Second Stone (6 page)

CHAPTER EIGHT

Torian paced back and forth, carving an angry gash through the snow as he trampled over it.

“Why don’t you sit?” Garith suggested, trying to guide the prince away from Emariya’s tent.

The fire raged nearby, but its warmth did a poor job of melting Torian’s worries. Sitting closer to it wouldn’t help. Shrugging Garith off, he continued to walk, anxiety not allowing him to pause for even a moment. “Why won’t she wake?” It had been two days. Nothing they tried made any difference.

“We’re concerned about her, too,” Jessa said, pulling her cloak tighter around herself in the chilly night air. “But if you don’t rest—if you wear yourself out—you won’t be of any help to her.”

“I’m not of any help to her
now
.” Torian clenched his hands into a fist. It was an impossible situation. The two most important people in his life needed him…and he was useless to them both.

“We’re going to have to make some decisions soon,” Garith said. “The troops are getting restless.” Spread like a web around their tent, the soldiers’ own tents weaved a large camp, sprawling in every direction. Raucous laughter occasionally wafted from the other campfires.

Torian ran his fingers back absentmindedly through his hair, thinking hard. “I know…I know.”
If I move her, and it causes more harm than good… Maybe I’ve already caused more harm… If only I knew what was wrong with her!
Plus, what chance did he have of getting Oren released without her? For probably the first time in his royal life, he had no clue what to do.

Footsteps from behind the tent betrayed someone’s tentative approach. Torian stopped pacing and peered into the darkness.

Leil stepped into the firelight and Torian felt a surge of anger. He needed someone other than himself to be furious with. He was just about to open his mouth with a sharp remark to the man he still didn’t trust when Leil spoke first.

“I just came to see how she was doing. Is there any change?” Leil’s voice was so hopeful, Torian’s anger evaporated. Deflated, he shook his head.

Torian looked back and forth between Jessa and Garith. They both seemed to share his discomfort. He really wasn’t sure what to say to the man.

Leil shuffled back and forth from one foot to the other in the uneasy silence. Finally, he looked up and met Torian’s eyes before glancing back toward Emariya’s tent. “Well, she’ll wake when she’s ready, I reckon. If there’s anything I can do…” He let the words trail off.

“Have you eaten?” Garith asked.

“No. I don’t really fit in with the soldiers, and I don’t really fit with the servants, either. No fire’s had a place for me.” Leil looked down at his feet.

Torian huffed. There weren’t many people he’d be less inclined to share a fire with.

Without waiting for a signal from Torian, Jessa offered Leil a seat. “I don’t really fit with the servants, either. You can sit with us. It’s what Riya would want.” She grabbed a nearby plate.

She was right, of course. Torian nodded his begrudging consent. “You’re welcome with us anytime,” he said stiffly.

Keeping his eyes turned away, Leil thanked him.

“We’ve got to get moving if what your father saw will truly happen in the spring,” Garith prodded. “You’ve already sent more men after your sister. Why don’t we continue to Sheas harbor to rescue Oren? Or are you still thinking of going to Eltar?”

“I don’t know.” Torian glanced up at the cloud-heavy sky as if he might find the answers written there.

“Well, what good would going to Eltar serve? What can you do that your troops can’t?”

Glaring, Torian wondered when Garith had gotten so damn logical. “I don’t know. I was counting on Emariya to be able to help negotiate with Rees Hendel. Without her…I don’t know if I will have any chance at all.”

“How’d this even happen, anyway?” Rink asked between bites of his stew. Rink had almost gone with Commander Plank to help guide the extra forces Torian was sending through Eltar, but he had begged to remain with Emariya, and no one had the heart to deny him. “Where were the guards?”

“With us.” They’d left only a small force at the castle. They just weren’t able to be everywhere, especially not with so many visitors still on the grounds. There were even fewer guards there now. Hopefully, his mother and father would be safe until his return.

Torian looked to the tent behind him. He needed to be closer to her, to soak in the comfort that only she could provide. “I’m going to go in and sit a bit with Emariya.” He could feel their worried stares drilling into his back as he walked away.

Torian’s hand paused momentarily as he reached for the flap of Emariya’s tent. He couldn’t help the worry welling inside him that the next time he went to check on her, he might find that she’d left him for good.

Ducking to get his height inside the tent, he let out the breath he’d been holding. She lay on her bedroll, sleeping like an angel. In the dim lantern-light, he could just make out her chest moving rhythmically up and down. He took off his cloak and his sword, placing them carefully near the front of the tent. When at last he’d shed his protection, he settled himself near her, hoping that just maybe she could feel his presence and might draw comfort from it.

