lists of informants and important contacts.
    Soldiers she was sure were loyal to the emperor commanded their troops to lay down their weapons. Soon after, the traitors were all found dead, killed by their own hands, which was… curious.
    The door leading into the hold creaked open, and a man cursed, squeezing between obstacles on his way toward her. She rubbed tired eyes and sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Her clothes were crumpled and sweat-stained, and she reeked like a sailor who had been at sea too long. Over the last few days, she’d had a lot on her mind and hadn’t bothered with some necessities. She ran her tongue over furry teeth, vowing to take some time soon to freshen up—once a few things were out of the way.
    Avigdor appeared from around a pile of crates, looking almost as bad as she felt. He smiled at her, the brief, thin smile of a man with nothing to smile about. Drops of perspiration ran down his face.
    She sighed and ran a hand through her oily hair. Her usual braids had come undone long ago, and she hadn’t had time to redo them. At least she hadn’t lost her earrings.
    He stopped in front of her and frowned.
    “Out with it,” she said.
    “I’ve received news through my friend Izak.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “I’ve met him. Continue.”
    “One of his informants, Bees, claims to have fled the city after the invasion with a number of people. One of these people we have both met: the apprentice Protector, Caldan. Caldan asked him to deliver some information to us.”
    Felice shot Avigdor a sharp look, searching for signs he was joking. The young man who’d defeated her at Dominion, and who had declined Avigdor’s invitation to join them, with good reason, though. He was also someone she wanted to keep close because of his curious trinket . His fleeing the city might be because of the invasion, or… it could be due to him having something to hide. But she didn’t think he would want someone to contact Avigdor unless the information was valuable.
    “This Bees escaped the city then came back?”
    Avigdor nodded.
    “Then he must have a way in and out.”
    “Or access to people that do.”
    “We can make use of this.”
    “My thoughts as well.”
    She waved at him to continue.
    “Caldan claims the invaders, the Indryallans, are sorcerers of great power, and they used unknown sorcery to destroy the Sorcerers’ Guild and the Protectors.”
    “Unknown?”
    “His words. Izak said Bees was very