HUNTED SORCERY
By B.T. Narro
Jon Oklar:
Book 2
Copyright 2020 by B.T. Narro
Cover and Map by Beatriz Rare
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is coincidental. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written permission of the copyright holder.
CHAPTER ONE
It was my second night following a man named Gregory Shaw. He had been accused of several things: death threats, theft, and a few minor crimes, but there had been no evidence found against him. He used to be employed by the king, though he surely had never spoken to his majesty, as I did often. Instead, Shaw’s orders had come from the head guard of the capital, a man who was discharged because of similar corruption charges.
Shaw had been given the option to reenroll. He only had to sign the same contract that the rest of the king’s guards did. It was an oath to stop the abuse of power in all forms and end the spread of dteria. The guards who agreed and signed were held to this oath through ordia. They couldn’t break it if they tried. Those who refused were immediately removed from service.
Of course Shaw had refused, as had many others.
I had signed a similar contract. However, mine only specified that I must protect the king at all costs.
My contract was not the reason I was out here on another cold night, missing sleep, watching Shaw take large swigs of ale in Red’s Tavern. The reason I was out here was because this was my punishment for disobeying the king. In fact, this was the seventh night of my punishment. The first few days were fine, but now I was irritable, always uncomfortable, and just plain tired.
Not only was I tired physically, I was tired of trailing nefarious men only for nothing to happen. I understood the king’s need to punish me. I had deceived him into sending troops into the forest against his will with the help of a little lie from his daughter. But the battle against the dark mages from Rohaer had been victorious because of what I’d done.
I was no longer proud of my decision. I just wanted this punishment to end. Ten days of losing two hours of sleep each night was too much.
Winter had begun. There was a cold breeze every night, but I chose to watch the tavern from outside. I still hadn’t figured out how to blend in anywhere unnoticed. I seemed to attract gazes no matter what I wore. I was dressed like a commoner most nights, not a weapon on me, and tonight was no different.
Red’s Tavern had been Aliana’s place of work before the king recruited her. She’d just about shed tears telling me of the harassment she’d suffered here and how the owner did nothing to stop it. Some men went as far as touching her without her permission, and unfortunately there seemed to be another serving girl here suffering the same fate.
I watched as Shaw grabbed the arm of the young, curvy woman. She gently pulled free of his grasp, her expression fearful, as she stayed to listen to whatever he said.
She didn’t seem to give a reply as she walked away, passing an old man standing behind a counter who saw the whole thing. I imagined he was the owner, given the pleading look the young woman showed him.
He said something to her as he gestured at Shaw’s small table among the crowded floor of patrons. Her shoulders slumped. She returned to stand in front of Shaw with folded arms. I couldn’t hear what he told her, but it was clear from her scowl that she didn’t appreciate his words.
This went on for some time. I could step inside the tavern and tell Shaw to leave her alone, but I needed to catch the man doing something more severe to finally get him off the streets. Not only was he suspected of many crimes, but he was most likely working with our enemies, the dark mages.
There was no telling how many dark mages there were in total, but their intentions were clear. They wanted to take control of the entire kingdom. They already had the city of Koluk, not a day’s ride from the capital. But there were many of them here as well, all in hiding. There was no doubt in my mind that they were planning something big. We had delayed them by intercepting the one hundred mages and soldiers from Rohaer who had tried to join their comrades in Koluk, but there were still many of them hiding in and around Newhaven. They would attack soon enough.
Meanwhile, here I was losing sleep when I should be resting. I needed to train as hard as I could. My fatigue was really starting to slow me down.
I was tired sick of watching and waiting. We all knew Shaw was guilty of at least something. It was time to flush that something out. I started to come up with a plan as I watched him harass the girl more and more.
It was late. The tavern wouldn’t stay open much longer. I was about to enter and initiate my plan when I noticed another man walking down the street. I hid in an alley as he entered the tavern. He greeted Shaw and took a seat at Shaw’s table.
I edged closer to the window. The streets were empty by now, the curfew nearly in effect. I was surely noticeable, but I wanted to hear what they said as the owner of the tavern gestured at the table for the young woman to serve the new guest. She looked at the two other servers, both men, but she might as well have been invisible to them as they busied themselves with cleaning up.
