Heart of Crystal

by Lauren D. M. Smith

  Azara didn’t give the attacker the chance to recover. She pictured what she wanted and crystal responded. It spilled backwards and wrapped itself around the man’s neck, leaving him just enough room to breathe, the edges sharp enough he’d be able to feel them.

  Movement among the frozen people staring at her drew her attention. Another man in official’s overrobes and cheap white under ones was running away. Azara wasn’t letting that happen, not when there were people trying to kill her brother. She swung her other arm out and crystal burst from her arm, chasing after the man, winding its way through the crowd until it could latch onto his ankle.

  Encasing it in crystal, Azara had the man pulled towards her. He struggled, scrabbling at the ground as people jumped away from him. She ignored it, knowing the crystal wouldn’t let him go. Her gaze went to the first one.

  Sweat slid down his cheeks, his skin pale, as he stared at her. The man was a professional; she needed to get information about who’d hired him before she could get the crystal to slice through his neck. And she fully intended to see that he died. Let word get out about what she did to those who tried to harm her siblings, and no one would dare touch them again.

  “What are you doing?”

  She turned to Jin, who was staring at her. Azara met the magus’s gaze steadily. “Dealing with threats.”

  The emperor stood. “I have never seen this kind of magic before. What is it?”

  Azara offered as much of a bow as she could manage with her arms out. There was no helping it, she’d made a pretty public spectacle of herself. “I’m happy to explain, Your Celestial Majesty, but would it be possible to do it in a less public venue?”

  Emperor Bao glanced around and inclined his head. He raised a hand and waved it towards her. Six guards pulled themselves away from behind him and marched forward, three going to each man. “If you will release the men, I will have them questioned. I would invite you and the twins to have a private discussion in Sky House.”

  As much as she wanted to personally drag the information out of the two men, Azara knew better than to spurn this kind of invitation. She bowed again as did her siblings. “I am humbled by your offer.”

  Releasing the attackers, both of who seemed relieved to be handed over to normal soldiers, Azara took some comfort in the fact the emperor had mages capable of discerning truth from lies. That would speed up gathering information. Torture wasn’t nearly as effective when you couldn’t tell what was true.

  She pulled the crystal into her skin, feeling it hum as it settled around her heart and veins. It was always pleased when it got back inside. Looking up, Azara found both her siblings staring at her, as was everyone in the hall. She sighed. So much for easing her brother and sister into this story.

  Chapter Six: Revelations

  Jin brought up the rear of their little cavalcade. His celestial majesty was at the front, surrounded by his guards, followed by the twins, who were in turn trailed by their sister. With her back to him, and dressed in more elegant clothing, she looked far more like she belonged here in the Palace City.

  The woman was an enigma that was close to being alarming. On the one hand, she seemed to have far more self-awareness of her own limitations than he’d given her credit for. On the other, she’d somehow managed to deceive his truth spell.

  He allowed a frown as he considered his options. With her facing forward, and her unfamiliarity with the different types of magic, Jin found he had a rare opportunity. Careful to keep his voice soft, he started a short chant, drawing a sigil over each eye as he did so. When he finished, he briefly closed his eyes.

  Jin’s gaze first went to the twins, though he mostly focused on Anali. Her power was the bright red at her core that bespoke of strong fire magic. Aviur was much the same, neither of them diminished from the brief use they’d both had under the attack.

  His eyes then slid to their sister. Like the other two she had a heart of fiery red, but it was harder to see, like he was seeing it from farther away than he was. Jin blinked and checked again but the view didn’t change. The woman had said she wasn’t a mage or magus, but he had clear proof that she’d lied. The power she’d used had been odd but was obviously magic. He didn’t need this spell to know that.

  But they had reached Sky House, and in the flurry of movement as some of the guards split off and four more of the Imperial bodyguards attached themselves to the emperor, Jin dismissed his spell. He didn’t want to end up temporarily blinded if he made the mistake of looking at the stronger protections that ran all over Sky House.

  It took little time before they were settled into the emperor’s private audience hall. His celestial majesty sat in his chair, his guards closer to him than was normal, with Jin standing to his right, eyes on the woman. The twins stood apart from their sister, identical gazes on her as well.

  For her part, the woman acted as if she didn’t feel the weight of their combined gazes, her chin up and her arms loose at her sides. Having seen what she was capable of, Jin didn’t trust the relaxed pose.

  After a few heartbeats of silence, the emperor spoke. “I believe you promised an explanation.”

  The woman met his gaze, her continued ignorance of proper etiquette the least of the issues in front of them. “I did. If you’ll forgive me, this is something I had intended to tell Anali and Aviur, so I have put some thought into this, but there may be places you will require further explanation.”

  His celestial majesty nodded. “We will stop you as necessary. Please begin.”

  Jin hurriedly pulled his truth-sensing crystal out of his sleeve, drawing the sigil on its side to activate it. He would have to double-check her story since she’d fooled the spell once already.

  She let out a barely audible sigh before she turned her attention to her siblings. “Remember what I said about the Sacred Cave? How there was a good reason we were forbidden from going in there? Well, what you saw is the reason.”

