Hunted Sorcery (Jon Oklar Book 2) B.T. Narro (book reader for pc .TXT) 📖

usually wore, this one black. I had meant to purchase more clothing, and I especially had to now after my best shirt was ripped from the fight with Henrik.

I had killed yet another man, but I knew it had to be done. Otherwise, I would’ve been the body on the floor in that office.

My first emotion finally came on our way back to the castle. I was scared. He had almost killed me. One man, alone. My confidence was shattered. It wasn’t long ago that I had taken on three men in the home of a dark mage, one of them a dteria sorcerer. I had been tired from my punishment, weaponless as well. Though during that whole encounter, I’d never thought my life was at risk.

The fight against Henrik was like the one against Cason. I’d felt outmatched.

It could’ve easily gone the other way.

I would speak to the king about resuming my offensive training. It wasn’t like I was going to learn how to sustain an illusion long enough to spy anyway. The best I could do with ordia was figure out how to identify enchantments.

“Jon?” Michael asked.

“What?”

“Did you hear what I said?”

“No, sorry.”

“Let him be for now,” Reuben suggested to Michael.

I didn’t know what they saw in my eyes, but both seemed concerned.

I vaguely remembered Michael asking me about the fight just now. Reuben was right, I preferred not to speak. I would have to tell the king soon anyway; they could hear it then.

Eventually we arrived. We marched into the castle, through the courtyard, and straight into the dining hall. It was lunchtime, and the rest of our peers were eating already.

The king sat at his table on the other side of the long dining room, his daughter on one side and his wife on the other. Everyone, including the royal family, stopped eating when they saw us approaching. I noticed most everyone’s gaze on me, as I no longer hid the crossbow behind the large black cloak Reuben had bought for me. Blood stained my clothes under the open cloak, but I knew none of the people in this room needed to be shielded from the sight of a little blood after everything else that had happened.

I walked up to the royal table as I heard my peers getting up and coming after me. A few murmured questions about what had happened, but I blocked out their voices to focus only on the king for now.

“What is this crossbow?” Nykal asked as he stood and gestured at it. Then he lowered his eyebrows. “Is that blood on your clothes? Jon,” he lectured, his tone grim. “You used the callring calmly to signify you didn’t need urgent assistance.”

“That was not a mistake, sire,” I explained. “I didn’t have time to use it until after the fight was over.”

“What happened?” he asked as everyone around us quieted to listen.

“There was a trap waiting for me at The Pearl. I was attacked by a powerful dark mage. He stabbed me many times, but I healed myself. I’m fine,” I assured the king, and everyone else. I didn’t want anyone to know just how close I’d come to losing my life. It was not something I wanted to admit to myself, either. “Michael and Reuben arrived and then went to fetch Byron.” I lifted the crossbow slightly. “He says our best chance at finding someone who knows Cason’s plan is by finding the man who made this crossbow. Byron says you might have an idea how to find him. And I think I should note that the bow Cason used when Leon and I last saw him was painted black as well. It might’ve been made by the same person.”

“Set it down,” Nykal ordered, then gestured for a servant.

I placed the weapon on the table, as far from their lunch as I could, which wasn’t very far.

“Who was the man who attacked you?” Nykal asked, but then he put up his hand to stop me from answering as the servant arrived. “Get Barrett here,” he told the man.

The servant nodded and ran off.

“His name was Henrik Plumb,” I said. “Byron confirmed he was the cousin of the innkeeper. The innkeeper reached out to him for help not knowing that he was loyal to Cason. I believe Henrik killed his cousin.” I paused as I held my tongue. “Our enemies clearly expected me to come there.”

I could only hint at the remaining issue here: I wanted to ask if the king had told anyone else about my task yesterday, someone who might be working against us, which would’ve given our enemies enough time to know I was coming.

However, I didn’t have the authority to accuse the king of betraying me, even by accident. I had already been punished severely for going against him. I wasn’t about to again.

He looked at me for a long while. His majesty was always a difficult man to read.

“The rest of you may return to your seats,” the king announced.

Then he waited as everyone slowly crept back to their spots.

“So Byron knows everything of what happened?” he asked me.

“Everything important.”

“What is he missing?”

“Just details of the fight.”

Callie stared at me with a worried expression. Her mother, however, seemed quite skilled at pretending that no one around her existed as she dined casually.

“It was a long fight?” Nykal asked.

I nodded.

“And you didn’t have even a moment to use the callring?”

“I had to decide between using it and healing myself in the few moments I had.”

“You were that outmatched by one man who I presume could not heal?”

My pride made it difficult to admit, but this was the exact information I had hoped to share. “I was. That is the other matter I wanted to speak to you about.”

“Your progress with the illusion.”

I checked again on the queen, who had finally lifted her gaze to settle on me. She didn’t seem abashed as I met gazes with her. Like her husband, she was difficult to read.

She looked younger