Free The Firemage's Vengeance by Garrett Robinson Page B

Mayhap the story I planted in Dasko’s mind will hold. Mayhap not. I have never had to hide—” Theren stopped short, looking about to make sure no one was close enough to hear. “I have never had to hide mindwyrd before. What if I did it wrong? What if they find us? I should throw the amulet into the Great Bay and have done with it.”
    Kalem’s eyebrows raised. “That may be a fair idea now. Dasko would show mindwyrd sickness, but the faculty might ascribe it to Isra’s doing. I would still rather we told the truth of what happened, but this is a good half-measure.”
    But Ebon frowned. “And what if Isra returns? She has the strength of magestones in her, and no one can resist her without the amulet. Mayhap we should leave it somewhere for the faculty to find instead. We could slide it beneath Jia’s door when no one was looking. Then Xain would have it, and he could use it to stop Isra.”
    “He would not,” said Kalem sadly. “The faculty would never use its powers. That would be a crime against the King’s law, and punishable by death.”
    “I know it is!” Theren burst out, before quickly lowering her voice again. “That is why I hate this, why all my waking hours are a torment, and yet I cannot sleep. I know full well what awaits me at the end of this journey, but I have no choice but to keep walking the road.” Her arms and legs were shaking, and her knuckles were white from her grip on the arms of her chair.
    Ebon looked away, for he felt her pain as if it were his own. And then, suddenly, an idea struck him. He looked at his friends, wondering that he had not thought of it at once.
    “What if we find her ourselves?”
    Theren and Kalem stared at him. “What do you mean?” said Kalem.
    “Well, either ourselves, or with Mako’s help,” said Ebon. “If we capture her, and subdue her, and then put the amulet upon her before we turn her over to the faculty, then our problem is solved. They will assume she had it all along. Xain will have no choice but to accept that we are innocent.”
    Kalem frowned, and even Theren looked doubtful. Yet he watched them think on it, and saw the spark of the idea blossom to flame within their mind.
    “I would still have to keep the amulet,” said Theren. “At least for now.”
    “Yet you could release Dasko from your control, immediately,” said Ebon. “You no longer need to hold him under mindwyrd.”
    “If she were discovered …” said Kalem.
    “How could that happen?” said Ebon. “You have a good hiding for it, Theren—or so I assume, since you do not carry it with you everywhere. And we can finally put this dark chapter behind us.”
    Theren spread her hands. “Let us say that is true. We must still find Isra, but we have no idea how.”
    “We are not,” said Ebon. “But we could be. I think we must start with Yerrin. Even Mako thinks they may know something.”
    Her eyes hardened. “You mean to bring Lilith into this.”
    He leaned forwards, counting the steps on his fingers. “If we do, everything falls into place. We release Dasko from our control. With Lilith’s help—help, I say, not coercion—we track down who in her family is helping Isra. We know they must be—it is where she is getting her magestones. We capture Isra. And then we turn her over to the King’s law with the amulet in her pocket. And everything will be over.”
    Theren looked desperately hopeful. But Kalem sat deep in thought. After a moment, he shook his head. “It is a lie, and a great risk as well. We have other resources, more than Mako, I mean. Ebon, you could ask Adara. The Guild of Lovers has a thousand ears, and they are always listening.”
    “I have hope for Mako, and I already mean to speak with Adara—this very night, in fact,” said Ebon. “But Lilith may best them all, for she is closest to the source of the magestones. Yes, it means we must lie. But I am willing to bear that burden, for you and I have the least to lose as things stand. This plan