The king glanced at Will, then nodded. “He believes you as well. Very interesting. Describe the scene to me, Miss Nerrow, leaving out nothing.”
Laina detailed her experiences and gave as accurate an account as she could manage. Some parts were necessarily confusing, and when she was done Will was required to do the same. The entire telling took almost half an hour, and Lognion rarely interrupted, doing so only to clarify details he was unclear on. When they had finished, he smiled broadly. “It seems I am in the presence of not one, but two heroes. Unfortunately, there were other witnesses as well, and their accounts, while similar in form, don’t contain the subtleties of whose spirit was in whose body at different times.
“Of course, in either tale, you present an inspiring figure, Miss Nerrow, and given your reputation as a public figure you’re a natural to take on the mantle of Terabinia’s savior.” Lognion paused, then stared sadly at Will. “In your case, William, I’m afraid that both your prior activities and what was reported this evening make you an excellent fit for the villain of our little play.”
“No.” Laina’s negative wasn’t a plea or a denial so much as a statement of fact.
The king arched one brow. “You have a different idea, Miss Nerrow?”
“I’ll tell the truth,” she responded boldly. “Try to spin whatever tale you want, but if you expect your heroine to cooperate, it won’t involve making a scapegoat of William.”
“You’ll do anything I ask of you, Miss Nerrow. Hasn’t William explained that to you yet?” His eyes flashed and he barked a command, “Kneel!”
Laina’s knees buckled, and she was genuflecting before she even realized what her body was doing. Will moved to stand in front of her. “Stop it.”
“I’m merely giving her a lesson, William. Not to worry, I won’t harm her. This time.”
Will glanced back and was pained by the expression of terror and confusion on Laina’s face. Her body had utterly betrayed her, and worse, she had no idea why. He had never told her about the truth of the graduation seal. In all honesty, he’d never really thought about the matter except as it pertained to Selene, but now he realized to his chagrin that the king’s leverage over him was much greater than he’d been willing to admit. Selene, Laina, Mark, Agnes, possibly even Tabitha. He didn’t think Tabitha had been to Wurthaven, but he wasn’t sure. Selene had started at an early age, so it was possible.
“Stand up again, Miss Nerrow. Do you have a knife on you? Please show it to me.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” she answered, removing a small dagger from and ornamental sheath at her waist. Her eyes were bulging as she watched her hand moving, seemingly of its own accord.
“Do you want a war right here in your palace?” growled Will. “Push this any further and that’s what you’ll have!”
“It’s just a demonstration, William. Please relax. I would never hurt the daughter of one of my most loyal vassals.” Lifting one hand, he snapped his fingers, and the door at the opposite end of the room opened. “You may enter now,” said the king.
Three of the Driven stepped in and moved to stand off to one side.
Lognion pointed to the man on the right, then gestured at Will. “This is the man you saw?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” answered the sorcerer.
“And do you know his name?”
“William Cartwright, the husband of Princess Selene, Your Majesty.”
Lognion nodded, then asked the others. “Do you agree with his account?”
They both nodded and answered, “Yes, Your Majesty.”
“So all three of you agree that my son-in-law was on the verge of destroying most of the city, along with its citizens?”
The three men hesitated, then affirmed the statement.
The king frowned. “That’s a terrible shame. It seems that if my son-in-law is to retain his reputation the three of you will have to be silenced.”
“Order us to silence, Your Majesty. We would never betray your trust!” cried one of the sorcerers, suddenly fearful.
“Kneel and stare at the ceiling so I can see your necks clearly,” ordered the king. “Make no other movement.” Then a delicious smile crept across his face as he turned to Laina. “Miss Nerrow, please cut their throats so that they don’t betray your brother to the public.”
Horrified, she began to walk rapidly toward them, knife in hand.
“No!” shouted Will. He moved to interpose himself while Laina tried to dodge around him.
Lognion’s voice cut across the confusion with chilling clarity. “William, if you touch your sister, I will kill her instead.”
Will froze and Laina darted past, tears already running from her eyes. As she approached the first victim, the king gave yet another order. “Slowly, Miss Nerrow. I want you to watch their expressions while they die.”
Unable to stand it any longer, Will blocked Laina’s knife hand with a point-defense shield as she slashed at the first man’s throat, and then, when she drew her arm back to try again, he blew a hole through the soldier’s chest with a force-lance. Without pausing to think, he repeated the act, killing all three men in less than a second. Disgusted by his own action, he yelled at the king, “There! Are you satisfied?”
Lognion began to laugh. Not some small chuckle, but a deep, hearty, bellowing boom that came from the diaphragm. From anyone else, at any other time, it might have been a comforting sound, but from the king it was disturbing in the extreme. Laina turned back to face them, dropping her knife on the rug. Will could see blood droplets on her face, neck, and chest, a perfect compliment to the look of horror in her eyes.
Glaring at the king, Will began to form a spell in one hand, but the insane monarch seemed utterly without concern. When the spell was finished, he released it, targeting his sister. She struggled against the magic for a moment, but he said softly, “Relax, Laina. Trust me.”
Her eyes met his for a moment, and then her lids drooped as she stopped fighting the sleep spell. A second later she was asleep and Will carried her to a nearby divan. Ignoring the king, he formed another construct, Selene’s signature spell, and used it to clean away the dirt, blood, and grime that coated himself and Laina. “We need to talk,” he informed the king, his tone dark.
“That is why I summoned you, after all.”
“A serious talk. No more games.”
Lognion rubbed his chin. “Something tells me that you aren’t planning to tell me where my wayward daughter has gone.”
“Is her absence such an inconvenience for you?”
“More than you realize. Explaining her absence is becoming more difficult by the day and her body double isn’t good enough to rely on for social events, is she?”