Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
My impatience boiled just beneath the surface as we waited outside the mines for Garron to search for any fissures that might make it too dangerous to enter. Eadric plucked at my fingers, drawing my attention from the cave opening.
“Can you feel them, too?” he asked.
“I wouldn’t know what I’m looking for,” I said.
“Cracks in the rocks.”
“I know that, but the cave is full of them,” I said. “Small ones that only go a few inches. Large ones that bisect sections of different types of rock. Even the ones in the rock face that gave me handholds and footholds.” I tipped my head to look at the cliff, searching for the holds I used. They didn’t appear as deep or as frequent as I remembered.
“New ones will be cleaner, fresh breaks. Those are the ones Garron looks for. The old ones that are filled with dirt or traces of moisture he ignores.”
Understanding, I opened myself to the first hold on the rock face and easily saw its age. The second one wasn’t old, though. It was a clean break without sand or any other deposits and only a scant foot into the rock. I followed the holds up the face, finding a mix of new and old. Some of the new ones made no sense. Breaks without pressure behind them.
In my desperation to escape, had I made those new holds without consciously casting?
“Edmund…Eadric,” Garron said, appearing in the opening. “We need to add a few more supports near the opening.” His gaze found mine. “It will take us a few hours. Perhaps you’d like to read inside the cottage until we’re finished?”
“I’ve spent as much time idle as I would care to,” I said. “Show me what needs support.”
I strode forward, but Edmund blocked my path. Tipping my head back, I narrowed my gaze in warning.
“What would take you hours, I can complete within minutes, Edmund. My patience has been tested enough recently; wouldn’t you agree?”
“It has,” he said. “Yet, I am begging for more of it. Garron agrees you are a powerful caster, and we’ve seen your strength with our own eyes. We don’t doubt you are capable of achieving what few ever will. However, you’ve admitted that your abilities are erratic, and the mines are dangerous, Trouble. Why do you think we always leave two or three of us behind? It’s so someone is on the outside to help dig us free. It takes experience and caution to shore up the mines after a cave-in. Please. Please don’t go in there.”
Held by his imploring gaze, I extended my hand.
“A twig, please,” I said.
Confusion flitted over his expression. Where he wanted to question my request, Eadric did not. He picked a small twig off the ground and placed it in my palm.
“Thank you, Eadric.” I stepped around Edmund and stuck the twig into the ground near the side of the cave opening.
With a light touch of my energy, I sent its growth into the cave. Sturdy lengths grew and wove together to form a thick ceiling that, bound by my will, would hold the weight of the stone and protect the people within.
I didn’t stop coaxing it until it reached the first split in the passage.
“Garron, can you check if that’s enough?” I asked.
A subtle wave of dizziness washed over me as he walked into the cave. I immediately checked my well but didn’t notice anything different. Yet, the dizziness persisted.
Frowning, I leaned into Edmund, who was the closest. His arm wrapped around my shoulders without hesitation.
“Trouble?”
“I’m fine. It feels like I stood up too quickly. I checked my well, and it’s not due to casting. Everything feels the same.”
Edmund swept me up into his arms.
“If you take one step toward that cottage, I’m going to show you real trouble,” I said, scowling at him.
He frowned at me, and I could feel he was debating it.
“Everything looks good,” Garron said, appearing in the cave opening. “The limbs are thick—what’s wrong?”
“Your brother is weighing the wisdom of confining me to the cottage against my will. I tore through the thatching without my power. Imagine what I will do with it,” I said.
“Edmund, put her down. She’s neither broken nor fragile,” Brandle said, using my own words.
“And when she faints and falls on the rough floor? Will you be so calm then?” Edmund demanded.
The pair locked gazes until I covered Edmund’s eyes and lifted myself enough to nip his neck. He grunted, and his hold on me tightened.
“The passage is too narrow to carry me, Edmund. Let me walk, and hold my hand. I promise to warn you if I’m feeling faint so I don’t fall.”
Eadric plucked me from his brother’s hold, kissed me soundly, and set me on my feet.
“You’ll need another bath when we’re done in there. He might be more cooperative if you agree he can help with that.”
I arched a brow at Edmund. “Or would you prefer I bathe you?”
