Truth and Deception

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Lord Thorn Virias, Prelate of Arnor House of the Ancient and Honourable Guild of Magic-users, Sorcerers and Thaumaturges, groaned as the scrying-crystal on his marble desk flashed a baleful, sickly shade of green. This could only mean that his mother, Lizaveta, sought discourse with him. He considered ignoring the insistent flashing of the glass, but he soon thought better of it; Lizaveta would know he was in his chamber, even without the mental link the crystal provided.

He placed his hands on the crystal with care, as if the bauble might explode at his very touch, and he patterned his mind for the sleight of Telepathy.

"Yes, Mother?"

"Thorn, my dearest son," the familiar voice hissed in his head.

The mental voice invoked the sensation of an army of slimy, slithering worms cascading into his skull. Thorn knew his mother's words were born of anything but love, and he was on his guard in a moment.

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