The Heartstone Blade (The Dark Ability Book 2)

by Holmberg, D. K.

  But Jessa needed him. Now was not the time to worry about violating privacy. He would do anything to help Jessa.

  He stepped through the shadowed threshold. The room on the other side surprised him. Instead of a mattress or rolled blanket or anything that would make the room a place of rest, there was a large, hinged chest along one wall. A narrow desk against the opposite wall. The candle he’d seen flickered there. A small block of the silvery metal sat atop the desk, a twin to the one he still had in his pocket.

  Rsiran froze.

  Instinctively, he listened for the sound of lorcith. In the house should be the collection of lorcith he’d brought earlier in the evening, the sound of his forgings calling to him, pulling on his senses. He heard nothing.

  Instead, he felt the pull of unshaped lorcith.

  Slowly, he made his way to the trunk. This was where the lorcith pulled at him the strongest. Long wooden slats formed the lid of the trunk, squeezed together by bands of iron on each end. The body of the trunk seemed to be made from solid wood, as if milled in a single sheet, but wider than anything he’d ever seen. Rsiran frowned when he noticed faded writing on one end that reminded him of the crates in the warehouse.

  He lifted the lid, dreading what he might find. Inside were nearly a dozen massive lumps of lorcith. Each about the same size as the one he’d seen at the smithy in Asador. He lifted one, holding it in his hand, and turned to the desk where the block of metal rested.

  Only then did he realize he wasn’t alone.

  “Where’s Brusus?”

  Della stepped through the doorway. Her hair stood wild, and deep wrinkles pulled at the corners of her vibrant green eyes, making her look weary. The first time he’d met her, he’d been the cause of that fatigue.

  “The man will live,” she said.

  He looked from the trunk back to Della. “Is he awake enough to answer some questions?”

  Della blinked slowly. “Rsiran… do you know who you brought back to Elaeavn?”

  He didn’t. Someone bearded, which those living in Elaeavn never were, but his green eyes said that he possessed the Great Watcher’s gift. “Who is it?”

  “When you visit with him, you must remember—”

  “Who is it?”

  She crossed her hands over her stomach as she faced him, considering her response. “Someone who will not know where Jessa was taken.”

  He nearly collapsed. The effort of the day seemed to be catching up with him. After everything, the man he’d brought back with him to the city had been his last hope that he’d find Jessa. And now… now he had nothing.

  “Where’s Brusus?” he asked again. “Why does he have lorcith?” The questions spilled out of him, mixed with the hopelessness he felt.

  Della sighed. Her breath smelled of mint and reminded him of his visit earlier in the day. “I cannot claim to know you as she does, but anger does not suit you.”

  “What else could I be? He took Jessa from me. The one person I counted on as a friend hides lorcith from me. And you seem to know why.”

  “There is much I know. And there are things I wish to forget. Many things. That is something I think you begin to understand.”

  The words touched a nerve, and he bit back what he started to say. “What’s this about, Della?”

  She stepped closer. One hand reached for him, touching his arm. A wave of relaxation started through him, the tingling in his skin reminding him so much of how it had felt entering the barricaded house. “This is about Brusus.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “And you should not. I don’t think you were ever meant to be a part of it.”

  “And Brusus?”

  “It’s different with him.”

  “He means to exclude me from what he plans?”

  Della shook her head. “From what I can See, neither of you were to have been involved. What happened to Lianna was meant to hurt Brusus, and it did. Josun took something very personal from Brusus. All that managed to do was make him angry. Then he targeted you. Tried to implicate you in a palace break-in. And took Jessa from you.”

  “After what happened in the palace, he wants to use me in his rebellion.”

  “Possibly.”

  Rsiran set the lump of lorcith into the trunk and closed the lid. He felt the effects of his Sliding, growing so weary that he couldn’t stand. He sat atop the trunk and looked up at Della.

  “Brusus did not react as he expected when Lianna died. He expected Brusus to back away, but he did not. That is not how the Great Watcher made him.”