He grabbed my hand and motioned for Garron to lead the way, his protestation gone. The others chuckled, and I grinned.
The weak light cast by Garron’s lantern did little to illuminate the tunnel as we moved away from the opening, and I was grateful for Edmund’s steadying hand over the uneven rocky floor. For a time, our footfalls echoed in the confines of the tunnel. Then, I felt when we came to the first fork.
Garron took the branch to the right. Three more tunnels branched off along our route, and our path tilted, taking us deeper into the earth until, suddenly, we turned a corner, and I saw light ahead.
“Is there another opening?” I asked.
“Yes, but it’s not one we can access,” Edmund said.
We entered a wide cavern encircled by tiered levels and ladders. A crack at the very top of the cave let in enough light to reflect off a multitude of gems embedded in the stone walls. The number astounded me.
The wealth in this cave was more than any person would dream of seeing in their lifetime—enough to feed a kingdom for a season. Or enough to buy the silence of its inhabitants. That these men were willing to use this wealth to help free Eloise humbled me.
My sweeping gaze stopped on the seven small chests that sat in the center of the space, under the light. Six were closed. The open one was partially filled with different colored gems that glinted prettily.
“What do you need to do?” I asked.
Their silence drew my attention from the cave to them. I looked down at myself, curious why they were staring, but all my clothes were in place.
“You barely glanced at the gems,” Darian said. “I thought women fawned over pretty jewels.”
“I have never fawned in my life and don’t plan to start.”
“That’s a bit disappointing,” Daemon said. “I’d hoped you would fawn over us in the future.”
“You already lack in humility,” I said, hiding my amusement. “I will not add to the problem. Now, what should we do?”
“Maybe she just needs to get a better look,” Darian said to Daemon. They both jogged over to the chests and flipped back the lids. Four of the small chests were filled with jewels of varying sizes. Two chests were still empty.
“We need to fill the chests before we leave,” Brandle said when I glanced at him questioningly.
“How long have you been filling them?” I asked.
“For years.”
“But we’ve had to use some of what we’ve mined several times when the need arose,” Liam added quickly.
“How long does it take to fill a chest?” I asked.
They all looked at Brandle again.
“We’re hoping it will be faster with your help.”
“How long?”
“A year.”
The conversation I’d overheard when they thought me sleeping several nights ago made sense now. After witnessing my impatience at each day’s delay, they’d feared my reaction to hearing a year. And rightly so.
My laughter echoed throughout the cave, and a low, ominous rumble followed.
“And you thought the dried remains of the tracker’s body would be what sent me running to my sister without your questionable help?”
The tunnel behind me rumbled again, and it wasn’t due to the volume of my voice. I was angry—very angry—at the half-truths and weighted promises they’d given.
“With your help, I think we can fill the rest of the partially filled chest yet today,” Garron said calmly.
I could feel Garron and Eadric’s certainty that I would help them, which both humbled me and calmed my temper.
“Eadric, show her how we’ve been removing them,” Garron said.
Eadric picked up a small pick axe and began chipping away at the rock around the gem. After several minutes, he pried the gem free; however, it still had some rock stuck to it. So he then had to use the pick axe to gently remove bits at a time until only the gem remained.
“We knew that one was close to coming out,” Garron said. “You can see the others we’ve found in this layer. They won’t be enough to fill the chest, though. We’ll need to work deeper to find more.
“I’ve tried casting to remove them,” Garron said, “but the cost of the spell is high, and I’m not able to pull from the earth like Henry could.”
I opened myself to the energy around us. The gems glowed more brightly than the stone, and I could see the multitude of the gems still buried in the mine, waiting to be discovered.
“And after I help free enough gems to fill the remaining chests, what else will delay us from leaving?” I asked.
“Nothing, Kitten. I vow it.”
I connected with the energy in my well and sought out the first gem.
My time with Garron taught me the importance of casting with balance. I could turn a twig into a thorn-covered barrier, put thorns on a pea vine, and separate the dirt from the bathwater. But more than that, I could absorb all the energy in something until it no longer existed.
They watched as the stone around the gem slowly vanished, and a perfect ruby the size of my pinky nail fell to the ground.
