Jonathan Moeller - The Ghosts 05 - Ghost in the Stone Read Online Free PDF

her way through the crowd, Theodosia gliding after her with stately grace. After a few moments, she reached the edge of the Plaza, not far from the line of militiamen that kept the Plaza clear for the nobles. From here, they had a clear view of the festivities. Lord Corbould dismounted his horse and waited while his herald continued the stentorian recitation of honors and offices. 
    “Now,” said Theodosia, voice low. “What happened? Is Barius dead?”
    “Probably,” said Caina. “Someone turned him to stone.”
    It was one of the very few times Caina had ever seen Theodosia taken aback. 
    “Turned to stone?” said Theodosia. “That’s not possible.”
    Caina shrugged. “Unless there is a reason Barius had a life-sized statue of himself in his back room. A life-sized statue sculpted with incredible detail and showing an expression of horror. A life-sized statue that also has an aura of sorcery.”  
    “That does seem unlikely,” said Theodosia. “But…turned him to stone? I’ve never heard of any kind of sorcery that can do that. There are the old stories about serpent-haired women, true, but those are just stories. Was there any indication how it happened?”
    “I don’t know,” said Caina. “The door was open, and it looked like it was forced. There was a Kindred assassin waiting in the alley behind the shop. He got away before I could kill him. And there was another man in a cloak, watching everything. He fled before I could get a good look at him.” 
    “I suppose neither one of them were serpent-haired women,” said Theodosia.
    “No,” said Caina. 
    “Well,” said Theodosia, “that’s a puzzle, then.” The herald kept droning through Lord Corbould’s honors. “Barius was going to be our contact with Cyrioch’s Ghost circle, tell us of any plots against Lord Corbould’s life. So did the Kindred do this to him? Or did he stumble into some other kind of trouble?”
    “A very good question,” said Caina. She passed the charred scrap of paper to Theodosia. “Someone burned a book or a ledger in Barius’s stove. This was all that was left. Does it mean anything to you?”
    Theodosia squinted at the paper and nodded.
    “It might,” she said. “The Defender is a statue in a plaza a bit east of here. The Plaza of the Defender, they call it. We’ll be staying at the inn there. As for the Well…there is a place in the Palace of Splendors called the Gallery of the Well. I have never been there.” She grinned. “But if Lord Khosrau enjoys Nighmarian opera as much as the rumors say, I might get an invitation.” She looked at the paper for a while longer, and then handed it to Caina. “Keep that. It might not mean anything. But just in case…”
    Caina nodded. “What will we do now?”
    “I’ll have to contact Cyrioch’s circlemaster,” said Theodosia. She scowled. “Which I was hoping to avoid, because he’s a dreadful bastard. But we have no choice. We need his help.” 
    “And if someone is targeting the Ghosts of Cyrioch,” said Caina, remembering what Kalastus had done in Rasadda, “they’ll need to know.”
    Lord Corbould’s herald wrapped up the recitation of honors, and Lord Governor Armizid’s herald stepped forward. 
    “Hearken!” thundered the herald. “Armizid, a scion of House Asurius, Lord Governor of the province of Cyrica, guardian of Cyrioch, keeper of the Palace of Cyrioch, and scourge of the Sarbian tribes, does bid his brother Lord Corbould welcome to the Shining City of Cyrica Urbana!” 
    Lord Governor Armizid Asurius stepped forward, and Caina got her first look at the man who governed Cyrica. He was about thirty, with a soldier’s lean build, and wore a gleaming white robe and turban in Anshani style, an elaborate jeweled sword and dagger at his belt. His expression was stern, his black eyes hard and cold. 
    “A humorless martinet of a man,” murmured Theodosia, “but his father Khosrau is the real power in Cyrica.”
    Lord Khosrau