  When they only stared, the woman held one hand palm up. With every eye on her, they saw the gem-like substance pour out of her skin to form a flower. It shifted after a moment, turning into a bird, then a sun, before sinking back into her skin. “It’s crystal,” she said, in answer to the silent question from all of them.

  “I was chased by the slavers and ran into the cave. I didn’t get far before the crystal took me, trapping me inside of it. It...it’s complicated. I don’t fully understand it myself, but the crystal is living in a sense. It doesn’t require anything to keep it alive, so it doesn’t really have any desires. Except for one. For crystal, having a heart of fire is something akin to joy. It’s what they seek out. Because of that, they’d been consuming any fire mage that made the mistake of going into the cave.”

  She rubbed a thumb along one of her hands. “I... Well, I was terrified and even more scared when the crystal took me. I was encased in it and couldn’t get out. I think because I was so much younger and so full of emotion, I was able to break through to it. It killed the slavers who came in after me. From there, I found I could communicate with it in a way. It’s not words exactly, more of feelings. I was able to understand what it wanted.”

  “As it’s living but not truly ‘alive,’ it never understood why the fire mages it took kept dying. I was able to explain things about needing to eat and drink. Eventually, we came to a kind of understanding. The crystal would get my heart, and in return I would be free to move about.”

  Jin frowned. “How does it have your heart?”

  The woman grimaced. “I’ll show you. Does anyone have a knife I could borrow?”

  After a few moments where no one moved, Aviur pulled out the short knife he often wore and handed it to his sister. She smiled her thanks before she turned to face Jin directly. “Like this.” On the last word she pushed the blade into her chest before any of them could stop her.

  Jin manag
ed a single step forward before the faint tink sound registered with him. Gaze on him, the woman pulled the knife back out and handed it to her brother, the blade free of blood. “My heart is covered in crystal, as are my veins.”

  His celestial majesty leaned forward, eyes sharp. “This crystal can enter the body of anyone?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I would guess yes, but it has no interest in anyone who isn’t a fire mage.”

  “That’s why the slavers didn’t take you.” Anali’s voice was low, but her sister turned to smile at her.

  Jin clutched his bespelled crystal tighter. “You said you weren’t a fire mage.”

  The woman sighed. “I’m not. I was, but I’m not anymore. The crystal has made that almost impossible.” When he only frowned, she propped a hand up on one hip. “Any time I attempt to use fire magic, the crystal will encase it. It takes complete concentration on keeping it from doing that just to light a campfire. It’s impossible for me to do anything more complicated. As I can’t do fire magic, I can hardly be considered a fire mage. And the crystal isn’t my magic, it’s something contained within my body. I’ve learned to control it, enough that I can keep myself and others safe, but it is a separate entity. It has its own priorities.”

  “What might those be?” The emperor was stroking his beard as he watched her.

  “Highest would probably be my safety. It’s very pleased to have a heart of fire, and it doesn’t have any intention of releasing me. Not unless I die, and it’s trying to prevent that. It will ignore what I want it to do in favour of protecting me. This has caused...tension before, as I’m sure you can imagine.”

  Her expression spoke volumes, and Jin could well imagine where that would be a problem. Especially for someone seeking out fire mages, and who was once a fire mage herself. There were very few who treated their slaves as well as his celestial majesty did.

  “It also likes to pick up any stray bits of fire magic it can. The crystal will leave off of that when I tell it to, most of the time. I’m sure it has other priorities I’m unaware of.”

  His celestial majesty shifted forward in his chair again. “You are invulnerable?”

  The woman wrinkled her nose. “Hardly. The crystal will defend me without my conscious direction, but it doesn’t always recognize threats for what they are, and it cannot change its nature. If I didn’t retain my immunity from fire, I imagine I wouldn’t be able to touch it when it’s heated up by flame.”

  Jin glanced at his sphere, but the glow remained steady white. She wasn’t lying, though he got the feeling she wasn’t telling the whole truth. Not that he blamed her. Revealing one’s weaknesses was something no one did easily.

  For several long moments, no one said anything. It was the emperor who broke the silence, his gaze on the woman. “How do you intend to proceed from here?”

  She finally bowed to him. “I had intended to ask you about the price to buy my siblings’ freedom.”

  Jin didn’t miss the exchange between Anali and Aviur, neither looking happy or enthusiastic. He wasn’t entirely surprised. Neither had ever asked about buying their own freedom. They’d seemed content with the way things were for now. Of course, if they were to ever seek proper marriage or children, that was something that would need to be considered. Especially for Anali.

  He pulled his thoughts away from that direction, focusing on what his celestial majesty was saying. “If you wish to repay the amount I paid for them, and they are agreeable to it, I will of course allow you to purchase their freedom.”

  The twins shifted closer together, before Anali stepped forward with a brief bow to the emperor and turned to her sister. “You should find Mother and Father first. We’re safe here, well established and well treated. We’re content to stay here as long as necessary. Mother and Father could be in much worse positions. Find them, then come back to us and we’ll see about buying our freedom.”