Daemon’s giddy reaction didn’t worry me that I was being used. I could feel they weren’t interested in accumulating wealth for themselves. He was simply happy that I could remove the gem quickly because he knew it would make me happy. He had no attachment whatsoever to the gem itself.
Content that I knew what to do, I sent my will out into the cave. I found each gem on the surface and connected to the surrounding stone.
Gems fell to the floor as the entrapping stone disappeared all at once. The energy I used to cast felt the same as the energy I gained from absorbing the surrounding stone. Yet, I experienced another wave of dizziness.
Smiling to hide my concern, I waved at the gems.
“I removed them; you pick them up.”
Eadric lifted me and twirled me around before setting me on my feet so he could climb a nearby ladder to pick up the gems I’d removed on the tiers above. I waited until they’d all moved away to catch Garron’s attention.
“The dizziness returned the same as the last time I cast,” I said softly. “I was careful to check the well before I cast and after. It feels as if I’ve neither gained nor lost energy. I’m certain it’s not a depletion, Garron, but it is something. Does her spell linger?”
Garron considered me and slowly shook his head.
“If it does, I cannot detect it. Once a spell’s criteria are met, it should resolve itself completely.”
I thought of what I’d done to bend the spell’s intent to my own.
“And if they aren’t met?”
“The spell wouldn’t be broken. How did you break the spell? Did you deduce the conditions?”
I could feel the curiosity of the others and knew they were listening.
“Yes. When Maeve arrived, she said it wouldn’t be wise to reunite me with Eloise. That it would be better to keep me here because I had much to learn. She said my cool regard spared me in the past but hinted that it wouldn’t in the future. Then she told me to eat the apple to save my sister.
“I could feel the spell take root when I swallowed and, not long after, fell into a faint similar to the others I’ve experienced.
“She told me to sleep well, called me a true beauty, and said that if I ever woke, no man of worth would ever want me. I didn’t understand then, not even when she said it would be my greatest fall.
“I couldn’t move or speak, just like before. Yet, unlike those previous faints, when more than one of you touched me, I felt a surge of energy different from what I was used to.
“The weight of her spell had covered the lid of my well, preventing me from connecting with my own energy. But when I found pleasure, your energies combined were enough that I could speak. It always ended too quickly to do more, though.
“That’s when I understood what she meant about no man wanting me and what I needed to do. She meant for me to bed each one of you to break the spell. But when I found my release with Brandle, it was enough to lift her spell and connect with my well. The moment I touched my own source of power, I changed the spell, forcing it to bend to my will.
“I would meet the terms of the spell, but when I chose, not when Maeve willed it.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “Perhaps then, you are not free of it. I simply can not sense it.”
I searched inside myself for a hint of the spell lingering and shook my head.
“Nothing of her touch remains within me.”
He pulled me into his arms and hugged me close.
“Take extra care when casting. We have no wish to lose you, Kellen. Not for all the gems and kingdoms in the world.” He pulled back and held my gaze. “Though you are willing to give your life for your sister’s, we do not agree. Your life carries the weight of?—”
“She understands her life is tied to ours, Garron,” Brandle said. “Now let her be and help us pick up these gems.”
Garron kissed my forehead and went to collect what I’d freed. While they worked, I sat on one of the closed chests and watched them work.
They taunted and jested one another. Playful cuffing and easy laughter rang out in the cavern in bursts. Smiling, I listened to them until Daemon wrapped his arms around me from behind. He nuzzled my neck and trailed kisses along my skin.
“Knave,” I said lightly. “Do you think your brothers do not know you seek to use me to shirk your share of work?”
Daemon chuckled against my skin. “Oh, they know. But they’re also entertained by your reactions and won’t stop me.”
Tangling my hand in his hair, I plucked him away from my neck and twisted to mock-scowl at him. His unrepentant grin didn’t diminish.
“Don’t you want to know if the spell is truly lifted?” he asked, proving he’d been listening.
“And how will you help determine that?”
“Release me, and I’ll show you.”
Knowing well that the glint in his gaze was pure mischief, I released him. He lifted me, sitting me across his lap. Then, his mouth covered mine, and he kissed me hungrily, weaving another type of spell around me. I held his shoulders and met his desire with my own.
