Page 38 of The King of Koraha
“Exactly.”
The advisor left and Rendor dismissed Hakana, instructing her to find them the next sun jump. It didn’t take long for the first guard to arrive for the interview. Shyla let Rendor take the lead. He had experience working with guards and his familiarity with the lingo and duties made him the better choice. She read emotions and signaled Rendor whenever anyone lied.
It was interesting to learn what the guards lied about. Not anything major, or even about the theft, but they covered for each other. They avoided criticizing their colleagues and insisted everyone worked hard and was diligent.
“So we’re back to the beginning,” Shyla said after the last guard left. “With no suspects.”
“Not the beginning. We’ve eliminated a number of suspects.”
“I fail to see the difference. We still have no suspects.” She mulled over who had the opportunity and the skills to steal all those coins. No one. At least, no one without magic. “I could have stolen the coins.”
“You?”
“Yes. I could have used my magic to convince Advisor Yiesha to unlock the vault and make the guards swim for the coins. Afterward, I could have erased everyone’s memories of the theft.”
“Do you think a magic wielder is responsible?”
“It fits.”
“The person would need to be almost as powerful as you are. Or perhaps there was more than one?”
“That’s possible.”
“Could there be another organization like the Invisible Sword that wields magic?” Rendor asked.
“I haven’t heard of any, but, then again, I didn’t know about the Invisible Sword. According to Jayden, everyone in Koraha has the potential to wield magic, but only those who’ve experienced trauma and successfully tapped into the magic can become wielders on their own.”
“Sounds like you don’t agree with him.”
“I don’t think everyone has the potential. I’ve encountered people who’ve survived a trauma and still weren’t…cracked.” It sounded bad, but that was how she saw the magic inside someone. The thin ribbon of power glowed like a druk lantern that was only opened a crack. And she’d learned how to widen it, unlocking the person’s ability to wield magic. Just like she had done for Mojag. But Jayden had done it for others, too, so it wasn’t due to the power of The Eyes.
“Let’s say there are people in Qulsary who can wield magic. How do we find them?” Rendor asked.
Good question. There were far too many people living in Qulsary for her to use The Eyes to see if anyone glowed. “Perhaps one of the King’s staff saw a stranger with Yiesha when they went down to the vault.” Another idea popped. “Wait. Going down to the vault and influencing enough guards to bring up all those coins and then carrying the sacks out is too much work. Thinking about it, I’d grab the coins before they went into the vault and just plant new memories of the taxes being successfully delivered.”
“Still doesn’t help us figure out who has the power to do that.” Rendor rubbed his face as he covered a yawn.
It was angle two-seventy. They’d worked well into the darkness. “I know what will help us.”
“You do?”
“Yes. We need sausages.”
Rendor chuckled. “We missed third meal.”
“But we’re in the King’s castle. I bet there’ll be someone in the kitchen.”
Suddenly energized, Rendor said, “Let’s go.”
They encountered Najib on the way. The advisor fell into step beside them as they updated him on their investigation. No one was in the kitchen, but Najib insisted on frying a few sausages for them as he mulled over their report.
He set a plate down on the table and joined Shyla and Rendor. “If these magic people can do all that you say, I wonder why they went after the taxes and didn’t take advantage in smaller ways.”
“Smaller ways?” Rendor asked between bites.
“Like small crimes where a couple missing coins wasn’t going to cause an alarm or an investigation. Or by using their power to get better jobs or take advantage of rich customers—things that wouldn’t be noticed. Influencing one or two people sounds much easier than a dozen guards, a bunch of monks, the advisor, and the six stationed at the vault.”
When he put it that way, he made an excellent point. Plus she still couldn’t get around the fact the thieves had to move so many coins from the bottom of a pool. Unless they could move metal. She commanded the sand, and water obeyed the King. Why not metal? A coin was like a grain of sand. It was bigger and heavier, but if she could move buckets full of sand, then another might be able to command the coins. But even if these people existed, how would Shyla find them?
