“Until just now,” she said, “I thought Jakoven would want to keep Ward in good condition for fear of you acting against him—but that is exactly what he wants. There are bodies carried out of the mage’s wing wrapped in canvas and burned. I know the two that I, personally, had the opportunity to see were . . . changed. One man had no face, no skin, no . . .” She had to quit speaking, it was probably for the best anyway, because Oreg’s eyes were beginning to glow in the shadows of the library. “And the other?” Tosten’s voice was no louder than Oreg’s had been.

“She was dead,” Tisala said. “But she still moved. We saw her because the cleaners who were supposed to take her to the crematorium dropped the bundle and ran. She was dead. There was no intelligence in her, but magic allowed her body to move.”

“I know that spell,” said Oreg, who looked as if he wished he didn’t. “I thought it had been lost when the last emperor was killed.”

Lord Duraugh turned to Tisala. “Find Ward tomorrow. Once you have him, we will get him out—one way or the other. If Hurog has to declare rebellion against the king, so be it.”

7
TISALA

Confidence is as much a weapon as a sword. But, like a sword, it can shatter on an opponent’s blade.

THESECTION OF THEASYLUM WHERE MAGES WEREkept was not very large, and Tisala found Ward in the second cell she cleaned. He was huddled in the corner of the room, half covered with straw.

She said his name tentatively because even with the skylight, it was dimmer in the cell than it was in the torch-lit corridor; and because, though it was hard to believe that there were two blond men of such stature in this particular section of the Asylum, it was harder to believe that Ward would ever cower from anything.

She shut the door and he came instantly to his feet with the speed and grace that always surprised her in such a large man. The maneuver put his face in the light briefly and she couldn’t deny it was he. He wore little more than a loincloth and in less than two weeks he’d lost a stone of weight.

“Ward,” she said a second time, realizing he must have been putting on an act. She’d never seen him act a part before, though she knew he was very good at it. The extreme weight loss worried her, but at least he was still whole. Her own recent experience in Jakoven’s power sent her gaze to his hands, but she counted five fingers on each hand with one dirty nail apiece.

But he still didn’t say anything, just stared at her. Gooseflesh crept up her neck, and she knew he wasn’t acting. The fear she read in his eyes was real.