Jake's Justice, Book Three of Wizards Read Free Page B

YOU LIVE TO ADULTHOOD. WE CHARGE YOU WITH FINDING A WAY OUT OF THE MESS WIZARD MORRISSEY HAS CREATED. OUR EXISTENCE DEPENDS ON IT.]
    The dragons vanished and I shielded my eyes from the bright sunlight. Esmeralda and Jenny, acting disconcertingly as one, pulled their arms from mine and stood side by side to face me.
    My wives are a little over 6 months pregnant. I’m not going to go into how that happened, beyond saying that my subconscious wanted children and I’m a wizard. If I could figure out a way to have a subconscious-ectomy, I would have got rid of the thing by now.
    Fluffy moved into view behind my wives. He looked as disappointed in me as they did.
    “How did you know we were in trouble?” I asked. Jenny and Esmeralda gave me despairing looks.
    [I am connected to Jenny, remember? I waited in glim for hours before you finally showed up.]
    “Then why did you wait till the last second to appear?”
    Fluffy preened a wing. [For dramatic effect. I wanted to make an entrance .]
    That rocked me back. He risked our lives for that? “What if they’d blasted us before you managed to appear?”
    [I would have cried at your funeral. But you were not destined to die today. At least, I hoped not. And we were making history , Jake. Dragons never forget.]
    I should never have made him best man at my wedding. He enjoys being the center of attention far too much and now he’s got a taste for it .
    A number of shouts caught my attention. One of the roofs was blazing merrily and men were clustered around the outside of the Palace watching it. My reserve of magic was down to almost nothing, but what-the-hey. I concentrated and water from the river crashed down on the flaming roof along with a few fish. That would have to be good enough. I was completely out of juice.
    Esmeralda had put her hands on her hips. Never a good sign.
    “We need to talk on this matter, husband. We have put it off long enough.”
    “I’ll never forgive you if the Valhallans attack Wales . We have enough problems with the English as it is,” Jenny put in. She had her hands pressed into the base of her spine and was leaning back. Carrying a baby to term comes with its own problems and I didn’t have enough magic left to ease her pain.
    [And I have to find a way to stop the Valhallans before the conference is convened. I could always roast you if the worst comes to the worst.]
    Fantastic, the enemy count was going up rather than down.
    “Let’s discuss it in the ballroom. I expect the King and Queen will want to know what’s been going on.”
    “Can you hop us there?” Jenny asked hopefully.
    “Not enough left in me to light a candle.” I smiled thinly at her.
    “Walking is good for us,” Esmeralda said, but I couldn’t help noticing her wince as she strode off towards the ballroom.
    [I will meet you there.] Fluffy vanished into glim. He was a little too large to walk the corridors anyway.
     
    The whole court was waiting when we got there. Perhaps fifty lords and their ladies with four times as many servants in attendance. I didn’t care for all the deference the servants showed, but on the other hand I’d never seen an unemployed person in Salice.
    Looking for an excuse to avoid meeting anybody’s eye, I gaze up at the magnificent domed ceiling above us. The upper walls and ceiling were decorated with impressive murals painted on plaster. Gold leaf covered the ornate pillars between the paintings with embossed royal purple wallpaper surrounding them.   I was struck by the subtle distinction that separates pornography from art. If you tried to film the scenes I was looking at in Wales you’d certainly get arrested, but here, Lords and Ladies looked at them and didn’t even blush. Or notice half the time for that matter.
    “My Lord Wizard, next time you invite such illustrious guests to visit us, perhaps you could provide us with a little warning?”
    That was the King. The hubbub in the room ended on his first word. I reluctantly