Uleni's Gamble Read Online Free Page A

idea. Give it twelve hours, if the Flame isn’t dead by then; dispatch a team to take care of it.”
    A few seconds later Riese added, “And make sure Ross’s precious pet dies as well. Keep this between ourselves.”
    Lian bowed, “It will be done mage Riese,” and retreated out of his master’s rooms.
    *
    He felt sheepish as he knocked on the door, Trina answered it with a smile and a bow. She put her head down and looked up at him through eyelashes.
    She said in a soft vulnerable voice, “How may I… serve you, Flame of Cytherea.”
    Shit, now he felt even guiltier. He was pretty damn sure she had just offered her body to him, what he couldn’t figure out is why. He was eighteen, so he was forced to ignore his swiftly hardening cock. So not going to happen, despite how hot she was, he already had four and a half downstairs.
    “Umm, that won’t be necessary. I came to apologize for being such an ass earlier. You see, the temple’s offers of wealth don’t interest me. I’m young and have a full life ahead of me. I’m too young to not be doing something. But back to my point, I’m sorry I took that out on you, it wasn’t your fault.”
    He waited for her to say something, but she just gaped at him. After a minute or so it got uncomfortable, as he waited for her to accept it or tell him to screw himself.
    “So umm, I hope you accept my apology, and there is one thing you can do for me, don’t call me that anymore, just call me Justin. Oh, and dinner should be ready in a few minutes.”
    She was still looking shocked so he shuffled his foot a bit and said, “Well, see you down there then.”
    He muttered under his breath as he went down the stairs, “Well that was bloody awkward.”
    He felt better about things after apologizing, he just hoped she accepted it, she hadn’t even said anything at all. Dinner was great, he loved Katrina’s stew. There were a couple of traders that had dropped in. They were going to push on after dinner to get to the capitol, but decided to stop for a decent meal instead of trail rations.
    They told him that they would spread the word when they reached the city, they had apparently enjoyed the meal as much as he had. He thought it odd though, that Trina didn’t come down and join them.
    Sara volunteered to bring a bowl up to her room; he hoped Trina would get over whatever had shocked her. He didn’t see how it could be him. He wasn’t all that mean this afternoon, just cold and standoffish. It was out of character for him perhaps, but hardly for this society.
    When Sara came downstairs she said, “We are being spied on, I think.”
    He asked gently, “Why do you think so?”
    She said haltingly, “Lately I haven’t been using my talent as much as I used to, I haven’t needed too since I feel safe here. But I checked on the way upstairs, out of habit, and I felt two people. One is a few hundred yards to the west, the other is about half that distance to the north. The one to the north is worried. The one to the west is full of… angry anticipation. Impatience.”
    Nora asked, “If they are so far, how could they be spying on us?”
    Sally answered, “My range isn’t enough to reach that far in a circle, but I could certainly do it if I pushed all my magic in one direction. I don’t bother since I have no reason to, but for a spy it would work just fine.”
    Nora nodded in understanding, stood, and started walking for the door.
    He frowned and got up to follow, “Let’s check west first?”
    They all exited the tavern and moved quickly to the west. He wasn’t happy when Nora took off like a bullet and left them chasing behind.
    When they caught up Nora asked in a growl, “Where is he?”
    Sara blushed. “I don’t know, his emotions just disappeared, I can’t detect him anymore.”
    Sally said, “He might have been a traveler mage, I caught a big surge of magic right before we got here.”
    He cleared his throat and tried not to sound annoyed, “Traveler