Heiress: Birthstone Series Book Two (21 page)

“True, but you need to learn quickly. We’ll start slow, with
only an hour or so dedicated to each trainer. As you improve, we’ll allow more
time for the better gems.”

“And what’s considered a ‘better gem’?” I asked.

Aluce cleared her throat. “There aren’t a lot of them. In
fact, when you look at the list, most are fairly frivolous. Even the Youth Gem
is worthless in battle in most circumstances. However, the Earth Gem has great
potential, as do your Weather, Sky, and Travel Gems.” She paused and motioned
toward the parchment. “As you can see one of your most useful trainers is
already here. Dierchae will be a great help to you.”

I struggled to keep my voice steady. “You think the
Destruction Gem is the most valuable?”

“I know it is. You can wipe out an entire village with the
strongest gems of that kind. Why do you think Shir has so many who are afraid
to oppose him? He has complete control over Destroyer mines and he’s a master
at using the gem.”

 I blinked slowly. “Why would we want to depend on the same
kinds of power he uses to torment and terrorize people?”

Aluce pursed her lips as she met my eyes. “I know you don’t
like that gem, but you’ll find more comfort in its many uses once you learn to
keep it under control.”

“I don’t believe that,” I stated. With shaking hands, I
passed the parchment back to her. “There’s very little good that can come from
that gem.”

“Well,” she said, her tone clipped, “you’ll just have to
find what good there is and focus on that. You
will
master the
Destroyer, Aylen.”

I stood. There wasn’t reason to stay any longer when I knew
she would only grow more determined. “Have Gil contact me when he’s sorted
everything out,” I said. “I’d rather speak with him about these matters.”

She didn’t stop me when I left her room. I made my way
toward my own chambers where I locked my door and collapsed onto my bed. As I
lay in silence, I fought against the sense of rage that threatened to consume
me. It would only mean giving the Destruction Gem more power.

I forced my thoughts to drift toward Sai and focused on my
Protection Gem. When I finally felt its calming influence take over, I began to
breathe more evenly. Soon, I would learn control, I told myself. There would no
longer be a reason to fear losing myself to the gems. I would be stronger than
they were.

I repeated these words in my head again and again as my eyes
grew heavy and my brain foggy, until I no longer remembered all the things I
was afraid of and the only thing I knew was sleep.

Gil knocked on my door early the next morning, schedule in
hand.

“I’m sorry,” he said when he saw my frown as I skimmed my
new instructions. “I know it’s an early start and there isn’t much free time,
but Aluce was insistent.”

“She always is,” I murmured.

“But look.” He pointed to a time slot later in the day. “I
convinced Aluce you needed more training on the Weather Gem with me. That time
is for you. If you want to train some more during that hour, you may. But if
you’d prefer, you can rest or. . .,” he paused with a smile, “you could visit
Hesper.”

I laughed. “Would you like to come with me if I do?”

Gil attempted an easy shrug but his cheeks reddened. “Only
if you think to invite me. It’s not absolutely necessary. . .”

Grinning, I shook my head and scanned the paper again.
“Destruction Gem training first thing, though? That’ll be a pleasant start to
the morning.”

Gil apologized again. “And you’ve only got an hour before
you’re supposed to meet with the trainer. I get the feeling Dierchae is a bit
unforgiving so I wouldn’t be late.”

I sighed but thanked him.

“Come see me if something isn’t working,” he added. “I’ll do
what I can to help.” With that promise, he gave me one last pitying look and
left.

Once I shut my chamber door, I spent the next thirty minutes
shivering in my cold room as I pulled on warm underclothing, a heavy, fur
trimmed dress, and fur lined boots over thick stockings. After I’d thrown my
cloak over my shoulders and fastened my necklace around my throat, I set out to
spend my last few free minutes in search of breakfast.

Luckily, Et Loedin merchants woke early and several small
shops were open, many with warm, crusty bread already steaming from the pans. I
purchased a small loaf that pleasantly heated my hands through its paper
wrapping, and a bag of dried fruit and nuts. I’d only eaten a few bites by the
time I reached the building where I was to meet Dierchae.

