C. Dale Brittain_Wizard of Yurt 03 by Mage Quest

Author:Mage Quest [Quest, Mage]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781555940768
Amazon: B004VWL76E
Publisher: Baen Books
Published: 1993-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

The inn served us fried eggplant for dinner. King Haimeric had never had eggplant before; even in the City, it was uncommon outside a few eastern restaurants. He ate his slowly, telling us one minute that he liked it tremendously and the next that he didn’t, trying to decide if the queen would like it or if the royal cook could find a better way to prepare it.

“What’s this ring you’re trying to find?” asked Ascelin as the waiter brought us pastries sticky with honey and cups of spiced tea.

“I think it’s what the chaplain’s sister-in-law gave him, what the bandits stole from us,” I said slowly. I went on to explain my theory that Joachim’s brother had intended using him as his representative in buying the ebony horse from the mage, while concealing from him that that was what he was doing.

The chaplain shook his head. “I cannot believe in such a deception. Claudia gave me a present, I presume in memory of our old friendship, but it wasn’t anything important or valuable. She told me so herself when I apologized for losing it.”

But no one paid attention to this. “Why do you think the ring will have traveled from the mountains across the eastern kingdoms to Xantium?” asked Hugo.

“It shouldn’t have,” I agreed. “But I think it’s worth looking for. After all, if Arnulf had heard there was a flying horse for sale here, with the price a magic ring, Warin may have heard it too. Kaz-alrhun seems fairly determined to have it. The real flaw in my theory,” I added, “is that Kaz-alrhun was expecting something from Yurt. He’d heard of the kingdom and thought it important, even if he’d only heard of it from Evrard—by the way, did you hear him saying he’d met Evrard?”

“We already knew Sir Hugo’s party passed through Xantium,” said the king. “Since everyone here wants to guide us to the Thieves’ Market, the same thing must have happened to them.”

“He said he wanted a ring from Yurt only in order to mislead you,” said Dominic. “It’s my ruby ring he’s after, and he must have seen it on my hand today. That wizard in the eastern kingdoms certainly wanted it. Somehow the story got out that the spell to reveal the, the—whatever my father had found in the Wadi—was hidden in his snake ring. That’s why someone had opened his tomb.”

“But neither the mage nor Arnulf himself made any attempt to get your ring away from you,” I said. “Maybe Arnulf had gotten hold of a different magic ring, with different properties, to swap to Kaz-alrhun for the ebony horse, yet for some reason it’s important for it to be from Yurt.”

“I still don’t understand,” said Joachim, “even if my brother did send a magic ring with us, why he could possibly want a flying horse. I would not believe it even now if his agents had not been so sure. He does not even employ a wizard. My father and

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.