The Silver Pear Read Online Free PDF Page B

cowled sorcerer with William was looking straight at her, too, even though he surely couldn’t see her in the shadows, and she readied herself as he lifted his staff.
    She met the blue flare of his magic with a smooth protective shield, getting a taste for what he could do—the flavor of it.
    It was furry and damp, like wet dog, with a powerful under-layer of muscle and sinew.
    William’s attention had been on Soren, but at the flare of sky magic, he spun in her direction.
    Miri stepped into the moonlight. “Perhaps you could help me, William? There seems to be a knife in my back.”
    It was something her father might have said, never her. She’d always been deferential, respectful, when she’d spoken to William in the past. That had been her mistake.
    William jerked at her words, and took a step back. She wondered how much was because of her tone, and how much because she was dressed in men’s clothing. “Miri? I thought . . .”
    “You thought I was still under the noses of your guards at my house. While you broke every contract between us, and brought in someone so lacking in honor he would agree to it.”
    The sorcerer said nothing, still anonymous beneath the deep hood of his cloak, but she noticed his hand shook a little. Put quite a bit of effort into that attack, she thought. More than he wanted William, or her, to know.
    William was looking between them, struggling to keep an impassive face at the fact that his new weapon had already tried to take her down, and had failed.
    “As it happens, the light flared again over Halakan tonight, and I decided to get to the bottom of it my way.”
    William looked at Soren again, and then for Henry, but Miri hadn’t lifted the bespelling on him, and he was gone.
    “Imagine my surprise when I discovered you weren’t here, but off buying a new torturer. It was most upsetting.” She kept her voice even.
    “I need to know how they’re getting in.” There was defiance in William’s voice.
    “I can tell you.”
    “How? How are you even inside my stronghold?”
    “I have my ways.” It was perhaps best not to mention she’d been in the dungeon, although they’d find out soon enough. “There is a wild magic item, a gem, which sends everyone who touches it to this courtyard. I can only assume the wild magic that created it is linked to a spell my father performed here at Halakan.”
    She didn’t look in Soren’s direction, but she could sense his surprise. She hoped he wasn’t angry enough with her for bespelling him that he would contradict her. Sam had told him the gem was not wild magic at all, but sorcerer-made, and while she knew that was true, William didn’t need to.
    “The men said something like that when I questioned them—”
    “Beat them, you mean?” She let her words drip disdain. “What are you so paranoid about, William? They were telling the truth, and they didn’t know any more. You must have seen they were woodcutters. Plain folk.”
    “Not the last lot.”
    “No. Those were men who work for Jasper of Harness, over Therston way. His guards. Found the gem on some poor woodcutter and took it from him.” She shrugged, and watched as William thought that through, and hunched his shoulders.
    “So you broke with me for no good reason, William. And you will regret it.” She meant to keep her emotions under control, but her voice shook a little with her last sentence.
    There was movement behind William, and she saw more of his men were standing there. A number of them looked away from her, and she wondered how many were happy with William’s recent decisions.
    They knew her. Knew she was fair. They only knew this new sorcerer would give up the code for money or a bribe.
    She gave William a bitter smile. A liege lord was only as strong as the loyalty of his men.
    As if he knew the direction of her thoughts, he wiped his forehead with his sleeve.
    Suddenly, coming from behind the men standing in the entrance, a slim figure darted forward,