Of course, if she were awake, she’d be well within her right to tell him to get out, that she didn’t ever want to look upon him again. He deserved it after the way he’d acted.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I think I understand now.” Torian choked back a sob, swallowing hard. He couldn’t break now. He couldn’t!

Unable to resist touching her to reassure himself that the flow of life remained alive within her, he clasped her hand. Her long graceful fingers were warm in his. A tiny smile forced its way forward. Warmth was a sign of life; at least she was warm.

“I said some really stupid things. I was so consumed by thoughts of Terin… Well, the important thing is, I get it, and I’m sorry. You were only thinking of him as your brother and didn’t stop to consider everything. Seems we both made a mistake.”

Emariya’s still form gave no response. He wasn’t even sure if she could hear him, but it felt good to get it out, regardless.

“You’ve got to come back to me. I need you,” he whispered, kissing her hand. A heavy tear slipped past his shattered defenses and made its salty way down his cheek.

Torian tensed as the tent flap opened and Jessa slipped inside.

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The pain ripped through her, igniting each of her senses in turn.

Emariya felt it travel along her nerve endings, biting into her all along her spine. The thick scent of smoke invaded her erratic thoughts. Her heart pulsed, thudding in her ears as it reacted to her fear. But what was there to fear now, except that which those left behind must face?

She’d tried to fight her mother. For a moment, it had seemed that her mother’s hold on her was slipping, and she’d struggled closer to the surface. The most excruciating ecstasy had overcome her when she’d heard Torian’s voice. Then, in an instant, it had all been ripped away. The darkness closed in with a horrifying finality. Even the mist and the simple nothingness were fading away. Her eyes were heavy. Her panicked heart slowed.

She tasted defeat, bitter on her tongue, as she recalled Jessa’s final words: “I’m sorry Torian. She’s gone…”

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With a disappointed shake of his head, Torian answered the question in Jessa’s hopeful eyes. No change. “I feel like I’m failing them both.”

“You aren’t.” Jessa tentatively put her hand on Torian’s shoulder and squeezed.

“I’m just sitting here, praying she’ll wake, getting no answer. She’s lost to me, yet right in front of my eyes. And all the while, my sister is being taken farther and farther away.”

“You don’t have the luxury of pitying yourself.”

He jerked his head up in surprise. Few people dared talk to him like that. Bitterness won out over reason. “And what am I supposed to do, sit here until spring? Go watch as a bystander at my sister’s wedding?

In her gentle way, Jessa ignored the venom in his voice. When she answered, it was with nothing save compassion. “I know it is hard for you, but your sister is gone. At least for now it is out of your control. But Emariya is still here. You can’t give up on her.”

“I won’t,” he vowed. “Never.”

“Good. Because I’ve got an idea, and I need your help.”

He hadn’t noticed the pack slung over her shoulder. She dropped it to the ground, undid the buckles, and pulled out three candles.

“I’ll do whatever I can.” He meant it more than any other promise he’d ever made.

“All right. I was thinking…Riya controlled the fire at the castle, and we know the gift of the Warrens is based on the power of the earth. I thought perhaps if we could help her reach for something to sort of anchor her, maybe she could get free of whatever is holding her asleep and she might be able to get back to us.”

“Where do I come in?” Torian kept his hope tightly leashed. The chance of this working was slim.

“You’re what she’s coming back for.” Jessa’s tone was matter-of-fact.

It didn’t take them long to get the candles set up. One at her head, and one to each side near her elbows. Their soft flickers of light bounced off the tent walls, creating a plethora of shadows dancing around them.

“Now what?” Torian whispered.

“I don’t know.” Jessa’s brow furrowed.

Torian took Emariya’s hand in his again. “I don’t know if you can hear me. If you can, Emariya, I need you to know I love you. Please forgive me. Please come back to me.”

Behind him, Jessa drew in a sharp breath. Startled, Torian spun to look at her

“Her eyes, they fluttered! We’re making—Torian, look out!” In his carelessness, when he’d spun to look at Jessa, he’d knocked over the closest candle, spilling hot wax on Emariya’s arm. For a brief moment her hand tightened, gripping his before going limp once again. Only this time, she seemed even further away then before.

“I’m sorry, Torian. She’s gone…” Jessa said. “But I think she was here, if only briefly.”

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Garith leaned back against a tree trunk, his arms crossed in front of him. He held his head tilted upward, resting against the rough bark. If Torian couldn’t see that they were all sitting around waiting for him to make a plan—to do something, anything, really—to help Emariya, then he would have to make the decisions himself. They couldn’t afford to just wait here indefinitely.

He told himself that when Jessa and Torian came out of the tent, it was time for he and Torian to talk, to figure it out. More than time, really. Two days of waiting around, praying for her to wake had nearly driven Garith out of his mind. If he couldn’t help her, then by The Three, he would find someone who could.

