"Have you decided to live after all, wizard?" A voice asked as Klair came to consciousness.
He felt the weight of his body lying on cushions and the pressure of bandages encircling chest, his arms and legs. Not wizard, woods craftsman, Klair thought but answered with a groan as he opened his eyes. A woman stood before him.
Klair looked about the room in stunned silence, finding himself very much alive.
"Who did this to you and to...? Bejja."
"One time constable Trenny, banned from Merrsain village," Klair answered in a scratchy voice. The cheeks of his inner mouth were raw and still sore from biting them through the gag.
"His life is forfeit for such."
Klair's eyes gritted with determination. "Yes."
She nodded. "I am Eldress Nelora of Petta city," she announced. The weave of thin cords through her braided hair and the pea -sized metal ball hanging from the end of one braid supported her words.
Cloth intermixed with the cords and hair identified her as a merchant.
She held a metal crest and she gently took Klair's hand. The stamp bore Petta's city symbol with a blade in the middle. The engraving was coated with ink.
Klair opened his fingers and she presses the crest against his palm. The brand gave the authority of Petta city for Klair to execute Trenny for the death of Bejja. She leaned down, and blew until the ink dried. "If you are to perform the execution, wizard, you must first live." Her gaze gentled. Her look reminded him of his mother.
"Returning to full health will take time," she said.
The memory of Klair's mother reminded him of' Trenny's threat to here once he returned to Merrsain. anxiety filled him.
He tried to sit up and as pain erupted. "I don't have time to lie around. Trenny is going to kill my mother!" He wanted to bellow at the top of his voice and wanted to hit something with the strength denied him during his torture. But not yet, he needed her help.
"In Taaken, certainly in the hold of—
"She's not there!" Klair's voice rose in panic. "She lives in Merrsain of Shersheck Provence." He tried to rise more carefully but weariness restrained him and he deflated against the blankets. Tears welled in his eyes. He couldn't stop a sob denied him back in the workshop as all the events of the last few spans swelled within him. He tried to face the wall. He pressed his teeth into his lower lip to suppress a whimper.
Fresh blood beaded his lip.
A comforting hand rested on his shoulder. "We can send a message to warn her of this Trenny before you give chase. We have pigeons dedicated to Merrsain. I correspond with a friend there. That can give you time to heal. Sheenay burn can be fatal and you have taken an unusual high dosage of it." She smiled encouragement. "Fortunately for you, we have a Kapawn healer visiting the city. Barter with Ilock, to see what can be done for a quick recovery.
"I don't want anything to do with the Kapawn!"
A deep rumble of a voice interrupted. "Too late."
Klair and the matriarch turned to the new arrival now filling the door. The stout figure walked into the room, black hair braided down his back. "Someone must hate you very much to take such measures to kill you."
Klair ignored him and turned to the Elder. "I want a healer who isn't Kapawn."
She glanced back at the wizard.
YOU ARE READING
Pursued - Entire book
ФэнтезиKlair is a teenage wizard who HATES magic. He was born as a result of a wizard's one night stand with his other when she worked as a prostitute. Now over a decade later they live in Merrsain, a city located an area of the country that hates wizards...
