Page 90 of Jeweler to the Blessed
Steel clashed against stone. Gregory must have brought a pickaxe. He struck again. I did need more of the gem, but I heard more than enough rubble fall to the ground. He repeated the motion.
“Gregory, I think you have enough.”
He took another swing, and more debris fell to the cavern floor. “The prince said to send you back with twice what you need. He has another project for you.”
I swallowed, uncomfortable with that information. What more could the prince want? He should be entirely focused on the Selection.
Gregory stooped to pick up the pieces. I’m sure he dropped them into the cloth bag he’d carried over his shoulder.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said.
Hart didn’t need to be told twice. “Put your gloves on.”
I did, and before I could protest, he grabbed my hand and pulled me behind him, returning to the cavern entrance. His breaths didn’t slow until we were on the other side of the locked door with our blindfolds off.
27
He thought the price of his curse had already been paid. It will cost him more before the end.
— FROM CHAMPIONS OF KAVIOS
Iwanted a minute to think about what just happened—about what I’d heard. The voice was gone as quickly as it had come. It was in the cavern, though. I knew it. I needed to get back.
What could be in there that had Gregory, and even Hart, so nervous? The heat in the room made me think about Hart’s words in the workshop. I had said the adamas couldn’t be melted. The imperfection we’d found had to have been something else. I no longer thought that was true as I wiped sweat from my brow.
Something, someone, was in there, who could make the room that hot. Childhood memories flooded mymind: games with Mother, a friend I knew existed but couldn’t get to, and the urge to dig beneath the Oldwood.
I stared at the door. Whoever was in there needed me. How did I get them out?
Gregory was already halfway up the path. He’d put as much distance between himself and the door as possible. “Let’s go.”
“You can’t get to him,” Hart’s voice was a whisper next to me.
Him. He knew someone was in there—someone who needed me to free him. Somehow, I wasn’t surprised that Hart knew it too.
I lifted my chin, staring up into his face. “He’s trapped.”
Hart didn’t shrink away from my defiance. “I’m well aware, Chaos. We’ll get him. Just not now.”
We’ll.Hart stayed true to his word even with my shifting priorities. Or maybe he had heard the voice, too, and felt his own calling to save him. I acknowledged that trying to rip the door from its hinges in front of the mine’s second-in-command wasn’t a great plan, but the voice left me desperate to save it.
“You heard him too?” I asked.
Hart shook his head.
“How do you know?”
He opened and closed his mouth. A hesitation I wasn’t used to from Hart. He always seemed so sure of himself. Whatever he wanted to say, he was struggling to find the words. Which meant I desperately wanted to hear them.
The ground started to shake before he spoke.
My gaze locked with Hart’s. Over his shoulder, Gregory scurried farther up the path.
A crack sounded, and panic struck Hart’s features before I understood its meaning. He was just out of arm’s reach.
The ground shook harder.
Hart was moving, lunging for me. A wall of stone and debris crumbled where I’d stood moments ago.
