The Royal Sorceress by Christopher Nuttall

Author:Christopher Nuttall [Nuttall, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC002000 Fiction / Action & Adventure, 3JH, FIC040000 FICTION / Alternative History, FIC009030 FICTION / Fantasy / Historical, FM Fantasy, FJH Historical adventure
ISBN: 9781908168184
Publisher: Elsewhen Press
Published: 2012-10-05T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

She felt...odd. Her head was swimming, as if it was a dream, yet she couldn’t wake up. Thoughts seemed to flicker across her mind, only to vanish before she could quite grasp their importance. Something bad had happened, she knew, and yet...what? And who was she?

A voice echoed through her mind. You’ve been badly hurt, it said. She couldn’t tell whose voice it was, or where it was coming from. It might have been an angel’s voice, an angel carrying her to Heaven. Or maybe it was a delusion brought on by her injuries. Relax and let me take care of you. You’re going to be fine.

Gwen’s mind swam again and she plunged back down into darkness.

***

Lucy removed her hands from Gwen’s temples and looked up at Jack. “She’s going to be fine,” she said, briskly. She hadn’t appreciated the call to leave her brothel and come to a building Jack had hired for his plans, but she’d come. If she hadn’t...well, Jack knew that magicians were often tougher than mundane people, yet Gwen had been badly injured. She might not have survived the night. “You do realise that you’re taking one hell of a risk?”

Jack nodded, shortly. Lucy’s talent was rare; indeed, she was the only Healer Jack knew to exist. The Royal College had heard rumours of her abilities, enough to make them suspect that the talent existed, but they had never come close to finding Lucy or another Healer. Jack had heard a story that a French girl in Southern France had developed the talent, yet she’d been burned to death by a mob of priests, after being formally accused of witchcraft. No wonder most magicians in France kept their talents to themselves. And Jack, who should have shared the talent, had never been able to master it for himself. Healing was rather more tricky than Changing or Infusing.

“It’s a worthwhile risk,” he said. He hadn’t expected Master Thomas’s apprentice to give chase so enthusiastically and he’d had to hold back, just to avoid harming her before she fell into his trap. He’d also expected bodyguards and it had taken nearly an hour before he’d concluded that no one had been sent to escort her. Master Thomas was slipping – or, perhaps, he hadn’t realised that Gwen would need a bodyguard; he would certainly have been profoundly insulted at the suggestion that he might need such protection himself. “She might come over to our side.”

Lucy quirked an eyebrow. She was no Talker, able to read minds, but she was expert at reading people. Whores learned quickly on the streets, or they died when one of their clients turned out to have nasty tastes and no respect for limits. And Lucy had known Jack for over a decade. They’d never been lovers, but they had been close friends and allies. She knew that there was more involved than his cause. Gwen was attractive and she was clearly more skilled than anyone, even Master Thomas, had realised. Masters

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