Exploitable Weaknesses by Brian Keller (best interesting books to read txt) 📕

innocent, somehow?” Yoren smiled, “I think the word you’re searching for is ‘unassuming’. And the fact that it’s been folded and re-folded. Very subtle. He’s clever. Too clever to allow us to get anywhere near him with soldiers, even if he had given us enough time to assemble them. We’ll add a few extra soldiers to the usual checkpoints and place a few more on the bridges, but bringing soldiers along for the meeting will do nothing except scare him off.” Iona folded the message again and handed it back to the Spymaster with the reply, “We should assemble the team of mages.” Yoren smiled, “Already done. I sent a messenger to the University at the same time that I sent for you.” Iona nodded and furrowed her eyebrows, “And my former professor?” Yoren smiled wider, “I’ve invited him specifically. He would have taken it as an insult had we attempted to exclude him.” Iona shrugged, “Well, he is a fairly powerful mage in his own right. Decidedly, he’s a better mage than he is a researcher.” Yoren chuckled, “No one was in a better position to assess those qualities than you, my dear.” Iona opened her mouth to retort but realized that in doing so, she’d merely be ‘taking the bait’. The Spymaster was mentally preparing himself for the upcoming confrontation, and as such, he was seeking a proverbial whetstone with which to sharpen his mind.

She wondered how it would feel to see Felis again. She hadn’t seen him in several weeks. She found herself looking forward to tonight’s walk to the Waterfront. Her thoughts were interrupted by a question from the Spymaster, “Do you need to prepare anything?” Iona almost replied, “Like what? I have nothing of my own!” but instead merely shook her head, “No, sir. Perhaps just a few hours of quiet before it’s time to go.” Yoren nodded, “I’ll post a guard outside your room. He’ll have instructions to bring you to me before we leave.” Iona left the room thinking, “That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but I suppose the last thing he wants would be to have to search for me should I decide to sneak off at the last minute.” This gave her cause to wonder, “Assuming we capture or kill Cooper tonight… what will happen to me then?” She knew better than to ask but in the next few hours, instead of quiet contemplation, her mind was occupied trying to sift through every possible outcome she might face tomorrow morning.”

A few hours later the guard outside pounded on her door. She heard his gruff voice muffled by the door between them, “Miss! Wake up. Get dressed. It’ll be time to go in a few-” She pulled the door open and he nearly fell into the room. He recovered quickly and stepped back. She told him, “I’m ready. Take me to the Royal Spymaster.”

When she reached the Spymaster’s chambers, Yoren was wearing leather armor with metal plates sewn in across his chest. He had selected a tunic of the same colors as the flag. Iona waited as he pulled it over his head then belted his sword to his waist. Iona asked, “A sword? Won’t that seem too intimidating?” Yoren shook his head, “I never leave the Palace without it. To change that now would be foolish as well as suspicious.” He drew the blade a few inches, making sure there were no restrictions, then eased it back into the scabbard. Earlier, Iona had even considered bringing the axe she’d recovered but when she considered the fact that their prey was a trained Assassin, she had asked herself, “What am I going to do with an axe?” She felt certain that the Spymaster did not view his skills in the same way.

As they left his chamber she asked, “Guards?” Yoren replied, “Only as far as the North Bridge. After that, it’ll just be us and the mages.” Iona questioned, “Will that be enough? It isn’t as if the mages can freeze him, or throw fire…?” Yoren smiled, “The soldiers along the Waterfront have been waiting for this. A few minutes after we’re out of sight of the North Bridge, the guards will send a runner along the Waterfront boardwalk telling the rest of them to converge. If we fail to capture him initially, we will drive him to the Palisade Wall and pin him against it.” Iona couldn’t help but feel concerned. She thought, “If we fail to capture him initially, a lot could happen before the soldiers arrive.” She didn’t allow herself to speak the words.

They left the Palace with an escort of a dozen guards. Iona hadn’t really taken much interest in soldiers before but tonight she took a moment to examine them. These men weren’t dressed for show, as were many of City Watch. These men had well-worn and many-times patched armor and the grips on their swords had been polished by repetitive use. Their boots were dusty and worn but looked to have been well maintained and recently re-soled. Iona recognized these men as professional soldiers, not sellswords that would readily shift allegiances if they found a patron who would pay them more.

Not a word was uttered until they reached the University. Her former professor was the first to speak, “I suppose I should thank you for inviting me along. I sincerely hope you’re not wasting my time.” He was speaking to Yoren, but he was looking at her. Iona nodded her head in deference but did not speak. Yoren replied, “I know my message was brief. We’ve arranged for the young, Gifted man” He turned to Iona before he continued, “Cooper is his name, I’m told, to meet with us, well, with me to be precise. We’re meeting in the Waterfront, near Batter’s Field, and he thinks we believe his story about being a common Waterfront kid. He expects me but he doesn’t know about any of you, so