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

“Ali, it’s not what it looks like,” said her mother. “Allow me to speak with the king.”

“Bring her here,” Nykal called as he stood from the royal table. “Where was she found?”

All of us gathered around the royal table to listen.

“The large abode belonging to the dark mage of Jon’s first encounter,” Byron answered. “She was in the cellar.”

That house?

“I was told you had already searched the premises,” Nykal said.

“We have, several times. We’d questioned the neighbors around the area as well. The owner never returned after Cason rescued him. Gwen was put in the cellar sometime recently.”

Aliana asked Byron, “What do you mean by all of this? Mother, what’s happening?”

Gwen looked at Byron as if asking permission. He nodded. “Go ahead. The king needs to hear this as well so we can make a quick decision.”

“A couple of men broke in while I was asleep,” she told Aliana. “Dteria users. They wore masks. They roped me up and gagged me, and took me to the place the head guard mentioned. They bound my hands and feet and tossed me in a cellar. I was there for days. I’m all right,” she told her daughter. “They sent someone to feed me.”

“My god,” Aliana said, her eyes wide with shock. She gaped at Barrett. “This is why you couldn’t tell me anything about the questioning of my mother. You couldn’t find her!”

He nodded. “We didn’t want to alarm you.”

“Who cares if you alarmed me? I deserved to know!”

“This is a conversation for another time,” Byron interjected. “Our opportunity here might be short-lived.”

“What do you mean?” the king asked.

“Based on Gwen’s description, we already found the man who was feeding her. He seems to be innocent, however. He was being extorted by the dark mages. They made Gwen his responsibility using threats. He identified one of the dark mages for us, however, and he is continuing to be questioned in case he might know something else.”

“Where is this dark mage he identified?” Nykal asked.

“Dead, unfortunately. We caught him yesterday, but he put up quite a fight and was slain in the process of capturing. We didn’t know at the time that he was forcing an innocent man to supply food for Gwen, but there is still an opportunity at hand. Cason obviously believes he has outsmarted us, hiding Gwen in a place we’ve already searched many times. He didn’t expect us to return today, and he probably doesn’t know that Gwen has been freed. I’m sure he’ll find out soon, though. Someone would check on her a couple times a day, isn’t that right?”

“It is,” she agreed. “But there was no sunlight down there. I don’t know what time he tends to visit.”

“Someone else besides the man who fed you would come to check on you?” the king clarified.

“Yes, and I do believe the man feeding me is innocent. He was always kind. He spent more than he needed on the food he was forced to supply for me. I could tell he was not one of them. They told him they would burn down his business if I was freed before they decided it was time. I didn’t understand why I was there, and he didn’t know, either. I feared they were going to kill me.”

I was full of conflicting emotions. I felt pity for Gwen for having to go through this, but admiration for Byron and his team of guards for the great work they’d done recently. The king certainly made the right choice putting him in charge.

“What is the opportunity you speak of?” the king asked Byron. “A lead on Cason?”

“Not him directly, but I think we have proof of who is behind the plot to steal from your tax collectors.” He lifted an eyebrow in Gwen’s direction.

The king had a few heavy breaths as he gave Gwen a hard look. “Madam, what do you know about this?”

“Nothing about that specifically, but Byron did tell me what has been going on. I had no idea, you have to believe me, your majesty. Aliana didn’t, either.”

“Mother? What are you referring to?”

“Tell me what you know, madam,” commanded the king in a cold tone.

“May I have a moment to speak with my daughter in private first? She deserves to know before anyone.”

“That might be true,” the king said, “but now is not the time to worry about who deserves what, for it seems that time is of the essence and lives are at stake.”

“They are,” Byron confirmed.

“I do not want to ask you a third time,” the king said.

“I understand.” Gwen looked at Byron. “Should I tell him everything I told you?”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t understand at first why I was locked in that cellar,” she said after a quick glance at Aliana. “But the head guard explained it to me. You were looking for me for questioning because of a plot you uncovered. A noble family is working against you, and you know it could only be one of two families, the Yorns or the Priggs. From what I personally know, I can tell you with near certainty that it is the Prigg family that is working against you.”

“Madam, I will preface this question by acknowledging that it is not just of me to force you to answer it,” the king said, “but it must be done. How can you be so certain about this?”

It seemed that everyone, even the king, had a good idea as to why Gwen knew this.

She showed another look toward her daughter, a pained expression seeming to ask for forgiveness. Then she told the king, “I don’t have many friends, your majesty. I don’t keep contact with many people. Only my daughter, my employer, and the father of Aliana. I know my employer very well. I’m sure he had nothing to do with this. But the father of Aliana…he is a man who has always been secretive and mysterious. He has been kind at times but callous at others.”

Gwen took a deep breath and continued.