Veilspeaker (Pharim War Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

do you mean ‘may be’?” the king asked.
    “I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I just don’t know. I’ll need
to see if there is a precedent for a scion committing a crime like this one. I
recommend we break until tomorrow.”
    “What about him?” Varin asked waving his hand to the
dejected Osmund sitting silently in the middle of the room.
    Villia inclined her head. “Osmund, will you swear not
to leave the city, and to return to this room tomorrow at noon?”
    “What? You can’t just take his word.”
    Villia glared at him. “You forget yourself. Whatever
else he may be, Osmund is an Academy trained mage, or at least he will be once
his training is complete. That gives him certain rights. Among those are the
right to have his sworn word believed by another mage.” That set the nobles to
talking, but Villia silence them with a wave of her hand. She turned to Osmund.
“Well?”
    Osmund only hesitated for a second before nodding.
Villia glanced at the guards. They gave each other nervous looks, but when the
king cleared his throat, they rushed to obey. Their commander, a tall woman
with red hair, pulled a heavy iron key ring from a belt pouch and fiddled with
the chains. Osmund rubbed his wrists as the manacles fell away. Lord Varin
stormed out with Lina right beside him. Neither looked at Osmund as they
passed. The king was speaking to Villia and waved for Jez to go. He and Osmund
walked out together. He hoped Villia would stay true to her word, but he had a
feeling it wouldn’t be so easy.

CHAPTER 8
    There was a knock at Jez’s door. He
looked up from a chart of the nobility Sileon was explaining to him. Osmund
nodded and went to open the door. The large boy just stared, his massive form
obscuring the doorway.
    “Osmund, who is it?” Jez asked.
    Osmund looked over his shoulder and stepped out of the
way. Lord Varin stood in the doorway. He glowered at Osmund before turning to
meet Jez’s eyes. Jez’s jaw dropped. The nobleman cleared his throat and Jez
looked at Osmund, unsure of what to do. Sileon stood up and bowed.
    “Lord Varin. Please come in.”
    Varin inclined his head and entered. Sileon glared at
Jez, silently demanding that he call Varin to task for his lack of respect, but
Jez ignored him. Varin strode to the table Jez was at, but Jez didn’t invite
him to sit.
    “What do you want, Lord Varin?”
    “I wonder if I could speak to you.” He gave Sileon a
pointed look before turning to Osmund and back to Jez. “Alone.”
    Jez narrowed his eyes. “I can’t really think of a
reason I should do that.”
    He returned his attention to the chart until Varin put
a hand on the parchment. Jez looked up and could tell Varin was trying to hide
a scowl. He wasn’t doing a very good job, though.
    “Consider it a favor.” Varin glanced at Osmund. “One
that might be valuable enough that I would feel obligated to repay it with
something equally valuable.”
    Jez met Osmund’s eyes. Villia had said she would help
Osmund in the trial, but she hadn’t succeeded in doing anything but delaying
it. If Varin agreed to drop the charges, all their problems could go away.
Osmund’s brow wrinkled, and he nodded, indicating he realized the same thing.
The larger boy let out a breath and turned to leave.
    “But my lord,” Sileon said, “I really should stay
and—”
    “Go Sileon,” Jez said.
    “But—”
    “Go. Wait outside.” He waved at the chart. “We’ll
finish this after I’m done with Lord Varin. It won’t take long.”
    Varin nodded. Sileon’s face reddened slightly, but he
managed to regain his composure before it became too obvious. He bowed, first
to Varin and then to Jez before leaving the room. Almost imperceptibly, the
edges of Varin’s lips tightened in the faintest hint of a smile. Jez glared at
him.
    “What do you want?”
    Varin looked down at the chair, but Jez still didn’t
invite him to sit. After a minute of silence, Varin shrugged and sat down
anyway.
    “I knew Dusan, you know.