The Sorcerer's Return (The Sorcerer's Path) Read Free

created.
    “ Fine. You can start by shutting up. I need to think.”
     
    ***
     
    Fennrick wearily strode down the hall toward the Senior Inquisitor’s office where Elias and Duchess Paulina awaited his weekly report. Not only did he have to report yet another week of failure, but now a dead man demanded an audience with the Council of Inquisition. He paused to compose himself before entering Elias’ office. Elias sat behind his desk, ready to leap to the Duchess’ commands, while Her Grace reclined on a sedan sipping wine. Fennrick thought it was far too early for such libations, but the repeated image no longer surprised him.
    “Fennrick, right on time as usual,” the Duchess said as he entered. “How goes your progress?”
    “It goes as always,” he answered frustratingly, “Nowhere but backward. The girl is increasingly slipping away to wherever her mind takes her even under moderate coercion, but that is the least troubling thing I have to report.”
    Paulina quirked an eyebrow at the Inquisitor. “What else occurs?”
    “It appears Lord Azerick Giles has returned from the dea d and is now demanding audience.”
    Elias’ normally laconic expression vanished as he stood and leaned against his desk. “Lord Giles? Are you certain it is him?”
    “He looks exactly like the portrait I spied of him in North Haven, and I detected no illusion or enchantment of any kind.”
    “Did you read his aura?”
    Fennrick sighed. “Yes, Elias, I have been doing this for more than a few days now. Strongly sorcerous, but there was a hint of something else as well.”
    “What else?”
    “I do not know,” Fennrick admitted. “I have never encountered it before. I got a feeling it was deeply suppressed but dark and still very strong despite his attempts to hide it.”
    Duchess Paulina sat up and set her glass upon the low table before her. “There were rumors Lord Giles had an encounter with some kind of demon. Could that be the cause?”
    “It is plausible, Your Grace,” Fennrick replied. “Particularly if any sort of possession took place.”
    “I am certain his death was no ruse. Could he have truly died and yet return ed?”
    “It is possible for mages of sufficient power to escape the afterlife, especially if they ha ve the assistance of powerful wizards and clerics here amongst the living. I do not know if anyone has ever taken it beyond the theory, however.”
    Paulina paused for thought. “He does have both of those available to him. Where is he now?”
    “In the anteroom awaiting an audience with the council. Your Grace, he did inform me he had pressing issues and would wait no longer than thirty minutes before taking matters in to his own hands.”
    “Well, he certainly sounds like Lord Giles. Lord Giles or no, I’ll not jump to for the dead husband of my rival’s daughter,” she declared emphatically.
    Fennrick cleared his throat. “Technically, Your Grace, this is an Academy matter for the inquisition coun cil to address.”
    “Technically, I do not care,” the Duchess snapped. “This is my city and I will decide any matters concerning it. Now go summon the council and have them await me.”
    Seeing his subordinate about to argue, Elias ordered, “Now, Inquisitor.”
    Fennrick’s body went rigid. He bowed slightly at the waist, spun smartly, and stalked from the room with suppressed indignity.
    Paulina drained the last vestiges of wine from her glass. “I do believe the strain of the interrogations is wearing on our dear Fennrick. M aybe it is time we find another. Perhaps then we can get some results.”
    “Your Grace, if it is indeed Lord Giles, I must presume he is here for his apprentice as well as the Codex,” Elias warned.
      “So what if he is? I’ll hand over neither of those things. The Codex is mine, and the girl is a criminal.”
    Elias’s eyes shifted nervously. “I am just reminded of our reports of his activity in Bakhtaran, Your Grace.”  
    The Duchess waved a hand