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

an eye on the place. Tell one of the Houses that we’ll bring them a wheelbarrow of bread, meat and cheese if they keep the place under surveillance for the next two days and nights.” Rukle nodded and stood to leave. Cooper added, “Light surveillance. We don’t want kids out there hanging off the house’s rafters and sitting on their doorstep.” An expression of irritation crossed Rukle’s face, but it disappeared immediately, “Understood.” was his only reply.

As everyone left the fire to start their tasks for the day, Birt had another topic to bring up, “Now that I know you’re ready to discuss some things again, there’s something else you’ll want to know.” Noting Birt’s satisfied and excited expression, Cooper set his plate down on his lap, “What’s that?” Birt’s voice became quiet, “I saw Mister Ysel.” Cooper had the presence of mind to toss his plate to one side before he sprang up, “Where?!” Birt waved his hands and made a shushing noise, then replied, “In the quarry. Chained to a few other folks of ours. He seemed none too handy or energetic with that pick they were making him swing though.”

Cooper sat back down and picked up his plate. He stared at the remains of his breakfast for a few seconds and Birt waited, sure that a reply was coming soon. Cooper used his spoon to push some of the food around his plate, then let it drop with a light clatter, “It would be a risk to reveal ourselves to the Watch and prison guards, but we need to at least look into whether we have the means to free our people. I’ll let everyone know that we need to meet up this afternoon, then you can tell us everything you can recall about the quarry and how it’s guarded.” Birt stood, “I’ll check in with our construction crews, then hand that supervision over to Dailen for the rest of the morning so I can come back and prepare my descriptions.” Cooper spoke as Birt turned away, “No need to spend too much time on it. Just enough to keep us out of trouble when we go look around.” Birt stopped and turned to see that Cooper was grinning. Birt asked, “When? Just looking, right?” Cooper shrugged, “Tonight. And yes, just looking… unless we notice something that’s just too good to pass up.” Birt looked only slightly relieved as he turned to leave.

Cooper’s mind quickly moved on to other things; there was another added wrinkle, and one that he couldn’t mention to the rest of them. There was still a Hunter assigned to locate him. What the University had planned, in the event of his capture, he didn’t know but he felt certain that it wouldn’t be to his benefit. Everything that Master Worthan had told him in past years was that the University, and the Hunters they employed, were intent on killing anyone they found that had a Gift. He already knew that Gifted people were extremely rare. From what he and Master Worthan had determined, the Gift stemmed from having Fae ancestry. He only knew of six people that were Gifted, seven if you counted the Mad Wizard and his ghost separately. For all he knew now, he might be the only one still living. Master Worthan had hinted that there were others in the Guild who were Gifted, but who they were and whether they’d survived, Cooper had no idea.

Sometime in the months to come, he felt certain there would be a need for him to Channel, a term used to describe the use of his Gift. This would announce his presence to the Hunter, or Hunters. He just needed to either plan carefully enough so he could accomplish what was needed without Channeling, or at least select the time and place, then be prepared for the University’s reaction. He considered his options and wondered, not for the first time, whether he should simply use his Gift, offering himself as bait to flush out the Hunters. He discarded the notion now, as he always had. He simply didn’t know how, or how strongly, they would react. The University had hundreds of mages whose Talents he couldn’t know or predict. That situation could easily outpace his ability to survive it.

Cooper finished his meal and scrubbed his plate and spoon. He then went about informing everyone to return to the Ruins after lunch, “and be prepared to sit, listen and ask questions.”

He followed Rukle, Spen and Naro, but remained far behind them. They were easy enough to follow considering he vaguely knew their destination and it was still early hours of the morning. Vendors in the Trade Quarter were still arranging their displays. The only customers who were out this early were the household staff of noble families. Beggars weren’t even out yet, no point in trying to beg coin from people that didn’t have money of their own. Rukle and the boys would glance around them from time to time, but they weren’t actively checking to see if they were being followed. It was easy enough to blend in at those moments since they’d only look around when they were changing direction. Staying far behind them gave him a chance to see whether anyone showed any interest in the three boys. No one did.

They passed through the Trade Quarter, pausing only for Rukle to speak with a couple of merchants along the way. Once they reached the Dregs, the boys split up. Cooper assumed Rukle was going to visit the Houses, so he followed Naro. He didn’t really care whether the boy noticed him, he simply wanted to feel assured that the boys weren’t drawing any attention to themselves.

After walking down several streets and slipping through spaces between buildings, Cooper started trying to stay parallel with Naro, rather than following behind him. He lost sight of him frequently and nearly lost him entirely a couple of times