Nora and the Sacred Stones

by Laura Hatch Rupper

  “We will make revars from all the stones. House Dolmark will be invincible.”

  Nora pulled away from him, but Oskal tightened his grip. She detested the feel of his hand on her arm. She could never work for someone like him. This couldn’t be the earth’s plan for her—to work for House Dolmark. She had to escape, but Prince Oskal continued to pull her higher into the boulders.

  “Nora!” Prince Kyn’s call echoed through the passageway. How far away was he? The reverberations in the tunnel made it almost impossible to tell.

  Prince Oskal didn’t seem concerned about Prince Kyn’s pursuit. “It’s a shame the book on revars was lost to House Liard, but we’ll manage,” he said.

  Panic struck Nora. Prince Oskal knew about the book. She felt her heart skip a beat. It couldn’t be. But it was the only thing that made sense. “Teacher Worthing,” she gasped.

  “Yes,” the prince said proudly. “Your teacher told me where to find you. He and his daughter are on their way to live at House Dolmark. He has been well compensated for telling us about the gifted concoctor who made a revar.”

  Nora cursed, but Prince Oskal seemed oblivious to her disgust.

  “He’s going to be in charge of gathering old books that will reveal the secrets of the power stones. He wants you to join us.”

  “No,” said Nora.

  Prince Oskal laughed. “It amuses me that you think you have a choice.”

  They had climbed quite high, about forty body heights straight up the side of the tunnel wall, when Prince Oskal yanked her to a ledge. “This’ll do,” he said.

  Do for what? She didn’t dare question him out loud. Her heart pounded as Prince Oskal pulled some rope from the sack he held. She backed away from him, but he quickly grabbed her arms, swung them behind her, and expertly tied them tightly together. He took out a piece of cloth and stuffed it into her mouth, making her choke as it hit her tongue and then tied the gag behind her head.

  “I think that’s enough talking,” he whispered. “I can see Prince Kyn approaching. Jan must not have made it.”

  He didn’t even sound sorry about the death of his soldier. In fact, he seemed to have assumed that Kyn would win. He looked absolutely delighted with the thought of fighting Prince Kyn. The man was pure evil. How could Teacher Worthing have thought that concocting for House Dolmark would be the same as for House Liard? She had seen with her own eyes that not all Houses, or princes, were equal.

  Nora struggled as Prince Oskal took another rope, pulled it tightly around her waist and tied her to an outcropping of rocks on the side of the ledge. She managed a kick to his shin, and he responded with a laugh and a slap.

  “You make for some feisty bait,” he said as he grinned and ran his hand over her face. He rested his hand on her hair and then undid her braid, letting her hair come free. “There. Your bright hair shows nicely. So easily seen from the path.”

  Prince Oskal turned and moved to a pile of boulders on the other side of Nora. His plan sunk in, and Nora’s heart plummeted. She was the bait. Prince Kyn would see her hair and climb up to her, and when he did, Prince Oskal would rain rocks down on Kyn. The way the wall was structured, Kyn would be trapped—crushed under a cascade of boulders.

  Nora looked down at the tunnel path. She could see Prince Kyn approaching, his run slowing to a careful jog.

  “Nora, I’m coming,” he yelled. “Hold on!”

  Nora thrashed around desperately. Kyn must know how dangerous it was and that Oskal was up here with her. Oskal was hunched down to her left, ready for his attack.

  Nora watched helplessly as Kyn pulled the climbing spikes from his tunic pocket. Hand over hand, he began to climb but not the same way that she and Oskal had come up. Kyn was taking a direct, but much more dangerous path, straight up the sheer rock side. Nora panicked as Kyn disappeared from her view, the sharp jutting stones obstructing her sight. Could she make any kind of noise to warn him?

  Nora struck at the rock with her feet. It wasn’t loud enough. The noise wouldn’t be noticeable to Prince Kyn. She had never felt so utterly helpless. Tears streamed down her face. Prince Kyn was good. She knew that as clearly as she knew that Prince Oskal was evil. And what would happen to Sir Ivin if Oskal won? He needed a healing revar.

  She couldn’t breathe. The air coming in through her nose wasn’t enough to overcome her frenzy of tears.

  Calm down, she heard very clearly. Calm down.

  The voice lent her strength. She was strong. She was brave. Nora slowly breathed in through her nose and calmed herself.

  Help me, she called back with her mind.

  Look up. Connect to the stone.

  Connect? Nora looked up. There, just above Oskal, was a rough boulder. If she could move it, it would fall on Prince Oskal. But could she move it?

  She put all she could into the image of Prince Oskal, his evilness, his power hunger, and his bloodlust.

  Nora closed her eyes. She concentrated on connecting to the earth. Help me stop him.

  Yes! That was it. The now familiar feeling came over her as she linked herself to the power and strength of the boulder. She called to it, asking it to move.

