Read Online Intrigues by Sharon Green - Free Book Online Page A

of pleased surprise. “Shall we see if I did it right?”
    I gave him a quick kiss to show my agreement – and gratitude – and then began to get out of my clothes. He did the same, and a pair of moments later we entered the bath hand in hand. The water was only a little warmer than usual, something my tired body was able to appreciate quite a lot. I washed quickly and then soaked some, floating comfortably in Vallant’s arms.
    All right, so that was when I fell asleep. I’d been too busy working on the arrangements for the party to get a lot of ordinary sleep, but Vallant didn’t have to leave waking me until it was time to dress. Sometimes I wonder about that man…
     
    Jovvi entered the huge ballroom on Lorand’s arm, her thoughts whirling with everything he’d recently shared with her. Some of it was just disturbing, but the rest needed to be also shared with the others.
    “It looks like everyone Tamrissa invited decided to get here early,” Lorand commented as they walked, nodding to those people he knew. “And for a last minute affair, we seem to have a really good turnout.”
    “Most of these city people would have preferred to die under torture rather than miss this party,” Jovvi told him as she did her own nodding. “They’re the least bit intimidated by being in the midst of so many High and strong Middle talents, but an invitation to a ball at the palace is something they never expected to get. Even if they’re never invited again, they’ll still have this time to remember for the rest of their lives.”
    “You’re still bothered by what you read,” Lorand said, and there was more concern than questioning in his tone. “I’m beginning to be sorry that I located all those hidden scribes.”
    “Finding them was the only way to regain some privacy in our lives,” Jovvi told him with a headshake as she patted his arm. “What’s really bothering me is the way that Earth magic user of those five people thought he’d made himself safe from their observation. He killed some of them and put others to sleep, and by doing that considered himself safe from discovery.”
    “He obviously had no idea that the scribes were all Spirit magic users and were closely linked,” Lorand said with a sigh. “I still don’t understand how they were linked, since it wasn’t in groups of five or tandem tens, but every time he eliminated or neutralized one, another secretly took that one’s place.”
    “And they recorded everything he said and did, including that … time with his parents,” Jovvi added, fighting with all her strength to keep from being ill. “I’m really sorry I began to read that, but finding out about that special linking gives me something else than being sick to occupy my attention. It isn’t hard to do once you know about it, but I have a feeling the linkage has a purpose other than the one it was put to.”
    “Doesn’t everything?” Lorand asked with a grimace that matched the one Jovvi felt on the inside. “Every time we learn something new, it becomes very clear how much more we don’t know. If it ever became possible to get my hands on the ones who first made using talent something to be kept secret… Well, let’s just say that I would not be gentle with them.”
    “Let’s also say that your violence would have mine to keep it company,” Jovvi said, leaving Lorand in no doubt that she meant what she’d told him. “But we’d better save this discussion for another time. Some of our more exalted guests are beginning to make their way over to us.”
    Jovvi settled a pleasant smile on her face as Lorand glanced up to see who their social ambushers were. Lavrit Mohr, High Master of the Guild, was there with his new second-in-command and some of his people, as was Ristor Ardanis, leader of those with Sight magic, along with some of his followers. Mohr and Ardanis hadn’t been standing together because they hadn’t yet been introduced, but that was one of the reasons for