Hunted Sorcery (Jon Oklar Book 2) by B.T. Narro (chapter books to read to 5 year olds .txt) 📕

“I know.” He gave a long sigh. “She’s perfect.”

“For you? There’s probably no one better.”

“What about me for her?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“I have no idea,” I admitted.

“You’re supposed to say I would make her very happy!”

“Oh. You would make her very happy.”

“That was extremely convincing.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Charlie became upset during breakfast the next day. It seemed that he had assumed we would be able to train this morning, but I told him I needed more time. The king was sending me out of the castle, and it wasn’t as if I could just ignore this order. Charlie tried to convince me that working with him to figure out mana was going to help everyone more than whatever I needed to do outside the castle, but all I could tell him was that he needed to take it up with the king.

Soon I was headed out while all my peers stayed behind. It was the king himself who had the other callring, which was enchanted by Eden some time ago along with the one I wore on my finger. I took my sword with me as I went down the streets this time. I wouldn’t be leaving the castle without it anymore. If carrying it made people nervous, then I was sorry for that, but I needed to have it.

I walked to The Pearl, a large establishment that seemed a little too quiet for an inn. There was a man sitting behind a desk near the entrance, a mean look on his face. I immediately wondered if he was the reason there didn’t seem to be much business here.

The last man I’d spoken to here had a kind face, though it was his fear I remembered most. Looking at this other man, it was difficult to imagine him being afraid of anything, with his prickly beard and grisly expression. He seemed to be a little younger than the last, but still about twenty years my elder.

He did put on a smile that seemed friendly enough. “Are you interested in renting a room?”

“Actually, I’d like to speak to someone else who works here. He’s an older gentleman who was greeting visitors a while ago.”

“Do you know anything about him?”

“No, I…” I stopped as I realized how strange the question was. Why did it feel like I was being interrogated? “I don’t see how that’s relevant.”

He stood up. I began to wonder if this man had done harm to the other, but from the way he was looking at me, it seemed that he might’ve suspected the same about me.

“So you’re not at all interested in renting a room, you just want to know about my cousin.”

“I didn’t know you were his cousin.”

“Do you even know his name?”

“Did something happen to him?” I asked.

He came around the desk. “You’re going to answer my question," he demanded.

Although I was somewhat tall and quite strong, this man was larger than I was. Normally I wouldn’t have been intimidated, but the fact that he clearly had noticed the sword sheathed on my belt and didn’t seem to care made me worry.

He spoke again, angrier this time. “You’re going to tell me exactly why you’re here asking about my cousin.”

“What happened to him? Is he all right?”

“I think you know exactly what happened to him, and I think you’re coming here to do the same to me.”

It looked as if a fight was what he wanted. “Relax,” I said as he stepped toward me. “I’m with the king.” I took out my papers.

He huffed with aggression but reached up to take the papers out of my hand rather than strike me, which he clearly wanted to do. He gave them a quick read, his expression not changing much.

“A sorcerer?” He gestured at the parchment. “Is this real?”

I took it back from him and pointed at the king’s seal at the bottom. “It’s real.”

“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“Because I suspected—” I cut myself off. “Is there a more private place we can speak?” I didn’t like that anyone could come through the open door behind me.

“Follow me," said the man.

I didn’t want to make the same mistake as last time, so I asked this man his name as I followed him through the inn. He told me it was Henrik Plumb and that this place belonged to his cousin, Mathew Plumb, but his cousin had disappeared today.

“I received a letter from Mathew,” Henrik explained. “He wanted my help, but he wouldn’t say with what. I traveled far to get here. I arrived yesterday, and that’s when he told me about the mages taking coin and threatening him.”

It was still hard for me to completely trust Henrik. He had a tough voice, and even the way he sauntered through the inn was as if he didn’t have any real fear about any of this. I thought about asking for Henrik’s papers to ensure he was who he said, but it wouldn’t make me trust him more. If he wasn’t working with Cason, he could still have been threatened by my enemies into leading me somewhere.

I let Henrik continue without interruption. I wanted to hear what else he had to claim as I was careful around all blind spots.

“My cousin admitted to me that he told someone about the extortion, a young man.” Henrik looked back at me.

I nodded. “That was me.”

“I’m figuring that out now. I’m not the brightest in our family, but I am the bravest. That’s why he reached out. He wanted protection and didn’t trust the guards. He said the mages started coming more frequently after he spoke with you. They took more coin as if they were desperate for it and told him if he spoke about it to anyone, they would kill him.”

The corrupt guards had been removed from power, but Mathew either hadn’t known or hadn’t trusted it to be true. I should’ve returned earlier to ensure he was not continuing to be threatened, not