Read Online Below the Wizards' Tower (The Royal Wizard of Yurt Book 8) by C. Dale Brittain - Free Book Online Page A

“I’ve come to warn you that there may be
some sort of magical attack on Caelrhon, and—”
    This time it was a young acolyte who
interrupted, one who was supporting the dean by the elbow.   “You really did not need to come around again, especially after what you said earlier!   Now, please.   Can’t you see that the dean does not
wish to be bothered?”   And he
escorted him briskly down to his house at the end of the street.
    What I had said earlier?   I stood still as the rest of the
cathedral priests hurried past me, some pulling their vestments aside as though
wanting to avoid all contact.
    In a few seconds I managed to
reassure myself that I had not, months ago, said anything grossly insulting to
the dean when I had first met him.   If I had, Joachim would have pointed it out.   He might be my friend, but he had never
been strong on tact.
    Instead someone else had been here,
probably today, claiming to be me.
    Marcus.   But why would someone who charmed all
the women and lost his money in the tavern be here, asserting that he was a
wizard and saying impolitic things to the cathedral officers of Caelrhon?
    It had to be Elerius.   But I had even less idea than before
what plot he could possibly be hatching.
    It didn’t look as though anyone was
going to listen to me until it was too late.   The mayor still seemed my best potential
ally, because the townspeople would believe him if he told them they had to
prepare for something, but I would have to wait until morning to find him.
    Should I spend the night preparing
myself?   It was hard to know where
to begin.   And besides, I was
completely worn out, both from my ordeal yesterday and from the long flight
today.   Better to go to the little
castle here in the city, where the royal court of Yurt stayed whenever they
came to Caelrhon.   With a good
night’s sleep I might have some ideas in the morning.
    I started across the city, which now
was growing dark.   Shutters were
closed, but yellow light emerged in thin strips, and I could hear the sounds of
conversation and the clink of forks.   That reminded me.   I was
hungry and hoped there would be something to eat at the castle.
    But when I came around the corner to
the little square in front of it, I found it dark and forbidding.   The towers were a darker shade of night
against the sky.   No light peeked
through the shutters here, and when I tried the door I found it locked.
    Well, I was a wizard, I could get
inside, but I had better find something to eat first.   Back down the street I went, listening
for the louder voices and clinks that would mark an inn.   I found one just a few streets away,
warm firelight streaming out open doors.   Someone was singing loudly, not quite in tune.   Something smelled very good—at a
guess, beef stew.
    But as I stepped into the doorway I
felt a hand on my shoulder.   “Escaped, eh?   Hope you
didn’t think you could slip back here unnoticed!”
    I swung around, spells all prepared
against Elerius.   But it was a
uniformed member of the municipal guard.
    He took a firmer grip on my shoulder
and hefted a club in his other hand.   “Come quietly, and no one gets hurt.   I don’t know how you escaped, but it’s
not going to happen again!”
    I was so startled that I went
meekly.   Apparently he had taken me
for some thief or disturber of the peace.
    “You’re making a serious mistake,” I
said as he hurried me away from the smell of beef stew and back toward the
municipal building.   “I’m the Royal
Wizard of Yurt.”
    “And I’m the crown prince of Yurt,”
he said, not believing me for an instant.   “You can tell the mayor all about it in court tomorrow.”
    The thought went through my mind
that Elerius was losing his touch.   Leaving me paralyzed in the sea-cave had worked fairly well, but trying
to lock us in the cellars together had worked only for a short time, and my
time in Caelrhon prison was going to be even shorter.
    But I