Page 15 of The Necromancer's Prisoner

“No matter how far apart you are?”

“I’m sure thereisa limit, though I’ve never let any undead get far enough away to reach it. However, distance is one of the main factors that affects the complexity of orders I can issue. The greater the distance they are from me, the harder I have to work to make them understand my commands. Anything past a few hundred paces, and they’ll only follow the simplest of directions. I assume that if I everdidreach my maximum range, my skeletons would simply crumble to dust without my magic to sustain them.”

Alistair chewed on the inside of his cheek. This seemed like the kind of information the Order should know. But if they did, why had he never heard any of it during his training? The possibility that no Knight had ever bothered to interact with a necromancer long enough to ask unsettled him. What else didn’t they know about their foes?

Perhaps my reconnaissance here will be even more useful than I realized.

The thought sent a flicker of guilt coiling through him. He didn’t like the idea that he was exploiting the necromancer’s generosity for his own personal gain. It seemed too befitting of the poor impression Iggie already held of the Order. Then again, Iggie had volunteered the information freely, so he must not consider it that important of a secret.Or maybe he just doesn’t realize how easily it could be used against him.

“You said distance wasoneof the factors that affects your orders,” Alistair said, forcing his thoughts away from such dangerous territory. “What are the others?”

Iggie hesitated, chewing on his bottom lip.Perhaps he’s more prudent than I assumed.

“It’s all right,” Alistair said. “You don’t have to tell me if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“No, it’s not that. I don’t mind. It’s just…” He gave Alistair an uncertain look, the sudden vulnerability in his eyes stirring some deep-seated protective instinct within Alistair that made him want to cradle the necromancer in his arms and keep him safe. “As a paladin, you must find the whole notion of unearthing corpses and reanimating them abhorrent. You said as much a few minutes ago—that you can barely stand being among my undead.”

As much as Alistair wanted to deny it for the sake of comforting Iggie, it would have been an obvious lie. Therewassomething deeply unsettling about the notion of someone abusing deceased souls via duskflame when they should be at rest in the Great Beyond.

“Perhaps,” he admitted. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t possess a certain morbid curiosity. And…” He swallowed. “Maybe hearing more about the process will help dispel some of my preconceived notions.”

It certainly can’t make them worse.

As if sensing the unspoken thought, Iggie cracked a half-smile. Once again, Alistair found himself admiring the way the expression opened up the necromancer’s narrow face, softening his stern features. His bright blue eyes radiated quick intelligence along with a quiet strength.

“Very well,” Iggie said, visibly gathering himself. He sank into a chair across from Alistair, setting aside his picked-over plate. “To be frank, the main other limiting factor in issuing orders is the specific undead’s, um,togetherness, for lack of a better word.”

“Togetherness?”

Iggie nodded. “Togetherness has two main components. The first is how recently the person died. The more recent the death, the stronger a hold my magic has on them.”

Alistair frowned. “I’d have thought older bones would be easier to work with since there’d be less viscera involved.”

Iggie shuddered, his face growing even paler than usual. “Thankfully, my duskflame cleans the bones and dissolves the flesh as part of the ritual of raising. No manual bleaching required. I doubt I could handle it otherwise.”

Alistair’s brows shot up. “Asqueamishnecromancer?”

Though Iggie managed another half-smile, his countenance remained queasy. “I hate the sight of blood. Even a minor wound is enough to make me faint. When I was a kid, there was this time I…” He trailed off, his good humor dimming as sorrow flashed across his face.

Alistair’s heart twinged on his behalf. Whatever had happened to Iggie’s parents, the memory still haunted him. Alistair could relate.

“So, the fresher the body, the stronger the undead,” he said, hoping to pull Iggie’s mind off the past and distract him from his pain. “Any idea why that is?”

Iggie blinked, seeming to come back to himself. “I have a theory about that, and it has to do with the second factor that affect’s togetherness—my personal connection to them.”

Alistair couldn’t hold back an incredulous laugh. “Seriously? You have to, what,befriendthem before you can recruit them as your eternal servants?”

Iggie flushed. “Is it that absurd of a concept that we might actuallycareabout the undead we raise? We sacrifice a piece of our own magic to restore them to a semblance of life, after all. Why wouldn’t we want to know more about who it is we’re raising?”

Alistair sobered before Iggie’s anger. “Sorry. I suppose it makes sense…though it seems difficult to form a connection with someone who is already deceased.”

“Personal connection can take many forms. Knowing more about what they were like while alive helps, but so does belonging to the same town or possessing similar skills and interests. Of course, their relative willingness to serve is equally important.”

He fixed Alistair with a defiant look. It took Alistair a moment to catch on. When he did, he sucked in a breath.“Are you suggesting necromancers can’t raise undead against their will?”

Iggie shook his head. “It’s far more nuanced than that. But whatever undead theydoraise in that manner will almost certainly be weaker for it.” His tone took on a hint of wryness. “After all, murdering someone usually doesn’t enamor them to you.”

The missing villagers.That’s what Iggie was getting at—why would he kidnap people to kill and raise when doing so would severely weaken their potential? Of course, he could be lying about all of this to lull Alistair into lowering his guard. Somehow, however, he couldn’t quite bring himself to believe that was the case.