Midnight Quest

by Honor Raconteur

  “I do. I have met him once. His name is Caish Greenwell.”

  “Then can you lead us to him?”

  “I believe so. If he is not in his office, then the staff of the resort should know where to find him. Please, this way.”

  With her hand tucked into Rialt’s arm for guidance, she followed Alexandra’s lead. Jewel spent the short walk to the resort listening to her surroundings intently. There weren’t many people here—even for Jordian culture, the place had a very quiet air to it. Aside from the lapping of the lake water against the banks, the lake was still as well. This being early spring, it made sense that the resort wouldn’t have many visitors yet. The vacation period, after all, wouldn’t start for another three months at least. Jewel knew full well why no one chose to go into the lake, too. The Chain Lakes were fed by mountain run-off, and nothing got colder than that. It wouldn’t have chunks of ice in it, but the water’s temperature would be barely warmer than that.

  Jewel was not looking forward to getting in that water. Not one little bit.

  “Steps,” Rialt warned with the ease of long practice. “Three, two, one, up.”

  Jewel stepped upwards without losing a beat although she slowed her pace slightly. There was no universal width or depth to stairs (oh how she wished there was!) and every staircase she had been on had a different length to its steps. Until she figured that out, she couldn’t brashly forge ahead.

  Rialt patiently followed her pace up the first four steps until she had the feel for it, and then they went up a better speed. “Last step,” he warned softly.

  Jewel appreciated the warning. It always felt disconcerting to lift her foot for a step that didn’t exist. “You’re getting much better at this, Rialt.”

  “All the practice.”

  The steps had led them up to a wooden deck, judging by the hollow echo of their footsteps. They were barely on the deck for more than a few seconds when a door ahead of her opened and they went from being outside to a much warmer interior of a building.

  The space inside felt very open, as if there were no furnishings to speak of, with a tall ceiling. Sound just seemed to echo above her head and the air at her feet felt cooler than the air on her face, a sensation that she’d only experienced in rooms with a vaulted ceiling.

  They came to a sudden stop and Alexandra’s voice softly inquired, “Forgive my rudeness, but we must speak with Caish Greenwell. Would you know of his whereabouts?”

  “I believe him to be in his office, Priestess,” an unfamiliar male voice responded politely. “May I guide you there?”

  “That would be much appreciated, thank you.”

  Jewel followed quietly along polished wood floors to a much smaller hallway with carpeting. Someone (probably their male guide) knocked softly on a door. “Sir? Priestess Havenevik to see you.”

  The door immediately opened. “My dear Priestess, it pleases me to have you grace my resort with your presence. Ah, I see you are not alone?”

  “Indeed not, Master Greenwell. With me is High Priestess Jewel Jomadd of Ramath and her armsmen as well as my armsmen. We wish to speak with you of an important manner. Might we have some of your time?”

  “Of course,” he assured her cordially. Jewel could detect a trace of worry in his voice, not unexpected—after all, he had no idea why he had two priestesses suddenly demanding an audience with him. “Since we have so many people, perhaps the conference room just down this hall would be a better place to talk?”

  “That would be splendid,” Alexandra assured him genially.

  “Excellent. Please, this way.”

  ‘Just down’ turned out to be nothing more than a dozen steps. As they stepped inside the room, Rialt leaned down to murmur in her ear, “Just one long table with chairs all around it.”

  So, not much for her to trip over? Good. She followed his silent cues to find a chair and sank into it as gracefully as possible. This proved difficult as the chair had such cushy padding it felt like it would just suck her in.

  All around her, chair legs lightly dragged against the carpet as they were pulled back and people took seats. As Alexandra had jurisdiction in this area, Jewel let her take lead in the meeting.

  “Master Greenwell, as this is Priestess Jomadd’s task, I shall let her explain why we are here to speak with you.”

  …or not. Jewel hadn’t kept track of where Master Greenwell chose to sit so she just faced ahead and spoke to the table in general. “Master Greenwell, some months ago I was charged by Elahandra to see that all of the lost crystals were returned to their rightful place.” Oops. She wasn’t supposed to address the crystals directly…ah well. The man ran a resort, he surely had grown accustomed to the other clans’ way of speaking. “I am happy to report that all of them have been found at this time. The last is sitting in your lake.”

  “Priestess Jomadd, I am delighted to hear that your task is going so well.” Ah, there he was, to her right and further up the table. “However, I must admit confusion. She is in my lake? Do you mean buried in the water?”

  “No, I mean she is standing upright with a water slide wrapped around her,” Jewel corrected gently.

  “Ehhhh?!” The chair squeaked as he jerked in surprise. “But how is this possible? Legend says that when our crystal-protector stood in her rightful place, she glowed a deep, vibrant red. Our crystal-friend outside is pure white!”

  Jewel had to pause two seconds to phrase this correctly before she could speak. “When Elahandra’s power resides in something, then the red glow of her power is obvious. Right now, your crystal-protector is without a shred of power in her. That is why she is the color of a normal crystal.” Whatever that was.

  “I see…that is why you needed to speak with me. This is most troubling. The water slide, you see, is the main attraction for my business. To lose it would cause great financial loss.”

