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

inlay it featured. The gold circlet he wore identified him as royalty, so that was easily explained. The man arguing with him was much older, with thinning hair and a long grey beard, but he held an iron staff set with a fortune in jewels and his crimson robes looked fancy enough for a king’s court. A small crowd of assorted servants, retainers and onlookers stood about the room, all of them looking like they were trying to spontaneously develop the power of invisibility.
    “You want us to work fire magic on water? Hah! You have no idea what an undertaking that would be,” the old man protested. “We’ve no time for such absurdities.”
    The prince looked about ready to explode at this, so I stepped forward. “This sounds like something I could help with.”
    The both started at the interruption, and turned to glare at me.
    “Who are you supposed to be?” The old man spat.
    “Daniel Black, wandering adept,” I replied smoothly. “I just got into town, and I was coming to pay my respects. I don’t mean to slight the ability of your people, Your Wisdom, but if the prince wants the port kept free of ice that sounds like something I could handle for you.”
    “How?” The prince asked suspiciously. “I thought that sort of thing was beyond what a single wizard can do?”
    “Ordinarily it would be, Your Highness. But I’ve made a bit of a breakthrough with large-scale earth magic. I can enchant boulders with volcanic heat, strongly enough to last for several decades, and drop them in the river to keep the water warm. It will take a lot of them to cover an area that size, but I should be able to do it in a few days. Maybe a few more to clear a channel to the sea, depending on how wide that needs to be. Of course, once the river freezes completely we’ll get salt water filtering upstream to fill the channel, but I think we’ve got more urgent things to worry about than that. Unless there’s something living in the river that’s likely to cause a problem?”
    The old man gave me a measuring look. “No, the Elb was cleared of monsters ages ago. You’re that fellow from Lanrest, aren’t you?”
    “Guilty as charged, Your Wisdom.” That being proper address for a High Adept, which he pretty much had to be if he was shouting at a prince.
    “Mmm. I’ll want to talk to you about that, but not now. I’m sure you acknowledge the Conclave’s primacy in Kozalin’s magical affairs?”
    I nodded carefully. “Of course, Your Wisdom. I was actually coming here to offer my services to the Conclave. In circumstances this dire wise men must stand together, or else we’ll all be eaten separately.”
    That got a snort.
    “If only everyone saw things that way,” he said ruefully. “Very well, young man. You may ply your trade here as an ally of the Conclave for now, but plan to attend the council meeting this Frey’s Day.”
    “I wouldn’t miss it, Your Wisdom.”
    “Good,” the prince put in. “We can always use another wizard. What do you want for this work? I’ll warn you, the treasury is under quite a strain at the moment.”
    “Right now there are more urgent things than gold on my mind, Your Highness. The last place I tried to settle down in fell to an army of giants not four days after I arrived, and I have quite a few survivors with me. So, perhaps a place where I can build a home, and permission to fortify it to the extent that I can?”
    He frowned. “There aren’t any unoccupied estates within the walls.”
    “Oh, I can do my own construction. Stonework and healing are my main talents, and I can throw up a decent fortification in a few days. I just need a spot to build on that isn’t going to end up cut off and surrounded by monsters.”
    A crafty look stole over his face. “Ah, I see. In that case, I’ve got just the thing. More space than you could possibly need, as long as you build out instead of in. I’ll have a man show you there. Agreed?”
    So, he was planning to have me build in the