Sunstone's Secret

by Kate Kennelly

  Her left ear rested atop of his heart, which accounted for the steady beat in her hear. Tilting her head back, Jules slept, head tilted down and off to the side, snoring softly. He hadn’t shaved in so long, his chin had a proper beard now. Dozing against several fluffy white pillows which served as a stark contrast to his ebony hair, the hollows below his cheekbones and the dark circles under his eyes. Were they prisoners? What was wrong with him?

  She couldn’t muster the energy to move. She tried reaching into the Isle, searching for ley lines, but she couldn’t even do that. So she gave in and simply said, “Jules?” She hated to wake him, but her questions could no longer wait.

  Jules jumped and pulled her tight, his eyes snapping to hers. “Natalie? You’re … awake? You’re alive?” Eyes alight and lips parted, he cupped the side of her cheek, smoothing the hair away from her face. He touched his forehead to hers. “I thought I killed you.”

  “What happened?” she croaked, her voice hoarse from disuse.

  He kissed her temple and cradled her against him. “The last shot I took against Ystrelle. They bound your hands so you couldn’t reach me. But I needed contact with you to share your energy. I … I could only reach your head.” He swallowed. “It was the only thing I could think to do. Onlo, Anli, and you and I got away. The three of us were fine, but the last bit of energy I drained from you put you in a coma. I’ve been trying to Heal you for three weeks now.” He rocked her back and forth, lips pressing into her hair.

  Three weeks. I’ve been in a coma for three weeks. My Goddess.

  Jules set her down gingerly on the bed, propping himself on one elbow and gazing down at her. “There were so many times I thought you were dead. You would get so pale and your heartbeat so slow. So I would just hold you. There was nothing I could do beyond the herbs I was administering and Activating, and I—”

  She lifted one hand, caressed his beard, and let her arm fall. “I know. The place where I was—I could hear your heart beating. I could see your energy reaching out for me. You brought me back. Jules, you saved my life.”

  His lips dipped to hers, fingers threading through her hair. A desperate ache twisted in Natalie’s stomach and she pressed against him, sighing because they were together at last and she had no strength to return the kiss—or more.

  Jules trailed his fingers along her cheeks, his touch sending shivers down her neck and through her heart. “Shh, love,” he said. “Get some rest.”

  She closed her eyes, enjoying his attentions. “Whatever you say, my Healer,” and she dozed off again.

  Sipping warm broth Jules fed her from a spoon, Natalie listened to an even more detailed account of their escape from Anli as rain pelted the window of her room. Between the two of them, she’d learned they’d fled with her back to their boat. They’d sailed down the Ismereld coast on Bridhe’s Channel to a town outside Whitestrand. Simona Halis, the woman who’d been tending epidemic patients in the Temple when she and Jules had first arrived in Whitestrand this past spring, was kind enough to offer them a safe haven.

  “Where’s—where’s—” Charlotte. She could think of her name but couldn’t make it come out her mouth, like a stream with a dam across it. She’d been awake for two days, but couldn’t seem to make her brain and mouth work much of the time.

  Eager to help, Jules suggested names. “Onlo? Em? Charlotte?”

  “Yes, Charlotte. Thank you.”

  Jules and Anli glanced at one another. “When I attacked Ystrelle, Charlotte charged her. Onlo shouted at her to stop—”

  “She could’ve set the room on fire if she intended to use her mage abilities,” Natalie pointed out.

  Jules nodded. “Or gotten killed by my magic. As it was, Ystrelle’s guards jumped in front of both Charlotte and Ystrelle when I took the last shot. My energy bolt killed or knocked out most of the people in its path, but we know Ystrelle and Charlotte lived. I had no idea how long people would stay unconscious, so we didn’t stop to get Charlotte out from under the guards; we just grabbed you and ran.”

  “How can you be sure Charlotte is alive?”

