The High Lord Read Online Free PDF

needed the information. At the same time, Rothen had suddenly gained an interest in the same subject. This strange coincidence, and Dannyl’s own growing fascination with the mysteries of ancient magic, had encouraged Dannyl and Tayend to continue.
    Akkarin had eventually learned of Dannyl’s project and ordered him home to report. To Dannyl’s relief, the High Lord had been pleased with his work, though he had ordered Dannyl and Tayend to keep their strangest discovery, the Chamber of Ultimate Justice, a secret. The chamber, which they had found under the ruins of a city in the Elyne mountains, had contained a magically charged ceiling of stones that had attacked Dannyl, and nearly killed him.
    How it worked was a mystery. After Dannyl had returned to reseal the entrance, he had searched the Great Library in vain for a reference to it. Clearly it used a form of magic unknown to the Guild.
    “I suspect I’d find out more if I went to Sachaka,” Dannyl added, “but the High Lord denied my request to journey there.”
    Irand nodded. “A wise decision. You can’t be sure how well you’d be received. There’s sure to be magicians there. Though they would not be as skilled as you and your colleagues, they would pose a danger to a lone Guild magician. After all, the Guild left much of their land wasted. There’s bound to be some lingering resentment for that. So what will you do now?”
    Dannyl drew a folded letter from his robes and gave it to Irand. “I have a new task to perform.”
    The librarian hesitated as he saw the remains of the High Lord’s seal, then opened the letter and began to read.
    “What is it?” Tayend asked.
    “An investigation,” Dannyl replied. “It seems some nobles in this land are trying to start their own rogue Guild.”
    The scholar’s eyes widened, then his expression became thoughtful. Irand drew in a breath and looked at Dannyl over the page.
    “So he knows.”
    Dannyl nodded. “It appears so.”
    “Knows what?” Tayend asked.
    Irand handed the letter to Tayend. The scholar began to read aloud.
    ”
I have been watching for some years the efforts of a small group of Elyne courtiers to learn magic without the Guild’s aid or knowledge. Only recently have they had some success. Now that at least one of them has managed to develop his powers, the Guild is entitled and obliged to deal with them. I have included information on this group with this letter. You will find your relationship with the scholar, Tayend of Tremmelin, helpful in persuading them that you can be trusted.’ “
    Tayend paused and stared at Dannyl. “What does he mean by that?” he exclaimed.
    Dannyl nodded at the letter. “Read on.”
    ”
‘It is possible the rebels will try to use this personal information against you once you have arrested them. I will ensure that it is understood that I asked you to give them this information in order to achieve your goal’ “
    Tayend stared at Dannyl. “You said he didn’t know about us. How
can
he know? Or has he just listened to the rumors and taken a chance that they might be true?”
    “I doubt it,” Irand replied. “A man like the High Lord does not take chances. Who else have you allowed to know of your relationship?”
    Tayend shook his head. “There is no one else. Unless we have been overheard…” He glanced around.
    “Before we start hunting for spies, there is one possibility we should consider,” Dannyl said. He grimaced and rubbed his temples. “Akkarin has some unusual abilities. For the rest of us, there are limits to mind reading. We can’t read an unwilling mind, and we must touch another person to be able to read them at all. Akkarin once searched the mind of a criminal to confirm his guilt. The man should have been able to block him, yet somehow Akkarin got past his mental barriers. Some magicians believe Akkarin can even read minds at a distance.”
    “So you suspect he read your mind when you were in Kyralia?”
    “Maybe. Or maybe