Assassin of Curses: (The Coren Hart Chronicles Book 3) by Jessie Eaker (best novels in english TXT) 📕

on me. “You have to swear you won’t tell anyone about this. No one. Not even Zofie.”

I glanced in her direction. “But she’s....”

Fumiko shook her head. “Don’t worry about that for now. Can you keep this just between us?”

I rubbed my face. “That’s a high price. Why can’t we tell her? Zofie’s a very accepting person, and I’m sure she would not be offended by anything you’ve done.”

“True.” Fumiko nodded. “Don’t get me wrong. I love Zofie. She’s been very kind to me. I’d give my life for her in a heartbeat, and I count her as my closest friend. But still...” She searched my face. “She’s also a ruler. And sometimes, they have to do difficult things. Maybe even things they don’t want to do.” She looked down. “Some rulers might find my skills... useful.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think Zofie is like that.”

She shook her head. “Neither do I.” She looked to Zofie’s sleeping form. “But I don’t want to take the risk. You, on the other hand...” She looked back to me. “I know you would never force me to do something horrible.”

I began to feel a little uncomfortable. She was obviously hiding some deep scars, and I didn’t feel I deserved the level of trust she was giving me. But if she had a way to find the key—

“All right,” I said. “I swear I won’t reveal what you show me. That is unless it somehow becomes a threat to Zofie herself?”

Fumiko nodded. “I can accept that.”

“So, how can you get Lord Merrick to let us use the finder?”

Fumiko turned her back to me and took two steps away, before pausing and then looking over her shoulder. Only, it wasn’t Fumiko anymore. Zofie was smiling coyly, looking back at me and wearing the same dress she had worn earlier in the day.

“What do you think, Coren?” the vision of Zofie asked, in her familiar inflection. She smiled with that same sweet smile my love always used.

My heart leaped into my throat. I glanced to the bed and saw the real Zofie laying on her back, covers pulled up to her chin, and her eyes closed.

“How...?”

Suddenly Fumiko was back to her normal self. She turned away. “I’m a myst user, nowhere near as strong as Zofie or Rourke, but I can craft illusions to conceal myself. One as detailed as that, I can’t hold for long, maybe an hour at most, and a detection device can see through it.”

“Still, that’s pretty impressive. But why would you not want Zofie to know about this? It seems perfectly harmless.”

She turned slowly to face me, her expression sad. “You are much too trusting.” And suddenly Fumiko wasn’t there anymore. My eyes darted around the room. “Where did you go?”

I heard Fumiko’s voice from in front of me. “It’s another type of illusion. This one of shadow.”

I looked closer, trying to detect some sign she was still there. I stiffened as I felt a single finger poke me in the back.

“I can use it to conceal my movements,” she said. “I can sneak up on someone quite easily.”

Fumiko walked around in front of me, her hand trailing along my shoulder. “I can hold the shadow illusion for two or three hours, provided I can keep my focus. That’s plenty long enough to sneak up on someone unawares.” She looked down. “And the reason I wasn’t worried about Zofie hearing us is that I’ve surrounded us with a circle of silence. Sound won’t travel outside it. It easily covers voices...” and then she whispered. “Or a scream.” She shivered.

I suddenly understood why she had been reluctant to tell Zofie. Fumiko’s skills could easily be turned toward a dark purpose. “But why would you need to learn something like that?”

Fumiko didn’t answer. She crossed her arms and took two steps away before turning back toward me. From her demeanor, I could tell I wasn’t going to get an answer.

“So,” she said. “I can pretend to be the princess for a short while. Hopefully, her presence will be enough to convince Lord Merrick. We’ll just have to keep the visit short. I haven’t practiced in a while, so the shorter, the better.”

I smiled. “I don’t think that will be a problem. He hates us. We’ll be out before you know it.”

Fumiko nodded. She stepped closer and rested a hand on my arm. “And please Coren, don’t tell anyone. No one can know.”

I tried to make light of it and gave a short bow. “Your secret is safe with me, Mistress Fumiko.”

But instead of a smile, Fumiko looked at me sadly. She seemed to catch herself and quickly turned away. “You’re much too trusting.”

The carriage bounced hard and I was startled awake. I sat up, looking around and trying to get my bearings. Across from me, Fumiko sat with her eyes closed and her head leaning against the side. I shook my head. Even asleep, she still looked composed. I wondered how she did it.

I pulled the window shade aside and saw that we were close to Lord Merrick’s manor. I nervously rubbed my palms on my knees. I sure hope this worked. If Merrick suspected anything, it would not only mean we wouldn’t get to use the finder, but he would know something was wrong with Zofie.

I tried to rub the tiredness from my eyes. Neither Fumiko nor I had gotten much sleep. Zofie had slept quietly through the night, so we were quite startled when at dawn, she had opened her eyes and sat up. But to my disappointment, she took no further action. Zofie simply sat there in her nightdress until Fumiko directed her to take care of her morning business. Seeing her emotionless face in the dawn light did nothing to ease my heart.

And so