It didn’t take long to pick her out amongst the few people
milling about. At first, her beauty surprised me. Her long, black hair was
coiled into a single rope that hung past her waist and accentuated her
prominent widow’s peak. Her green eyes, fringed with thick lashes, had a slight
slant to them, and her full lips were set in a stern pout.

As I drew closer to her, I felt my Empathy Stone prick at
me, and I connected to it, just enough to feel the rush of coldness coming from
Dierchae’s heart. Her emotions were as icy as the streets of Et Loedin. She
stared at me with mere curiosity but no concern. I felt nothing from her other
than her resolve to do her job and a desire to be done with me as soon as
possible.

“You were nearly late,” she said, her words clipped.

I tried not to show my unease. “I required food.”

Her eyes narrowed more. She motioned I should follow her and
stalked past me and into the city.

I trailed after her, aware of the stares we got. The Gem
Heiress and a Destroyer, grim faced and stony as we stalked through the city of
sky dwellers, must have been a strange sight but I tried not to notice when
mothers yanked their children from Dierchae’s path, eyes wide and wary.

Eventually, my trainer halted and I realized we were on the
outskirts of the city, near the flyers’ entrance. She whirled around to face
me, her features calculating.

“You’ve used the Destruction Gem before, I understand?” she
asked.

“Yes,” I answered.

“And how do you like it?”

“I despise it.”

“But it does the job, yes?”

“If it doesn’t take over and kill you first.”

Dierchae almost smiled at this. “You struggle to control
it?”

“I struggle to control most of my gems,” I muttered.

“Of course you do. But you’ll struggle even more if you
don’t learn to accept the true power behind them.”

I blinked at her, waiting for her to say more but she
pointed to a portion of the cobblestone ground. “This path was made by men.
Destroyers will only work on things man has manipulated or altered for his
purpose. If something is in its natural state, a Destruction Gem won’t change
it.”

I nodded. Aluce had been vague long ago when she’d first
described the uses of the gem but I’d learned a few things about it from the
times I’d connected to it. Still, there were some things I didn’t know. “Can a
Destroyer work against other living gems?” I asked.

“No.” She glared at me as though I should have understood
where the Destruction Gem drew its moral lines. “It won’t alter human, animal,
or gem life. And the more an object is connected or attached to some form of
life, the more you will need to focus to ruin it.”

I thought of the battle we’d fought in the small, coastal
village when we’d first arrived. I’d managed to damage the homes easily, but
when I’d destroyed the soldiers’ armor and weapons, it had been in small
groups.

“I’ve experienced that,” I muttered.

She glared and continued on. “I want you to create a crack
in the large stone by your foot,” she instructed.

“It would damage part of Et Loedin’s street,” I pointed out.
“I won’t do that.”

 “It can be mended later. I need to see how your gem works
for you.”

“It works well,” I assured her. “A little too well. It’s the
most powerful gem of its kind in existence.”

Dierchae shook her head. “You misunderstand. Of course the
gem will be powerful, but I would like to get a sense of
how
you make it
work.”

I glared back at her. “I hate the way it feels every time I
connect to it. I’d prefer to avoid it if I may.”

Dierchae’s smile was not meant to be friendly. “You may
not.”

With a final scowl, I grit my teeth and focused on the murky
heart of the Destruction Gem beating against my own skin. I knew it well enough
now that connecting to it wasn’t difficult.

Under its influence, it was too easy to let my anger for
Dierchae take over. I struggled to remain in control of my rage but the gem fed
my emotions until they felt too big to contain. I turned my eyes to the stone
at my feet and directed my frustration at its center, where I demanded it to break.

Before I could break from the gem, I heard the echo of
thousands of stones cracking and crumbling around me. In rapid succession,
every cobblestone within fifty paces of me shattered to dust.

With a gasp, I grabbed at the necklace and ripped it away
from my skin. Dierchae watched me with cold aloofness as I fell to my knees and
fought to disengage my mind from the Destruction Gem. I shuddered with each
breath but slowly felt my mind grow calmer as moments passed and the connection
dissolved.

