20 Chapter 20 The Dad Talk (1/2)
Knock…knock…
”Come in Joseph.”His father was sitting at his desk in the carriage, grinning at him, an exhausted look in his eyes.
”You wanted to see me? Have you slept yet?” His dad had probably been up all night, running interference after the poisoning attempt last night.
”Don't worry about that,” he said, waving at him. ”You're a hero! I never thought your magic would prove useful so soon. None of the slaves had been harmed by that poison because you discovered it. The taste-testers and cooks were treated quickly enough, the healers were able to save them all. All of the slaves that have reported to me over the past twelve hours have had nothing but praise for you. I could have lost over a hundred of my best slaves! I can't even imagine if any of the babies or children had gotten some.”
Joseph rubbed his head in embarra.s.sment and pride.
”Joseph, they were intending to kill me. Thank you!” He stood and did a full bow.
”You're welcome, father,” he said with a slight grin, as his father sat back down. He was really happy that his first spell had wrought so much good. What a coincidence that they got that food at the same time that he had his spell ready to cast! He definitely needed to keep working hard!
”Have you heard about Phenic?” His father's voice faltered slightly. ”He was a good man. I never imagined someone would target him to get to me. They probably took him out to make the witnesses fewer.”
”Did you keep the baby girl, or turn her over to family?”
”They haven't shown up yet. Because I can't prove any of them were not involved, I would rather keep her safe. It's the least I can do for him.”
”Who do you think did it?”
”I'm relatively certain it was a rival slave merchant. They were trying to take me out in such a roundabout way, though, the kings' men have gotten involved. It won't be long before the perpetrator is found. I have reports from this morning that Phenic had sold that flour to all the surrounding villages, too.”
”Do you know how long we'll stay?”
”Probably a couple more days. I've offered to take in any babes affected by this, and my healers, while not strong enough to completely remove the poison, can still heal people so that they don't die. If it were only one or two, that would be different, but we're looking at possibly hundreds of people affected by this.”
”I was thinking the same things,” admitted Joseph. He hesitated a moment, wondering if he could change the topic without seeming rude. ”I have a question?”
”Ask it,” he said, folding his hands in front of him.
”I've lowered my sleep to 3 hours a night. I can't go any further without departing humanity.”
”You want to be very careful about doing that! Once you stop being a human, it's far too easy to keep going.”
Joseph gazed at his dad, wondering if he had already experienced that slippery slope.