  Rsiran wondered how much of what had happened was his fault? He and Jessa had been the ones to go to the warehouse. To Firell’s ship. Rsiran had been the one to find the space between the crates and the strange silver-colored metal. What if Josun blamed Brusus when he should blame Rsiran?

  Wrinkles deepened as she looked at him. In spite of having the mental barriers he built in his mind, he felt it as she Read him, as if crawling around or over them.

  “You still do not understand. You’ve been sheltered too long. First your family, and then with Brusus.”

  “You think that I’ve been sheltered?” His parents had not sheltered him. If anything, they tried to discourage him from using his abilities.

  “You have lived in Elaeavn your entire life, Rsiran. Yet you do not know Elaeavn.” Her smile meant to soften the blow of her words but did not. “I saw that when I first met you. Many who live in the city do not really know it. They know the city, places they call Lower Town and Upper Town, but they do not know Elaeavn. And they cannot, not without knowing the Elvraeth.” She tottered to the desk and looked down at the silvery block of metal on the table. “What has Brusus told you about Josun?”

  “That he’s one of the Elvraeth. And that he didn’t always know what Josun wanted.”

  Della looked up from the desk and nodded. “And did he tell you how he knew Josun?”

  “Only that he’d worked a few jobs for him.”

  “Brusus would make it seem that Josun hired him rather than how it actually happened.” She lifted the metal block off the desk and held it in her hands.

  “How did it actually happen?”

  As he asked, he felt the sudden pull of lorcith he’d forged.

  Rsiran turned toward the door. Brusus stood watching them, gaze flicking between Della and Rsiran. He wore a deep blue cloak with heavy embroidery clasped at his neck. Grey hair slicked back over his head. Deep green eyes flared bright.

  “He used me.”

  Rsiran jumped to his feet as Brusus entered. “You know what happened tonight? You know that Josun took Jessa?”

  Brusus stiffened. “He has her?”

  “Earlier. I left some of my forgings here. We… we were going to draw him away from the city.” Saying it aloud to Brusus left him feeling foolish.

  Brusus narrowed his eyes. “Yes. I moved them to a safe place. But why would you think you could draw Josun?”

  “To keep him from coming after us. All of us.”

  Brusus stepped forward. “Great Watcher,” he swore softly. “And while I was gone this evening.”

  “Gone?”

  “There were… things… I needed to learn.”

  “Yes? Well, there were things I needed to learn too. Like why does Firell have lorcith on his ship? Why do you suddenly have a trunk full of it? Are you a part of this rebellion too?” His voice rose with each question, and he couldn’t mask the hurt in his voice.

  Without meaning to, he pulled on lorcith all around him. The knife hidden under Brusus’s shirt pulled free and floated toward Rsiran. The knives in his pockets shook, threatening to come flying out. Even the lorcith inside the trunk wobbled, vibrating with an almost eager energy.

  “Easy, Rsiran.” Brusus put his hands up, palms facing outward.

  Rsiran let out his breath. The knife he’d taken from Brusus fell to the ground with a clatter.

  “Share what you know, Brusus,” Della said. “He has come in too fa
r already. And now… I See only more danger if he remains in the dark. If he is to help, you must share with him the reason why.”

  Brusus looked at Della and nodded slowly. He motioned to the end of the trunk next to Rsiran, waiting for him to sit. He grabbed the knife off the ground before sitting alongside him. “There are not many who know of my past,” Brusus began.

  “I haven’t shared your secret,” Rsiran said.

  “No. I know you haven’t.” He looked over to Della as he began. “You know that my mother was born in the palace. One of the Elvraeth. Descended from the first families, those first gifted by the Great Watcher with what we know as our abilities. She was banished… Forgotten… while pregnant with me.”

  Rsiran looked over at Della. He had often wondered if Della was Brusus’s mother, but Rsiran had never asked her pointedly whether she was. There was no doubting that Della had gifts like the other Elvraeth. Sight. Reading. Healing. A Seer. Perhaps more.

  But she shook her head. “I have already answered that question once.”

