Read Online Her Knight's Quest: A Warriors of the Mist Novel by Alexis Morgan - Free Book Online
Authors: Alexis Morgan
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table. “It belonged to Teo. That’s his mark on the side.”
“So you’re sure the other one belonged to Rubar?”
Musar studied it in turn. “Yes. Again, that’s his mark. You’ll find it on almost everything they own. It helps people who live in close quarters like the caravan wagons keep their belongings straight.”
Duncan braced himself and picked up the second purse. He immediately felt the same shiver of revulsion. This time, rather than tossing the bag down, he tugged the strings open and dumped the contents out on the table. He did the same with Teo’s, keeping the contents in separate piles.
Whatever it was he was feeling, he had no desire to touch it with his bare fingers. He used his knife to sort through the coins in each group. It didn’t take long to figure out which token was giving off the dread darkness.
He carefully sorted through Teo’s, quickly finding an identical coin. Would the other two people in the room sense the same power in the coins as he did? Perhaps a test was in order. Using the tip of his knife, he arranged five coins from each purse in a row, including the one that he knew to be the source of the problem.
“Lady Lavinia, would you please come closer? You, too, Musar.”
When they were flanking him, he said, “Don’t touch any of the coins. Simply hold your hand over them and tell me what you sense.”
As soon as Lavinia had her hand in position, her face turned pale. She jerked her arm back down to her side, wiping her palm on her robes as if it felt unclean. Musar was a little slower to react, but in the end he pointed at the right coin. He looked a bit stunned.
“What is that?”
“Those two coins have been ensorcelled. I suspect it was Teo who brought them into the abbey.”
He glanced at Musar. “I mean no disrespect. Someone gave him those coins deliberately, but the spell wasn’t triggered until he entered the abbey. He wouldn’t have sensed anything until then.”
Lavinia was noticeably quiet. What was she thinking?
Something niggled at the back of his mind, something about a coin. Finally, it came to him. “Earlier this evening, Rubar and Teo were joking about a bet they’d made. Nothing huge, just the kind of wager men who are friends will make with each other. Something silly, like who can hit the center of a target with his knife. Rubar had won the bet and was nagging Teo to pay him.”
He stared down at the two gold coins, identical to the others scattered on the table except for the cold, slippery feel of evil they gave off. “I am thinking that Teo paid off the wager with one of these coins. I don’t know how he came by them, but it was only by chance that it was Rubar who ended up with the coin.”
It was ever more clear that Rubar had been the true innocent in all of this. Grief tasted bitter on Duncan’s tongue. Then he noticed Musar’s hand reaching out to snatch the coin. Duncan grabbed his arm and pushed the trader back against the wall, putting himself directly between him and the table.
The man struggled against the hold Duncan had on him. He was no match for the strength of one of the Damned, but he was no weakling, either. If Musar managed to grab the coin, there was no telling what he would do. If he attacked Lavinia, Duncan would defend her, and the last thing he wanted to do was kill another man today. He already bore the burden of two innocent souls.
Lavinia caught Musar’s arm with both hands and kept him from reaching past Duncan.
“Musar, stop! You risk the same fate as your men if you touch those coins!”
By then, the trader’s eyes were wild, making it unlikely that mere words would get past the craving that had taken control of him. Duncan did the only thing he could. He stepped back far enough to give himself room to maneuver and slugged the trader with every bit of strength he had in him.
Musar stumbled back against the wall as his eyes rolled up in his head. Then he sank to the floor in an ungraceful heap.
“So you’re sure the other one belonged to Rubar?”
Musar studied it in turn. “Yes. Again, that’s his mark. You’ll find it on almost everything they own. It helps people who live in close quarters like the caravan wagons keep their belongings straight.”
Duncan braced himself and picked up the second purse. He immediately felt the same shiver of revulsion. This time, rather than tossing the bag down, he tugged the strings open and dumped the contents out on the table. He did the same with Teo’s, keeping the contents in separate piles.
Whatever it was he was feeling, he had no desire to touch it with his bare fingers. He used his knife to sort through the coins in each group. It didn’t take long to figure out which token was giving off the dread darkness.
He carefully sorted through Teo’s, quickly finding an identical coin. Would the other two people in the room sense the same power in the coins as he did? Perhaps a test was in order. Using the tip of his knife, he arranged five coins from each purse in a row, including the one that he knew to be the source of the problem.
“Lady Lavinia, would you please come closer? You, too, Musar.”
When they were flanking him, he said, “Don’t touch any of the coins. Simply hold your hand over them and tell me what you sense.”
As soon as Lavinia had her hand in position, her face turned pale. She jerked her arm back down to her side, wiping her palm on her robes as if it felt unclean. Musar was a little slower to react, but in the end he pointed at the right coin. He looked a bit stunned.
“What is that?”
“Those two coins have been ensorcelled. I suspect it was Teo who brought them into the abbey.”
He glanced at Musar. “I mean no disrespect. Someone gave him those coins deliberately, but the spell wasn’t triggered until he entered the abbey. He wouldn’t have sensed anything until then.”
Lavinia was noticeably quiet. What was she thinking?
Something niggled at the back of his mind, something about a coin. Finally, it came to him. “Earlier this evening, Rubar and Teo were joking about a bet they’d made. Nothing huge, just the kind of wager men who are friends will make with each other. Something silly, like who can hit the center of a target with his knife. Rubar had won the bet and was nagging Teo to pay him.”
He stared down at the two gold coins, identical to the others scattered on the table except for the cold, slippery feel of evil they gave off. “I am thinking that Teo paid off the wager with one of these coins. I don’t know how he came by them, but it was only by chance that it was Rubar who ended up with the coin.”
It was ever more clear that Rubar had been the true innocent in all of this. Grief tasted bitter on Duncan’s tongue. Then he noticed Musar’s hand reaching out to snatch the coin. Duncan grabbed his arm and pushed the trader back against the wall, putting himself directly between him and the table.
The man struggled against the hold Duncan had on him. He was no match for the strength of one of the Damned, but he was no weakling, either. If Musar managed to grab the coin, there was no telling what he would do. If he attacked Lavinia, Duncan would defend her, and the last thing he wanted to do was kill another man today. He already bore the burden of two innocent souls.
Lavinia caught Musar’s arm with both hands and kept him from reaching past Duncan.
“Musar, stop! You risk the same fate as your men if you touch those coins!”
By then, the trader’s eyes were wild, making it unlikely that mere words would get past the craving that had taken control of him. Duncan did the only thing he could. He stepped back far enough to give himself room to maneuver and slugged the trader with every bit of strength he had in him.
Musar stumbled back against the wall as his eyes rolled up in his head. Then he sank to the floor in an ungraceful heap.
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