Wrede, Patricia C - Mairelon 02 Read Online Free Page B

more than his coat."
                Hunch
returned and picked up the salver with a disapproving look. "Are you done
with this, Master Richard?"
                "What?
Yes, of course. Did you notice anything else, Kim?"
                "He
has blue eyes," Kim offered. "And he wears a gold ring with a flower
on it and a ruby in the center."
                "And
he has his boots from Hoby," Mairelon said. "It's not much to go on,
but it's a help. Now, let's make a list of these books and see what we can tell
from it."
                The pile
of books on the table had stopped glowing sometime during Mairelon's scrying
spell. Mairelon sat down and began sorting through them, while Hunch brought
him a pen, paper, and a fresh bottle of ink. As Mairelon wrote titles, Kim
shifted books so he could see the ones he hadn't written down yet, and in ten
minutes the list was complete.
                "There,"
Mairelon said, and glanced around the library. "I believe that's all we
can do tonight." He picked up his list and, in the absence of a blotter,
blew gently on the ink to hasten its drying.
                "What
about tomorrow?" Kim said.
                "Tomorrow,
I'll take this over to the Royal College and see whether Kerring has any thoughts on it."
                "Who's
Kerring?"
                "Lord
Kerring is head archivist at the Royal College of Wizards," Mairelon
replied. "If there's a connection among all these titles, he'll spot it.
He might even have some idea which wizards would be likely to know a bit about
burglary."
                "That
cove didn't know the first thing about the crack lay," Kim said. "I
wouldn't of heard him at all, if he had."
                Mairelon
looked thoughtful. "Possibly he's more of a magician than I'd been
thinking. If he was depending on magic to pull off his theft--"
                "He
was still a clunker," Kim said firmly. "And I didn't notice any
spellcasting."
                "He
invoked the spell he had stored in this," Mairelon said, holding up the
broken rod.
                "Then
why didn't I notice it?"
                "Because
it was invoked , not cast ," Mairelon replied. "The
spellcasting took place when the spell was originally stored in the rod, which
could have been hours ago, or even days. When the spell is invoked, you
wouldn't notice anything unless you were touching either the storage container
or the object the spell was intended to affect."
                "I
think I see," Kim said.
                "If
our burglar had another trick or two like this, he could have used them without
alerting you," Mairelon went on, fingering the rod. "Rather a good
precaution to take if you're going to burgle a wizard's house, now that I think
of it. I believe we should set a few wards around the house tomorrow, just in
case he comes back."
                "What
if that there burglar comes back tonight ?" Hunch said.
                "Then
the library will no doubt be a wreck when we come down in the morning, Harry
will probably collect another lump on his head, Aunt Agatha will be prostrate
with the vapours, and I shall have to apologize to everyone for my
carelessness." Mairelon smiled sweetly at Hunch. "Unless,
of course, you spend the night here, on watch."
                "I
might 'ave known you'd think of that," Hunch muttered. "Well, as long
as you don't go 'aring off after 'im while I'm busy elsewhere."
                "Hunch! Would I do such a thing?"
                "You 'ave before."
                "I'm
a reformed character."
                Kim
choked back a snort of laughter. Mairelon turned and looked at her with mock
disapproval.
                "I
seem to recall telling Aunt Agatha that I'd send you up before you took a
chill. As we appear to be finished here,