Page 77 of The Eyes of Tamburah
“How?”
“You know how,” he chided.
But she couldn’t accept it. Even thinking the word… magic proved difficult.
“You’re now an official member of the Invisible Sword. Your invisible mark,” he tapped her arm, “will reveal itself only to another member who has magic.”
“Not everyone has magic?”
“No.” Jayden gestured to the others. “We all do, but many in our organization do not.”
“Okay, but you’re right here and I don’t see the mark.”
Ximen smiled. “But I can.”
Jayden once again pulled up his sleeve. The symbol shone on his skin like light reflecting off glass. It hadn’t been there before. Ximen rolled up his sleeve as well. Bazia scowled, but she did the same. Both had the same symbol, proving they were all members. Handy.
She’d try to figure out how it worked at another time. As soon as she recovered enough to stand, Shyla asked. “What’s your plan to rescue Banqui?”
“Don’t you want—”
“No. Banqui and the others first and all this…” She gestured to the three of them “…can be explained later.”
“All right,” Ximen said. “Our plan is simple. You’re going to give a fake set of The Eyes to the Water Prince in exchange for Banqui.”
CHAPTER
13
Ximen’s words echoed off the hard stone walls of the empty judgment room of Tamburah’s temple.
“I’m going to dowhat?” Shyla hoped she had misunderstood him.
“The Invisible Sword has a fake set of Tamburah’s precious Eyes,” Ximen said as if she’d just hit her head too hard. “We will give them to you to exchange for Banqui. Once he’s free, you’ll bring him to us.”
So many questions and emotions boiled in her chest. For a moment she was too overwhelmed, then she focused on the most concerning aspect. “Why do you want him?”
Ximen hesitated.
She tapped her shoulder where the symbol of her loyalty shone…well, to him anyway.
“He’s the one, Shyla. We believe he can use the magic of The Eyes and we’ll finally be able to break the Water Prince and Heliacal Priestess’s stranglehold.”
Back to the magic thing. Great. But that wasn’t the biggest problem. “How good are these fakes? The prince isn’t a fool.”
“They’re practically identical. The fakes have all the right gemstones, just none of the power.”
Okay. “How do I explain my absence and how I managed to find the stolen artifacts?”
Ximen looked to Jayden. “It’s your idea, you tell her.”
Oh, this ought to be good. If it involved magic, she was sunk.
Jayden rubbed his hands along his pants as if nervous. “Captain Rendor witnessed your capture. When you’re reunited, you’ll explain to him that your inquiries about The Eyes made us nervous, so we grabbed you with the intent of getting information from you before we…er…killed you.”
“Us, as in the Invisible Sword?”
“Did you tell him our name?” Bazia asked with concern.
