Page 66 of Jeweler to the Blessed
I glanced again at the balcony where the figure remained. The power he wielded made me think everyone had it wrong; maybe the Cursed King wasn’t Themis’s Champion but Rodric was. His calm was so strong as to overtake the citizens’ emotions completely—so completely it required persuasion magic to pry a reaction from them.
King Rodric was the only Blessed with enough power to make the city forget their fear of the Cursed King.
21
Order will not go quietly.
— FROM CHAMPIONS OF KAVIOS
Ididn’t have to pretend to be affected by what I’d seen at the Cornucopia. The magic may not calm me, but the reality of the power stunned me into a stupor like the rest of those gathered. I was listless as I waited for an appropriate excuse to slip back into the crowd or leave. The prince hadn’t announced a new jeweler, which was probably for the best. He disappeared quickly after his speech. Vaddon descended the steps to greet me.
He nodded. “Emberline.”
Vaddon was the last person I wanted to speak to. Now that I saw his face again, I couldn’t help but remember his too-convenient appearance at mydoor this morning and the following attack on the street. I didn’t believe in that kind of coincidence. Why would Vaddon set me up? He couldn’t be one of the Feared.
I wished I had spoken to Hart about it, but I was also unsure of him again after reading Alaric’s note.
No one was making this easy.
A long breath slid from my lips. At this moment, I was supposed to be infused with the king’s calming magic and the prince’s persuasion. It was not the time to confront Vaddon about trying to kill me. I could sense Hart standing at attention behind me. Vaddon spared him a glance as he addressed me.
He gestured to the street. “It looks like you enjoyed the festivities.”
The Selected had merged with their waiting families. Only Deidre stood alone, to the east of the steps. At a different Cornucopia, she’d be the most celebrated Selected. Her story would be the one that motivated magicless families for another year. Tonight, emotions were still mixed from the magic wielded by the Glanmores.
The only good news was that Deidre seemed too lost in her thoughts to notice.
“Did you need me for something?” I asked. Hart had said we’d been summoned.
“Oh, no. We just wanted to ensure you were close for the speech.”
I didn’t like that. The prince alluding to the Cursed King was not a mistake. It was an intentional provocation of the city’s stirring unrest. My eyes widened slightly as I put the pieces together. To soothe the fear, it first needed to be expressed. Prince Elias had baited his audience, and they’d eaten poison berries from his hand.
Vaddon appeared to watch me closely. It was best to lethim lead the conversation. I’d be left pliable if genuinely infused by calm and persuasion magic.
“It’s too bad about the trouble at the workshop this morning,” he said.
Hart stiffened behind me.
“I was lucky Hart arrived when he did.”
Vaddon nodded, glancing again at Hart. The corner of his lip curled down in disappointment. “Indeed. You will return to the mines in the morning. And we’ll need to see all the pieces the night before the Presentation. That’s two nights from now.”
“That won’t be a problem.”
I’d started slowly today, getting my bearings with the adamas, but now that I understood it, I expected to move faster tomorrow.
Vaddon turned on his heel without so much as a goodbye.
Hart was in front of me when he was out of earshot. “He let you out of the castle this morning?”
“Yes.”
As unsure as I was about Hart after reading Alaric’s note, I couldn’t help but notice he wasn’t pretending to be affected by the magic with me. We’d shared a glance as the king’s calm was in effect. I wanted to believe it was his own show of trust. He’d told me he’d been to kingdoms outside Kavios. If my suspicion was correct, King Rodric used this magic to calm his citizens into remaining in the city. Hart, having left, only further proved he was unaffected. Now the question was how?
Was he like me? I’d never met anyone else immune to the Blessed before. Even other Blessed were impacted by the magic.
“Chaos, are you listening to me?”
