The Education of Brother Thaddius and other tales of DemonWars (The DemonWars Saga) Read Online Free PDF

and I?”
    Orrin laughed again. “No, no, of course not!” he said. “Not you, at least.”
    “You said ‘we’.”
    “We, yes, we of the brotherhood,” Orrin explained. He laughed again and again looked all around, shaking his head. “What spell have you put over me, pretty young thing, to get me to divulge this to you? Ah, perhaps it is merely my own loneliness — keeping such secrets weighs on the heart, you know.
    “And so yes, Sadye, I will tell you. But before I do, you must agree to stay with me when your indenture is ended.”
    Sadye’s striking brown eyes popped open wide, and she reflexively shook her head so forcefully that her long black hair whipped about her angular features.
    “Do you have a better life awaiting you among the children of Ursal’s streets?” Orrin asked.
    The question steadied her, and reminded her that the last few weeks with Orrin hadn’t been so bad.
    “Do you agree?”
    “How long?”
    “Three years.”
    “No!”
    “Then a single year,” Orrin replied. “Yes, one year will suffice, for I am certain that if you stay that long, you will be more than willing to remain. I could use a hand now in my business. A protégé — yes, you will be my protégé!”
    “For what, old Orrin?” she bluntly asked. “What business?”
    Orrin gave her a smirk.
    “You’re a smuggler,” Sadye stated.
    “Of course, though few understand the true value of that which I purvey.”
    “And yet, the court of law, the ruling authority, grants you a servant.” Sadye looked away and blew a sigh, somehow not even surprised.
    “It is a wonderful system. And you did not come cheaply, I assure you. Many of the bidders were eager to purchase your pretty face and that young body.”
    Sadye found herself recoiling, moving deeper within the crevice between the two crates.
    “I was more interested in your clever mind,” Orrin went on, and that calmed her a bit. “I heard of your confidence games and deceptive exploits and was quite impressed. One does not succeed at such a craft without being observant and perceptive, two traits I greatly admire and desire.”
    “And you trust me enough to tell me all of this? Are you not afraid that I will betray your secret?”
    Orrin’s face went suddenly grim and he sat up straighter and glared down at her. “No, because you are smart enough to understand that if you betray us, we will utterly destroy you. There are weapons more deadly than a sword, dear Sadye, and evils that make strong men beg for death.”
    Sadye didn’t blink or shrink, but the point had certainly been made.
    “Consider the soul stones set in that lute,” Orrin went on, mellowing his tone only a small bit. “With it, any of my brethren could enter your dreams and turn them to haunting horror. With it, any of us could drive you mad and deceive you into tearing your own flesh from your bones.”
    Something in his tone told Sadye not to even question, and not to doubt.
    “But enough of these unpleasantries,” Orrin said with a wave of his hand. “I tell you because I believe I understand that which is in your heart. Sadye wants more than to survive on the street. Sadye wants wealth and power. Oh yes, that is the sparkle in your pretty eyes. That hope. That burning desire.”
    “Tell me, then.”
    “The monks have their gemstones, and sell many to wealthy merchants, because they believe that the merchants will never be able to utilize those stones in any manner which would threaten Abellican supremacy. But there is another facet of the gemstones which the monks do not even completely understand. If I handed you a soul stone and bade you to heal even a minor wound, you would surely fail. But if I took that stone and prepared it correctly and embedded it in a magically prepared item — a lute, perhaps, or a wand — then you would more likely succeed with that healing task. The items — and they are not easily prepared, I assure you! — bring the powers of the gemstone and the