Smoke and Memories (The Dark Sorcerer #3) - D.K. Holmberg Page 0,16
too stupid to know that he’d been used.
The home was a towering manor home of gleaming white stone surrounded by an enormous wall, and saw a pair of guards standing watch outside of it along with some activity on the other side of the wrought-iron gate, but nothing she could easily make out. The homes on either side of his had burned. Though the one to the left had been destroyed much more than the one to the right, both were beyond salvage. Demolition crews had already gotten to work, tearing down the structures, and if what Eva had said was true, it wouldn’t be long before the homes were rebuilt—though which family would try to claim a part of the ruling dular?
That was the part of all of it that Jayna didn’t know. It was possible that a new family would try to gain power, attempting to join the seven, and if so, then it would cause even more disruption within the city. Already there had been enough, chaos that had stemmed from the dular who had been attacked by the sorcerers. She didn’t know what other impact the rest of the city would suffer.
As she stopped in front of the fountain, leaning back on the rim, feeling the spray of water while focusing on the constriction of the dragon stone ring, the gate to Rosal’s father’s home opened. A black wagon came out, guided by a pair of jet-black stallions.
Jayna watched. She tried to look inside the wagon, but didn’t see anything there.
No movement. Nothing obvious.
Distantly, she could still feel the linking spell she had placed on Rosal, and knew he was on the other side of the gate. After using the bloodstone to create his own enchantments, he had secured his place with his family, so she suspected he was in the mansion itself.
Ever since the night when the ruling dular had been attacked by the Order of Norej, Jayna had not seen Rosal, though she still worried about him. He had acted out of a desire to please his father, and a desire to be something he wasn’t. The bloodstone had given him that ability, but there had to be a price. There was always a price. Her experience with Rosal, however, suggested he wouldn’t even be aware of that.
Jayna lingered for a bit longer than she had intended. The dragon stone ring continued to stay constricted, calling to her.
She couldn’t wait here any longer.
She followed the energy within it, and as she did, she found it guiding her. There was a bit more energy within the ring now, and this time, as it continued to squeeze, it seemed to shuffle her beyond the courtyard, and from there, she followed the street. A line of merchant wagons stood on the outskirts of the city.
She soon found herself heading toward a traditional dular market. Not the midnight market where dular had to hide their enchantments, but one where they sold or traded what they made openly. She slowed as she neared it. It was midday, early enough that she wouldn’t have expected it to be quite as vibrant as this.
Jayna moved through the periphery of the market. She passed Molly, the dular who liked to claim she had more powerful enchantments than she actually did. It surprised her that she sold her enchantments in the daytime as well. The heavyset woman shot her a look. She recognized Jayna.
Jayna grinned at her. She headed over to her and leaned down, resting her hands on her booth.
“The last time you were here, the entire market burned. They blame you.”
Jayna just chuckled. “I’m surprised you chose a wooden booth. Considering your enchantments are as powerful as they are, I would’ve expected you to want something that wouldn’t burn. Maybe stone,” she said sarcastically.
Molly leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest. “If you aren’t going to purchase anything, you might as well move on.”
“Who said I wasn’t going to purchase anything?”
“You don’t need to make fun of my enchantments.”
“I didn’t mean to offend you,” Jayna said and meant it. It wasn’t about upsetting this woman. What did she care if the woman deceived her way to higher profits? It wasn’t her responsibility to supervise the dular market.
She stepped back, twisting the dragon stone ring. The constriction had eased, but there was still a little bit of pressure within the ring. Not as much, though—certainly not enough to make her feel the same urgency as it had before.