SpellBreaker: First Ordinance, Book 4 Read Online Free Page A

leathers like most Falchani warriors did and, like them, he was quite serious when on duty.
    "While it appears that Cayetes' ships are back in business," Lissa announced, "Kooper says they've found evidence that drakus seed has been traded between criminal factions. I think the Arden twins have used this past six months to grow more of that shit and now they're selling it."
    "No word on where they're growing it?" Lafe asked.
    "Nothing yet. It may be that it's growing wherever they're hiding out. As a side note, there are six more planets infected with the poison."
    "So we can be assured they're not on a poisoned planet, then," Kaldill appeared inside the library. "Sorry I'm late; I've been instructing Lendill on court protocol. He has little patience, and that is a must when hearing complaints."
    He turned toward me then and offered a brilliant smile. I couldn't help it—I smiled back at him.
    "I suppose that means we can weed out all those planets affected," Lissa hunched her shoulders. She knew, just as I did, that something needed to be done soon or the poison would destroy the worlds it infected.
    I wanted to curse the rogue gods responsible for that, but didn't fully understand which ones to blame. Liron, after all, had provided protection from the poison for Siriaa—until his death. Then, due to the failure of a physician to do as Liron asked, followed by the rise of a grasping Prince and his evil advisor, Siriaa had been overcome by the spreading menace.
    I would never forget, too, the part Vardil Cayetes played in spreading the poison throughout the universe by blasting a dying Siriaa to bits.
    Those bits were now traveling, unhindered, to other worlds, where the poison was more than willing to grow and spread through fertile ground.
    "They need plenty of water to grow drakus seed," Kaldill pointed out, bringing me back to the present. "On Vic'Law, the fields were near the ocean, where it was easy enough to supply desalinated water to the plants during dry periods."
    Kaldill knew plants and trees—I think it was in his blood, somehow. The Elf King could grow roses in solid rock if he wanted, and in seconds, too—I'd seen him do it.
    He smiled at me again while a beautiful, red rose appeared in his hand. It floated toward me until I could pluck it from the air.
    Thank you , I sent to him.
    You are more lovely , he replied, than any flower I have ever seen .
    "The Larentii have gone Looking for the Arden twins," Daragar announced after appearing behind my sofa. "There is obvious Sirenali involvement—we can find nothing relating to them or to the drakus seed."
    "So they have Sirenali at the seed fields and Sirenali aboard the ships taking it offworld," Zaria spoke up. "Or someone would be able to find it."
    "True," Daragar turned toward her. "Q'elindi," he bowed to her.
    Ilya and Bel Erland drew in a breath.
    * * *
    Bel Erland
    "Did you know?" I demanded.
    "I suspected," Zaria shrugged. "I've never been tested again, so you see why it remained a suspicion."
    We'd adjourned our meeting shortly after Daragar's arrival, which meant I could question Zaria about her hidden talents. I considered calling Dad, but he was in a meeting. I decided to contact him later.
    "How have you survived with the visions this long?" I asked.
    "I learned to block them," she said. "Some were just too painful."
    "If you've learned to block them, then you're the first Q'elindi to do it," I sighed. "Why didn't you contact my father about this? He'd have welcomed you to court."
    "I think he'd have been somewhat dubious," she replied. "How many do you get every year, claiming the same thing?"
    "Several," I admitted. "Dad doesn't go easy on them after they lie to him and the court."
    "I don't want to do that as my job," she hunched her shoulders. "I just had a bad feeling about everything—that's why I wanted a job at the palace. Something is threatening the throne. I found out what it was when I saw you the first time."
    "You read me?" I