  The boulder above Oskal quivered. Some dirt from the tunnel wall slid down the cliffside. Oskal, intent on Prince Kyn, didn’t even look up.

  Suddenly, Nora knew with absolute certainty that the boulder would move for her. She called one more time. Now.

  The boulder rumbled, hung for a moment, and then released from its centuries-old home.

  Prince Oskal looked up, and Nora saw the shock on his face. He screamed a harsh, cold shriek before the boulder landed on him, bringing with it a cascade of dirt and pebbles. There was a loud, brittle breaking sound. The boulder rocked and then settled with a thump on Oskal’s crushed body.

  “Nora!” screamed Prince Kyn.

  She crumpled, her connection to the stone broken. Closing her eyes, she rested her head on the rock she was tied to. Prince Oskal is gone, she told herself over and over. He’s gone. He can’t hurt us.

  Prince Kyn scrambled onto the ledge and rushed to her. “Nora.”

  He yanked the fabric from her mouth, and she gasped air. Kyn drew his dagger and cut her free from the ropes. He lifted her to her feet, and she collapsed into him, hugging him and crying.

  “I thought you were going to die,” she said.

  She covered her face with her hands and sobbed into them. She was no longer just Nora of Glynlea. How could she be? She had just killed a man. What did that make her? She shook violently. The voice she had heard—she knew it was the earth. The connection had been undeniably real.

  Kyn gently rubbed her back. After a long pause, he asked, “Did you know you could do that?”

  “No,” said Nora, her hands still over her face, taking a step away from him. “I never . . . I mean . . . I . . .”

  “It’s alright, Nora. You saved my life,” Kyn said gently. He pulled her in and wrapped her in his arms.

  “What were you thinking?” asked Nora. “How could you be so stupid to climb up here? You must have known it was a trap.”

  Prince Kyn held Nora tighter. “I couldn’t let anything happen to you,” he said.

  “That was the bravest and stupidest thing I’ve ever seen,” Nora replied.

  “You were the brave one, Nora. You saved me.”

  Nora shook her head. “Don’t thank me. Thank the earth.”

  “You did that, Nora. You pulled that boulder down.”

  Nora buried her face in his shoulder, and Kyn rested his chin on top of her head. His arms were so comforting, a circle of safety.

  Gradually the shaking stopped.

  “How did you do it?” asked Prince Kyn.

  Nora drew in a long, shuddering breath and paused a moment to gather her explanation. She tilted her head back to look him in the eyes. “I think
I have some kind of connection to the stones—to the earth itself. Like I’ve awoken them somehow. It was like that day in your kitchen. When I was pulling from the Ballutite, I was filled with thoughts of my sister. I think my love for her allowed me to pull from the stone with greater force.”

  Kyn tugged her close again. “Are you saying your feelings for me allowed you to move that boulder?”

  Nora felt her cheeks heat. That was exactly what she was saying, but it wasn’t proper for a peasant to say she had feelings for a prince.

  “I didn’t want to see you die,” she said simply. “I called to the earth. We connected. I felt the stone’s soul, and the stone felt mine.” Her voice dropped, and she whispered, “The stone answered my call.”

  Nora looked up at Kyn. She couldn’t decipher the expression on his face. He released her, and she immediately missed the feeling of safety his arms provided.

  Just as she was going to step away from him, Kyn slowly brushed his thumbs across her cheeks, wiping the last of her tears away. His hands cupped her face gently as he leaned in and softly kissed her cheek. It was a kiss like the heat of a stone—full of promise, power, and shared strength.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Palace Liard

  Nora leaned against the kitchen countertop. She was still weak from moving the boulder, and keeping her balance on the pac during the ride to the palace hadn’t helped. She was tired and bedraggled. It wasn’t how she had wanted to return to the palace, but it couldn’t be helped.

  Lyli, the Liard’s concoctor, stood by her side, flask in hand, ready to pour. Lyli had openly welcomed Nora into her kitchen and was now awaiting the king’s command.

  King Arnald, every bit as tough as Nora had expected, was watching, arms folded and eyebrows raised, from the corner. “You say she’s already a concoctor?” he asked Kyn.

  “She hasn’t been trained,” said Prince Kyn, “but she has great power.”

  Nora looked over at them. Kyn was watching her with a look of pride on his face. The king, however, clearly needed more convincing. His opinion would be determined by what Nora could or couldn’t do to save his valiant soldier.

  Sir Ivin lay on the kitchen floor, a blanket wrapped around him. He was waxen, and his eyes were barely open. The last few hours of travel had been torturous for him.

  Nora was grateful to Prince Kyn for insisting that only the four of them be allowed into the kitchen with Ivin. There were too many eyes on her as it was. There was a hole in the countertop where the Ballutite she had used for Dani’s revar had once rested. Prince Kyn had said the stone had been decimated. She shivered. Power had consequences.