  Anli snorted while Jules’s face turned a deep scarlet. “Ah, Ystrelle issued—”

  “Oh, let me tell,” Anli darted out of her chair and snatched a piece of paper from the mantel. Natalie had never seen her so giddy. “Her Highness, Queen Charlotte Fairisles, is honored to announce her betrothal to Mage Juliers Rayvenwood—”

  Natalie choked on her spoonful of broth.

  “Goddess’s bloomers,” she rasped. “Betrothed? Mage?”

  “I don’t accept. I’m already spoken for,” he said, running a knuckle along her cheek.

  Natalie grinned at him, nearly spilling her next sip of broth.

  “As for why it says ‘mage,’” he continued, “the Roseharbor elite consider Healing as a low trade profession. It’s one of the reasons my family hates me.”

  “And how can we all forget ‘from this day forward, Queen Charlotte and Mage Juliers Rayvenwood will help me repopulate the Isles with mages,’” Anli quoted Ystrelle in a high falsetto. “Please, Jules, for the good of the nation, you must get on with your magely duties.”

  Jules glared at her. “It’s not funny, An.”

  Anli crumpled the flyer and threw it at him.

  Natalie rolled her eyes, smothering a grin at both of them. “But why come for you and Charlotte now? Why not stop us from leaving Solerin when you finished your training?”

  Anli’s grin fell away. “Based on what she said, she’s someone who prefers having other people do her dirty work. We think she not only sent Aldworth after new mages, but she thought we might lead her to many as well.”

  Natalie nodded. “Well, her reasoning makes sense. We were planning to go look for mages. To help them. To save them from people like her.”

  Jules squeezed her. “And we will. The New Mages Guild boat that sank us was under orders to follow us only. Unfortunately, the people sailing it were under Aldworth’s command. Because of his vendetta against me …”

  “They blew up our ship,” Natalie finished blinking back tears.

  “And we lost so many—”

  All three of them jumped when the door to Natalie’s room flew open with a bang. Onlo’s tall frame darkened the door. Fists clenched and head down, water dripped off him in rivulets down to the floor.

  “She’s been awake for two days now, let’s be on our way,” he growled.

  “Onlo, we’ve been through this several times already; she’s too weak to move,” Jules said through clenched teeth.

  “And anyway, our last plan had a lot of flaws, and we have a new enemy. We need to do reconnaissance, and then plan,” Anli added tossing him a towel.

  “It’s been three weeks,” he roared. “We need to get Charlotte out of there now.”

  Natalie alternated between astonishment at this unusual display of temper from Onlo and amusement at the reversal of roles; not long ago it was he counseling her to wait and bide her time when Jules needed rescuing.

  Natalie sat straighter in bed. “Anli is right. We—”

  “Was I talking to you?” Onlo demanded.

  Jules leaped to his feet. “Natalie nearly gave her life for Charlotte! Watch your—”

  Natalie put a hand on his arm. “Yes, you were talking to me, to all of us,” she asserted. “When you make plans for the four of us, we are all part of the conversation. You forget, Onlo, that I am no longer the woman you once shut out of the rescue mission for Jules.”

  Onlo turned away, his face falling.

  “I am not well enough to travel, but until I am, we can be—be—” what was the word Anli had used? It started with an R. Natalie sifted through her brain but the word had blown away like a leaf on the wind. “—gathering information. This is a large city. I bet you anything Ystrelle will send propaganda throughout the Isles about the wedding, or whatever else she has planned. Perhaps we can gain useful information from what she sa
ys—or does not say—in her publications.”

  A mischievous smile appeared on Anli’s face. “Excellent idea. I can also see what I can do about intercepting the Royal Mail.” She left the room with a glint in her eyes, clapping Onlo on the shoulder.

  Onlo glared at Anli’s back and then returned his gaze to Natalie. “Are you sure you can’t travel?”

  “Onlo, I can’t even hold this spoon to feed myself.” Admitting her weakness brought tears to her eyes. I’ve been awake for two days, shouldn’t I be able to do more than lie here all day? What if I have permanent brain damage?