  The woman frowned. “I don’t like leaving you like this.”

  “You’re used to working alone, and we’re not used to being on the road,” Aviur said, moving up so he could take Anali’s hand, their usual show of support. The twins never moved far from one another and had only publicly disagreed once that Jin could remember. “It would be easy for us to be taken again and sold to a much worse place. Fire mages always have a target on their backs, but as we’re already slaves, we’re safe from that. We’re safe in his celestial majesty’s court.”

  She raised eyebrows. “Someone tried to kill you only a short while ago!”

  Jin could see her point, though he understood what Aviur meant. As his celestial majesty’s personal slaves, no one would be stupid enough to interfere with them or try to steal them for resale. Especially as the twins were well known even outside of the Palace City.

  Anali shrugged. “It happens from time to time. Some people attempt to take us out before attacking his celestial majesty, others try to remove us as they believe we’re preventing their advancement. They rarely get far enough to touch us. We were...distracted tonight.”

  The woman looked away, hands clenching into fists. It didn’t take a great mind to see that she’d taken that wording to mean she was why they’d been distracted. Jin felt a flare of empathy for her which he squashed. The woman was uncivilized and a potential threat, though less so now that he was aware of her power. And that she hadn’t deceived his truth spell.

  Surprising him, neither of the twins addressed their sister’s reaction to Anali’s words. Instead, Aviur said “You shouldn’t worry about us. We’ve survived this long, and will survive longer still. Tonight was a fluke.”

  She grimaced, crossing her arms over her chest while she stared at the twins. They met her gaze and held it. Finally, the woman broke the contact. “Fine. I’ll search for Mother and Father first. But I’ll be stopping by occasionally to see you, if it takes longer than a few months. If that is all right with you, Your Celestial Majesty.” Her hurried bow and add-on fooled no one.

  But the emperor nodded, a faint smile on his face. “I would never dream of keeping you from your family. Where will you continue your investigations?”

  The woman rubbed her neck. “I’m not sure. Anali and Aviur said they last saw our parents in Gaulois, but I know what records there are like, so I’m not likely to get much information. I did hear that Nalbin is buying fire mages, so I may head in that direction as it’s nearer.”

  “I had heard similar things of Nalbin. I know of more than one mage-slave merchant who has stopped calling in our ports in favour of Nalbin.”

  She frowned, eyes flickering back and forth in thought. She found the emperor’s gaze again. “I believe Nalbin will be my next stop.”

  His celestial majesty stroked his beard, eyes bright as they regarded her. “Are you familiar with Nalbin?”

  The woman shrugged. “Not particularly. I know they speak the same language as Pocale, though with a different accent and some differences in their words. It’s not somewhere I’ve visited previously.”

  “Then I have an offer for you. I would hate for you to be concerned about the treatment of your siblings while travelling, and as you are less than familiar with Nalbin, having someone who is knowledgeable of the country would be most useful. To that end, I would offer you the aid of Jin during your time in Nalbin. He is most accomplished.”

  Jin froze, eyes slowly widening as the full reality of what the emperor had said fell on him. He turned to stare at his celestial majesty, trying to get him to reconsider, not daring to argue. To be sent along with a woman completely lacking in any kind of grace or culture... But his gaze went unreturned.

  She was staring at the emperor as well, her mouth working. She glanced down, hands opening and closing rapidly before she returned her gaze to his celestial majesty, spine straight. “With such a kind offer, I can’t do anything but accept.”

 
Her tone was flat enough to let everyone know what she thought about the prospect, but the emperor smiled. “Perfect.”

  Chapter Seven: Preparations

  With the woman and the twins seen out, the door closed firmly behind them, Jin turned to face the emperor, having not missed the little gesture to stay. He moved to stand directly in front of his celestial majesty, his hands clasped behind him. He hoped the emperor was about to change his mind about sending him along with the woman.

  But that was dashed almost immediately. “You are unhappy with this assignment.”

  Jin bowed. “I am always happy to obey your orders. I am...concerned.”

  Emperor Bao smiled. “You do not like the crystal woman, but you are a consummate professional. You will work with her to the best of your abilities. I fear you will need all of them, especially as you are journeying into Nalbin.” When Jin frowned, his celestial majesty continued. “I am not only sending you for the reasons I told her.”

  Jin nodded, expecting nothing less. The emperor never did anything rashly. He almost never did anything for just one reason either, so there was a possibility Jin could suggest another mage to accompany the woman. One who could better handle her.

  “Her power intrigues me. It appears both powerful and potentially subtle, and if it is something we could move to another, could prove a strong weapon. If it cannot, I would rather have the person wielding such a power here in my court than with my rivals. She is of fire mage stock, and if I can convince her of the safety of the Empire for her and her kind, she may be more inclined to stay.”

  He could read between the lines. His celestial majesty wanted Jin to convince the woman of that while they travelled, no small thing. Especially since he wasn’t sure he wanted her to stay. Still, he couldn’t fault the emperor’s logic.