The Sleeping Life (Eferum Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

irrelevant to proceedings. Perhaps worse, she had most inconveniently married a Kellian without letting anyone official know first, and if the Queen guessed at the reasons for the haste it would almost amount to a direct insult.
    "Lady Weston tells me that, as yet, she sees no way of removing this casting from you."
    The Grand Magister had barely been able to detect it. "It may not be possible," Rennyn said baldly. "It doesn't respond to dispels, and trying to pull it from me by force, even if we could get a hold on it, would probably kill me."
    "You are very matter-of-fact," the Queen commented. "Will you accept such a limited life?" The strong do not enjoy being weak, her cool gaze added, and Rennyn had been very strong.
    "No. I am going to hunt my Wicked Uncle down and kill him." Rennyn took a sip of spiced tea, recalling the Grand Magister's advice that she should request permission to leave Tyrland, and ask for support. But she found she'd rather simply explain and see how the Queen reacted. "He cast the spell, and he later took my true focus. Killing him will drastically increase my chances of overcoming this spell. Particularly since the symbology was one of him controlling me."
    The Queen sat back in her chair. "The best Tyrland can muster has yet to find the creature calling itself Helecho. It has likely left the country. Even if it can be found, you yourself named it one of the most dangerous of the creatures born of the Eferum. The abilities of a mage, the form of a human, and the command of other Hells-spawned creatures."
    "I don't have a great deal of choice," Rennyn said, bluntly. "Other than the broken bones finishing their healing, I am not going to recover further physically. And while it might be possible to accept living in this fashion, I'm simply too vulnerable to infection. A harsh winter would finish me without the constant care of a healer. Besides, regardless of my own problems, he needs to die."
    "That I do not dispute." Rennyn's Wicked Uncle had been quite despicable all around. "How, then, do you propose to locate it?"
    "He has my focus. Even were I not ill, the distances involved would be too great for me to track it properly. But my brother has created a very general directional spell using me as a subject. Nothing more than 'over there'," she gestured vaguely to the west, "but it can be recast as we get closer."
    "And when you find it?" The Queen didn't bother pointing out Rennyn's frailties, but then she made a gesture as if to put aside the discussion so far. "We are prevaricating. Even if it is not currently among us, this creature is a threat—not simply to Tyrland but to any that Hells-spawn would feed upon. It is not a matter for you alone. Nor do I imagine you so short-sighted as to expose both yourself and your brother to this creature, given the consequences of your deaths."
    Her Wicked Uncle inheriting the ability to control the Kellian would be a disaster, and Rennyn didn't bother pretending that she hadn't seen this, or wanted Seb anywhere near Prince Helecho. "You will assist?" she asked simply.
    "The Sentene's role is to hunt the monsters from the Eferum. They will hunt this one, with your assistance. The difficulty lies in taking a military force outside Tyrland's borders. Even in those lands inclined to cooperate with us, it would cause alarm."
    This was not an aspect that had occurred to Rennyn, but it made sense. "A large group would be too noticeable to him, anyway. But there's no reason I can't travel as a private individual—there's a property in Kole that has been left abandoned since the last of that branch of my family died. It would not be remarkable for me to be accompanied while I attended to removing anything of worth and selling the house. And if a second small group travelled separately, and joined me there, then they are simply mages with their own personal guard. I don't know if he's in the Kolan Empire, of course, but it's a good starting point, and in the right