Read Online The Master Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Charlie N. Holmberg
Ads: Link
he’s left England, that will be that. If not . . . I’ll tell someone
.
Investigate further.
Her palms sweated.
Ceony watched the sea loom closer and closer to the buggy, its body filled with checkered rows of ships, often two or three docks between each ship. Most of the boats stationed there now were small, but a few larger ones sat farther out on the water, too distant to be menacing.
A naval yard—and between two prisons, so the location made sense. But it also made Ceony’s muscles itch. She might not get far, surrounded by military.
She instructed her driver inland, a comfortable distance from both the naval yard and the ocean itself. She tipped him well when they finally stopped, and waited for the automobile to turn around and start for Waterlooville before venturing off.
Studying the road before her—it was barely large enough to fit two buggies—Ceony wondered if this very path had been taken by Saraj and his entourage, or if she had missed the mark entirely. Surely the law would have taken him by way of ferry between Haslar and Portsmouth, unless they feared him traversing open water, bound or not.
A cool, salt-laced breeze caressed Ceony’s ears, pulling her thoughts toward the ocean. She remembered standing on Foulness Island with Lira two years ago. The Excisioner—little more than an apprentice herself—had dropped blood in the water to send a wave crashing into Ceony’s backside, ruining most of Ceony’s paper spells. What could Saraj Prendi do with the sea if he had enough blood at his disposal?
She shook herself, glanced at the sun. This was no time to dawdle.
Leaving the road and journeying closer to town than to the military post, Ceony pinched her paper starlight marked “in 1744” and rebonded herself to paper. Finding a small clearing not too overrun with tall grass and briars, she knelt down and started Folding. Emery had a silly rule about Folding in one’s lap, but she could hardly drag a board all the way down here with her. Folding on her thighs did require more concentration, however.
She formed several paper songbirds, a simple spell she had learned at the beginning of her apprenticeship. She made four: two white, one yellow, one red.
“Breathe,” she said.
The paper creatures came to life in her hands, as if her one word had instilled them with souls. She pinched the bases of their bodies to keep them from flitting away.
“We’re searching for some specific things,” she said to their beaks. “Search the area, a few miles’ worth if you can. Look for broken pieces of carriages, skid marks, perhaps signs of a fight. Wide-spaced footprints. Blood on the street or in the soil. A thin Indian man with a narrow face.”
She paused, considering. “And any mirrors or other glass surfaces that are outdoors, away from the naval base.” If luck was with her and she could find a mirror with a wide view of the area, she might be able to dig into its past and see Saraj for herself. “Fly back to me if you see any of these things.”
The birds flapped their pointed wings, and Ceony released them, letting a second breeze glide them into the air. One of the white spells and the red spell flew toward town together; the other two split up, one gliding toward the coast, the other back up the road on which Ceony had arrived.
Any passersby would think them mail birds. And if Saraj spotted one, hopefully it would spot
him
. A double-edged sword was more useful than no weapon at all.
In the meantime, Ceony walked.
She stayed on the road for a while, keeping note of the passing time. Perhaps Emery would stay late in Dartford and she wouldn’t have to worry about punctuality, but she doubted it. The paper magician wasn’t overly fond of business trips, whatever their purpose.
The thought of Emery sent Ceony’s mind back to the ugly scene in Parliament Square.
Overheard them talking
, she wondered as she walked. What had her parents been discussing, and so loudly that Zina
.
Investigate further.
Her palms sweated.
Ceony watched the sea loom closer and closer to the buggy, its body filled with checkered rows of ships, often two or three docks between each ship. Most of the boats stationed there now were small, but a few larger ones sat farther out on the water, too distant to be menacing.
A naval yard—and between two prisons, so the location made sense. But it also made Ceony’s muscles itch. She might not get far, surrounded by military.
She instructed her driver inland, a comfortable distance from both the naval yard and the ocean itself. She tipped him well when they finally stopped, and waited for the automobile to turn around and start for Waterlooville before venturing off.
Studying the road before her—it was barely large enough to fit two buggies—Ceony wondered if this very path had been taken by Saraj and his entourage, or if she had missed the mark entirely. Surely the law would have taken him by way of ferry between Haslar and Portsmouth, unless they feared him traversing open water, bound or not.
A cool, salt-laced breeze caressed Ceony’s ears, pulling her thoughts toward the ocean. She remembered standing on Foulness Island with Lira two years ago. The Excisioner—little more than an apprentice herself—had dropped blood in the water to send a wave crashing into Ceony’s backside, ruining most of Ceony’s paper spells. What could Saraj Prendi do with the sea if he had enough blood at his disposal?
She shook herself, glanced at the sun. This was no time to dawdle.
Leaving the road and journeying closer to town than to the military post, Ceony pinched her paper starlight marked “in 1744” and rebonded herself to paper. Finding a small clearing not too overrun with tall grass and briars, she knelt down and started Folding. Emery had a silly rule about Folding in one’s lap, but she could hardly drag a board all the way down here with her. Folding on her thighs did require more concentration, however.
She formed several paper songbirds, a simple spell she had learned at the beginning of her apprenticeship. She made four: two white, one yellow, one red.
“Breathe,” she said.
The paper creatures came to life in her hands, as if her one word had instilled them with souls. She pinched the bases of their bodies to keep them from flitting away.
“We’re searching for some specific things,” she said to their beaks. “Search the area, a few miles’ worth if you can. Look for broken pieces of carriages, skid marks, perhaps signs of a fight. Wide-spaced footprints. Blood on the street or in the soil. A thin Indian man with a narrow face.”
She paused, considering. “And any mirrors or other glass surfaces that are outdoors, away from the naval base.” If luck was with her and she could find a mirror with a wide view of the area, she might be able to dig into its past and see Saraj for herself. “Fly back to me if you see any of these things.”
The birds flapped their pointed wings, and Ceony released them, letting a second breeze glide them into the air. One of the white spells and the red spell flew toward town together; the other two split up, one gliding toward the coast, the other back up the road on which Ceony had arrived.
Any passersby would think them mail birds. And if Saraj spotted one, hopefully it would spot
him
. A double-edged sword was more useful than no weapon at all.
In the meantime, Ceony walked.
She stayed on the road for a while, keeping note of the passing time. Perhaps Emery would stay late in Dartford and she wouldn’t have to worry about punctuality, but she doubted it. The paper magician wasn’t overly fond of business trips, whatever their purpose.
The thought of Emery sent Ceony’s mind back to the ugly scene in Parliament Square.
Overheard them talking
, she wondered as she walked. What had her parents been discussing, and so loudly that Zina
Similar Books
