Of the Mortal Realm by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Author:Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-08-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

Hansa

As Hansa returned to the Quin Compound late that morning, he discovered that masking his magical aura was much less work without an Abyssal parasite pulling power from him. Comparatively speaking, it was easy. Keeping to the story he and Cadmia had crafted about a flu and a faint was even easier.

The last time he had been in the building, Hansa hadn’t been thinking about much of anything beyond the immediate task of getting the manuscript for Cupric, not thinking about Umber being with Cupric, and not passing out or losing the veils over his power. This time, he supposed his first task should be reporting to a superior officer.

He first attempted to locate Captain Montag, who had been put in charge of Company Four’s remaining men after Captain Feldgrau’s death, but the captains’ office and mess were both empty. He had just decided to find General Norseth, who would be Hansa’s supervisor once he took captainship of Company Four, when the same too-young guard who had greeted him during his nocturnal visit shouted his name.

“Hansa! Thank Nu—Eh.” He cut off the swear, which could have earned him a formal reprimand had anyone who cared overheard. His anxious posture didn’t change, though. “It’s good you’re here,” he said instead. “We have an emergency.”

“What’s going on?” Hansa made an effort to ask the question with a straight face, as he thought, What’s going on that you know about?

“There are rumors of a mancer gathering in the next few days,” the guard said, speaking rapidly in a low voice. “Six men from Company Three went to investigate, including Captain Grash, and never checked back in. General Norseth and Captian Montag are missing now, too, and no one has heard anything from His Eminence Indathrone. I know you were on an assignment for him recently. Do you have any idea what is going on?”

Two captains and the general missing, plus another five men from Company Three. Hansa doubted it was a coincidence. Had Verte and his cronies killed them all?

“Is anyone else missing?” Hansa asked, making no effort to conceal the simmering rage he felt as he considered those deaths. It was irrational in part; these were men who would have killed him, Cadmia, Umber, and Lydie without a second thought. But they were also men he had served beside, whose only thought had been to protect the people of Kavet and earn a paycheck to provide for their families. They were ignorant, but ignorance could be fixed. Death couldn’t be.

The younger guard let out a sound that could only be called a whimper. “I . . . I don’t know, sir. That’s not my . . . I’m not sure who to ask.” Except you, his expression clearly said.

Hansa nodded, mentally preparing to take control. As he had told Umber, if Verte was planning an assault on the city, the 126 were the best defense Kavet had. If Verte was planning anything less bloody, Hansa being in charge was the best defense the mancers of Kavet had.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.