Heiress: Birthstone Series Book Two (11 page)

I was silent for a long time as I pondered his words. I had
heard Lirig make comments about Perin’s decisions in the past that could be viewed
as unsupportive, but I’d always thought it was just a way for him to show off
his independence. Did he really disagree with Perin’s way of leading Nethra,
enough to actually desert the city?

“Oh, what’s the big deal, Sai?” Faema said as she shoved a
couple pieces of fruit in her pack. “We could use the help out there. Or are
you so threatened by another guy showing you up that you can’t admit that?”

I rolled my eyes. “I have much more at stake here than my
ego. Lirig can come, but only because I can use someone else to carry some of
my gear.” I tossed a sheathed knife and several sealed dart containers to him.
He caught them easily.

“Good choice,” he said.

“We’ll see.” I found a place for my last pack of darts and
glanced at Haji, wondering if she approved of my decision. Apprehension creased
her brow as she met my eyes. Smiling reassuringly, I said to Lirig, “Now, tell
me your plan.”

Before Lirig was willing to say much, he left for a while
with the promise to return. Haji was convinced he was reporting our
disobedience to Perin but I reminded her that he would have just forced us to
leave instead of taking us back to our beach if he didn’t want to help. The day
was waning when he finally returned, but he carried extra packs of supplies
including a better pack for Faema, fresh water, a few weapons, and an unlit
torch.

Once we began to follow him into the forests of Nethra, it
didn’t take me very long to realize Lirig was leading us to the abandoned
tunnel Aylen and I had discovered a few moon cycles back. Once we’d managed to
force the vine covered door open and saw the moldy, bug infested interior,
Aylen and I had been certain no one remembered it existed. In spite of the
filth coating the walls, we’d ventured in and explored every crevice until we
found an exit leading back into the city.

“Did you follow me and Aylen here at some point?” I asked
him, quietly pushing a cluster of leaves out of my way. I held onto them while
I waited for Haji and Faema to pass.

“I found it years ago as a kid. A few other people know it
exists, but nobody ever wants to explore it. I can’t understand why.” As we
reached the door set into the mountain, Lirig reached through the overgrown ivy
encompassing its surface and pulled. It groaned against the dried mud pressed
against its seams but opened when I added my strength to Lirig’s. As the pitch
black of the tunnel seeped out of the entrance, a dozen bats glided out as
well. A few of them squealed when they smacked into us.

“There’s no way I’m going in there,” Faema said, slowly
backing away. Haji grabbed her arm and yanked her toward the entrance.

“Of course you are. You’re the one that insisted on coming.”

Ignoring them, I turned to Lirig. “So, are you leading the
way or what?”

“Do
you
know how to get to the hidden vaults?”

“I wouldn’t have agreed to put up with your stench if I
did.”

Lirig paused for a moment, his nose wrinkling as he inhaled.
I laughed.

“Do you want my help or not?” he asked with a glare.

I put my hands up and shook my head. “Lead the way, wise
guard of Nethra.”

Lirig shoved at the door one more time before he crouched
and disappeared into the tunnel. Grabbing Faema’s arm before she could squirm
out of Haji’s grip, I followed after him.

Immediately, I fought the urge to retch as the cloying scent
of mold, decay, and rodent droppings assaulted my nose. Behind me, Faema
gagged. I’d forgotten how pungent the smell had been.

“Lirig?” I called, squinting into the dark.

Several paces away, the torch flared to life and I sighed
with relief at the light. Lirig motioned us toward him.

“There’s a place in this tunnel where the wall can be moved.
We’ll find direct passage to one of the lesser known vaults from there,” he
explained.

I ducked under a large spider web and walked a little
faster, anxious to get through this portion of our quest. The girls were close
on my heels.

It wasn’t long before Lirig paused. “I think it’s right
here,” he said. He ran his hands along the wall until his fingers found a
groove.

“How can you tell?” I asked.

“There’s a small notch in the ceiling above us. It was
placed there when the tunnel was first built so those who knew about the
passageway would know what to look for.”