Finally, Dierchae grew tired of waiting.

“Congratulations, Princess,” she said, her voice smug. “You
power your Destruction Gem mostly with rage. And there is no shortage of it in
your heart. No wonder it comes to you so easily.”

I glanced up at her and slowly pushed myself to my feet. “Of
course anger is the force behind it. It’s how the gem was named. Aluce said the
discoverer was angry enough to want to destroy something.”

Dierchae’s lips twitched slightly. “The gem can work through
many different emotions. Rage and hatred are, of course, the most common. If
you hate something enough, if it angers you, you naturally desire to destroy
it.” She shrugged.

“I learned this long ago,” I said.

She lifted an eyebrow but otherwise ignored my comment. “Can
you think of any other emotion that might help you connect to your gem and use
it?”

I glared at her for a moment. I knew the answer because I’d
experienced it often enough.

My voice was flat as I answered her. “Fear.”

She grinned again, even less pleasantly than before. “Fear
is a brilliant motivator when something needs to be destroyed, isn’t it? If
you’re afraid of something, you have a perfect reason to annihilate it.”

“Wow. Fear, hatred, and rage. The main motivators for this
gem,” I said. “I’m still waiting for a reason to find any value in it.”

Dierchae sighed. “Aylen, gems are tools. They can help us
achieve our desires as long as we’re in the right frame of mind. Your fury at
your situation is good. It can be used to your benefit. So can your fear. Your
problem is that you hate your motivating emotions as much as you hate the
circumstances the led to them. If you embrace what you’re feeling rather than
wish it wasn’t a part of you, then maybe the gem will be easier for you to
control.”

Before her words truly sank in, for just a moment, they made
sense. I was furious every time I felt I had to use the Destruction Gem and
often, I focused on that rather than my real reasons for needing to destroy
something. But as I pondered this, something deep inside of me rejected her
advice.

“I’ve embraced my emotions before,” I told her, slowly.
“Back on the island, when I lost control the first time I used the gem, I
opened myself up to its power and used it with what would be considered proper
motivation.”

“But you accomplished what you wanted, didn’t you?”

“In a way.” I paused in an attempt to choose my words
carefully. “The problem is hatred, anger, fear- all those dark emotions that
encourage the Destruction Gem to work- to me they’re a sign of having already
lost control. I still let it happen more than I should, but the only time I
feel those emotions is when I’ve already allowed a situation or a person to get
the better of me. How can I govern a gem that’s only motivated by ungoverned
emotions?”

Dierchae’s eyes seemed to darken as she glared at me. “Look
at what the king can do with those emotions! No one has gotten the better of
him.”

“The gems have.”

“You are more foolish than I could have imagined,” she
hissed.

I felt my Empathy Gem tug at me and tentatively, I connected
to it. Dierchae’s emotions rushed through me in an instant, sharp and stinging,
filled with disgust. I gasped and struggled to break the connection once more
before it overwhelmed me.

“If you mastered your Destroyer,” she said, “you could have
all of Miranasch at your disposal. Nothing could stop you.  Your anger is a
gift to be used.”

I took a steadying breath before I spoke. The depths of her
sudden fury seemed to spark the air with heat and I realized Dierchae was
allowing her own gem to heighten her frustration toward me.

“It’s never done me any favors,” I said. I felt the truth of
the words as they left my lips. Anytime I’d acted out in anger, I later
realized I’d let my feelings dictate my actions. Now, as I battled daily
against the gems to remain in control, I knew I couldn’t afford to allow
negative emotions to overpower me at any moment.

Dierchae clenched her fingers into shaking fists. I pitied
the deep connection she had with her gem and for the first time, I was grateful
to have so many others to choose from. I didn’t have to rely on the Destroyer
for power.

“I think it would be a good time to end the lesson,” I said.
“I need to report the damage done to Et Loedin’s street as soon as possible.”

She continued to glare at me but I turned to leave anyway. I
heard a few more stones crack behind me as I retreated but I didn’t look back.