  Brusus followed Rsiran’s eyes and laughed softly. “Were it as simple as that, Rsiran. Then perhaps none of this would have happened.” He looked at Della standing by the desk and his eyes danced past the block of metal atop it. “Like so much in Elaeavn, everything comes back to the Elvraeth. Not just for me. Even if I didn’t share their blood, the decisions they make impact us all.”

  “What are you saying?” Rsiran stood and turned to face Brusus who remained seated on the trunk.

  Brusus sighed and motioned to the trunk. “Sit, please.”

  Rsiran shook his head. “I don’t have time to sit. I need to find Jessa.”

  “Unfortunately, there isn’t anything I know that will help with that.”

  “Then what are you hiding? What do you think to protect us from?”

  Brusus chuckled. It sounded dark, with none of the mirth he usually had. “The Elvraeth,” he started. “Always back to the Elvraeth. I have shared how five families, each claiming descent from the first Elvraeth, live within the palace.”

  “And each family sits one person on the council.”

  Brusus nodded. “That is right. Each family. All separate, yet each claims they are descended from the earliest Elvraeth, those first five who left the Aisl with the gift from the Great Watcher. And since I was attacked, I have been trying to understand what Josun wanted. Why did he ask you to poison the council?”

  “He claimed it was a demonstration, but there was more to it.”

  Brusus nodded. “Perhaps a demonstration. And maybe that is all it was to him, nothing more than quiet rebellion from one who would never sit among them. Each member of the council serves as the head of their family. Each is powerful, but that does not mean they are irreplaceable. I told you that the Elvraeth fight amongst themselves? That even were Josun dead, the Elvraeth likely would not search outside their walls for the killer. And even searching within their walls would be unlikely. You see, the Elvraeth fight for position within each family, all striving to sit on the council. It is there the real power exists.”

  Rsiran didn’t fully understand even the simple answer. “And if it was more than a ‘quiet rebellion’?”

  Brusus sighed and looked up at him standing in the middle of the room. His eyes flared a deep green. The only other time he’d revealed his abilities had been when sick. “That is a different matter and for a different time.”

  “Are you so certain?” Della asked.

  Brusus’s eyes narrowed. “I find it unlikely.”

  “Just as you thought it unlikely that Josun Elvraeth lived. And because of that, Lianna died,” Della said.

  “I know what happened to Lianna.”

  “Do you? Just as you knew his mind when he led you to the warehouse? Did you intend Rsiran get drawn into it?”

  Brusus looked away. “You know I didn’t.”

  “Then tell him,” Della whispered. “You may not have wanted him drawn into this, but it doesn’t change that he is.” Della made her way to stand in front of Brusus and grabbed his chin. “You cannot do this alone, Brusus t’Elvraeth.” When she said his name, the air practically snapped. She held his gaze before releasing his chin and turning away.

  Brusus looked after her before turning to Rsiran. “I thought to stay out of this, but learning of the warehouse, learning what it stores, well… I couldn’t.”

  “What are you talking about?” Rsiran asked.

  “My mother was not the first of the Elvraeth banished. Since the founding of Elaeavn, there have been others. Many others. Many scatter, settling in quiet villages or finding a place of seclusion in the great cities. Thyr. Cort. Asador.”

  Rsiran stiffened with the last, thinking of the smithy and his sword he’d found there, and the man he’d brought back to Elaeavn. Did Brusus imply the man was one of the Forgotten Elvraeth?

  “As you can imagine, banishment does not set well with them. They were Elvraeth, used to power. Used to ruling. While some faded into obscurity, others took a different tact and banded together.”

  “Banded together? What do they think to do?”

  Brusus shrugged. “Who is to know exactly? You think me well connected, but there are places my connections fail.”

  Della turned. “And times when you fear to speak, it seems. Avoiding does not change the truth, does it?” she asked Brusus. Looking over at Rsiran, she frowned. “What Brusus fears telling you is there are some who think to return.”

  “Return? But the Forgotten cannot return.”

