Hemlock And The Dread Sorceress (Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

away , she considered his words.
    Of course!   T hey’ve blinded my magic sense.  But why?  What’s going on?
    She found another cutpurse who was radiating magic and grabbed her arm roughly.  “Tessa, why did you drink from that vial?”
    The motley young girl affected her best impression of a blank stare and hissed through teeth yellowed by an excess of strong , intoxicating teas.
    “Answer or I’ll break your arm!” Hemlock growled.
    “That’s not very neighborly talk, is it?  You bein’ part of the watch and all,” cried the girl as Hemlock tightened her grip.
    “Don’t make this hard on yourself, Tessa!” said Hemlock as she became aware of a crowd of onlookers gathering around her.
    Damn, if I don’t stop, word of this is sure to reach Samberlin.
    Hemlock released the girl.  “Fine!  I’ve seen no crime, though I think you’ve been involved in something I haven’t seen.  I’ll discover the truth sooner or later.  And then we’ll continue this conversation.”
    Hemlock had to concentrate on ignoring her magic sense as she walked the remaining blocks to her apartment.  She skirted the market for several minutes , looking for any signs of misconduct, but saw nothing unusual outside of the distracting magic.  In the process, she’d spotted no fewer than twelve youths that radiated the magical energy.
    Once she reached it, s he was relieved to enter the apartment which was free of the emanations.
    Mercuria and Tored were seated at a breakfast table eating sweet bread and strawberries.
    “Back so soon, Hemlock?” Mercuria called out with an ethereal air to her voice.
    Hemlock knew her sister well enough to anticipate what was likely to happen.   This was Mercuria’s mischievous voice.
    Suddenly , there was a small pop near Tored’s face.
    The comedy of the scene before her temporarily pushed the upset of Hemlock’s experience in the marketplace out of her mind.
    Tored sat stoically at the table as the juice of a burst strawberry dripped down his nose, along the deep creases in his cheeks and trickled onto his forearm.
    Mercuria was beside herself with warm laughter that filled the room.  Hemlock couldn’t help herself and guffawed more loudly than she had meant to.
    Tored remained nearly still as he used a napkin to wipe his face.  But as he did so, there was a gentle quivering at the corner of his mouth, and a small smile struggled into existence—disproving the notion that the old warrior’s face had been chiseled from granite rather than pliant flesh.
    “ Misusing your magical talents, again?  One day all debts shall be repaid, young lady.” It was the best he could manage as a retort, and this just made the sisters laugh anew.
    As the humorous moment passed, thoughts of the incident in the marketplace reasserted themselves.
    “Listen , something odd happened to me right before I got here.  I need to tell you both about it,” said Hemlock.  She quickly related what had happened.
    If the preceding incident had softened Tored’s perspective at all, it wasn’t evident in the grave reply he gave . “Someone is moving against you.  And it’s someone with some cunning.”
    “Then , why didn’t they attack me?”
    “Pe rhaps it was just a test.  The witches in my…” Tored paused for a moment as if recalling something unpleasant, “homeland would always send small patrols before large attacks.  Perhaps the people who did this were testing whether their plan would block your magic sense.”
    “Well, it worked,” said Hemlock with a sigh.
    “And they know it.”
    Hemlock sat at the table and ate a strawberry.  Its rich flavor comforted her.
    It’s good to be home, and it’s good to have a home again.
    “We should do extra patrols.  Together,” said Tored.
    “Yeah, I guess you’re right.  But wait, I haven’t even gotten to the bigger news.  DuLoc’s apparition has been sighted in the mountains.  And Jalis has attacked the mining towns there.  DuLoc is