Nearby, Leil sat beside the fire, staring absently into the flames. Rink perched beside him, occasionally shooting daggers at the other man with his eyes. Poor Rink was so fiercely protective of Riya; her inability to waken had him all twisted up in mental knots. With no apparent enemy to fight or direct his fury toward, Leil had become Rink’s favorite target for animosity.

Garith lifted his head from the tree trunk, looking toward Emariya’s tent. He thought he’d heard Jessa holler out. Could Emariya have woken? Leil and Rink both straightened up and joined him in anxiously gazing toward the tent flap. A long, heavy moment passed before Jessa popped her head out. Beneath her flushed face and glossy eyes, Garith thought he detected a slight tremble, but perhaps she was only shivering from the chill.

“She didn’t wake, but her eyes fluttered.” Jessa swallowed hard as Rink let out an audible breath.

Leil remained silent, but even his eyes lifted a bit and he ventured a tiny nod toward Garith.

“How’d you do it?” Garith asked, hope filling his voice.

Coming fully out of the tent and settling herself on the ground near Rink, Jessa took her time in responding. “We tried with fire. I think it was working, but then she seemed to drift farther away.” Her voice hitched.

“Don’t lose hope. She responded. That’s something.” In long strides, Garith moved to crouch down in front of Jessa and Rink. “If she responded, that means things we do can make a difference; it isn’t all up to her to fight whatever has ahold of her on her own. We can help her. We just have to figure out the right way to do it.”

“You’ve got a point,” Torian said as he came out of the tent to join them. “But how?”

Straightening up and looking back and forth among his friends, Garith said slowly, “I think we need to find a Roth.”

“Why?” Jessa asked.

“Because the gift of the Roths seems to take place inside their head. I think they would have more experience than anyone with this. Plus, maybe they can talk to her.” Garith’s heart lightened at the mere thought of having a direction, of having something they could do. If he couldn’t convince the rest of them, he’d do it on his own.

“So on to Sheas Harbor, then?” Jessa asked.

Garith’s face darkened. “No. It’s too risky. If they see her vulnerable like this… Well, we just don’t know what to expect from them.”

Around the campfire, three expectant faces turned to the prince, waiting for him to tell them what to do. Garith watched them watching Torian. Couldn’t they see how lost Torian was? “The Roths aren’t at Sheas Harbor, anyway, remember?” Garith said.

“I think Hendel’s wife is,” Torian said.

“So then we need to find the Roths. The other ones, I mean,” Rink chewed the inside of his lip thoughtfully.

“Torian, if you want to go to Sheas Harbor to get Oren so you can dethrone Reeve, I think we would all understand, but we can’t take Emariya there. Why don’t I take her to find the Roths while you continue on to Sheas Harbor?”

“I think I know where they are.” Leil was so quiet that Garith wasn’t entirely sure he’d heard him right.

CHAPTER NINE

Torian took a ragged breath. It misted in the cool air as he peered at the expectant faces watching him from around the campfire. Couldn’t they tell he didn’t have any answers? Perhaps he’d misinterpreted their looks. Maybe they knew he was only one thin line of self-control away from slipping into madness. Answers were in short supply, but he had plenty of fodder for a meltdown.

Leil repeated himself, louder this time, “I think I know where the Roths are hiding.”

If Torian was ready to lose control, Garith had already tumbled over the edge. The boy was a tightly coiled snake, ready to strike at the first unsuspecting person to walk too close.

“How? And why should we believe you?” Garith darted over and jabbed his finger into Leil’s chest.

“What reason would I have to lie?” Leil’s eyes remained flat as he avoided Garith’s glare and looked at Torian.

“Let’s start with where you think they are,” Torian said, drained. Could he trust this man? Emariya had accepted his apology as sincere, but she hadn’t exactly proven herself to be the best judge of character.

“I heard Khane talk about it once, before. He mentioned wanting to visit them, to show them he’d become more than them. When we were bringing Lady Emariya to you, he claimed that after we delivered her and got our payment, he’d go south, then cut up into the mountains. According to him, the Roths are holed up in the peaks just over the border.”

“I still don’t get why we should trust you,” Garith said.

Jessa spoke up, “Garith, please, what other choice do we have?” She put a restraining hand on his arm.

Garith shook his head. “You see the good in everyone. Not everyone is as they appear.” He cut his eyes back to Leil.

Jessa dropped her hand. “Maybe I am naïve. You’re right. But at least I am not as stubborn as the two of you.”

Rink doubled over, laughing so hard he clutched at his stomach. “You should see your faces right now.” The little boy grinned.

Leil smirked and sort of chuckled himself.

Torian met Garith’s eyes for a brief moment before he joined in the laughing.

