Finally, when even he dripped with sweat, he took mercy on the men and called for an end to their session. He heard no groans or complaints or other sounds, but he could tell by the slow-gait and tender movements of the men that they were grateful to be done.

Perhaps, they were finally beginning to take this threat seriously. The recent damage at the palace from a firestorm and twister occurring simultaneously had put things into perspective for many. He had been out of reach for only a short time, dealing with the infiltration by the rebellion and the fog magic they had left to spread through the palace that had mesmerized the majority of his men and made them useless, but moments was all it took for tempests of the Stormlord’s caliber to reduce something to rubble. It could have been so much worse. They could have lost everything that day, but someone had worked to defeat the storm in his absence.

Another mystery to solve.

It had to be Aurora. His mind could think of no other alternative. She was out there somewhere with a witch as a partner, and he needed to find out everything he could.

Once he made it back to his rooms, he shed the layers of his clothes until his chest was bare, and he wore only his pants. He wanted to call for a bath, but it had been too long since the last storm siren sounded. They had to be due for another soon. So he settled for dipping a cloth in the water basin in the corner and washing himself clean as much as he could without a full soak.

When he was done he returned to his desk and retrieved the book that had been delivered to him this morning. The cover was black leather with no title anywhere to be seen. But when he opened it, the first page revealed the words An Examination of the Original Magics.

All books on witchcraft in Locke had been purged long ago, but the laws in Pavan had not been quite as strict. The long existence of the Eye had enabled enough of an underground to survive that works like the one he held still survived, thank the goddess, for he needed its information now.

One of the Pavanian nobles that had taken a liking to Cassius from the moment he arrived and supported his bid for the throne even before Aurora disappeared had mentioned the book to him once upon a time. He was a collector of rare items and had procured it from the owner of a popular tavern, who was said to be quite the keeper of both secrets and unique items. It was only after Cassius had mentioned his own adventures into the Eye that the nobleman mentioned the tavern owner, for it appeared the person had some connection with the old market as well.