The Chronicles of Elantra 6 - Cast in Chaos Read Online Free PDF Page A

Lord Grammayre. “After we visited Evanton.”
    The Hawklord’s face became about as inviting and open as the stone walls that enclosed them. “Continue.”
    “There were three incidents in the space of a few hours of which we’re aware. With your permission, we’ll canvass the merchants and residents of the street tomorrow to see how many others we missed.”
    “Incidents?”
    She hesitated; he marked it. But he waited. “The first was a man selling a cure for baldness that actually appeared to work—instantly.”
    He raised one pale brow. “It is Elani street.”
    “Sir.” This time she did glance at Severn; his chin dipped slightly down. “We took the merchant’s name. Corporal Handred acquired a sample of the tonic.”
    “You…believe that this was genuine.”
    “Much as I hate to admit it, yes.”
    “Go on.”
    “The second incident of note, you’ve already heard about. Alyssa Larienne.”
    “Lady Alyssa Larienne is young, idealistic, and convinced of her own importance.”
    Severn cleared his throat.
    “Corporal?”
    “I would say that she is young, insecure, and in need of someone to convince her of that import.”
    “She throws her weight around—” Kaylin broke in.
    “If she was certain she had that weight, she wouldn’t need to throw it.”
    Kaylin shrugged. “For whatever reason, she’s been a client of Margot’s for many months.”
    “Margot Hemming?”
    “The same.”
    “Margot Hemming is not, to my knowledge, and to the knowledge of Imperial Records, a mage. She has no training, and no notable talent or skill. She is, by human standards, striking. She is forty years of age—”
    “She can’t be forty.”
    “She is forty years of age,” he repeated, spacing the words out thinly and evenly. “And she has twice been charged with fraud in the last twenty-five. She is not violent, she has no great pretensions, and for the last decade, she has settled into the life of a woman of modest, respectable means.”
    Kaylin glanced at the flat surface of a mirror that reflected nothing, and the Hawklord continued. “She has no known criminal ties, she is despised by the merchants’ guild, she donates money to the Foundling Halls.”
    Kaylin’s brows disappeared into her hairline. “She what? ”
    “She can afford it.”
    “That’s not the point.”
    “No. It is not. She has very few clients of any significant political standing. Garavan Larienne does not travel to her shop, nor does his wife. She supports no political causes that we are aware of, and believe that I have demanded every possible legal record that she might be associated with, however distantly. But she has, today, single-handedly caused the Hawks—and the Swords, and possibly indirectly, the Wolves—more difficulty than the Arcanum has in its entire history.”
    Kaylin closed her eyes.
    “What did Margot Hemming do, Private?”
    “She told a fortune, more or less.”
    “I am aware of the fortune’s contents.” He turned. “The other difficulties?”
    “After the incident with Margot, we paid a visit to Evanton’s. Evanton said that…there was an incident in the store, involving his apprentice.”
    “Did it also involve the future of arguably the most politically powerful human in Elantra?”
    “No, sir.”
    “Then I am not interested in the details at this present moment. Continue.”
    “It was also of a magical nature. Evanton thinks—thought—that there is an unusually strong flux in the magical potential of a specific area, and it’s causing things to go completely out of whack.”
    “His words?”
    “Not exactly.”
    “What, exactly, were his words?”
    “He thought I should speak with Sanabalis—”
    “Lord Sanabalis.”
    “Lord Sanabalis. Now.”
    “Far be it from me to ignore the urgent advice of so important a man,” the Hawklord replied.
    “He thinks it could be disastrous if we don’t—”
    “It has already been almost disastrous. At this particular moment in my career, I