Starborn. Katie MacAlister

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      Her pale lips curved into a faint smile. “Like me, you sacrifice much to keep your people content. But that said, neither are you willing to sit back when there is a fight to be had.”

      “You confuse me with my son,” Israel said, setting down the now empty wine goblet and striding to the fire, welcoming the warmth it brought to him. “I do not run off on a whim to join whatever battle is at hand.”

      “But Deo is, as I have said, lost to us.” Idril eyed him with gentle interest. “That returns us to the subject of the portals, which I gather is the purpose of your trip to the High Lands.”

      “It is. Or rather, the means of accessing them without bringing Racin down upon our heads.”

      Idril thought for a moment; then both eyebrows rose a smidgen. “Ah, the moonstone.”

      “Exodius said he planned on safeguarding the stones since they were too powerful to be used by those who did not understand their strength. He did not name Jalas as one of the stones’ guardians, but Hallow has learned from his arcanists that the stone is here.”

      She inclined her head. “It is. I have not seen it, but before he took to his bed, my father sent away all but his most trusted body servant and hid something in the keep. I knew only that it was an artifact of great power that he dared not use. I thought it might be a talisman or token that he…liberated…from the queen’s holdings when we were in Starfall City, but if the runeseeker gave him one of the moonstones used to destroy Deo—”

      “Banish Deo,” Israel murmured, and wondered again what was in Idril’s heart. “Sending him to the Isles of Enoch was the only way to save him from your father’s wrath. I had no idea that Exodius would separate the stones afterward. That turned out to be much more problematic than I imagined it would be.”

      “If Father had a stone of such immense abilities, it would make sense that he would hide it close to hand. But I’m afraid if you are here to plead for the stone, he will not yield it. He is very much like a magpie in that regard—once he has a treasure, he will not give it up.”

      “I am here to explain to him that the stone is needed for a purpose that Exodius did not anticipate,” Israel said.

      She shook her head. “You do not understand; Father will not resist because the runeseeker asked him to guard it—he will not allow it out of his possession because it is now his, and he does not give up what he holds.” Her gaze slid to the side, to the stairs that led up to Jalas’s chambers. “Unless that possession is his daughter.”

      “Regardless, I must have the stone.” Israel sat, suddenly so tired he felt as if he could sleep for a week solid. “Hallow will gain access to the one that he says Lady Sandor holds, and I have no doubt his arcanists will locate the third one shortly, but he barely knows Jalas, and will have little ability to convince your father to relinquish the stone he guards.”

      “Whereas he will do so for you?” Idril shook her head again, so that the silver-blond hair that covered her like a shawl of silk shimmered with the movement. “You are mistaken, my lord.”

      Israel’s jaw tightened. “Then I will take it from him, by force if necessary.”

      Idril watched him for a few moments, then leaned forward and touched him lightly on the knee. “You risk death simply to open a portal to Eris?”

      “The queen is a prisoner there,” he answered idly, wondering if his score of men would be enough to take the moonstone if Jalas refused to give it up. “I will not suffer her to remain in the company of the captain of the Harborym when it is within my ability to free her.”

      “You will not get the stone from my father by force,” she said, her pale gaze holding his. “He may play at being frail, but he is as strong as the stones of this keep. There is help available, though…for a price.”

      Israel fought the desire to snap out an irritated response. “What price?” he asked, his voice as grim as his soul.

      For the first time in all the years that Israel had known Idril, she smiled, really smiled, an expression that revealed not just mirth, but satisfaction. It lit up her face, and gave him a glimmer of what had ensnared his son. “Me. You must take me with you to Eris.”

      That was the last thing he had expected her to say. “You? With all due respect, Lady Idril, Eris is not a place for a gently born woman. It is a shadowland, one beset by Harborym, and filled with priests who perform blood magic.”

      “Nonetheless, that is my price. I will help you acquire the stone, but I must be allowed to travel to Eris.”

      “Why?” he asked, but knew the answer even as the word left his lips. The light in her face faded when she turned to pour out another goblet of wine.

      “The queen is not the only one who suffers in Eris,” was all she said, but it was enough.

      Israel reluctantly agreed. He had no intention of letting Idril put herself at risk by traveling with him to Eris, but he would address that issue later, once he had the stone in his possession, and Hallow had the other two.

      For now, this was enough. It had to be. There was simply no other way to save Dasa and Deo.

      Chapter 5

      “I can’t say that I think much of Cape Despair.” The fetid smell of swamp wafted over us via a short-lived breeze. I wrinkled my nose. “I can’t imagine that anyone actually chooses to live here.”

      Hallow eyed the trees that dripped with both wetness and long streamers of slimy-looking vines. “It certainly isn’t very pre-possessing, but who knows? Perhaps Aldmarsh is as delightful as this area is vile.”

      A rotund, furry animal the size of a small gourd, piebald copper and white, stumbled across the road, weaved dramatically, then fell over onto its back, the four little feet at the end of its chubby legs waving in a desultory manner.

      “Even the bumblepigs are depressed about being here,” I said, halting Buttercup to dismount and check on the little creature. We were riding, having left the cart at Peer’s Mill, the town half a day’s ride to the north. I prodded the bumblepig. It squeaked and waved its feet again. I sighed. “Sorry, little fellow, I’d like to take you out of this miserable place, but we already have a pet, and even if a wooden bird inhabited by a spirit isn’t as demanding as a living beast, we are likely going into battle. You’re safer here.” I righted the bumblepig and guided it off the road and into the shrubs that lined the verge. It waddled off looking morose.

      Hallow looked up from a journal where he’d sketched a copy of a map. “Aldmarsh should be just over the rise.”

      “Good. I don’t think I could remain here for long without losing my will to live.” I popped Buttercup on the nose when she tried to nip me, quickly remounting before she could raise a ruckus. “What are we going to do if Quinn isn’t there?”

      “The captain of the guard said he would be.” Hallow’s face was grimmer than I had seen it in some months.

      “Mmhmm. And the mayor of Peer’s Mill says he’s never heard the name. Ugh. This place makes me feel like I need a hot bath to wash off all the stickiness.”

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