"Maria V. Snyder - Study 1.5 - Assassin Study" - читать интересную книгу автора (Snyder Maria V)

Assassin Study

By Maria V. Snyder


Chapter One



Valek gazed at the mess on Mogkan’s desk and sighed. It would take him days to go through all the
papers, but Commander Ambrose wanted him to fully investigate the extent of Mogkan’s involvement in
General Brazell’s plans to seize control of the Territory of Ixia. Plans that had been thwarted. With
Brazell incarcerated and Mogkan dead, only the tiresome chore of tying up the loose ends remained.

As he scanned the various documents and notes on the desk, Valek was sickened by the details of
horror Mogkan had wrought on the orphans in Brazell’s care. It was a wonder Yelena survived
Mogkan’s magical torture. And it troubled Valek greatly that a rogue Sitian magician could live in Ixia for
fourteen years without his knowledge. The fact that Brazell had sheltered Mogkan was no excuse. Valek
was the chief of security for all of Ixia; it was his responsibility to know these things. Children had been
tormented.

Valek’s thoughts returned to Yelena. An icy finger of loneliness touched the emptiness inside him.
She was in Sitia, where she needed to be to learn about her magical powers, but she had taken his heart
with her.

Cursing himself for being melodramatic, he concentrated on the grim task at hand. An unfamiliar
name—T. Daviian—was written multiple times on various papers. When he found the line T.
Daviian—My Love—paid 6 golds, Valek guessed T. Daviian had been the Sitian assassin who had
poisoned the Commander’s drink with My Love during the trade treaty negotiations. Daviian was the
name of a plateau in Sitia. As far as Valek knew, the plateau was uninhabited.

A knock interrupted his musings. “Come in,” he called.

Ari opened the door and entered.

“How’s Janco?” Valek asked. Ari’s partner had gotten skewered with a sword during the battle to
free the Commander from Mogkan’s magical control.

“Driving the nurses crazy. This morning he pretended to be dead. When the night nurse reached for
him, he grabbed her arm.” Ari shook his head.

“Good to hear he’s feeling better. Do you have a report?”

“Yes, sir. All of General Brazell’s aides have been accounted for. The Commander is conducting
interviews with them.” A glint of appreciation flashed in Ari’s pale blue eyes. “It’s amazing how the
Commander can get a confession from an advisor using silence. I felt compelled to confess all my
boyhood crimes during the deadly quiet.”

“How many advisors were involved with Brazell’s plans?”