The Mask of Omegon (Gwen Farris Book 6) Read Free

hundred
percent.
    She’d been eating, exercising and
pretty much staying out of the press when she could. Until three days before
that point, when Ferdinand had sent her away from his palace. Politely.
Suggesting that he didn’t have a right to keep her any longer than that. Not
that she blamed him at all. Her job there was helping to watch the new
Queen. The woman wasn’t exactly perfect, especially with the
Westmorlands. The lady saw them as a constant danger, since some of them were
basically able to explode like atomic bombs.
    Gwen could do that as well. It was
a secret, though for some reason the Queen knew all about that part. It
didn’t seem to bother her at all. Why that was, Gwen had never gotten out of
her. It was kind of strange, but the woman actually seemed to like her. Bethany
too, for all she could barely stand most of the others of that family.
    Marianna was nothing if not free thinking.
As in she believed whatever suited her at the moment. Oddly enough, her
mood had started to change as soon as Beth had gotten pregnant. As if being
with child meant she couldn’t possibly be a horrible monster, due to that
single fact.
    Omegon moved his mask a bit in his
hand, as if trying to hide it suddenly. At the same time he was staring at her,
closely. Possibly recognizing who she actually was. If he were smart, which
there was no reason to imagine he wasn’t, he might well be considering her death.
Not that she loved his chances. She pretty much walked around armed all the
time now. More than that, she could kill by pointing her finger,
teleport and fly away. If she wanted, she could just pick the man up with her
mind and dash him into the cave wall. Most magic users couldn’t do that kind of
thing at all, even if they were pretty strong.
    That this boy was decent
that way just made sense. He seemed to focus on ceremony though, which wasn’t
all that fast. Not when someone was shooting at you. It was still useful, since
it left the magician able to do a lot of different things. Almost
anything, if they were clever, skilled and disciplined enough. That and had
enough energy to make what they wanted to happen come into being.
    Still, a rock to the head might just take her out, if he tried hard and didn’t let on to his plan until it hit.
A part of her considered that concept for a moment. It could work. Just
going into that cave and never leaving. It wouldn’t balance what Katherine had
done, but it was a start. The truth was that nothing she ever did would balance
what the other woman had managed, using their shared body. The world might well
end up being destroyed due to Kat’s bad life choices. It was sort of a major
thing. Not one that would be easily swept to the side, either.
    So she waited, wondering if she
could just let him murder her, not responding at all.
    Instead… the man flipped a single
palm over. The left one that didn’t have the bit of blue stocking mask in it.
    “No one knew if it was to punish us
for letting those people harm her. Gwen. You, I mean. Letting Kat Vernor steal
you from your life and kill your body. Then we were told that you were back. I
heard you, or… Her? Vernor? Talking on the telesar. Admitting to everything and
letting us know that it was just another wrong that she’d done. I…” The
boy let his head drop a bit. “Is that why you’re here? To punish me for the
pain you’ve suffered?”
    She started to shake her head, but
before she could the boy, shaking a bit, took a deep breath.
    “I… Understand. Of course. I stand
ready. Proceed.” The tone was firmer than his slightly pale face seemed to
indicate he was feeling. It was hard to know if he were still playing a game or
not.
    For once, feeling exhausted by
life, she didn’t even pretend not to get the idea. He was expecting her to
kill, or even torture, some random person. Because bad things had happened to
her. That was true, but two wrongs wouldn’t improve the situation. Besides, he
didn’t seem to