Chapter 98
The study fell into silence once more. I stared at the translated message while Rhaevan read it over and over.
"The Ardentians chose every word deliberately," his gaze never left the page. "If they wished to hide something... "
He placed the translated copy beside the living map. "'Seek not among crowns, courts, nor the living.' The riddle doesn't tell us where to go yet, but it does tell us where not to look. We can eliminate palaces, capitals, and anywhere still occupied. Our answer likely lies in a place long forsaken."
He moved to the next line. "'Turn instead to the forgotten places, where memory lingers after men are gone.'" Looking up, he added, "We're looking for a place forgotten by people, but not by history. Not a city. Not a kingdom. Perhaps... ruins?"
He wasn't entirely convinced. His finger continued downward. "'The earth still bears the scars of fire... Stone remembers the flame that shaped it.'"
He fell silent. I didn't interrupt; I'd learned that when Rhaevan grew this quiet, his mind was usually several steps ahead of everyone else.
He walked to the shelves lining Benedict's study, scanning the volumes on history, geography, and natural philosophy.
Without hesitation, he selected three books, carried them back to the table, and spread them open beside the living map.
One depicted modern kingdoms, another contained an old survey of mountain ranges, and the last was considerably older, its pages yellowed with age.
"These are Tower copies," he explained. "Records preserved before Ardentia fell. Stone has no memory-it simply means the rock still bears the marks of the fire that once shaped it. Whatever we're looking for, it happened in a place transformed by intense heat."
He flipped through the weathered pages. "Most mountains are formed by tectonic uplift, some by erosion. But only a handful..." He stopped on an illustration showing a jagged chain of black mountains unlike anything I'd ever seen. "...owe their existence to fire. They were once volcanoes."
"The eruption ended thousands of years ago," Rhaevan murmured. "The lava cooled. The stone remained."
He turned the old survey toward me, his finger resting upon a single mountain range. "Mount Kaelor. Though that is its modern name."
Flipping to an older map copied before kingdoms had risen, he pointed to a different name carefully inked beside the same mountains: The Ashen Crown.
"The earth still bears the scars of fire..." he repeated quietly. "...because this mountain range literally does."
His finger shifted to the living map, where the lone silver mark rested precisely where the Ashen Crown had once stood. Rhaevan exhaled slowly. "I believe this is where the First Fragment lies."
I straightened in my chair, looking back at the translated message. "So the First Fragment is somewhere inside those mountains."
He folded his hands together. "But I don't believe the fragment is the Heartforge itself. The message is very deliberate. It never mentions the Heartforge; it says the path to what was sealed begins there. That tells me the fragment is only the beginning. The first step."
I looked at the final line, then back at the single silver mark waiting among the mountains. "So we're still missing most of the answers."
"Yes."
"But..." I smiled faintly. "...we finally have somewhere to begin."
Rhaevan's expression softened. "Yes. We do."
I folded the parchment with surprising care and slipped it back into satchel. A strange sense of determination settled over me. The road ahead was still filled with questions, but for the first time since I touched that wooden box, we weren't following rumors-we were following a trail.
By the time we left the study, the afternoon sun had begun sinking toward the western hills. The map had given us a destination; the rest would have to wait until we reached it.
We found Benedict in the kitchen, humming quietly as he kneaded dough with the concentration of a man attempting to negotiate peace with flour. He looked up as we entered, his eyes lingering on our faces before a knowing smile appeared.
"I take it you've reached a conclusion."
Rhaevan inclined his head. "We have."
Benedict nodded once. He didn't ask what we'd discovered or where we were going. His oath held, just as it always had. Instead, he dusted the flour from his hands and waited.
"We'll be leaving tomorrow morning," Rhaevan said.
For the briefest moment, something flickered across Benedict's face, as though he'd known this conversation was coming all along. "I thought you might. The road has been waiting for the two of you longer than this old cottage has."
I smiled. "You're making it sound like we're heroes setting off on some grand adventure."
Benedict chuckled. "If I did, you'd only complain."
"I absolutely would."
"I know." He disappeared into the pantry, returning with a small cloth bundle tied neatly with string. "I was going to save these for the winter."
He placed the bundle in my hands. I untied it just enough to peek inside. "...Cookies?"
"Oat and honey. I refuse to send travelers away hungry. Also, I noticed you emptied my jar."
I grinned. "You might actually be my favorite person."
"I was under the impression that title changed daily."
"It does. You currently occupy first place."
"I'll treasure the achievement." Rhaevan accepted the bundle as I happily inspected its contents. "Thank you," he said sincerely.
"It isn't much."
"It doesn't need to be." Benedict's smile softened. "Travel safely. And take care of each other."
Neither of us answered immediately-not because we disagreed, but because the words felt strangely unnecessary. We already had, more times than either of us cared to count.
"I suppose," Benedict said, clapping his hands together lightly, "you'll both have packing to do."
I let out a dramatic sigh. "My greatest weakness."
He laughed. "I wish you luck."
"I'll need it."
As Rhaevan headed upstairs, I lingered for a moment. "Benedict?"
"Hm?"
"...Thank you."
He looked at me for a long moment before smiling gently. "You don't need to thank me. I only kept a promise."
I nodded. For a heartbeat, neither of us spoke. Then Benedict smiled once more and shooed me toward my room with a wave of his hand. "Go on."
Still smiling, I left for my room. Tomorrow, the journey would begin.