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“My lord,” one of the men panted out as he skidded his horse to a stop in front of us, kicking up dust in our path. “We saw the explosion from our post. Is anything amiss?”
Urban sighed and shook his head. “We seriously need to work on your response time, fellows.”
Chapter 33
Urban
With the threat from dark magic turned real, I temporarily put field training on hold in order to send out all the soldiers to Mandalay and around the castle so they could keep their ears to the ground for any news they could discover.
Not twenty-four hours later, we caught a lead, and I requested an immediate audience with the king.
“You asked to see me?” Caulder said as soon as I was admitted into the Throne Room. “How’re you doing, by the way? Any permanent injuries from the explosion?”
“I’m well, Your Majesty.” I lifted my arms and rotated in a circle to show myself off. “All wounds have healed completely and without consequence.” I glanced Soren’s way since it was his wife’s fault I was doing so well.
The dick narrowed his eyes but refrained from speaking.
“That’s good to hear.” Caulder nodded. “What would you like to discuss then? I hope it’s an update on the search for dark magic.”
I glanced around before answering. The king had beefed up on security substantially. Soren, along with nearly three dozen servants, guards, pages, and dignitaries loitered about, keeping him safe. Most were soldiers, men I had personally trained and grown close to. But that didn’t mean I necessarily wanted them knowing such sensitive information, so I turned back to Caulder.
“Do you think we could have a bit more privacy for this conversation?”
“Of course.” Caulder waved the back of his hand toward his short-banged dignitary who commenced to clear the room until only Soren and six security guards stationed against the walls remained.
When the king focused on me, I drew in a breath and announced, “Yes, we have a lead on the dark magic investigation.”
“Really? You…” Caulder started to lurch to his feet but then must’ve realized a king should probably remain seated at such times, so he sank back into his chair and cleared his throat to mask his enthusiasm. In a moderated tone, he said, “Thank God. Let’s hear your news.”
“We came across information that a registered woman of magic from Lowden who’s currently residing in Mandalay is set to meet secretly with someone from inside the castle today.”
Caulder wrinkled his brow. “How did you learn of this?”
“I’ve been having all correspondence to and from the registered people of magic tracked and intercepted. And this… This note definitely came from somewhere inside the castle, but the source was untraceable and the contents of the message sketchy, which sent up immediate flags.”
Irritation tightened Caulder’s jaw. “And why couldn’t you trace the source?”
“The message was sent by pigeon, Your Majesty. One of my men was able to catch the bird and read the note before the recipient received it. After reading the message, he went ahead and allowed the pigeon to finish its delivery. Then he was able to follow it back to the castle. But as you know, anyone inside the iron walls could’ve been up to the coop and sent the message, plus there was no return reply from the Lowden woman of magic, which made it even more impossible to trace.”
“Dammit,” Caulder muttered, banging his fist against the arm of his chair. “From now on, I want a guard posted at the pigeon coop at all times, recording everyone who sends and receives messages.”
As I nodded my understanding and agreement, Soren asked, “I want to know why the hell you went ahead and allowed the message to reach its recipient? My God, it’s as if you want the dark magic to defeat us.”
I rolled my eyes. “Since we couldn’t track the magic woman’s castle contact, we thought it best to know exactly where this contact was going to be and when, which is what the message told us when we intercepted it.”
“Brilliant,” Caulder said, catching on, his eyes sparkling with eagerness. “Set a trap to catch the bastard when he goes to meet the Lowden woman. That’s perfect.”
I nodded my thanks. “We don’t have much time, though. I’d like to position a team into place outside the Lowden woman’s cottage as soon as possible. I’ll need at least a dozen. Capturing anyone containing dark magic may prove difficult, depending on just how powerful he is, and he must be to have hidden his abilities from us.”
“A team is granted, of course,” Caulder said, splaying out his hand. “I want this issue tied up and fixed as soon as possible.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” I started, only for Soren to butt in.
“I want in on this team, too.”
I opened my mouth to protest. He’d only get in the way. But Caulder fluttered out his hand again. “So be it.”
I scowled. I didn’t want to have to work with the dick. But it appeared I would be, because I didn’t have the time to protest. The meeting would be upon us before we knew it.
