Page 19 of Seducing the Sorcerer
Fenn shrugged. Liking blokes hadn’t been illegal for thirty years, but it was often better not to let on. A bead of sweat ran down the side of his face. Hopefully, Morgrim would think it was the heat of the fire. It was hot after all, though he could feel the chill of that great, cavernous room at his back.
“It was a distinguishing feature, that’s all,” Fenn said.
Morgrim inclined his head as if conceding a point. “And why do you suppose this handsome young man was so keen to get rid of a heap of sacking? Why not lay it to keep down weeds or some such?”
“Well, reckon they’d been having a clear-out, but this here horse wouldn’t burn.” Fenn frowned. “Though I don’t know why. It was good and dry. But anyway, then I come along and they think ‘here’s a chance to get rid of a bit of rubbish and have a laugh into the bargain’.”
The sorcerer’s eyes were reflecting the flames, dancing like liquid fire. Did he think it was funny too?
Fenn added, defensively, “I knew there’d be no horse. Not really. I’d have dug that pit for the food.”
The sorcerer examined his own black fingernails. “Your story does not reflect badly upon you, Mr. Todd, though I find it interesting that you believe it does. The villain of the piece is this young man who thought to make you the butt of his joke by cheating you. Whereas all you did was hope for a good bargain. Hope is not a crime, is it?”
Fenn glared at the floor. There was a roaring in his ears and he was hot all over again. It felt as if the sorcerer had ferreted out some tender core of him. Because, yes, he’d hoped. And that was shameful somehow. Perhaps because it was so naïve.
“Anyway,” the sorcerer continued, “You lay on the sacking to sleep, and until the moment it first moved, you’d never used magic at all? Never in your life?”
“Never. Wouldn’t be wandering around digging cesspits if I had magic, would I?”
“Perhaps not. Though it seems a most practical and necessary occupation. Tell me, what exactly was going through your mind when you first felt the horse move?”
“Nothing. I was falling asleep.”
“You must have been thinking of something,” Morgrim insisted.
“Well, horses, probably.”
“You weren’t thinking of Paravenna? Of this tower?”
“No.”
“You weren’t thinking of me?”
“No.” Fenn felt himself blushing, though Gods knew why. If only he could loosen his new neck cloth which was feeling tighter by the moment.
“Nor of Queen Aramella?”
Fenn frowned. “Why would I think of her?”
“It is her coronation in a month. Perhaps you thought of that? It might be natural for a citizen of the country to consider such an event.”
Coronations were nothing but expensive fuss to Fenn. He said, “Oh. You think?” The sorcerer’s eyebrows rose and Fenn added, “I did think of the queen earlier that day, actually.” Yes, sir, I thought about how they say you’ll force her into marriage. Or depose her and take the throne for yourself. Gods.
“Yes?” Morgrim prompted.
“Aye, because I was that thirsty and she sent a water cart to Enno. I wished I was there, having a drink.”
“Do you support her coronation, Mr. Todd?”
This was getting worse by the minute. Fenn found himself examining the mirthless grin of one of the capering skeletons on the screen behind the sorcerer, as if it might help him find the right answer. Aramella had an older brother who a lot of people thought the king should have appointed as his heir because Tullivo was older and a soldier and a man into the bargain. The monarch got the deciding vote if parliament was ever split, and had other powers besides, so it was an important job. But from what Fenn had seen, Tullivo cared only for power and his own importance, whereas Aramella had done things to make life easier for ordinary folks, like distributing the contents of the royal grain stores in the second year of drought. From what Fenn had heard, Tullivo had opposed that measure.
But what answer would please Morgrim?
Morgrim was no pet magician for all he was attached to the court. He might not have a vote in parliament, but he was a force to be reckoned with. So, would he support the lady or not?
“You hesitate, Mr. Todd,” the sorcerer pointed out.
“Don’t really have a view,” Fenn lied.