When his hand slid under my tunic and palmed my bare breast underneath, I groaned. He pulled back and lifted the material to expose my chest.
“Cast now, Lamb.” His mouth closed over my nipple, and I struggled to think beyond the sensations he was evoking. The desire from each man in the cave beckoned me, and I arched under Daemon's touch.
With barely a conscious thought, I connected with my well of energy. Their amulets flared brightly around the cavern, but I ignored them and focused on where the gems lay hidden under the layers of stone. Rather than remove the stone, I changed it to sand, enabling the gems to move through the material then hardened it again once I freed the gems.
Daemon switched to my other breast, and I sighed in contentment and ran my fingers through his hair.
“Since he’s had all the fun, we should leave the work to him as well,” Darian said.
I tipped my head to look at him as his brother’s mouth continued to caress me.
“He isn’t the only one enjoying this. I can feel how much you enjoy watching.”
Eadric laughed, and Darian grinned.
“You are a beautiful sight,” he said. “Mining isn’t as grueling a task with you here.”
“That’s because you’re staring and not working,” Edmund said with a scowl.
Though he was annoyed with Darian for gawking, he was more annoyed with Daemon for doing what he wanted to do. They all wished they were in Daemon’s place.
“Any dizziness, Kitten?” Brandle asked.
“Breathlessness and aching for more where I’m not yet ready to be touched again, but no dizziness.”
Daemon groaned and dropped his forehead to my sternum.
Darian laughed. “Someone’s going to need an ice bath.”
I lifted Daemon’s head and kissed him sweetly.
“Thank you for your help.”
“I will help you with anything, Lamb. Always. Especially if it involves sleeping next to you tonight.”
He helped me to my feet and straightened my tunic. With one last kiss that involved lifting me and wrapping my legs around his waist, he left me to recline against the gem chest again.
Boredom and the low lighting made it impossible to stay awake as they worked. A cave floor wasn’t the most comfortable place to rest, which was likely why I woke on Eadric’s chest a while later.
“How did you win this privilege?” I asked.
“Because they knew I would be able to move you without you noticing,” he said with a grin.
I laughed with him and rested my head on his shoulder as he smoothed a hand over my back. It was relaxing and nice, and I was close to falling asleep again when he spoke.
“If you think the spell lingers, would it be wiser to bed us before we leave for Turre?”
A snort escaped me. “Bed you ? I believe I’m the one being bedded.”
“A mutual bedding then.”
I relaxed into him and considered his suggestion.
“I neither want to delay our departure nor want to feel as if the time I spend with each of you is forced due to a spell. The dizziness I felt wasn’t severe and hasn’t led to any problems. It’s no more than I feel when I stand after reading for too long and forgetting to eat.”
“Hmm. I don’t want the time you spend with us to feel forced, either. Then, it seems we’ll need to start packing when we return. The gems you uncovered were enough to fill the remaining chests.”
I sat up to look at the chests, but they were gone—along with Edmund, Daemon, Darian, and Brandle.
“We didn’t want to wake you,” Garron said.
“You looked peaceful,” Liam added as Eadric stood and helped me to my feet.
“Are you still tired?” Garron asked.
“Not at all.” Any lingering tiredness had vanished with the anticipation of finally leaving.
Garron once again led the way with the lamp, and Eadric held my hand as Liam followed us.
When we emerged, the sun sat low on the horizon, and Brandle was filling a pail at the well.
“There’s a bath waiting for you inside,” he said.
I felt Eadric’s humor and Garron’s concern. I patted Garron’s chest.
“Don’t forget…I know how to remove the heat from water.” As I spoke, I heated the pails Brandle had ready for the trio. “Edmund knows to behave.”
As I strode away, I heard Liam ask, “How did she know Edmund was waiting for her?”
“She said she can feel us,” Brandle said.
“We’ll need to be more careful,” Garron said softly.
“Exactly,” Brandle said. “Guard your feelings about returning to Turre well.”
Returning to their home after such a long exile was certain to be hard on them. Especially to a dangerous place like Turre. Did they think I would be unsympathetic to their concerns, or did they believe they were protecting me by keeping their fears to themselves?