The Book of Deacon: Book 02 - The Great Convergence Read Online Free PDF Page B

got a hold of you. Not very
fast with the spells yet?" he said, indicating the trickle on her
leg.
    "I manage," she answered, directing a bit of
thought to the wound to close it.
    "Hmm . . . I may need to renegotiate," he
said.
    "Renegotiate what?" she asked.
    "Your price. It is already the highest that
we've ever been offered, but now that you are a full wizard I may
just be able to squeeze a bit more out of them," he said.
    "You are still thinking of turning me in?"
she growled.
    "Myranda, it is practically all I think
about," he said, quite unapologetically.
    "But now? After you know me? After you know
what I must do? How could you?" she asked, appalled.
    "Did Lain ever tell you what you were worth?"
he asked.
    "No! What does it matter?" she asked.
    "Oh, with a number this large? It matters,"
he said, standing and hurrying out the door.
    She stood to follow.
    "No, no. Stay there. You were impressed with
the gold goblet, right?" he said amid door creaks and chest slams.
Finally he reentered and walked to the table. He slammed something
down on it.
    It an enormous brick, as thick as her arm and
nearly as long. Gold.
    "One gold ingot. Think of it as four hundred
gold coins melted together. We currently have just under thirty of
these, plus enough other gold coins and knickknacks to equal
perhaps one hundred more. The Alliance Army, for a reason that we
are not entirely certain of, is willing, nay, eager, to pay us one
hundred and twenty-five of these for your corpse and the sword you
carried," he said.
    Myranda's eyes locked on the block of gold
and widened.
    "However! That is merely the base price. If
you are still breathing when we hand you over, the price is
increased tenfold. One thousand, two hundred and fifty of these
bits of auric masonry. That is equal to five hundred thousand gold coins. Five million silver coins. Two hundred and fifty million coppers. I would say that
you are worth your weight in gold, but that is a massive
understatement. You are worth something on the order of three
hundred times your weight in gold. You are the single most
valuable thing I have ever seen," he said.
    "But . . . why?" she asked, dumbfounded.
    "As I said, their motivation is a mystery to
me. Most interesting is the fact that they did not even want
specifically you. At least, not at first. Their orders were to
retrieve that sword of yours, which we have by the way, and anyone
who touches it directly and lives. We were also told not to touch
it ourselves, if we value our lives. I do and I have not," he
said.
    Myranda's mind began to stir.
    "That sword . . . that sword belonged to the
swordsman. That sword is what gave me the mark. It has something to
do with the Chosen. And they want me, alive . . . " she thought
aloud.
    Deep in Myranda's mind, thoughts and
instincts clashed together. Thoughts that had been forming since
Lain had first told her the truth about why he captured her.
Longings and hopes merged as she tried to find some explanation for
such actions. Almost hammered into her mind at birth was the belief
that the Alliance Army had the best interests of the people and the
world at heart. That thought planted the seed of an idea. They
wanted the person who touched the sword, if possible alive. The
seed grew until finally it found its way to her voice.
    "They know! They know about the prophesy!
They came to the same conclusion I did, that the person who is
scarred with the mark by the sword is the one who will join the
Chosen together. They must want my help!" she said, more certain of
it with every moment.
    "Possible. I have seen greater stretches of
the imagination come true," he said, nodding thoughtfully, then
frowning. "Not the least bit likely. In fact, now that I th-"
    "Desmeres, I must meet with the Alliance Army
at once!" she said.
    "Not so quickly, I am afraid," he said,
dropping the interrupted thought and embarking on a new one. "You
see, when Lain decided to free you and keep them at arm's length
from you, it made