Page 24 of Feathered Thief

Fears kept rising as he stood on the castle steps, waving blindly to departing dignitaries. He assured himself that his father could not afford to offend the royal family of Zyrardów. King Ryszard had been the grand duke’s most trusted advisor, not to mention his faithful friend, for many years. Surely, his father wouldn’t double-cross and insult his oldest friend by breaking the betrothal.

Would he?

When the last carriage neared the end of the castle’s long sloping drive and exited through the ornate gates, his father turned to Kazik with a glow in his amber eyes. “Son, you haveone hour to clean up, dress in your finest, and report to my privy council chamber.”

Kazik didn’t ask for an explanation. Entering the castle, he charged up the spiral staircase of the northwest tower to his chambers, where he requested a bath and clean clothing. His efficient servants filled a tub for him within minutes, then filed out of his chambers.

He soaped and scrubbed before his rinse water had time to cool, then poured pitchers of it over his head and body. Spurning the frilly clothes a new valet had laid out, he dressed in his usual practical clothing. After all, every garment he owned was handsome and well made. He disliked frippery as intensely as his father loved it.

Above all, he urgently needed to find Helena before reporting to his father, to assure her that he would marry none but her. Thanks to all the military folderol, he had already kept her waiting for hours. He couldn’t sense her anywhere nearby, but that could mean she was safely in Geoffroi’s pocket world. Come to think of it, his father had set up those pocket worlds . . .

When Kazik flung open his chamber door, he found a contingency of stone-faced guards and mages waiting to escort him.

This could not be good.

Without protest, he fell into step. Certain of an imminent crisis, he began to draw on his magic to form a defensive mind barrier—advanced magic that he had only recently learned from good old Ludwik. Sometimes he wondered if his mother could predict the future.

More likely, she simply knew his father very well.

Whatever the reason, thanks to her foresight, he had allies in the castle. However, he sensed none of them nearby..

His escort waited in the corridor while he knocked on the door to the grand duke’s privy council. “Enter,” his father said, his voice deep and rich.

Kazik stepped alone into the familiar room, stopped just inside the door, and instantly sensed the presence offaymagic. He thought first of his golden friends, but this presence was unfamiliar.Hello?He silently queried.No response, but also no threat. He had no time for further analysis before his father looked up and set aside whatever work he’d been pretending to do.

“Excellent,” he said. “Your performance in the lists today was outstanding, though in future I would like to see more aggression in your attacks.” Despite his words, his amber eyes gleamed with satisfaction. “Now, I have wonderful news to share with you, my son. Come and take a seat here.” He indicated a chair facing him. “You might as well be comfortable as we talk.”

Kazik took two steps, stopped short, and without twitching a muscle flung up every magical defense he possessed to block an intense mind compulsion. Although the suddenness of the attack startled him, he somehow managed to maintain a calm expression.

At least, he hoped he’d succeeded.

“Come closer, my son.” His father beckoned.

Bracing himself, he took two more small steps.

His father’s smile brightened as the invisible pressure increased. How was he doing this? As far as Kazik knew, his father was a low-level mage at best.

“Ah, Kazimierz, my son!” Leaning back in his thronelike chair, the grand duke heaved a satisfied sigh. “I’ve been in communication with your grandfather the archduke for the past several months regarding your marriage.”

The prince did his best to hide his dismay. “Does he plan to come to my wedding?”

His father continued as if Kazik hadn’t spoken, but the compulsion deepened. “Angelika Zamoyska, your second cousin once removed, is a handsome young woman, as you must recall.”

Once removed, eh? Kazik would prefer her to bepermanentlyremoved from his life. The misnamed Angelika could petrify a basilisk with one glance.

His father rambled on: “Her father is a shipping magnate who also owns vast properties. A splendid match for you, indeed!”

If Kazik blenched, his father was too busy talking to notice. “A lovely young womanandheir to a fortune. Your grandfather is arranging your betrothal—a tremendous honor—and the marriage ceremony will occur two weeks from today in his presence at the Great Cathedral.”

While Warin Lisiewicz babbled about plans for his son’s future, Kazik’s magic nullified the compulsion magic aimed at him. Yet he gradually became aware of more magic in the room, including power that seemed to flowintothe grand duke.

What was it Ludwik had taught him the other day about tracing magic in both directions?

While maintaining his respectful-listening expression, he mentally followed the magic upstream from the grand duke to the lackeys and guards waiting out in the corridor. His father was siphoning their magic! Did they know? Had they consented to this magical larceny as part of their employment?

Kazik’s gut knew better. His father, Warin Lisiewicz, was a parasite. A magic leech.

Why hadn’t he realized what his father was doing all this time? How had the grand duke, aburvis-level mage at most, managed to conceal his magic theft from everyone?

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