“Wow,” I muttered. I couldn’t help being impressed. Aylen
and I hadn’t thought about the possibility of the tunnel leading to more than
one vault and having secret walls when we’d explored. But then, we were without
light at the time and our Sea Gems could only help our eyesight so much.

“Don’t get excited yet,” Lirig said. “I need to get this
open first.”

With a grunt he dug his fingers into the grooves and pulled.
It didn’t budge. I stepped closer and grabbed ahold of the jutting rocks near
his hands.

“On the count of three,” he said. “One. . . two. . .three!”

Together, we tugged until we felt the wall shift. It groaned
and resisted every centimeter as we managed to heave it toward us.

When it had budged enough to squeeze a hand through, I
gripped the edge of the opening and wrenched it further. Haji dashed toward me
and added her strength to ours. After several minutes of painful tugging, the
wall was open enough to allow a single person to squeeze past.

“Don’t let go,” Lirig instructed when he finally pulled his
fingers from the grooves.

“It won’t hold?” I asked.

“No. It’s designed to shut people out unless they know
better. It’s a precaution to keep people from taking off with gems. They’d have
to go through the city if they weren’t able to get back to the tunnels which
would make them more likely to get caught.”

“So, I’m staying,” I stated.

“Sorry.” Lirig shrugged. “I need someone who can help carry
everything and act as a lookout. Who wants to come?” He glanced back and forth
between Haji and Faema.

Haji didn’t waste a moment. “I’m going with you, Lirig,” she
said. Before Faema could argue, she’d slipped past the opening and was on the
other side of the wall. I blinked after her, surprised, but figured she didn’t
want to hang out in the tunnel's filth any more than I did.

“Works for me.” Lirig said. He passed the torch to Faema and
was gone a moment later.

Faema stood in silence, several paces away. The hand that
held the torch shook slightly, sending shadows dancing across the narrow walls.

“Come help me,” I grunted.

She shuffled forward and thrust her free hand into the same
grooves where Lirig had placed his hands. Once her grip was sure, she braced
herself so that she was putting pressure on the wall to keep it in place. I
felt some of the resistance ease.

“Thanks, Faema.”

“I guess I can be good for something,” she muttered.

When I didn’t answer she sighed. “Are you sorry I came?”

I didn’t want to hurt her feelings but I wasn’t willing to
lie to her either. I turned my head to look at her and tried to smile. “Not
yet. I’m still deciding.”

She nodded, but her lips turned down in a genuine frown.

“Faema,” I tried again, “I’m worried about having more lives
on my hands than just my own. I feel responsible for you. And the land we’re
headed to isn’t a nice place, by all accounts.”

“But you’re willing to go through all of this for Aylen,”
she said. “Why?”

I rested my head against the wall and tried not to think
about the years of grime and dirt I was leaning against. Instead, I thought
about the best way to answer her question. It would be easy to justify my
actions because I loved Aylen, but I knew it went beyond that. Back when Aylen
had first connected to her gems, when I’d almost lost her to their power, I’d
been the only person who could bring her back. Understanding that had changed
me. I’d realized I was bound to her in a way no one else could ever be and that
knowledge had shaped and defined our relationship over the last year. I felt a
sense of responsibility for Aylen and it hadn't gone away, even after she’d
left the island.

I sighed again and glanced at Faema out of the corners of my
eyes. “I don’t know if I can explain it,” I said, “but where she goes, I need
to follow. It’s like the gems and how once they’re bonded to you, the
attachment is in your blood. Aylen says she can hear them and feel them at all
times. That’s sort of how I feel about her. My attachment to her runs through
me, so deep, I can still sense her when she’s gone. And I’m not whole unless
she’s with me.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little pathetic?” Faema asked.

I laughed. “Even if it is, it’s out of my control now. Wherever
my path takes me, Aylen is always at the end of it.”

She didn’t answer at first. When she finally did, it was a
change of subject.

“This wall is getting heavy.”

“Tell me about it.”

“How long do you think this will take?”

“However long it needs to.”

We didn’t say anything more for a while. Instead our focus
remained on shifting our muscles and bodies in order to keep the passage open.

