Redemption Read Free Page B

is behind this."
    "But you have been all over the world," Naveena pointed out. "Why is it unusual for people to have noticed you?"
    "It is not me that they noticed," Prince Zinan shot back. "I am not foolish enough to reveal myself when I travel to foreign lands. It is someone else trying to pretend that they are me."
    Naveena could tell that the dark prince was upset, and she worried about his having one of his episodes in front of the entire council.
    "Tell us where and when your double was sighted," Naveena urged calmly. "Perhaps we can piece the puzzle together."
    Prince Zinan spread his notes out on the table and began staring at them.
    "Kyland and Anatar last summer," the dark prince began. "Koar, and Laborg in the fall.
    "I seem to recall mention of someone seeing you in Tarent last fall," offered General Ortega. "It was when we were investigating the escape of King Caedmon. We dismissed the report as inaccurate because you were not in the city when that happened."
    "I was in Capri," nodded the dark prince. "Who saw me and where?"
    "I do not remember exactly," admitted the general, "but I read it in one of the reports of the investigation of foreigners in the city inns. I could send for those reports if you wish."
    "Do so," nodded Prince Zinan.
    Confusion spread over Naveena's face as the general's comments gave some credence to the prince's concern. Until then, she had assumed that the Talent had been warping his perception of reality, and his insistence that someone was impersonating him was complete fiction.
    "May I see your notes?" she asked.
    Prince Zinan shoved the papers towards Naveena and continued to scan the quiet faces in the room. Naveena looked at the notes quickly, passing over everything but the mention of Prince Zinan, but when she got to the notes from Anatar, her face paled.
    "What is it?" asked Prince Zinan. "You see something that upsets you."
    "It is Zalman," answered Naveena. "No wonder our soldiers could never find him. He is in Anatar."
    "Zalman?" frowned Prince Zinan. "Who is he, and why do we care where he is?"
    "He is wanted for killing Princess Orenda," declared Naveena. "We have hunted for him for over fifteen years."
    "He is your father," interjected General Wikner.
    Naveena glared at the general and opened her mouth to lash out at him, but Prince Zinan spoke before she could form the words.
    "My father?" scowled the dark prince. "Why does Borunda care about him? He was not royalty, and he never wielded the Talent. He is nothing. I want to know about this person who is impersonating me."
    A soldier entered the room and handed some papers to General Ortega. Everyone watched as the general looked through the papers and pulled one out of the pile.
    "Here it is," he said as read the paper. "Three rooms were rented at the Royal Palm Inn by a merchant. The rooms were rented for three days, and there were eight men total sharing the rooms. It says that one of them was Prince Zinan, while another was a giant of a man."
    "A giant of a man?" frowned Prince Zinan. "What was the name of this merchant?"
    "Kerzi," replied the general. "Do you know him?"
    "I know of him," nodded the dark prince. "Refresh my memory, General Wikner."
    "Kerzi is a merchant who purchased nuts in Tarent and delivered them to Dulga," replied the general. "He came under suspicion because we found nuts by the side of the road where one of my patrols was ambushed. When he was questioned in Dulga, he only had two warriors with him. One of them was a giant of a man. As we were looking for a much larger party, Kerzi was allowed to leave with a load of cork. He was bound for Laborg."
    "Only later did we discover that Kerzi had camped not far from the ambush site with nine warriors," nodded Prince Zinan. "They split up the following morning. The warriors managed to escape into Odessia. Isn't that right, General Ortega?"
    "It is," the general nodded as he frowned. "We lost a lot of men following those six warriors, plus none of the