Exploitable Weaknesses by Brian Keller (red queen free ebook txt) 📗

the councilmen murmuring amongst themselves, the consensus being that none of them had any news of any such battle. Iona ignored them and continued, “Undoubtedly it’s coincidental, but it happened the evening before the Lord General’s raid on the Guild headquarters. When we went to investigate the Ruins, the Guild house was still burning.” No one uttered a sound for several seconds. The prince was thinking about what she’d said and no one wished to interrupt his concentration. The prince broke the silence. He pointed at the man who’d brought up the topic and announced, “I shall appoint you as my representative in this matter. Investigate further. The Ruins have long been a place of danger and uncertainty. We’ll need to satisfy ourselves that the Ruins are indeed safe. Our citizens along the coastal neighborhoods have endured enough recent hardship without placing them in harm’s way yet again. We’ll also need to verify the authenticity of these deeds.” The man bowed deeply, “Yes, my liege” The prince turned to Iona and added, “Considering your familiarity with the Ruins, I wish you to accompany this man. You’ll recognize if there’s any magical threat and give everyone time to react, isn’t that correct?” Iona didn’t know how to respond, she had little experience with ‘tactful speech’, “I should be able to, my liege… the power I felt resulting from that magical battle faded rapidly, as if one participant had defeated the other…” The prince leaned forward, adding, “I detect an unspoken conditional statement lurking. What is it?” Iona shook her head, “I’m not sure how to describe it, my liege. Nothing of that magnitude has ever happened, not since the University mages stood against the Mad Wizard, and there is so little written about that event that I can’t even be sure that’s a fair comparison.” The prince looked confused, “What has that to do with your detection of a magical threat?” Iona hesitated but when she replied her voice had been clear and distinct, “I might detect a threat, my liege. But someone who can harness that much power… well, detecting it doesn’t mean we’d have any chance of avoiding it, if such an attack was directed at us.” The councilor had turned several shades paler and looked as if he might vomit.

Now that Iona was in the privacy of her own chamber, she had time to consider what she knew and contemplate what she didn’t know. She knew that Cooper was involved in the battle in the Ruins, and that he’d been the one to survive. She’d also witnessed him take the full brunt of the Professor’s magical attack, amplified by Wen’s Talent, and live. Furthermore, after leaving his message on Yoren’s body, he had quickly departed as if completely unscathed while Yoren lay dead, seemingly as a result of that same magical energy. It had already occurred to her that if Cooper had wished, he could’ve remained in that vacant lot and killed each one of them. She’d seen how quickly the young man could move. If he had continued his attack, the only chance any of the mages would’ve had to survive would have been to flee in different directions, as fast as their respective Talents allowed them. Most of them would’ve survived, but Iona had no Manifested speed. The fact remained, he had intended the Spymaster to die, and once that had been accomplished, he departed. Furthermore, why didn’t he simply drain the life from the Spymaster as all the University scholars claim the Gifted do? Why resort to using blades?

She recounted what she knew of Cooper: he’d fought and defeated slavers in the Waterfront, and the slaves were nowhere to be found. The professor had theorized that he had probably drained the life out of them, just as the Mad Wizard would have done. The professor hadn’t been interested in her opinions, but if that had been the case, where were the bodies? Why wouldn’t he have just left them on the ground beside the bodies of the slavers? He had also defeated another of the Gifted in the Ruins, and now that neighborhood was being reoccupied. Had he somehow made the Ruins safe? He’d also killed the Spymaster but spared the rest of them. He’d left the message for the Prince, essentially proposing a policy of “symbiotic avoidance” which the prince seemed willing to accept, or at least that’s how things appeared. Knowing what she’d read of the Gifted from University research and reports, much of this conflicted with what she’d come to know, or at least suspect; but she also remembered what the prisoner, Grief, had told her when she’d asked about Cooper, “I’d tell you to be careful, but it won’t matter.”

She didn’t want to discuss ‘Cooper’ with the prince. Not yet. Not until she knew how to accurately describe him.

*****

As Cooper left the Wharf City, on his way back to the Ruins, he was trying to decide whether Mardon had appeared relieved or insulted that he wasn’t going to be hosting the final planning meeting. Probably a combination of both, but at this moment Cooper decided he was beyond caring whether he had inadvertently offended the man. He could visualize the events of the next twenty-four hours clearly in his mind. Now it was simply a matter of describing it well enough that the others could act on his instructions, and keep their actions reasonably synchronized. The timing would be nearly as crucial as the actions themselves, at least in the first several hours.

Back in the Ruins, Birt approached him as soon as he arrived. Birt called out, “Cooper! How many of us are going to this meeting?” Cooper replied, “You, Rukle, the Journeymen, and two or three of the others who are ready and able to fight. The rest of them will either be staying here in the Ruins to continue construction efforts, or they’ll be assisting Dailen and you on the Cliffs tomorrow.” Birt