Chapter 4
PUZZLE ME THIS
Istood beside my mother, who stood beside my father, all of us peering at Jasher. My father had removed the tarp and returned the half-monstra to an upright position. Warming light poured from overhead bulbs, creating a spotlight on my Tinman.
I scratched my head when I heard growls again.
“What’s that sound?” my dad asked when even the animals outside the barn got spooked.
So he heard it, too. The moisture in my mouth dried up. Must be Jasher, fighting for freedom.
I tightened my grip on King Ahav’s journal—and the elixir. A small glass bottle with an hourglass shape, filled with a sparkling red liquid. If this didn’t work…
It would work. Because it must.
“Forgive me, but this was once an actual human?” My dad grimaced as he scanned the “statue.”
“He is an actual human,” I said, a little snippy. “He’s the man I love.” A confession I hadn’t made to Jasher yet. Here, now, I didn’t know why I’d hesitated.
“Well? What are you waiting for?” Mom prompted. “Do you intend to revive him or not?”
“First you didn’t want me to help him, now I’m not freeing him fast enough.” Had she given me poison rather than an antidote? Her hatred for Ian burned fiercely, and it absolutely extended to Jasher.
She notched her chin. “I want Ahav saved.”
True, but she also wanted Jasher dead. And I understood, I did.
“Having personally witnessed Ian’s extreme bloodlust, I comprehend the need to remove him from power.
Harming Jasher isn’t the way. Jasher isn’t Ian.
” He might have Ian’s face when in human form, but he most definitely did not have Ian’s withered heart.
“Promise me this will help and not hurt him.”
“As if I would hurt another living being. I am not Ian,” she snapped. “I followed your instructions exactly, using only the ingredients you requested. Despite the ridiculousness of them.”
Another event I hadn’t yet lived. “And he’s to drink it? All of it?” I glanced between Mom and Dad, who had lapsed into silence, still studying Jasher. But what did she mean, ridiculousness of the ingredients? “I’m not supposed to, like, drip it in his joints?”
Her nose wrinkled. “Why would you ever—” She waved her hand. “Doesn’t matter. You are correct. Drink, not drip.”
Okay. All right. But… “Maybe we should ask Emma for her feedback first. She might know more about the elixir.” I admit, I wished to speak with the water maiden again, anyway.
“You won’t be able to find her,” Dad said, pulling his gaze from Jasher at last. “When she doesn’t want to be found, nothing and no one can find her.”
Sigh. I’d experienced the same disappearing act with Iris, the water maiden who’d nearly gotten me killed. “Remind me what’s in the elixir.”
Mom set one hand on her hip and stroked the compass with the other.
“I swear you opted for the most complicated instructions possible. You even made me memorize it, just in case.” She cleared her throat.
“Heartfire coal taken from the royal hearth three days after an eclipse. Mercurial vein extracted from the roots of a moon-kissed willow. Eldermarrow essence distilled from the ashes of a king’s scroll declaring abundant prosperity for all.
Breath of the north wind captured at the moment of a newborn’s first cry.
Tears of morning dew collected at the first dawning of a new spring.
Pulsegold nectar harvested from a beehive hidden within the core of an ancient oak planted by the seventh son of a seventh daughter.
Finally, a rare sanguine root overflowing with living crimson sap never before tapped. ”
Wow. Okay. Not a single item I recognized. And where had I even gotten the recipe? Jasher himself?
“Jasher wasn’t metal when you met him?” I asked, seeking just one more confirmation I was doing the right thing.
“Oh, I never met him. By order of the king, we weren’t allowed to be in the same room. I know of him through conversations with you and palace gossip. There was no mention of metal.”
Confirmation that he did, in fact, revive. That wasn’t nothing.
I approached my…friend. Boyfriend? I loved him, yes, but we’d made nothing official. So many obstacles.
The growling ceased.
“If I’m recalling correctly, there’s a side effect,” my mother piped up.
I groaned. “Side effect?”
“Yes.” She nodded again. “The elixir brings forth what’s hidden in the heart. Love, rage. Whatever’s buried deepest.”
Didn’t sound like a bad thing. Not with an honorable man like Jasher.
“Hey, Tinman,” I cooed. “I’m not sure how you’ll react to this concoction, but I can’t leave you like this.
” Trembling slightly, I uncorked the top, reached up, and placed the bottle’s mouth at his parted, silver lips. Tilting… “Bottoms up, baby.”
The liquid poured into his mouth. Every—single—drop. Breath caught in my lungs as I stepped back and waited.
