Black Coven (Daniel Black Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

alone.”
    I eyed the fortress thoughtfully, impressed despite myself. The walls were half again the height of the ones around the city, and the gates that stood open before us were made of metal a good four inches thick. Obviously the whole place had been built with magic somehow, although how anyone had conjured that much iron was beyond me. Getting pure metals took so much power even I had trouble with it, despite my cheat.
    Although, come to think of it, the fortress wasn’t rusted and it wasn’t the distinctive black color of wrought iron. It was more of a brownish gray, with a textured surface that showed a lot of subtle color variations. Interesting. I’d have to think about that.
    A squad of men in full plate armor directed traffic before the gates, but behind them I could see rows of large articulated iron statues along the walls of the entranceway that had to be golems. A tough place to break into, and come to think of it getting out might not be easy either. Better be on my best behavior.
    Fortunately I’d taken the time to question Cerise and Captain Rain about such topics as court etiquette and the customs of the Conclave. Making the right kind of impression here would be important.
    “Gronir, Daria, you’re on bodyguard detail. Cerise, you’re with me. Captain Rain, keep an eye on things until I get back.”
    Carl raised an eyebrow at that. “You’re taking a woman as one of your guards?”
    “It’s mostly a ceremonial position,” I pointed out. “Unless you think the High Adepts will take it as an insult somehow?”
    “No, it’s just odd. But so is everything else about you, so I suppose it fits.”
    Visiting mages were only allowed two guards inside the walls of the citadel, and I suppose Carl had expected me to take Oskar and Captain Rain. But the half-wolf couple would be a lot more likely to escape if something went wrong, and their keen senses might pick up interesting information.
    Cerise, of course, was accompanying me as my apprentice. If the Conclave accepted me as an ally that would give her access to the citadel as well, and provide a ready explanation for her own magic. Anyone perceptive enough to see exactly what kind of magic she wielded would probably see her binding as well, and conclude she was an enslaved witch that I was trying to hide. Either way would work for most purposes.
    The citadel’s entryway fed into a huge hall, big enough to use as a ballroom or to muster a battalion of troops. Wide stairways covered in decorative ironwork swept up to balconies on the second and third floors, and servants dressed in the distinctive red and black livery of the Conclave bustled about everywhere.
    Carl led us up a stairway to the second floor, and through another iron gate into what I guessed must be the interior of the main tower. From there we circled an ornate audience chamber that didn’t seem to be in use, and made our way up another flight of stairs to a meeting area that was laid out along more practical lines.
    The sounds of an argument were audible all the way down the hall.
    “...I’m telling you, we don’t have the manpower! This weather working has tied up half our membership, and we’ve lost four Adepts to those rescue operations you insisted on. We barely have the resources to maintain our existing commitments, let alone tackle another major project.”
    “Then drop the damned weather spell! It isn’t going to work anyway, Lukas. The gods aren’t going to let you reverse Fimbulwinter, and keeping trade going-”
    “Trade with who? There’s snow falling in Sicily, Caspar! No one is in any better state than we are.”
    “Yes, and we’ve got thousands of craftsmen ready to keep plying their trades if they can just get raw materials. Damn it all, man, the ocean isn’t going to freeze! We just need to keep the ice out of the harbor.”
    The speaker was a muscular young man dressed in a suit of armor that must have cost a fortune, considering the amount of gold