  She kept her worries to herself as Onlo ran his hand through his wet cords of hair and left the room as well, closing the door behind him. Her heart ached with empathy for him. But even if she wasn’t stuck in bed, the situation called for discretion.

  The mattress sank beside her as Jules climbed in and secured her against his side, her head once again resting on his chest.

  A sigh escaped Jules’s lips. “I had no idea he cared for her that much.”

  “I did.” The memory of seeing them together in the bay window seat flashed across Natalie’s mind. “And I sympathize. When you were missing, I would have moved the earth and sky to find you if I knew how.” Natalie’s stomach clenched at the memory. “Speaking of which, if you are engaged to the Queen, but you are here with me, where is Ystrelle saying you are?”

  “I, my love, am on a diplomatic mission to Lorelan.”

  Natalie snorted. “I see. Please open negotiations to end the war while you’re there.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Jules?”

  “Before we know if I can get better—”

  He squeezed her. “You will.”

  “And before we analyze all the information that comes in and we plan our trip back to Roseharbor to get Charlotte back and put ourselves within reach of yet another corrupt human being …”

  “Yes?”

  She tilted her chin to face him. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too, Natalie Desmond.”

  Brushing the hair away from her face, Jules dipped his head down and brushed his lips along hers. She spread her lips and eagerly welcomed him, pressing her body against his, reveling in the tingling sensations deep within her body that were so different from everything she’d been through the past month. Jules pulled away after chaste kisses and she nestled into the mattress.

  Settling her head on his chest once more, they watched the storm pass through the large window.

  The calm after the storm. We have a lot of damage to repair. But then, I’ve helped cure an epidemic, rescued Jules from enemy territory, badgered a bunch of stuck-up guild members into working together and survived a shipwreck. Maybe Jules is right and I can recover from this. Like everything else, it will just take time. She laughed and nestled closer to Jules. And a lot of stubbornness.

  If you enjoyed Sunstone’s Secret, please leave a review . Thank you!

  Please join my mailing list!

  All subscribers receive a prequel short story for free! As part of my email community, you'll be the first to know about new releases and cover reveals as well as opportunities to receive ARCs and be a beta-reader. You'll also get other good stuff including deleted scenes, alternative POV chapters, short stories, and more.

  Please join me on the Internet :

  Web: http://www.katekennelly.com

  Instagram: @authorkatekennelly

  Twitter: @katemkennelly

  Facebook: @katemkennelly

  Keep reading for a preview of

  the gripping conclusion:

  Obsidian’s Legacy

  Book Three of the “Isles of Stone” Trilogy

  Available January 2019

  Chapter 1

  “I

  'm going to fall through the ceiling and plummet to my death,” Natalie hissed. On her belly and plastered to the ceiling of the glass garden adjacent to Roseharbor Palace, she pulled herself by the elbows inch by inch across the delicate surface.

  “You won't fall. And cover your damn red hair. Seriously why did you dye that color? Someone is going to see us from a mile away.”

  Well at least Natalie could rely on Anli to break the tension. She hated dying her hair, but they had to go undercover to avoid identification by the spies crawling all over Roseharbor city. Despite the inconvenience, she rather liked her fiery locks. But she did need to be cautious. Pulling her hood down further over her hair, she continued her slow crawl over the roof. Jules, Onlo and Em followed behind.

  In the two months since they’d been forced to abandon her friend and former student, Queen Charlotte in the palace throne room, this was the closest they'd gotten to her. At long last, a tip from a member of the Queensguard Onlo had bribed led them to the top of this glass-enclosed rose garden. Natalie was so tempted to look down and admire the flowers, but she had to focus on the Princess. Please let her be all right, please let her still be alive, I hope Ystrelle didn’t—Natalie's precarious grip on the glass gave way and she slid, heart in her throat, expecting her next stop to be in the carefully manicured shrubs on the side of the greenhouse. Pain lanced through her abdomen and back when she hit the end of the rope that tied her to the rest of her friends.

