Read Online Bookworm II: The Very Ugly Duckling by Christopher Nuttall - Free Book Online

that the Grand Sorceress couldn’t keep order. It would undermine the Empire’s stability further ... she scowled as she remembered her last letter from Bee. He’d told her that his mistress, the Empress of the South, had been asking him for his impressions of the Grand Sorceress and openly questioning her ability to handle the task of running the Empire.
    “I’ll concentrate on Johan,” she said, finally. “Can you interview his family? See what they make of the whole affair?”
    “Once I get some free time,” Dread said. He turned and started to walk towards the door. “If we can catch the perpetrators red-handed, it might be harder for them to hide behind their families.”
    Elaine nodded, then turned back to Johan as Dread left the room.
    “What are you?” she asked. There was no reply, apart from the steady rise and fall of his chest. “And what are you becoming?”

 

    Chapter Six
    Johan felt ... weird .
    It was an odd sensation, one that seemed to twist and turn through his head, making it impossible for him to even get a grip on what it actually was . He thought he had a headache, save that there was no pain; it was almost as if he were dreaming that he had a headache. But there was something very wrong in his head ...
    Johan had nightmares regularly, but this was different. There was a sense of reality that was lacking in his other nightmares, a sense that he couldn’t escape no matter what he did. In a way, he was almost aware that he was dreaming ... and, at the same time, he was convinced that he wasn’t dreaming. There was a sudden stab of pain, so painful that he screamed ...
    ... And then he snapped awake.
    His head suddenly hurt as light blazed down from high overhead. Stunned, he squeezed his eyes shut as daggers seemed to plunge through his eyeballs and into his skull. He tried to recall what had happened, but nothing came to mind. Had one of his siblings played a trick on him ... or had something else happened? His memory seemed to have failed him, although it was hard to concentrate. Pain ... and something else ... seemed to be coiling in his mind, burning through his thoughts. He just wanted to roll over and die.
    “Johan,” a voice said. It was soft, female ... and completely unfamiliar. “Can you hear me?”
    Johan felt his entire body twisting in pain. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again as his stomach heaved violently. By all the gods! It was worse than when he’d caught that bug as a young man and spent two weeks in bed with cramps ... his siblings, of course, had escaped entirely, thanks to their magic. Had he been ill? Or had something else happened, something his mind refused to remember?
    “Yes,” he managed, finally. The urge to retch was growing stronger and stronger. “I ... sick ...”
    He open his eyes. The light had dimmed, thankfully, but he could still see two anxious faces peering down at him. One wore the white robes of a druid, complete with golden sickle on his belt; the other wore the purple robes of a Privy Councillor. Johan found himself coughing instead of laughing, even though seeing her was funny. What sort of Privy Councillor would come to investigate a mere Powerless? A moment later, he retched violently, but there was nothing in his stomach to throw up. It was no relief.
    “You’ve had a bit of a nasty blow, young man,” the druid said. His voice made him sound ancient, but that was rather reassuring. Incompetent magicians didn’t last long. “How are you feeling?”
    “Head hurts,” Johan managed. His chest hurt too. “Throat dry. I ...”
    “Here,” the druid said, passing him a flask of clear liquid. Johan sipped it gratefully, recognising the taste of purified water. The water made his head feel better, although something was still pounding away inside his skull. It was funny; he almost felt as though he were outside his body, looking in. “How much do you remember ...?”
    As if the question had unlocked memoires he’d