Page 103 of Jeweler to the Blessed
I stood at the foot of the stairs, not straying into the group. Hart’s steady glower drove away any brave enough to approach.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” he said when we were finallyalone.
I didn’t question what he referred to. His touch pulled me back. For all he knew, I could have been digging my fingers into the dirt before the gathered crowd. I’d already known he could anchor me. His voice usually did, but his hand on my back also did the trick. I would have thanked him … if he hadn’t sounded so condescending.
“I knew you could handle it.”
The heat of Hart’s glare warmed the back of my neck.
Then, the prince approached Deidre near the refreshment table, and I stretched my fingers at my side. I was still worried about whether she had processed what she’d done during the Presentation. Luckily, she’d been angled, so I hoped only Hart and I had noticed.
Now, she was standing on her own, staring at the mine entrance. With the prince’s approach, she rushed to swipe something from her face.
A tear. She must be thinking of her partner. Anger flooded through my veins as the prince took her hand. To many, it would look like a genuine offer of condolences, but the blue flash of his adamas pendant told me another story.
He took her sadness. Now the anger I fought to hide wanted to show itself. Deidre smiled as her sorrow left her, though I was sure whatever remembrance of her partner she experienced had also disappeared as her mood shifted. The prince’s other conversations started to make more sense. He had been approaching those alone, those pensive. I thought he’d been trying to unite the city, but I should have known better. He only required sadness to power the numbing calm he laid upon his citizens.
“Macen pointed me out to someone in the crowd,” I murmured. “It didn’t matter after the prince announced me. But …”
“Elias is nervous,” Hart finished. “And you’re worried he knows something?”
“I’m not sure. It was unexpected of him to announce me like that. It was almost like he was … daring them to come for me.”
Hart stiffened and his hand went to the sword handle at his belt. “We’ll be ready for them.”
Across the crowd, Vaddon approached the prince. Elias nodded and clapped his hands, commanding the crowd’s attention with a simple gesture.
“I’m being told the miners must continue their shift. Thank you for joining us. Those returning to the city, we should leave now to avoid travel after dark.”
His smile was captivating even as he told people to return to work. His head swiveled as if he were meeting the gaze of every person in attendance. They were all his personal guests, and he appreciated them.
I wasn’t buying it.
“We should be in the middle of the crowd,” Hart whispered.
I nodded and found a place as citizens began trekking to the Eastern Gate. The urge to go below the ground pulled taut with each step I took away from the mines. I hadn’t yet learned how to communicate back to the voice—the captive—but I hoped he knew we were coming for him. We wouldn’t leave him as a prisoner of the Glanmores.
As we reached the midpoint between the mines and Kavios, the Oldwood claimed its toll.
The first shot was an arrow striking the shoulder of the woman walking next to me.
Hart had me behind him before her scream registered. Steel sang as he pulled his sword from its sheath.
With one arrow loosed, a full volley followed. Screams erupted from the Blessed as they scattered. Some sprinted down the path, seeking the safety of the Eastern Gate. Others forgot their fear of the Oldwood and fled into the trees for protection. I wanted to laugh as the Blessed ran like livestock from a predator. Maybe the problem with having their power was that it made them feel unassailable. They fed on those who didn’t fight back. Now, rebels attacked the Blessed, and the Blessed fled without thinking to use their magic. For the first time, I saw merit in the Feared’s idea. The Blessed might not be ready when the rebels decided to fight back.
Unfortunately, today, I was as good as one of the Blessed to the attackers. I wanted to cry out to those fleeing and tell them to stand and fight. They should use the magic they’d stolen from the citizens of Kavios to defend us.
Reluctantly, I acknowledged the sharp shake of Hart’s head as he pulled me to him. “Don’t give away your location.”
A line of men and women with swords drawn sprinted from the trees after the volley of arrows. They cut down any that stood in their path. Not many did. Their target was clear: me.
Hart pulled me into the trees. “I’ll kill Elias myself.”
He grabbed my gloved hand, but the warmth between us pushed away the chill of the Oldwood as we plunged into its harsh protection.
The attackers followed.
The first two to reach us were quickly dispatched. I grabbed my dagger. Not an ideal weapon with so many swords, but I’d defend myself any way I could.
