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

lot,” Jenny countered. “Bronwyn finding another wizard is far too unlikely.”
    Esmeralda acknowledged the point though I could tell she didn't agree.
    “There are three problems with it being the Valhalla wizards. The first is that they were being watched at the time and were eating.”
    “They could have created an illusion,” Wenna said, unwilling to let anybody disprove her theory, whatever they said. I grinned. It was the most spirit I'd seen her show. She usually looked ready to burst into tears at the drop of a hat.
    “The second is this was an opportunistic attack. The Valhalla wizards are experienced and would work to a plan unless they were very angry. While Jake is easily capable of making a saint swear, he has to be in the room with them to achieve the effect. They couldn't have been sure who was riding Retnor if they could see the rider at all. It could just as easily have been Jenny on him.”
    The butterflies feeling in my stomach came back and I cast spells right, left and center, blocking The Eating Death from those present and working my way outward through the Palace. I even protected the animals. It was a horrible way to die. I almost missed Esmeralda's third point as a wave of exhaustion ran through me.
    “Thirdly, no wizard who knows anything of Dragon Lore would dare kill a dragon like that. The Dragons would come after them and destroy them, including their families, their friends, and possibly their world for such an outrage.”
    “Meep.” [You can count on it.]
    I looked in Fluffy's eyes and it seemed I could see the galaxies of the night sky on that strange world reflected in them. I suspect that dragons are all connected to each other whether Fluffy was aware of it or not. What I saw in his eyes was the cold certainty that dragon deaths are always avenged.
    “Which means that either Bronwyn has help or we have another enemy we know nothing about,” Jenny said bleakly. Then she grinned at Esmeralda. “Which is a problem for Jake to sort out. We have our first dress fittings in half an hour.”

 
    Chapter Fourteen: Home and Away
     
     
     
     
    Before Jenny left she reminded me I hadn't spoken to my parents properly for months and they were doubtless worried about me. I kept forgetting I'd spent four months in agony. The memories had receded to the point where all I could recall were brief flashes of the people I saw in hospital. I wondered if my magic had obliterated the memories for my sanity. I couldn't remember the pain at all.
    I made a mental note to visit home as soon as possible while Jenny gave Fluffy a quick cuddle and told him she'd fly with him soon. I watched Urda and Wenna to take my mind off them. I admit it, I sometimes get jealous.
    The girls were aware of my attention on them. Urda kept glancing my way as they talked and kept dropping things. Wenna looked at me from time to time, like a frightened rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. I decided to go over and put them out of their misery. To my surprise, Wenna backed away from me, hiding behind Urda.
    “Wenna, did you have much contact with Bronwyn?”
    It seemed an innocuous question, but Wenna cringed.
    “I b-b-barely sp-spoke to her, wh-why?”
    “I'm not accusing you of anything. I hoped she might have given you a hint of where she's gone. We need to find her.”
    “N-n-no, she's cr-crazy. I have to g-go.”
    Wenna fled the lawn. Jenny came up behind me and gave me a playful squeeze around the waist before she followed Esmeralda into the Palace.
    “What was that all about?”
    Urda shrugged. She seemed ill at ease, so I figured it must be something about me affecting both girls. I saw Fluffy glim away out of the corner of my eye, leaving Urda and me alone on the lawn.
    “Looks like it's just the two of us.”
    Urda looked away, avoiding any eye contact.
    “Jake, it's my sixteenth birthday today, I think.”
    I understood the caveat. When you flee a world for one with a different calendar it