had not been the one any of them should have been worried about. It turned out the one Farrendel had loved too easily was his own sister.
Farrendel wiggled his toes against the warm wool of the blanket. A trick. Just a trick. But he would enjoy these comforts while they lasted. A warm blanket and no pain, even if he still was pinned and unable to move.
He eased the barrier on the heart bond. As soon as he did, a flood of emotion poured into him from Essie, and he did not need to hear the words to sense her tears and worry.
How much had she felt? His block had faltered for a few moments when the shock of the stone piercing him had shaken his senses. It must have been bad enough for her to tell he had nearly died.
I am fine. I am not dead. He was not sure how much she would be able to sense, but hopefully the impression of the words would carry through. He did not wish to worry her more than he already had.
Could she tell how much better he was now? Would she sense the lack of pain at the moment? It was not much, but he wanted to savor the feeling with her. He had not thought he would get even this much relief until he was rescued.
He had the impression she was reaching for him, mentally holding him as close as she could through the bond.
As he reached for her, he felt the warmth of the bond and...something else. He frowned and blinked up at the stone ceiling above him. Was that a crackle of his magic?
He tugged on the power, easing it into his right hand. When he craned his neck, he could just see a faint blue, shimmering glow beneath the blanket by his hand.
He halted the crackle. If Prince Rharreth returned soon to retrieve the blanket, Farrendel could not let him suspect this.
This had to be an unintended consequence of Melantha’s healing. Somehow, her magic must have been blocking the stone and the troll magic enough for him to access his power. It was still a small amount, crushed as it was beneath so much surrounding stone and nearby troll magic, and it would disappear the moment her magic faded from his system.
If Melantha’s healing was just a manipulative trick, then it had gone badly awry for her and the trolls. Thanks to her, Farrendel could access his magic.
What could he do with it? It was not strong enough nor would it last long enough to free him or take on Prince Rharreth.
If Melantha’s visit had been a trick to lure Farrendel into trusting her again for some nefarious purpose, then she would be back. She would heal him again, and when she did, he would gain access to his magic again. If he could figure out something to do with his power, then he would use her visits against her and the trolls. He would not be just the helpless victim awaiting rescue.
Perhaps, when rescue came, this time he could fight back. He could make sure his rescuers did not pay the price the way his father had.
Could he store his magic? It was not a concept he would have thought of a few months ago. But in Escarland, he had met Essie’s inventor friend Lance Marion, who worked with human magicians to store magic in devices to power machines. It had taken an afternoon of experimentation, but Lance had successfully figured out a way to store Farrendel’s magic in a device like he did with the magic from human magicians.
Farrendel glanced around the cell. Nothing but stone around him. Not even iron chains dangling from the wall.
Lance had needed some kind of high-grade metal for the device to store Farrendel’s magic. Even if there were iron chains rusting in the corner, they probably would not work.
The stone would not hold his magic. It would just fizzle out.
Farrendel blew out a breath. He had brief access to his magic, but he could not do anything with it. Within an hour or two, Melantha’s magic would dissipate from his body, and he would be back to pain and lack of magic.
Lack of all magic...except the heart bond.
The heart bond wasn’t exactly a thing. But could it store his magic somehow?
How would pushing his magic into the heart bond affect Essie? She had speculated once that the heart bond might make her immune to his magic, but they