Kingdom of Sea and Stone (Crown of Coral and Pearl #2) - Mara Rutherford Page 0,55

I could be transported back to New Castle at any minute. The visions and dreams had been scary enough when I believed it was my own subconscious controlling them. Being under Ceren’s control was far more terrifying.

“Let me see,” Adriel said, holding her hand out. I passed the book to her, open to the page I’d been studying. I’d alternated between reading each line as closely as possible and skipping around, hoping I might stumble upon something that made sense. The book was filled with a lot of information that had nothing to do with bloodstones or blood bonds, too, and sifting that out took additional time and effort.

“Look at this next line,” she said, leaning closer to me. “‘Wearers linked by mind and soul; power gives but takes its toll.’”

I rubbed at my temples. “And?”

“Ceren controls the people who wear the bloodstones with his mind, correct?”

“We assume so.”

“But it’s taking a toll on him. It has to. No magic comes without cost, especially magic of that magnitude. His power is also his weakness.”

And in order to combat that weakness, he was drinking my blood. The fact that he had come after me could only mean he needed more. “Should we be focusing on Ceren instead of his guards?” I asked. “The mind controlling the body?”

She shrugged. “Perhaps?”

“But we can’t do that from here.”

“Can’t we?”

Before I could respond, we heard the pounding of hooves and looked beyond the field to the road.

Talin.

I rose to my feet, worry coursing through me as I waved at him. When Talin neared us, I ran forward to greet him the moment he dismounted. To my relief, he was smiling.

He picked me up by the waist and spun me around, then set me gently on my feet before looking me over from head to toe, like he was checking for injuries. His eyes flicked up to my hairline and a lopsided grin quirked his lips. “Pardon, Your Highness. I didn’t realize I was in the presence of royalty.” He bowed deeply, glancing up at me with twinkling eyes.

I laughed, completely having forgotten the daisy crown Adriel had made for me earlier that morning. “A fool’s mistake. How should I punish you?”

“Time away from you was surely punishment enough.” I glanced behind Talin to Grig, who had just reached us. “Grig wouldn’t let me travel alone,” he explained.

“Good man,” I said with a smile, waving to Grig. “But what are you doing here?”

“Your hunch was right, Nor. The Ilarean guards who died at the border had bloodstones.”

My pulse sped up. Finally, something useful. “They did? How did you find them?”

“One of the Galethians who had helped recover the bodies had the stones. Roan discovered them when he noticed the woman was acting strangely.”

I sucked in a breath. “No.”

“She didn’t know what they were, only that they appeared valuable. But Roan was furious.”

I could imagine that easily enough.

“What will happen to the woman who stole them?” Adriel asked.

Talin glanced at her, clearly uneasy. “I get the sense that if it’s up to Yana, she’ll be banished to Ilara.”

“What? Why?” I looked from Talin to Adriel.

“Yana doesn’t suffer fools, or traitors,” Adriel said.

I felt something inside of me grow cold. “What does ‘banished’ mean?”

“Sent south. She will never be allowed to live in Galeth again.”

I couldn’t judge too harshly. It was a better fate than Varenian banishment, and certainly better than being put to death, but after what had happened to Sami, I wasn’t sure if it was just, either. “Where are the stones?” I asked Talin.

“On the way to Leesbrook.”

“Roan could have brought them to me,” Adriel said. “He knows I don’t like going there.” She was mostly talking to herself, but Talin and I exchanged a glance. “Besides, the stones on their own aren’t much use. All this tells us is that Ceren is using the stones to control his men, which we already know.”

Talin shook his head. “That’s not entirely true. The Galethian with the stolen necklace seemed listless, half-asleep, just like the captured guard in Leesbrook. She didn’t struggle when Roan approached her, so he decided to try taking the necklace. Whatever hold the stone had on her was gone. It didn’t kill her. It was as if she woke up from a dream. She remembered nothing after she’d taken it.”

“Now we know what skin-deep means,” I said. Talin looked at me questioningly, and I explained Adriel’s book and the lines about bloodstones. “It seems that wearing the stone, having any kind of physical