The Royal Sorceress Read Online Free PDF

put both hands on your head ?”
    Gwen’s hands were already in motion before her mind had realised what was going on. She fought to slow her treacherous hands, yet it was impossible. Her hands rested against her head for a long moment and then the effect abruptly vanished. She stared at him, honestly shocked. A man with that kind of power could rule the world.
    “Charm has its limits,” Doctor Norwell said, by way of explanation. “You will discover that you can block the Charm, once you develop sufficient mental discipline. The more complex the Charm, the more likely it is that someone will realise that something is wrong and start acting against the Charm. A very powerful and subtle Charmer will be able to alter someone’s mind slowly, over the course of a few months, until their victim has no idea what has happened to him. It may well be the most dangerous of the talents.”
    “That’s a manner of opinion,” Master Thomas said. “They can all be very dangerous in the wrong hands.”
    “Seers and Sensors seem to go together, although we don’t fully understand the nature of their powers,” Doctor Norwell admitted. “Seers can see any point on the planet through their mind’s eye, but the talent has limitations we have been unable to understand. Sensors pick up flashes of information from people and objects they touch, sometimes including visions of the future. We do know that such visions are often misleading, with a single exception. It is said that each Sensor sees their own death perfectly – and that there is no way of avoiding the end.”
    “That has never been confirmed,” Master Thomas said.
    Doctor Norwell nodded. “Weres can change their form from human to a specific animal,” he continued. “A werewolf would move between human and wolf forms, sometimes with perfect control, sometimes with no control at all. They can be incredibly dangerous as they combine wild animal ferocity with human intelligence.”
    There was a long pause. “I see,” Gwen said, finally. There was really too much information, but she had been listening raptly. The little demonstrations helped. “And what is the tenth talent?”
    Doctor Norwell looked at her, sharply. “Necromancy is the darkest of the talents,” he concluded. “Necromancers have the ability to manipulate the dead. Some can reanimate dead bodies and send them out as revenants, others can summon up ghosts and ask them questions. For once, the Vatican and the Church of England are in full agreement. Necromancers are to be killed on sight. They are simply too dangerous to be allowed to live.”
    “Ten talents,” Gwen said, slowly. She’d never thought of her magic as falling into separate talents. And Master Thomas... “What talents do you possess?”
    “There are a very few individuals who possess all of the talents,” Master Thomas said. “They’re the ones who can combine the talents into a single whole far more than the sum of their parts. We call those magicians Masters and there have only ever been five of them in existence. Two are dead, one is missing and presumed dead – and the last two are you and I.”
    Gwen stared. “I have all the talents?”
    Doctor Norwell cleared his throat. “Surely a person as intelligent as yourself would have noted that you were drawing on several different talents,” he said, sardonically. “Your powers are not restricted to a single category.”
    Gwen flushed. Hardly anyone had called her intelligent before – or even expected her to be intelligent. A succession of tutors had resented trying to teach a girl, particularly one who was expected to look pretty, attract a good husband and spend the rest of her life raising children. Gwen knew that she was smarter than her brother, but she’d been warned never to make an issue of it. It hardly mattered. The rumours that had swirled around her had ensured that she would never find a husband her mother would consider acceptable.
    “Very few people outside