The Dreamer's Curse (Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

recent events, and the interesting neighbors they
had in Kindin, Sevana didn’t blame them for their caution. “Decker, shout out a
word before someone tries to shoot arrows at us.”
    He didn’t get the chance before his niece beat him to the
railing, leaned out, and called down in a surprisingly loud voice, “Don’t
worry! It’s us!”
    From below a voice called back faintly, “CLARI?!”
    “Yes, it’s me! Uncle Deck’s here too!”
    A lot of chattering went around in the group below, but no
one tried to get more information until Sevana found a clear spot to land. Most
of the area seemed to be farmland with a smattering of trees here and there.
She found a spot big enough for the skimmer quite easily and set it down with a
solid thump. As she furled in the sails and secured the charts at the desk, her
passengers gratefully got off, the horse more so than anyone.
    Seven men crowded around, all of them firing off questions
in quick succession. Sevana stepped onto the cool grass slowly, eyeing each one
of them in turn. In this group, she would say two men were hunters (both older
than Decker), one of them a butcher (judging from that wicked knife in his
hand), one retired soldier, and three other burly men that she couldn’t quite
pin a profession to offhand. One of the men took Clari by the hand and escorted
her directly into the village, and likely to her very anxious parents.
    “This is Artifactor Sevana Warran. She’s agreed to help us,”
Decker said to the others.
    “Gentlemen,” she greeted with a general nod to the group. “I
need to speak to the mayor or whatever leader you have in this village.”
    “We have an ombudsman,” Decker volunteered. “He’s our mayor,
of sorts.”
    “That’s fine. Take me to him. We have things to do this very
night to prevent mischief happening tomorrow.” Oh, wait. Snapping her fingers,
she pointed at the grandfather clock still on the skimmer. “And I need two men
to carry that.”
    “Ummm…” the butcher looked at the grandfather clock with
misgiving. “Begging pardon, Miss Artifactor, but two men can’t be carrying the
likes of that.”
    “It has a weight cancellation charm on it,” she explained
impatiently. “It’s not heavy, just awkward. Move .”
    Decker, at least, understood the importance of the clock
well enough to instantly climb back on board. With his lead, two other men
climbed inside after him and assisted in moving the clock out of the skimmer.
As they carefully maneuvered the clock free, Sevana directed, “Take it to
whatever inn or house that I’m staying in while I’m here. I’ll set it up
properly in a minute. For now, take me to the ombudsman.”
    One of the huntsmen extended a hand to her, his craggy
features somewhat undiscernible in this twilight lighting. “I’m Muller, Miss Artifactor.
If you’ll follow me.”
    She accepted the arm. “Sevana. Call me Sevana. Let’s go.”
    He waved her onto a gravel road that led directly to the
main street, from the look of things. She hadn’t parked far from the village so
it took bare minutes to reach the outskirts. As she walked, a heavyset man with
white hair ran toward them, tugging on a jacket as he moved.
    “Krause!” Muller raised a hand and waved, getting the other
man’s attention.
    Krause waved back but didn’t say anything until he lumbered
to a stop. “I heard Clari’s back,” he said to Muller, his eyes on Sevana.
“Who’s this?”
    “Sevana Warran, an Artifactor,” Muller introduced
succinctly. Krause’s eyes lit up with relief and pleasure. “Sevana, this is
Krause, our Ombudsman.”
    “Sir,” she greeted. “I’ll make this short as we have a lot
to do tonight. I’m going to put locating and protective charms on every man,
woman and child in this village. I need you to call them all. Now .”
    He didn’t even think to question her. He just gave a short
sigh of relief before promising, “They’ll be at the main square within a