Gaspar’s mouth twisted into a sour expression at the mention of Cyran’s name. “If he was so powerful, then how were you able to ignore the blows?”
“My training has taught me to ignore that sort of thing,” Gavin said.
“That’s right. Your fabled training. Your master. Ever since she left, you’ve been looking into him.”
“I haven’t been looking into him since Anna left.”
Gaspar stood from the table and hesitated. “Don’t think I’m not aware of what you’ve been doing, boy. I know what you had him”—he nodded to Wrenlow—“looking for. You think he has resources in Yoran I don’t have access to? What you’re looking into is dangerous.” He looked around the Dragon.
Gavin flicked his gaze over to Wrenlow, who shrugged. “If he’s alive, I’d like to know more about him.”
“If he’s alive, then you’re not likely to find anything in Yoran.”
A creak at the stairs behind him caught his attention, and Gavin swiveled to see Jessica coming down. She smiled, but her expression soon shifted. The tension in the room was palpable. “What did I miss?”
“Nothing,” Gavin said.
“Right. Nothing. When it’s the two of you trying to figure out who is bigger than who, there always seems to be something,” she said. Wrenlow laughed. Jessica shot him a withering look, and he fell silent.
“How’s the boy?” Gaspar said.
“He seems to be fine. He’s sleeping. We need to get word to Erica that we have him.”
“I don’t think it’s safe for us to leave him upstairs,” Gavin said. He still didn’t know if Erica knew her son was a sorcerer, but feared she did—and why she’d kept it from them.
“Because he’s a sorcerer,” Gaspar said.
Gavin turned to him, nodding once. “Yes. That’s exactly the reason. What happens when he awakens and starts to draw upon his power?”
“Well, then I suppose that you go and do whatever it was that you did to incapacitate him the last time,” Gaspar said.
“Enough,” Jessica said.
She was the only one who had the ability to silence them all. There was something in her tone—a command and a sense of urgency—that none of them wanted to trifle with.
Gaspar nodded, then he headed toward the kitchen and disappeared. Imogen took a seat on the far wall, leaning back and appearing bored.
Jessica came and joined Gavin at the table, perching on the edge of a chair. She had a stack of towels and laid them out on the table. “You’re sure about him?” She lifted one of the towels and started folding it.
“As sure as I can be,” Gavin said.
“I don’t need any more trouble at the Dragon. The last time was more than I could handle.”
“It wasn’t more than you could handle. You survived.”
“Survived. Barely recovered.” There was a haunted expression in her eyes. “I don’t need that back here again, Gavin. Promise me you’ll do everything in your power to ensure that doesn’t come back here.”
There was a pleading note in her voice, and Gavin wanted to do anything he could to make that promise, but he didn’t know. She’d been the reason he’d taken the job. He could see in her eyes that Jessica knew she was at fault.
Still, she was asking for his help.
“I’ll do what I can,” he said. He took one of the white towels and folded it the same way she did. Jessica watched him, as if doubting he could do it without making a mess of things.
“I know you will.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then turned to Wrenlow. “Why don’t you go and see if Gaspar needs any help in the kitchen?”
Wrenlow opened his mouth as if to object, but Jessica shot him a hard look. He shook his head and darted off.
“Did you really need to scare him away like that?” Gavin asked.
“We need to talk,” she said. “If this boy is a sorcerer, we need to talk about what that means.”
“I don’t know if you want to get involved in that,” he said.
“He’s sitting in one of my rooms in my tavern. I think I very much want to know what that means. He’s too young, Gavin.”
Gavin sighed. “What do you know about sorcery?”
“More than most here.”
“That wouldn’t be all that difficult.”
“You view Yoran as this place where magic is impossible, but it’s only because most people are afraid of it. We have our experience with magic, and we recognize the dangers of it.”
“Most places in the North are like that,” he said.
“Yes, but out of necessity. Haven’t you seen that?”
“I haven’t stayed in any place long enough to look into it.” It was more than that though—he hadn’t really cared to look. Magic was a part of the world, and when there were enchantments or other aspects of the world that involved magic, Gavin didn’t run from it. He’d been trained to deal with it. “He’s too young to be a sorcerer, but somehow, he is. I don’t know what it means.”
“Were there others?”
“What do you mean?”
“Others like him.”
“He was the one Erica hired me to find.” Gavin set the next folded towel down, and grabbed another.
Jessica didn’t look up as she took another towel. “I know, but what if there are others within the fortress?” she asked.
It was something Gavin had considered, though he’d discarded the idea. “I don’t think so. The Captain was there too quickly.”
“Maybe he placed an enchantment to know whether somebody was coming to rescue him.”
“It’s possible,” he said.
“Gavin, there’s something you should know.”
“What is it? You’re hiring another terrible singer?”
She ignored the jab. “I have an enchantment around the Dragon.”
Gavin looked around the tavern, though he wouldn’t have known if she had.
“I have for quite some time,” she admitted.
“I haven’t noticed anything.”
“It’s subtle. It cost me a considerable amount of money to have it placed,
