03 - Princess of the Sword by Lynn Kurland

Author:Lynn Kurland [Kurland, Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Magic, Fantasy Fiction, General, Romance, Fantasy, Princesses, Fiction, Love Stories
ISBN: 9780425225684
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Published: 2009-01-12T22:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

Miach stood in the shadows of the great hall, wearing a spell of un-noticing under a spell of aversion under yet another spell of Olc. It was unpleasant and stifling. He could safely say he would be relieved to never need set foot inside Ceangail again, though he wasn’t unhappy that he had at present. Seeing Morgan’s reunion with her brother had been worth any unpleasantness.

Now, if they could just rid themselves of the unpleasantness in front of them, he would have been content.

Cruadal of Duibhreas swayed a bit as he stood a score of paces away from the lord’s chair. Perhaps his head pained him more than he cared to let on. Miach almost wished he’d done him in, but he hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that Cruadal had yet a part to play in the history of the Nine Kingdoms. He comforted himself thinking that Yngerame of Wychweald and Symon of Neroche had faced the same dilemma when they’d had Lothar in their power and considered slaying him. Though Miach wasn’t so sure that that wouldn’t have been a boon for them all.

But it might have upset the balance of good and evil in the world, as Master Soilléir was wont to say, so perhaps Yngerame and Symon had made the right choice. Miach could only hope he was doing the same thing.

Cruadal squinted as he peered into the darkness that surrounded Keir. “I am here for a spell.”

“Oh, are you,” Keir said, without a shred of inflection to his voice. “And you think I have one to give to you?”

“I know you do. And you’ll surely want to once you realize what I know.”

Miach couldn’t see Keir’s face thanks to both the spells that surrounded him and the hood he’d drawn over his head, but Miach could readily imagine his look of skepticism. Cruadal was bold, Miach would give him that. It took a particular sort of confidence to walk openly into a hall where one had no leverage and think to sway the lord by words alone.

Then again, perhaps Cruadal had a bargaining piece they didn’t know about.

“And just what is it you think you know?” Keir asked. “And you’d best make it very interesting. I don’t care to be called away from my private affairs without good reason.”

“Oh, nay,” Cruadal said, shaking his head gingerly. “Not that easily. There is a price to be paid for even a small bit of information.”

Keir laughed a bit. “Well, you’ve cheek, I’ll give you that. I’ll allow you to draw breath long enough to amuse me a bit more. Go ahead and name your price.”

“I want you to give me a spell. Actually, I want two of them, but I’m willing to wait for the second.”

“Ah, well, you are a patient lad, aren’t you?” Keir asked smoothly. “But so you have been for quite some time, haven’t you? It takes quite a bit of that to slowly administer poison to the siblings in your way of your father’s crown.

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