Free Veilspeaker (Pharim War Book 2) by Gama Ray Martinez Page A

chamber was still ostentatious, but it lacked the
radiance it had held a second ago.
    Varin frowned. “Are you satisfied now?”
    “Villia?” Jez asked.
    Villia opened her eyes and shook her head. “That’s it.
There are no other illusions in the room.”
    “But the circle,” Jez said.
    “If there was a circle here, it is gone.”
    “Now that we’re done wasting everyone’s time, perhaps
we can get back to the sentencing,” Varin said.
    “But...”
    The king’s voice cut Jez off. “Lord Varin is right,
Baron. You’ve wasted quite enough of our time with this baseless accusation.”
    “I saw the circle,” Jez said.
    “Did you smell anything?” Villia asked.
    “What?”
    “You said you can smell demonic energy. The circle in
Dusan’s lair required an enormous amount of power. If the one you saw was
anything like that one, it would be extremely difficult to hide it from your
senses. Do you smell anything?”
    “No.”
    “What about before. If Sharim really took down an
illusion hiding it, you would’ve smelled something then. Did you?”
    Jez thought back and shook his head. “No, but I know
what I saw.”
    “Your Majesty, I’ve had quite enough of this,” Varin
said as he scowled at Jez.
    Lina was standing next to him. The illusion over her
scar had been reapplied. She wore an expression similar to that of her father,
though if anything, she looked even angrier.
    “As have I,” the king said. “Baron Jezreel, this was a
clumsy attempt to divert attention, and I see no option but to take it as proof
that your man is guilty and that you were trying to hide it. You are hereby
forbidden from leaving the keep until we’ve determined whether or not you gave
the order for your bodyguard to commit those murders. As for Osmund himself,
out of deference to your position, I will not execute him. He is hereby
sentenced to life in prison.”

CHAPTER 20
    Sharim ran the crystal through the
water in the silver saucer. Once again, it clouded, and Jez thought he could
see images inside. After a few minutes, the clouds vanished. Sharim let out a
breath.
    “I’m sorry. I still don’t get anything.”
    “Can you try scrying for something else? Something
simple.” Jez put his hand behind his back. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
    Sharim smiled and walked over to the water barrel to
empty the saucer. “It doesn’t really work that way.”
    “I was hoping that with the circle gone divination
would work again.”
    “Maybe he made another one.”
    Jez nodded. “Maybe.” He looked at the large blue
crystal sitting on a nearby table, almost a perfect match for the one at the
Academy. The speaking stone had been in the workshop when they’d gotten here.
“I think I should contact Master Besis. This is getting too complicated.”
    “It won’t work,” Sharim said. “That’s why Villia had
it brought here. I tried to contact my parents earlier today, and it failed to
establish contact. It makes sense since the speaking stones use a form of
divination.”
    “They do?”
    Sharim nodded. “You’re basically scrying each other.
The crystals do all the work, but the magic is the same.”
    Jez let out a breath in frustration. “I don’t know
what to do. I was sure we had him. You saw the circle too right? I wasn’t
imagining that.”
    “I saw it,” Sharim said. “I didn’t know what the runes
meant, but I saw it.”
    “Could Varin have hidden it from Villia somehow?”
    Sharim shook his head and motioned to the ceiling. Jez
could imagine the stars dancing there. When Sharim saw the expression on Jez’s
face, he nodded. “Villia is one of the most skilled illusionists in the
kingdom. Certainly, there’s no one within a hundred miles that can match her.”
    “What about Lina?”
    Sharim let out a bark of laughter, but it only lasted
a few seconds. “I’m sorry. Lina is good. There’s no doubt about that, but
Villia is something else entirely. I heard she turned down the position of
Shadow