  An edge came to Brusus’s face. “Only because the Elvraeth make it so. We wonder what Josun wanted, what he had planned? For the longest time, I struggled to understand what he hoped to accomplish with his poisoning.”

  A chill worked up Rsiran’s spine. “What do you think he wanted?”

  “These others will do whatever they can to return. Even if it means poisoning the council. That was the beginning, but I didn’t know it at the time. Now… now with what I’ve learned, I realize that the real fight is only starting, only I don’t know why now.”

  “What does that,” he said motioning to the desk, “have to do with it? What is this metal?” Rsiran grabbed the block of metal off the desk. He didn’t say anything about the other he’d found, but it weighed against his pocket.

  Della took it from him. Her eyes softened as she looked it over, twisting it in her hand. One long, crooked finger ran along the smooth surface. Her voice shifted, coming more distant. “Before tonight, I had not seen it in that form in many years.”

  “It is called heartstone,” Brusus said, taking the metal from Della.

  Rsiran turned and looked at him. “But it’s metal.”

  Brusus nodded. “It is. And rare. Rarer than lorcith. For years, most thought the last of it had been seen.”

  Brusus glanced at Della before pinching off a small piece and held it in the palm of his hand. His eyes flared a brilliant green for a moment and then the small piece of metal began glowing with a soft blue light.

  “The warehouse brought me into all of this, but not only me. I think Josun didn’t even know what all was stored there. When he discovered…” Brusus sighed. “Heartstone is valuable, and I don’t think even the Elvraeth knew they had this any longer.”

  “But if it’s so valuable, why would it have been stored?”

  Della smiled sadly. “So much of our past has been lost, Rsiran. Much that once mattered, not just to us, but the rest of the world. Elaeavn is just one place in the world. There are other places, massive cities—”

  “Like Asador?” he interrupted. “You know that’s where I found the sword. That’s where Josun took it when he took Jessa.” But not her. Jessa wasn’t there. She might not be anywhere, anymore. That didn’t change the fact that he would search until he knew.

  Della sighed. “Yes Asador. And others. Most would need to travel for weeks to reach the great cities, but you can simply step there.” She looked into his eyes. The color seemed to swirl
, almost as if alive. “There are not many with you gift, not many who can Slide. Ahh… how I wish you could have lived in a time when someone could have taught you. You do not believe, but it’s a great gift you’ve been given, one that you never should have been ashamed of.”

  She looked over his shoulder, her eyes going distant. He wondered if she Read him or was attempted to See something.

  “Once the ability to travel was not like now. Not common, but not rare as it is today. And never quite like Sight. Most of our kind have some small ability there. But what you do—Sliding”—she said the word as if she disagreed with the term—“would be like Seers now. A useful skill. And those who could travel went all over the world, as if the Great Watcher had gifted them with the ability to see all that had been made. A time when our people had influence and knew peace. Those with your gift who went outside our boundaries were known as Travelers. And they were respected for what the Great Watcher had given them.” She shook her head, focus returning to her eyes, the distance fading. “But that was a long time ago. Before we left the trees. Before we felt the need to live along the water, looking out toward the distance. Before.” Della sighed, and it seemed as if she remembered those times.

  Rsiran wondered what it must have been like to live when Sliding was common. What must it have been like not to fear Sliding openly? To be respected for it? Or what it had been like living in the Aisl, knowing the protection of the trees, feeling comfort rather than the anxiety he felt when he’d been among the ancient sjihn stretching high overhead, blocking out the sky?

  Brusus looked from Della to Rsiran. “You wonder why the warehouse is full of treasure?”

  “You said they were sent for the Elvraeth.”

  “And they were. From the great cities. You have seen what the crates contain. Ceramics from Valen. Textiles from Bris. Strange crates from places even Firell hasn’t seen. But it was not the treasure the Elvraeth care about.”

  “I still don’t understand. What is this heartstone?”

  “Something the earliest of the Elvraeth knew to respect. A temper to the power hidden within lorcith. Only later was it twisted.” Della ran her finger across the block of metal and shook her head.