A Charm for Draius: A Novel of the Broken Kaskea (The Broken Kaskea Series Book 1) by Laura E. Reeve Page A

with pain and perhaps his cousin had already paid the price for her Darkness.
    He turned his attention to Lornis, saw a curious spark of light within the man and heard Mahri whisper in his mind, the ancestors have marked this one . So the Stars show a destiny for this man? He knew he wouldn’t get straight answers from Mahri, and instead concentrated upon Draius’s report. When she came to the sign painted in blood on the wall, he stopped her.
    “Do you have a drawing of this symbol? The Phrenii might understand its significance.” Because they avoided the creatures, adults easily forgot the Phrenii were sources of historical information.
    Lieutenant Lornis opened his satchel, pulled out a drawing, and held it up. Perinon saw two concentric circles with an “N” drawn within them. The tail of the “N” dipped into the concentric circles and entwined them. Before he could frame a question, a charge ran through him, a chilling vibration from the entire phrenic circle. Perinon gasped, unable to breathe—
    “Sire? Sire?”
    He looked up. He was sprawled across his desk and his secretary was beside him, trying to help him back into his chair. The City Guard officers were leaning over the desk in concern. Mahri stood behind him, still as stone. He was wheezing and managed to choke out a few words. “Just need air.”
    The concerned mortals in the room backed away, making a semi-circle in front of his desk. Even the King’s Guard stood with the others. Soitto was peering in from the hallway. How long had he been fighting for air? Finally able to speak in a normal tone, he sat back in his chair and drew another deep breath. “I’m fine. Attend to your posts, please.”
    While everyone went back to his or her assorted places and the guards shooed away the twelve-year-old girl at the doorway, Perinon went as deeply into rapport with Mahri as he could, without actually entering the Void. What went through the Phrenii was fear : raw, naked fear . There had been another time they felt such fear, when they were facing destruction. So this was the reason for the morning history lesson.
    “Mahri, tell the officers about this symbol,” he said.
    Mahri responded, using the circle to summon up memories from the Phrenii.
    “The concentric circles combine to make a sign used in necromancy, a proscribed and evil art. Necromancy can bind power into inanimate objects, and that power might look like true magic to the ignorant. The ‘N’ is a reference to Nherissa, the sorcerer who developed this art.” Mahri’s voice had musical tones, but was neither high nor low, neither male nor female. After the Phrenii spoke, no one could ever fully describe their voice.
    There was silence. The tales of the sorcerers Nherissa and Cessina were well known but had become children’s bedtime stories, obscured by time and multiple tellings. It was easy to forget that the Phrenii had lived during those times.
    “We are speaking hypothetically ?” Draius cautiously directed her question to the Phrenii. “Mankind might have used this art once, but can’t use it any more?”
    “Nherissa was the last mortal known to use necromancy and he was consumed by the souls he imprisoned. He was one of the last men who had the ability to attain the rank of sorcerer.”
    “But Nherissa’s art died with him. Our murderers did not use magic; this is man-made butchery.” Draius’s voice was clipped, almost sharp. “Sire, I should think torture, murder, and mutilation, whichever came first, to be the primary points here.”
    Perinon hid a smile: he remembered how stubborn his cousin could be.
    “Necromancy is the only crime on the books that still rates death on the wheel. Attempted necromancy can be punished with the same, or life imprisonment, if the magistrate deems mercy is deserved. Signed by King Kotiin in the year 998 and never rescinded.” Lornis looked sideways at Draius and finished sheepishly, “I just took the exams.”
    “I know the