  Sir Ivin groaned. Nora took a large breath and looked at Kyn, who smiled encouragingly.

  “I need the book,” she said.

  Lyli handed Nora Teacher Worthing’s revar book. Nora opened to the page with the complex stirring directions and placed the book on the countertop. A pot containing diced berries rested on one of the Liard’s Ballutite stones.

  Grasping a puller in each hand, Nora looked over at Sir Ivin. This was for him. He was a good man. A true example of what a soldier should be. Earth willing, she could find the strength to save him. She looked down at the green stone and nodded to Lyli, who then began to slowly pour water into the pot.

  Nora stood tall and called to the Ballutite with her thoughts, telling it of Sir Ivin’s integrity and of his desperate need to be healed. Her left hand pulled, while her right hand followed the book’s diagram—moving in the sharp turning angles.

  Again, she felt the pull. This time she recognized that this feeling was a spirit-to-spirit connection, and she linked herself to the stone.

  “Incredible,” Lyli murmured as the berries began to burst and macerate. The minty aroma Nora remembered from before filled the air.

  As if from far away, Nora heard the king ask, “Is it working?”

  Prince Kyn answered, “Of course it’s working.”

  Lyli kept a steady flow of water until the last berry burst and released its juice. The connection broke, and once again Nora felt the exhaustion come over her.

  Lyli put her arm around Nora. “It’s a revar.”

  Nora nodded. Lyli poured the liquid into a mug and carefully carried it to Sir Ivin. Everyone in the kitchen silently leaned forward as Kyn raised Ivin to a sitting position. Lyli held the mug to his lips, and the dying man sipped.

  His color returned immediately.

  “It’s. . . it’s. . .” The king didn’t finish his sentence.

  Prince Kyn looked at his father with a grin. “It’s a miracle.”

  “A gift from the earth,” said Nora in a voice barely louder than a whisper, resting weakly against the counter.

  Sir Ivin continued to sip as the group watched in awe of what was enfolding before their eyes. Nora blinked back tears. Limar and Beck would be home in a matter of days, and Dani would have this same moment. She would walk.

  Ivin gulped the last bit of liquid down and pushed the empty mug away. “Heat,” he said. “heat.”

  “Do you need another blanket?” the king asked.

  Ivin smiled, pushed his blanket away, and stood up. “I feel the stone’s heat,” he answered.

  The room went quiet. Each person seemed to be absorbing the miracle in their own way.

  Teacher Worthing may have betrayed her, but he was right about one thing. Her power could be used for tremendous good.

  Nora looked at Lyli, who was studying her intently.

  “You have power I’ve never seen,” Lyli said, “but you need to be trained.”

  King Arnald interrupted and commanded, “Nora will train with you, of course.”

  “Excuse me father,” Kyn said, “but shouldn’t that be Nora’s choice? She saved my life as well as Ivin’s. It should be her decision.”

  The king jerked his head with a clear look of surprise, but as he looked at his son, King Arnald’s features began to soften. He moved toward Kyn and placed a hand on the prince’s shoulder. “I’ll follow your lead in this matter. The choice will be hers.”

  Prince Kyn smiled at his father and then turned to Nora, his dimples creasing his dirty cheeks. “Nora, will you stay?” he asked.

  How could Teacher Worthing have gotten so many things right and yet so many things wrong? She did need to embrace this power, this gift from the earth, but the house did matter. Nora nodded, not taking her eyes off of Prince Kyn, and matched his smile. Tears trickled down her cheeks. She wouldn’t be going back to Glynlea. Her future was here.

  “Yes, I’ll stay and train.”

  A loud crack filled the kitchen.

  “What was that?” the King cried.

  Lyli walked over to the counter and peered down at the Ballutite. “That’s what happened to the first stone she pulled from,” she answered. “It lost its color, its strength. It gave everything it had for her.”

  The group gathered around the now pale stone. Kyn reached out and touched it, leaving his hand resting on top of the cold Ballutite. King Arnald placed his hand on top of his son’s.

  Ivin stood straight and tall and pulled the bandage off his arm. There wasn’t even a mark from his wound. He reached out and also set his hand on the stone. “Thank you,” he said.

  Lyli silently added her hand to the others.

  Nora looked from person to person. This was love—love for the stone’s sacrifice, and love for each other. She understood perfectly. What made the stones sacred was the earth’s gift of love.

  About the Author

  Laura Rupper spent her first six years of life in Metlakatla, Alaska. There was no TV reception on the island, so a great love of books was born. Laura loves creative activities, ranging from painting to designing fourth grade math lessons. Boring chores, like laundry, make her daydream of magical worlds and happy endings.

  Laura has three
beautiful daughters and one giant dog who was supposed to be fifty pounds but is almost twice that size. Laura is under five feet tall and hopes having lots of energy makes up for her lack of height. She has a degree in human biology and is getting a masters in school counseling because life can be hard and sometimes students need a helping hand.