  “Ow! Goddess’ teeth.”

  “Better that than falling your death,” a deep voice said in the darkness.

  Natalie winced. “Yes, Onlo, thank you.”

  Natalie wiggled, stretching her fingers and toes and found purchase on the slippery surface once more. Upon returning to her original position, she could just see the window the guard told them about. She prayed to the Goddess he had told them the truth; that on the other side of those iron bars and panes of glass was the chamber in which Ystrelle kept Princess Charlotte.

  She crept ever closer, completely certain her own death was imminent. By some miracle she was able to get close to the window. One by one her friends joined her. The sight of Onlo’s bald head still gave her a start; he had shaved the cords of dark twisted hair and wore dark green leathers instead of the black ones he’d earned as someone Attuned to Obfuselt Isles’ obsidian megalith. His two deadly daggers loomed ominously over his shoulders ready for him to draw at any moment.

  Jules showed up next to Onlo. He’d kept his beard that he grew while Healing her after she’d taken damage during the battle in the throne room two months ago. In place of his usual finely tailored clothing and the emerald cloak that he, like her, wore as a testament to their Attunement to Ismereld’s emerald megalith, he wore a black shirt and trews.

  Finally, her best friend Em crawled nimbly alongside Jules. Em now wore a black scirpa, the cloth covering her hair, knotted at the nape and draping down her back. Em had also donned dark pants and a loose-fitting dark shirt that covered the jagged pink scar on her lower left arm—a souvenir of the shipwreck they'd all been in last summer.

  Although she and Em had been students and then Healers at Bride of the Isles Abbey, it seemed they were now both spies for the moment and dressed in dark clothing trying to find out what had happened to their friend.

  “Let's get close to the window,” Onlo whispered. “One at a time; I suggest Anli go first.”

  Anli crept to the window, reached up with her fingers and peered above the sill. Natalie watched, her heart beat echoing in her ears. The ever lengthening silence only served to terrify her more.

  Anli crept back and they bent their heads to hers. “Charlotte seems unharmed; I can't see any damage to her.”

  Natalie couldn't identify the emotion in Anli’s voice but the tone of her voice made the hair on the back of Natalie’s neck stand up.

  Onlo put his hand on Anli’s. “Then what is it that has you so frightened?”

  “It's like Charlotte there, but she's not there. If they’ve been physically harming her, I can’t see it. But I think she's broken somehow.”

  Onlo clenched his fists. “Physically harming someone isn’t
the only way to torture them. I need to see.”

  Dread slithered in Natalie’s stomach. She’d witnessed Onlo and Charlotte embracing back on Obfuselt. The relationship between them seemed to go beyond love in ways she couldn't even describe. If Onlo saw something terrible she feared what it might do to him.

  He returned a few minutes later, hands shaking and a muscle bulging in his jaw. “Anli’s right something’s happened to her mind. We've got to get her out. How can we get through those bars? Ideas. Now.”

  “You there. What are you doing?” The question echoed throughout the palace grounds. In their preoccupation with Charlotte's condition they’d gotten sloppy. The Queensguard patrol near the garden had spotted them. Hell in a kettle, Goddess forbid if Charlotte pays for our mistake.

  “Run,” Anli said unnecessarily.

  Her command was easier said than done. Natalie clawed her way toward the apex, slipping and sliding along with everyone else. The rope dug into her stomach and her hands burned as her friends’ moment pulled her along by the rope and she, in turn, pulled to help others.

  Reaching the top of the roof she swung her leg over, glass cracking beneath her food as it landed on the other side. Raised voices sounded in the distance. More guards. Please don't let the roof give way now.

  They slid more than climbed down the other side. One by one they clambered down the ladder they’d left in the shadows. The Queensguard swarmed around the greenhouse, spotting them just as Natalie’s feet touched blissfully solid ground. They sprinted for their horses. Anli and Onlo leaped on with ease m. Jules mounted up in one deft motion while Natalie stopped to give Em a leg up.