Read Online The Smoke-Scented Girl by Melissa McShane - Free Book Online

could I cast the spell?”
    “The latter, of course. You’ve too much
compassion for the former.”
    He said it in such an offhanded way that Evon
felt the tips of his ears redden with embarrassment rather than
cold. “I—no, I can’t imagine casting such a powerful spell. I can’t
imagine anyone capable of such power.”
    “And you are the most powerful magician of
your generation. Don’t protest, we both know it’s true. No one else
in our class was recruited to a highly prestigious cooperative
directly out of school, bypassing university entirely. No one in
the history of Houndston took the gold medal six years running. And
if this woman is of an age with you, or younger....” His voice
trailed off.
    “You’re wondering what else she might be
capable of.”
    “I’m wondering what might happen to us if we
face her directly. You know I have the utmost faith in your
abilities, dear fellow, but I also have a deep and abiding love for
keeping my integument intact. Perhaps this isn’t the best idea
we’ve ever had.”
    Evon blew out an explosive breath. “She’s
been targeting men and women who’ve done great evil to those around
them. I was hoping I could convince her to turn that desire for
justice on the Despot of Balviros’s armies. You know better than I
how his forces are advancing. You know the kind of destruction he
leaves behind him.”
    “I know that his atrocities have multiplied
in the last year,” Piercy said. “It seems as if he no longer cares
whether the countries he conquers remain a viable part of his
empire. But...Evon, I’m beginning to agree with you that the
Fearsome Firemage, whatever her name is, might not be sane.
Convincing her of anything might be impossible.”
    “Do you think we should go home, then?
Report...what? I don’t know what we could even tell our superiors
that wouldn’t see us out on the street, unemployed and unemployable
due to no references.” He chose not to think about Miss Elltis’s
probable reaction.
    “I don’t know. I simply wish we had a better
plan of attack.”
    “So do I.” Evon wiped his nose, which had
begun to drip from the cold. Another two hours and it would be too
dark to go on. “Let’s just focus on finding her. We can decide what
to do from there. If we’re right, and she’s taken a job somewhere,
we might be able to confront her in public so she’s less likely to
simply attack us.”
    “There is still a great deal of ‘if’ and
‘might’ attached to that plan, but I agree it’s better than
nothing.” Piercy sniffled and wiped his own nose. “Not to complain,
dear fellow, but I am so weary of sleeping on floors that I become
less interested in the fate of our mysterious quarry with every
mile that passes.”
    “Let’s push on a little farther,” Evon said,
flicking his reins, “and with luck we’ll find a bed rather than a
floor.”
    They rode into Inveros around eleven o’clock
in the morning the following day, following a wagon caravan laden
with raw lumber headed for the port. Evon felt as if the city grew
up around them, new construction giving way to established
buildings of brick and limestone and then to granite quarried and
hauled from over fifty miles away, tangible evidence that the more
prosperous residents of Inveros could afford the same amenities as
their wealthier neighbors in Matra. Inveros was smaller than the
capital, but it felt bigger because of the wide streets, wide
enough for two carts to pass without inconveniencing pedestrians on
either side. There were few riders on horseback, and Evon and
Piercy had trouble navigating between coaches and carts that
regarded the streets as their property. By the time they found a
satisfactory inn—satisfactory to Piercy, who dismissed Evon’s first
three choices as lacking in amenities, by which he meant an
en-suite bath—Evon was more tired and irritable than he’d been the
past three days living rough on the road. They turned their horses
over to the