Minutes passed. Nothing.
Disappointment poured over me like wet cement.
Gasping, my mom pressed her fingers to her distended abdomen. “Oh! She’s kicking.”
Daddy wound an arm around her waist, holding her up in case she fell. The protective gesture melted me.
“So you know you’re having a girl?” I asked as casually as I was able.
“Mmm hmm.” She leaned against my father, just as she’d done throughout my childhood, welcoming his aid without hesitation. “On the day of my wedding, Elowen predicted my firstborn will rise as a queen who forever changes the fate of Hakeldama.”
Yikes. “That’s a lot of pressure to heap upon a newborn.” And a woman of twenty.
A soft smile teeming with affection bloomed. “Her name is Moriah Isha, after Morris, the first Ori’Emet king of Hakeldama.”
I held my breath, hoping she’d make the connection from Moriah to Rye.
“Mmmph.” With a groan, Mom bent over just a little. “More kicking.”
Okay, so, no connection yet. No big deal. We had time.
“Let’s get you inside to rest.” Dad urged her toward the barn door. “Rye, you wish to stay here with your…with him, I’m assuming.”
I almost snickered. “Yes, sir.”
“I’ll return with the pack when I can,” he said.
“Thank you.”
As my father led my mother away, emotions flooded me. From a longing to follow and enjoy them while I could, to disappointment that they hadn’t guessed who I was, to desperation to learn what I needed to learn, and fast. If I failed to save them…
Determined, I positioned an old, wooden chair a few feet from Jasher and settled in with the king’s journal perched in my lap. A light wind rustled outside as I tapped the fancy pen against my knee.
Wait. I should probably write the recipe first. Mom shouldn’t protest, since the journal was meant for her child.
Yeah, okay. I opened it, found blank pages toward the end, and wrote down everything I recalled.
“Our answers are here,” I told Jasher, willing him to respond. “I know it.”
Thick, oppressive silence greeted me.
I heaved a sigh. “Well, don’t you worry. I’ll find them, and all will be well.” I flipped to the first page and began to read…
To my dearest child,
War casts its shadow upon our threshold. If fate is kind, peace will return before your birth. But if not, know this. I will stand against the storm until my final breath is spent. Should I fall before I place a crown on your head, I vow I’ll leave you with the strength to overcome.
To understand what we defend against, you must learn what once was.
Centuries ago, in the days of destruction and terror, the monstra ruled with iron claw and breath of flame. The hearts of men grew faint as the beasts scorched the earth until even the mountains crumbled.
Yet from the ruin came the Ember of Everlight.
So far, I’ve found little about it. But I do recall the ancients whispering its name in my dreams long, long ago, with heroic tales about the man who discovered it.
Our ancestor, King Morris Ori’Emet, used the Ember to stop the first rise of monstra and undo the myriad of wrongs perpetrated against our kingdom and its people. Then he made everything right again.
Morris was but a humble miner when he defeated the monstra. For his feats of strength and bravery, he was given the king’s daughter to wed. For the remainder of his life, he believed the monstra would come again. That we must be ready.
In the ensuing centuries, the monstra remained at bay and memories of their invasion faded. Legends became lullabies, the truth concealed in myth. Now, the darkness has indeed returned. Though I have scoured kingdoms and ruins for the Ember, I’ve not found it. Yet.
If you are reading this, I’ve given my life for my task. My only regret is leaving you and your mother.
I love you with all that I am.
I leave you with this request. Find the Ember. Then, and only then, can all be made right.
My heart forever goes with you.
Your father, King Ahav
My mind spun out. These were the first words my biological father had ever spoken to me, and I had thoughts. So, so, so many thoughts.
He loved me. After reading his words, I believed I might love him right back.
Save him? Absolutely.
But there were…inconsistencies to his story. The monstra were clones of Guardian Ian, and yet they had appeared hundreds of years before Ian’s birth. Impossible. Unless… One) Time travel. Or two) the original batch weren’t clones.
Ian could have remade them in his own image Jurassic Park style. Did he have the technology? The power?
How had this so-called sacred Ember of Everlight defeated the hordes?
Whatever the answer, I needed to find it. If it righted every wrong, I could use it to save my mother, the kingdom, and Ahav. To hopefully end this loop and spare Jasher’s life, while still neutralizing Ian. The two were mythically bound. When Ian died, his clones died with him.
Except, if I saved Ahav, Mom wouldn’t come to Kansas. She wouldn’t meet Daniel Shaker. I wouldn’t meet Daniel Shaker.
Punch. Breath exploded from my lungs.