The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume I: Volume I

before the hearth at Brevelan’s direction.
    While his wife tended the pale and frightened boy, Jaylor ushered his two sons and the journeyman ahead of him, out of the cottage. “How badly is he hurt?” He handed Marcus the length of linen and gestured for him to start ripping it into bandages.
    “A broken arm, I think. Straightened and splinted it as best I could, but I’m no healer. Lee’s da threw stones at him when he stopped plowing and ran to help a steed in distress foaling twins.” Marcus shook his head in dismay. “The boy was only trying to help the mare and save the foals.”
    “I know, Marcus. I know. ’Tis the same story we’ve heard over and over. The Gnostic Utilitarians have spread dire tales of the evils of magic. They encourage lawless vengeance against innocents. I wonder that King Darville allows it.”
    “I don’t think he sanctions the Gnuls, sir. King Darville is a good king and Coronnan has prospered these last three years, despite the war. I think the Gnuls have invented evidence of evil magic to regain the followers who aren’t afraid of magic now that life is getting comfortable again.”
    “Does this boy have true talent?” Jaylor changed the subject rather than dispute the issue with Marcus. The Gnuls claimed Darville had led the attack on the monastery three years ago. Revealing the truth—that Margit had followed him on a wild tusker hunt in the opposite direction—might jeopardize the girl’s position.
    “Can’t tell what’s talent and what’s sensitive hearing. Lee feels guilty for having any magic. He’s bottled it all up so tight I couldn’t find it with my probes. But I think he must. The mare went into labor weeks early. She was pastured well away from where the boy was tilling. Yet he knew. Just reared up his head, nostrils flaring and eyes wide, like he felt the pain himself. Or heard her distress well beyond the reach of normal senses.”
    “Another empath? Brevelan does that.”
    “Good thing I was in the area. I ‘heard’ the boy cry out when the first stone knocked the wind out of him. If I hadn’t thrown a delusion of Lee running away and diverted the attack, he’d be dead now. Good thing he’s a boy.”
    A fearful father might have raped his own daughter to kill her magic. Boys were just murdered.
    “Someone is compounding the ugliness. I’ve heard reports of animals being stolen from secure pens and being found slaughtered—throats slit, blood drained in a ritual manner—miles away.” Marcus swallowed heavily as if keeping down bile.
    “I’ve heard those rumors, too. No evidence, though. It’s always in the next village.”
    “Now it’s in the capital. I talked to a woman whose cat was stolen from her arms, on her doorstep, by a gang of older boys. She found the cat on her doorstep the next morning. She claims she saw a cloaked man in the shadow of the next house directing the gang. Later the boys involved each had a gold piece they had no explanation for earning. Some of her neighbors are calling her a witch now. Just ’cause she’s old and alone.”
    “Hearsay again.”
    “I’ve alerted Margit. She’s looking for hard evidence. I’ve tried to teach her new spells, but she can’t seem to learn anything beyond a basic summons. She’ll have to rely on her knowledge of Coronnan City.”
    Regretful silence followed while Jaylor tried to calm his fury at events in the capital. He hugged both his sons tighter, savoring their innocence. Glendon responded by wrapping one arm around Jaylor’s knees. Lukan plopped his thumb into his empty mouth and snuggled into his father’s lap.
    “Any other news from the capital?” Jaylor diverted his thoughts and his anger away from the persecution of magic. How could he stop the torture and murder of innocents? The rumors of sacrificed animals had to stop before they amplified into tales of stolen children.
    The time for the Commune to intervene and show that magic was not something to fear was fast approaching, with or without dragons. But their numbers were so few!
    With luck and a lot more training, Marcus and Robb would be ready to go on a real quest in search of Shayla within a year or two. Too late. Something needed to be done now. Before the Gnuls discovered the University in exile and murdered them all.
    “The king still wears a sling on his left arm. But he attends banquets now and eats with his right hand. Until recently he hasn’t been seen to eat in public since the battle