Page 47 of Jeweler to the Blessed
My mind was elsewhere. I needed to focus. These mines were dangerous, even without the increase in earthshakes. I swallowed my fear and kept walking. Living long enough to discover how the Jeweler to the Blessed sourced the adamas kept me focused.
We turned farther west as the path split again. Now, it felt like we were walking into an enclosed tunnel instead of having the expanse on the right side in which to fall. This didn’t ease my worries as I considered a cave-in like the one only days ago.
The path finally ended at another large door. It was not quite as massive as the entrance.
Tamara gestured to a pile of gems and a cart beside the door. “These stones need separating.”
“I just put the quartz into the cart?” The cart had a clear label. “What do I do with the adamas?”
She gestured to my bag. “You will report the adamas you find but take it with you.”
My mouth turned down, and my gaze narrowed on the door. Sorting already cut gems wasn’t what I wanted to do. Somehow, I knew that whatever was behind that door was what I wanted to learn about. That had to be where they found the adamas.
“I was under the impression I had to select the site to be mined. If I had to separate something already prepared, why not bring it to me in the city?” I used my best researcher’s voice. One I had used on Alaric when he started an argument about history with few facts. It begged the question, why are you wasting my time with this?
Tamara was unimpressed. “Prince Elias sent you. I suggest you take any questions up with him.” Her dismissive tone had a bite I had yet to perfect.
My gaze moved again to the pile of gems. Did they expect so little adamas from this stack? I knew adamas was rare, but my bag wouldn’t hold much, and the pile was as big as I was.
“Will this be all she’s doing?” Hart asked. “Elias mentioned she’d need to come back. If this is all you require, we might not need to.”
Tamara leveled a glare at Hart that, even in the lamplight, needed no clarification. It wondered whose side he was on in this debate.
Tamara spoke of me as if I weren’t even there. “If she proves successful at this task, others will be given to her.We’ll give you an hour here. Any longer, and you won’t make it back before dark.” She glanced at Hart like this was his problem. “We’ll discuss anything further after the Cornucopia.”
With no further instruction, Tamara and Gregory disappeared into the paths. I couldn’t imagine it was worth their time to return to the surface before collecting us again, but presumably, they had other duties within the mines.
What other tasks would she deign to assign me if I proved myself worthy with this one? The discussion rankled me. I almost didn’t want to sort the stones out of spite. The rational part of me knew that would be counterproductive to my goals.
If I didn’t do it, they would make Father try, and they would stop searching for Alaric.
I wasn’t that naive. If I didn’t respond to the prince’s honeyed words, I was sure Vaddon would threaten violence next. I picked up the first stone—it was hot, not simply warm. I quickly set it aside as adamas.
“How did you know that?” Hart picked up a stone and rolled it in his palm before dropping it back into the pile.
I shrugged and tossed him one piece of quartz and the adamas. “Do they feel the same to you?”
He tilted his head. “Do they not to you?”
Alaric had told me no one else could sense the stones like we could, but I’d never tested anyone else. Hart seemed to stare at the stones before mumbling something and shaking his head.
I took that for my answer. “I just know I guess.”
He returned the stones and stepped toward the large door. A brief glance over his shoulder told me he knew this was ill-advised. He did it anyway, tugging at the large handle.
The door didn’t budge. It was locked.
“Eris curse him.”
It was unclear who Hart cursed or why. I wished he’d keep his voice down when being blasphemous.
“You should be careful with your curses.” I picked up another stone.
He bowed gallantly. “I wouldn’t want to offend your delicate sensibilities.”
I shrugged. “It’s your funeral.”
He was behind me again before I realized he’d moved. “Does that bother you? That I’d no longer be here to keep you safe?”
