Kingdom of Sea and Stone (Crown of Coral and Pearl #2) - Mara Rutherford Page 0,45

is giving them to his guards, then he will have full control over them.”

Yana folded her muscular arms across her chest. “Full control?”

“There is literally nothing they wouldn’t do for him. They’d even die if he commanded it.”

I shuddered at the thought. How would anyone defeat an army like that? I knew better than most that Ceren had no problem killing people who stood in his way, and he would be all too happy to use others to do his dirty work for him.

“And what if we were to take the stone from him?” Talin asked. “What happens then?”

“I’m not sure,” Adriel said over her shoulder. “It may kill him. Or it may break the control of the stone. Or perhaps it will transfer Ceren’s control onto whomever takes the stone. Personally, I don’t want to be the one to test it.”

Yana rubbed her chin for a moment. “Do you think you can learn more safely?”

“I can try, although without a bloodstone to study, it will be difficult. And you know I don’t like to mess with blood magic, Yana. It’s messy, to say the least.”

I remembered how we’d compared bloodstones to blood coral. Was that what my healing capabilities were? Blood magic? And was that why I’d had the visions of Ceren and those strange dreams that felt all too real? Messy didn’t even begin to cover it.

“There were two more guards killed outside the border,” I said. “It’s possible they were wearing stones as well. Do we know what happened to their bodies?”

Roan and the rider from Fort Crag put their heads together for a moment.

“We recovered the bodies,” Roan said. “They were burned, but we did collect their belongings. We’ll have to search them to see if there’s a bloodstone. We don’t recall seeing one.”

I nodded. Naturally, they would have noticed if there had been a beautiful red jewel among the guard’s belongings.

“It was a good thought, Nor.” Yana inclined her head when I looked at her before turning to Adriel. “We’ll put the man in the dungeon. Let’s see if you can discover anything else about the bloodstones. I’d like to spare his life, if possible. More importantly, I’d like to question him. He has useful information in there, somewhere.”

“Can I help?” I asked, sensing we were about to be dismissed.

Yana’s gaze darted to mine. “Help?”

“With the questioning. I have some things I’d like to ask, too.” I glanced at the others and added quickly, “In case the guard knows something that can help us rescue our families.”

Yana narrowed her eyes at me but didn’t press. “Very well. If Adriel can figure out a way to make him talk.”

As the councilmembers disbanded, Talin fell in step next to me. “Have you decided where you’d like to stay? There’s no pressure. I just want to make sure you’ll be safe.”

Before I could respond, Roan appeared on my other side, oblivious to the fact that Talin and I were trying to have a private conversation. “I was thinking about you last night, you know.”

Not oblivious, I realized. Just a troublemaker. Talin muttered something under his breath.

“About where you could stay,” Roan added, smiling innocently. His eyes went to Adriel, who was walking ahead of us. “You should stay with Adriel. She lives between Leesbrook and Fort Crag, so you wouldn’t be too far from your friends or your sister,” Roan continued. “And Adriel could probably use some help figuring out those bloodstones. Couldn’t you, Adriel?”

She turned and blinked slowly, her lips curved in a secretive smile. “I could.”

As much as I disliked the idea of staying with a stranger, it was clear Adriel knew more about the bloodstones than anyone else. She might even understand the link between Ceren and me. I was afraid we were wasting time here in Galeth, time my parents might not have, but until I knew more about Ceren’s plans, rushing off to New Castle alone was likely to do more harm than good.

“That does sound like a reasonable compromise,” I said, glancing up at Talin.

He smiled and nodded, but I could tell he was holding something back.

I reached for his hand. “It’s just for a few days.”

“Good. Then it’s settled.” Roan clapped his hands together in satisfaction. “We should get on the road. There’s a storm coming.”

“But what about my belongings?” I asked, unmoored by the sudden turn of events.

“I’ll have them sent.” Roan turned to Talin, Osius, and Grig. “Are you ready?”

I hadn’t been prepared to say goodbye to everyone right