Read Online Arm Of Galemar (Book 2) by Damien Lake - Free Book Online

I
like to focus on the good men.  Let’s go over those reports, then you can draw
up Garroway’s contract.”
     
    *        *        *        *        *
     
    A fat candle with three wicks burned beside Marik’s
head.  He struggled to turn the next page in the book without shifting
position.  Since the window over his cot faced north, the sun never shone
directly through, thus making this a poor location to decipher the tiny words. 
It beat the alternative, though.  The enormous book was propped against his
knees and he needed to be careful lest he knock the squat candle from the
miniature shelf nailed to his closet’s side as he flipped pages.
    Tollaf had been reluctant to let Marik take the book
from the Tower, but Marik wanted to stay cooped up inside those enclosed rooms
even less.  On the promise he would read the book a few marks every day, Tollaf
finally assented to its removal.  Which worked out better despite the poor
lighting.  Marik could concentrate more deeply on the tiny words with the
ambient sounds of steel-on-steel in the background, drifting through the town,
only audible outside Tollaf’s walled realm.
    And he needed every ounce of concentration he could
muster.  Reading this book was akin to sifting through a well-stocked storeroom
after an earth tremor.  Random thoughts were strewn carelessly over the pages. 
Also, Galemaran had been Natalie’s second language.  Why she had chosen to use
it in her diary he did not know, except perhaps that it added additional
protection against unauthorized snoopers.  It severely increased the reading
difficulty.
    Natalie was an…interesting…mage, Marik had come to
learn.  Seeing her life through her diary’s eyes often brought a blush to his
cheeks.  In such cases, he would pull the book closer, hiding his bright color
from his friends.  The last thing he needed was their relentless teasing.
    Though still in the book’s opening pages, he had so
far discovered two descriptions that might be scrying techniques.  Natalie had
yet to explain their procedures, instead filling the pages with notes on the
best times to use them.  She used them primarily to keep a jealous eye on her
many lovers.
    Which theme succinctly summarized her life.  What
professional practices she engaged in with her mage gift, he had no idea, yet
she certainly employed it in her private affairs.  Every page he’d plowed
through thus far was devoted to ways for keeping tabs on her partners.  Or to
mage workings she had apparently invented herself that could enhance her own
sexual pleasure.  Natalie might not have been promiscuous, but she had
certainly been active.  Intensely active, he would say.
    And imaginative.  Marik felt the heat in his face
rising again as he deciphered another of her annotations.  What in the world
is ‘clamraker’s first tool’ supposed to mean?
    Without warning, a figure abruptly stormed into the
Fourth Unit’s bunk area.  A figure who had never been there before.
    “Mage!”
    Marik fumbled with the book, the shout having
surprised him.  Colbey stood in the empty space where the half-wall ended. 
“Colbey?  What are you doing in here?”
    “Get your sword and follow me.”  It was delivered as a
directive.
    Before Marik could respond, the scout vanished.  Now
what’s going on?
    A break would be in perfect order.  He shoved aside
the clothes hanging in his closet to retrieve his father’s sword.  In the back,
the Nolier duke’s giant blade barely fit inside.  Shifting the enormous book
diagonally, it too just managed to squeeze in.
    He took his leather gloves and a cloak as well, hoping
he would be prepared for whatever the scout had in mind.  Predicting anything
regarding Colbey was a waste of time.
    The scout stood beside the main door when Marik
entered the dining area.  He immediately departed without a word.  Clearly he
expected the apprentice mage to follow.
    I guess I’ll play along.