Garith threw his hands up in mock surrender. “All right, all right,” he laughed. “You win. Jessa, what would you have us do?”

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Jessa fought to tame Emariya’s wild locks. It wasn’t easy with her lying on the ground. Later, she’d have another of the servants come in to help her get Emariya into a fresh gown.

To keep herself from giving up, she’d been concentrating on the small things she could do for her best friend. It might not wake her, but at least she was doing
something
. Unlike the boys, who wanted to stand around and sulk before finally talking. And even when they talked, they wanted to puff their chest like roosters crowing.

“You should see them, Riya,” Jessa said. Giving up on Emariya’s hair, she grabbed the steaming cup of tea she’d brought for the sleeping girl. The warmth seeped through, soothing her palms. She spooned the tea between Emariya’s slightly parted lips, being careful not to spill. “You’ve got both those boys in a state, but I guess what else is new? I think you’ll be leaving soon. I don’t know who is going with whom, or exactly where. At least they are making plans. The commander departed with the group chasing Terin, so it sounds like between Torian and Garith, one is going to go with the army, and one with you.”

Jessa blotted Emariya’s chin where a bit of tea had dribbled. “I know Torian wants to be with you. Regardless of what you might think, no matter how mad he was, he still loves you. I hope you can forgive him, too. If it’s Garith that takes you to the Roths, try not to blame Torian, all right? I think he’s going to feel like he has to command the army, but I know he’d go with you if he could. He really is trying his best.”

It was so strange, talking to Riya like this. She truly did look as if she were only sleeping. Jessa had to resist the overwhelming urge to try shaking her again to see if maybe she would just wake up.

Setting down the cup of tea, Jessa leaned over and threw her arms around the motionless girl. “Riya, you’ve got to come back, you hear me? We need you.”

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Emariya took a deep, hungry breath. It was the first intentional breath she could recall taking since she’d experienced the excruciating pain that started in her hand and spread outward. First it had been sharp and almost burning, but it spread into a slow, pressurized ache she attributed to her mother pushing her deeper into the recesses of the void.

Testing her capacity for movement, she found she could once again lift her hands through the mist, though she couldn’t muster quite enough strength to push herself up. The ground lay firm beneath her again.

An unexpected sound drifted toward her on the mist. Somewhere nearby, her mother spoke to Reeve in hushed tones. Emariya held perfectly still, not wanting to alert her mother to her eavesdropping.

“The last I saw, they were two or three days from Three Stone Pass,” her mother said.

“Can’t you watch them?” Reeve asked.

Her mother’s voice dripped patience. “It doesn’t work that way, I’m afraid. I can’t just spy on whomever I want and report back to you, as much as I would like to. I can only get snatches here and there. I don’t get nearly as clear of a picture of them as I do of you and your sister.”

Reeve pouted. “What is taking them so long?”

“The snows have been extremely heavy, sweetheart. They will be there. Give it time.”

“And what of my sister’s companions? Is the prince pursuing?”

“I don’t know. Since I’ve had your sister here, I have no clear window into the prince’s actions. It is the same. Only snatches.”

“What good is that?” Reeve yelled. “I need to know what I am up against.”

In between the sounds of her mother trying to reassure her brother, another voice wafted through to Emariya’s ears. One of the sweetest sounds she could imagine hearing. Jessa. She was sure it was her.
Come back to us.

Oh Jessa, I would if I could
, she thought. At least it sounded like they hadn’t given up on her.

Garith said we’ll be leaving soon,
Jessa’s voice floated in again.

Where would they be going? And who was included in ‘we?’ She didn’t hear Torian, only Jessa. Had Torian already left? Perhaps to chase after Terin? Well, that was good. Someone had to stop Reeve. She understood. Maybe someday, if she were lucky, she could see him again and apologize.

“Does it matter?” Valencia asked. “You will prevail. I am sure of it. The prophecies have said so. ‘Over whispers and sights, soil prevails, behold its might,’”Valencia quoted. “You are the soil, Reeve, a Warren. Hendel and the rest connected to the Roths and the Ahlens have no chance against you.”

Jessa’s voice floated in again.
Don’t give up on him.
Emariya was relatively sure the ‘him’ referred to Torian. She wouldn’t have much choice if he decided he never wanted to see her again.

“My sister is a Warren, too.” Reeve didn’t sound unsure, more like he just wanted to hear his mother to say the words again, telling him of his certain victory.

“No. She now stands with the Ahlens. But don’t fret, I’ve taken care of your sister.”

Her mother’s ice-cold words, devoid of any fondness for her, left Emariya seething. As far as Emariya was concerned, she and her father were Warrens. Once they rescued him, they’d be back to remove her mother’s Roth-puppet from Eltar for good.