Free Jake's War, Book Two of Wizards by John Booth Page A

believe trouble follows you around and the appearance of the wizards from Valhalla is yet more proof of your recklessness and danger to us all.”
    I started to speak, but he raised his hand.
    “My daughter has already remonstrated with them. She has yet to learn to be tolerant of dissenting views. A ruler needs to know all the things his people think, however foolish some of those thoughts are.”
    Esmeralda flushed at the rebuke and nodded.
    “Without you, my people would be ruled by a despot, be it Wizard Plath or another of his ilk. I would be dead, that much is certain. Salice attracts Wizards, as do the neighboring kingdoms. We are a handsome people, rich in health, food to eat and we have a certain amount of grace, elegance and learning that appeals to them. It has been that way for generations. They come, they despoil, and then they leave us fallow for a couple of generations to recover.”
    “We have our own wizards now, Father. There is hope.”
    “My advisers fear the wizards from Valhalla. What they do not see is that these wizards did not simply take over the kingdom, but came in warily, using their diplomatic status to protect themselves. They did that because they fear you, Jake.”
    The King's smile turned suddenly to a stern frown.
    “So would you please avoid getting yourself killed? My daughter needs a husband and there are very few in the multiverse who would put up with her. The children will need a father. It is time to learn caution, Jake.”
    He waited a few seconds to be sure his message had sunk in and then strolled back to the cloisters and into the Palace.
    “Meep.” [He's worse than being surrounded by dragons.]
    Fluffy's thoughts broke the tension and Urda tried to stifle a giggle.
    “We need to work out who attacked us yesterday,” I said, still determined to try and wrest control of the meeting from Esmeralda.
    “Well duh,” said my girlfriend, showing no loyalty at all. Esmeralda reached for a sheet of parchment on the ground.
    “I have made a list of the relevant points,” she said.
    “It was those wizards,” Wenna said loudly. It was an unexpected outburst and I wondered if she was going to say more. “Who else could it be?”
    Well, that was a bit disappointing. I'd hoped for more.
    “Meep.” [The attack came from somewhere on the Palace grounds.]
    “It could have been Bronwyn,” Esmeralda said. “The spells used were 'The Eating Death ' and ' The Light that Burns' . Both were in the books she stole.”
    As soon as Esmeralda said the names of the spells they became visible in my mind. Her words triggered an information dump and I saw the relevant pages as if I was holding them in front of me. The Eating Death was horrible but the book said it couldn't be used on a wizard.
    “Two spells needs two wizards,” Wenna said. Esmeralda patted her on the shoulder in praise.
    “The books say that wizards can only handle one spell at a time.” Esmeralda gave me a 'those rules don't count for you' look. I was beginning to wonder if we were establishing a telepathic link because I'd never been able to read her this well before.
    “And this trick required both spells to be cast at once. That was very astute of you, Wenna. It took me ages to work it out.”
    Because I now had read the pages on the spells in question, I understood what Esmeralda meant.
    “The Death spell is too weak to use on a wizard. Even in our sleep we would protect ourselves against something so feeble. Somebody worked out that if all our concentration was on the Light spell it might get through. That's pretty clever.”
     “I told you it was the Valhalla wizards,” Wenna said with satisfaction.
    “Bronwyn might have found herself another wizard,” Urda said. “And she knows the Palace well enough to hop in and out of it pretty much at will. I'm assuming she's learned to hop without a court. How to do that was in the books and she already knew you could do it, Jake.”
    “It must be the Valhalla