by Elle Cardy
“You aren’t bothered?”
Marcelo chuckled. “It’s rare, but the poor thing knew little about wielders when she was growing into her power. She bonded with the thing she loved best. It was inevitable.” He smiled at Jasmine but she didn’t smile back. She didn’t trust him. “And no, I’m not bothered. Are you?”
Finn’s hesitation stabbed at Jasmine’s heart. “But it’s so huge. The power she could wield…”
“Fascinating, isn’t it.”
This was the first time she felt ashamed of her power, a power she was born into, a heritage she had no choice over. This was who she was. If Finn couldn’t understand that, if he had a problem with it, then she didn’t think whatever it was their relationship had become could last.
“Speaking of power,” she said to change the subject and bury her discomfort. “You planned everything, didn’t you? From Finn being on the Seahawk, to me seeing your visions. You meant for us to be silenced. You knew we would survive?”
A small smile appeared on Marcelo’s face. “Indeed, I did.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
He turned his blue eyes on Finn. “Would you have come to Sapphire Cove if I told you that you would die?” He turned to Jasmine. “Would you have faced Kahld if Finn wasn’t in danger? Of course not. It had to happen the way it happened.” He swept an arm across the crates. “Half the scrolls in these boxes are dedicated to what might have happened, what could have happened, what needed to happen in that cove.”
“How could you play with our lives this way?” Finn asked.
“Why do you think I allowed you to leave the order? It wasn’t compassion for your weak-minded sympathies for those who deserved to be silenced, who needed to be silenced. I needed you outside the order, to betray the order by telling Jasmine about us. I needed you to protect her from us so she could learn how to survive a silencing.”
Finn backed away from Marcelo.
“It needed to be done,” Marcelo yelled. He took a moment to compose himself. He attempted a smile. “What does it matter now? Without me you would never have found each other.”
“Let’s get out of here, Finn,” Jasmine said.
“Not yet,” Finn said. “One more thing, Marcelo. You can never silence another wielder again.”
“Why ever not?”
“In the place you send the wielder lives a beast. I saw it for myself when I was silenced. We both did.” He glanced at Jasmine standing by the door. “It…it hunts. It lives on…”
“It feeds on power,” Jasmine finished for him. “Each time you send someone there you feed that beast. It’s growing stronger. It will find a way out.”
“A beast, you say. Fascinating. That explains much,” he added quietly to himself. He cast around for a blank parchment. He caught one up and grabbed a pen and started writing something in a fast scrawl. “Fascinating,” he said again.
“Will you stop the silencing?” Finn asked.
Marcelo looked up. “No, of course not. It’s what we do. We were lucky with Kahld. He didn’t need a silencing because it turned out he wanted to die. Curious. I hadn’t seen that detail. A wielder who doesn’t want to die often has tricks to cheat death. Silencing is the only answer.”
“You can’t!”
Marcelo smiled at her. “Come, come.” He ushered them both to the door. “Don’t you worry yourselves about such matters. These are Guardian matters. Neither of you are a part of the order. Unless you’d like to join?” He studied each of them hopefully.
Jasmine shook her head. Finn narrowed his eyes.
“I thought not,” Marcelo said. “Now, shoo. I have work to do.”
He slammed the door shut. They stood in the passageway, dazed.
“Do you have a problem with the ship being my talisman?” Jasmine asked in a small voice.
Finn stared with frustration at the closed door. When he heard her question he turned to her with a frown. “I was just surprised. It’s so unusual.” He then smiled and caught her up in her arms. “That’s what I love about you. You are my sea princess.”
She laughed at him. “There’s nothing princess-like about me,” she declared and ran away from him. Finn chased her through the ship.
She let him catch her when they came to his cabin. He reached down to kiss her but she touched his lips with a finger to stay him. “What will we do about the beast?” she asked, a little afraid.
Finn smiled a wolfish grin. “For now, let the beast be the Guardians’ problem. I have other things on my mind.” He kissed her then. It was the sweetest kiss she had tasted. It sent a thrill through her and the ship alike. All thoughts of the beast vanished in Finn’s embrace.
She’d found home at last.
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Thank you for reading Wielder’s Prize. Jasmine’s adventures continue in book two of the Wielder’s Storm series, Wielder’s Curse, soon to be released.
If you liked this story, please consider writing a short review. Not only are reviews as tasty as 70% dark chocolate, they are the greatest compliment a writer can receive.
To get a map of Erenna and other exclusive content, head to http://www.ellecardy.com
To contact the author, please email her at [email protected]
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Acknowledgements
I wish to thank everyone who believed in me and read all my stories, even the terrible ones. To my husband who oozes love and support and cuteness. With a smile, he put up with all my writerly insanity, all my doubts and uncertainties. Soul mates are real and he is mine.
Thank you too to my early readers. To Denise Covey who kindly critiqued my work and offered great suggestions. I love our lunches. To my mom who read and loved the book even when I pulled a swifty and didn’t tell her I’d written it. To C. Lee McKenzie who gave an extra, unexpected hand. To Carol Riggs and Susie Salom who both, over many years, offered that special friendship and understanding and support only other writers can give. You guys are awesome.
And thank you to my brother. While you didn’t get a chance to read this story, it’s your fault it’s now out in the world for readers to enjoy. You were the one who reignited my love of storytelling in the written form. I wish you could’ve seen this end result.