After many long, silent minutes, Faema whispered so softly I
almost didn’t hear, “I want to be at the end of someone’s path.”

I smiled to myself and closed my eyes, my head once again
resting against the rough wall. “You might still, Faema,” I whispered. “Who
knows what could happen. Our journey has only begun.”

Everything was gray. The sky, the ocean, even the air was
nothing more than a thick, hazy mass swirling endlessly before my eyes. I’d
lost count of how many days I’d stared at it.

“Aylen.”

Hearing my name startled me but I didn’t turn toward the
voice. I didn’t even blink. I knew what was coming because once Aluce got
something stuck in her head, she brought it up every chance she got.

“It’s time you began to train. You’re running out of time
and staring at the water day in and day out won’t teach you anything.”

“How many more days?” I asked. “How much longer on this
ship?”

“I’ve told you before, we’re heading toward a lesser known
port and we have to dodge any of the king’s ships that may be in search of us.”

“So you don’t know how long.”

Aluce sighed and placed a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it
off.

“Aylen, we’ll get there but you should make use of this time
and train with Gil. He’s bored as well. It would give you both something to do
if you worked on learning how to use the Weather Gem.”

“What makes you think I haven’t already been working on it?”

Aluce sucked in air through her teeth. “Because you’re not
foolish.”

I sighed, unwilling to argue with her. “If Gil wants to
train me, he knows where to find me.” I turned my face away and focused once
more on the dull, misty ocean. Aluce was silent for several minutes until she
couldn’t take it anymore.

“I know it’s boring but you should be grateful for the
weather. It’s protecting us from being seen.”

I couldn’t suppress a small smile but all I said was
“Brilliant, isn’t it?”

Finally, with a grunt, Aluce turned to leave. She didn’t get
very far before she called, “Expect Gil shortly. I won’t allow you to waste
another day.”

I didn’t watch her retreat. Instead, I continued to watch
the thick air as it curled around our ship, taking on a life of its own. A
large, dark mass of condensation rolled across the water and drifted closer to
where I stood. I remained transfixed as it shifted and formed into a male human
shape. It seemed to sprout arms and hands. A long spear coiled up from his
fingers and as it floated toward the ships edge, I reached out to touch the
misty figure.

“So that’s what you’ve been up to,” Gil said behind me. I
jumped and yanked my hand back. The figure rolled into the rest of the mist and
disappeared.

“What do you mean?” I asked. I avoided his eyes.

Gil motioned out toward the water. “How much of this is
yours?”

I sighed. I should have known he wouldn’t be fooled.
Inhaling deeply, I released myself from the Weather Gem and watched as the gray
fog dissipated into nothingness. On the horizon, white, billowing clouds parted
to reveal a few weak, late rays of sun and a dark blue sky streaked with red.

“Impressive.”

“Apparently foolish,” I said. “Or so Aluce tells me.”

“She knows?”

I snorted. “No. She’d be furious.

Gil ran his hand along the railing, his brow furrowed in
thought. I anticipated his question. “I’ve lost control before,” I explained.
“She’s afraid I’ll do it again and she’s lucky I didn’t back in Analar. . .” I
shook my head, not wanting to share my personal history with a near stranger. I
turned my gaze toward Gil and studied him, waiting for some sort of judgment.
When it didn’t come, I looked away again. “I lose control easily. This time I don’t
have a way to come back if the gems take over again.”

We listened to the sound of water and wind as it collided
against the ship. The noise filled in for our lack of conversation. I
concentrated on the warm golden pulse of the Weather Gem against my skin and
drew warmth from its sunshine center. As I had done for the last several days,
I tasted the heat and moisture in the air and began to play with it, forming it
into cloud. Once more, the ship became shrouded in gray.

“You’re quite gifted, you know.” Gil told me. “To be able to
do so much without any formal training.”

“Once you’ve used one gem, you’ve used them all,” I said
lightly, hating the lie as it left my tongue.

“That’s not true.”

“No?” My interest was piqued despite my dull mood. “How many
different gems do you have access to?”