  “I quite understand,” she assured him patiently. “I assure you, we will do everything in our power to not destroy the slide. In fact, we are not on a tight deadline. I do believe there is sufficient time to find a way to either dismantle just a portion of the slide in order to ease her free.”

  “She is tightly enclosed on all sides,” Greenwell objected in a forlorn voice. “I do not see how this is possible. Is there no way for you to use her where she stands?”

  Why did everyone seem to ask her that question…? “I’m afraid there is not.”

  “But surely moving her would be a horrendously difficult task,” Greenwell insisted.

  That entirely depended on where the crystal was… “For a High Priestess of Elahandra, it is not. Master Greenwell, I do not believe you fully understand the situation. The barrier at this moment is powered by Thornock’s crystal.” Oops, she did it again. Frustrated, she shook her head and forged on. “There is not enough energy to keep the barrier sustained for more than another few months. Your crystal-protector must be in directional alignment with the others in order to be properly connected with her sister-crystals. If this does not happen, the barrier falls.”

  A taut moment of silence fell. Jewel kept her peace and let him mull that over for a moment.

  “Master Greenwell,” Alexandra said in her soft, musical voice, “our crystal-protector has been very alone and out of contact with her sister-crystals for over two hundred years. Surely you would not stand in the way of their reunion?”

  “Oh!” the man let out an anguished sound. “Oh, Priestess, when you phrase it that way, it tugs at my heart. How selfish I’m being.”

  Jewel cocked her head slightly. Ah…what?

  “Of course, if she needs to be moved, then please move her,” Greenwell assured them sincerely. “How can I be thinking of profits at a time like this? We’re in the off season anyway. I will have time to rebuild.”

  Wait, that was all it took? That one line? Jewel felt like someone had yanked the rug out from underneath her. In Bryn and Veris, she’d argued and fought to get permission to move the crystals. She hadn’t had such
an easy time of it since Ramath! Somehow, she managed to get her mouth cooperating again. “Thank you, Master Greenwell.”

  “Our thanks,” Alexandra echoed. “But we will do all we can to not inconvenience you more than is necessary.”

  “My Priestess, if it means that our silent friend can be reunited with her sisters, who am I to complain? Especially since it means the safety of all Evard. Please, do whatever needs to be done.”

  If we’re smart, we’ll move while the man’s still feeling sentimental. “In that case, let’s return to the shoreline. I have an idea.”

  ~*~*~*~

  Jewel sank back into her chair with a soft sigh. “I really hope this works.”

  “I hope so as well,” Alexandra concurred. A soft clink of china accompanied the words as Alexandra replaced her tea cup on its saucer.

  They had spent a good amount of that morning making a rough plan of attack on how to move the crystal. Jewel had offered the opinion that perhaps it wasn’t necessary to remove all five rings of the slide on one side to drag the crystal free. Perhaps, if only the bottom two or three rings were removed, it would be possible to tilt the crystal at an angle and maneuver it out that way. Everyone standing nearby had measured the situation with their eyes and concurred that it might be possible, at that. But to make sure, Alexandra had called upon an architect that she knew to make measurements and discern if the theory was practical. If not, well, they’d have to fall back on the original plan: remove all sections of the slide on one side.

  And no one really wanted to do that.

  After spending much of the day on the shoreline, they’d retreated to Alexandra’s personal library where Jewel had spent the remainder of the day telling the new priestess everything she could. Alexandra had been taking notes at ferocious speed and asking a continuous series of questions. After who knew how many hours of this, they unanimously voted to break off for the day and pick it up again the next morning.

  Now they simply sat, enjoying the other’s company. Jewel had mostly described what the other three priestesses were like, as the odds of Alexandra ever being able to meet them were slim to none. Yet, they would all need to stay in constant contact with each other, in order to control the crystals in their care. But the time had also been spent talking about things best said by women outside of a man’s hearing.

  Alexandra had especially taken advantage of the lack of armsmen in the room to ask some of the more delicate questions involved by being the only woman in an Order’s shrine building. Jewel answered them frankly, even the ones that she thought to be a little silly. It was probably because of this familiar repertoire that Alexandra felt comfortable enough to ask what she did next.

  “Jewel.” Alexandra’s voice had a certain hesitancy to it. “Has Rialt been your armsman longer than the others?”

  Jewel went stock still for a moment, so surprised by the question that she couldn’t immediately form a response. “No. None of them have been with me for long.” Well, Rialt and Sarvell had a week on Chizeld, but…technically Chizeld had been her true armsman the longest as he swore an oath to her before Rialt had. “Why do you ask?”

  “Well, it’s just that I’ve noticed that you might send Sarvell or Chizeld out on some task, but you always seem to keep Rialt with you.”

  Did she? Jewel’s head canted to one side as she thought about it. She could think of very few exceptions to Alexandra’s observation.

  “And whenever you want something, you always seem to call Rialt first. I just thought it was because you trusted him more.”

  Well, she did trust Rialt implicitly. But she trusted the other two as well. Especially after all they had gone through, that shouldn’t be any sort of surprise.

  “Don’t think much on it,” Alexandra dismissed the topic airily. “It was just idle curiosity on my part.”

  Alexandra’s mind was sharper than a needle. Jewel couldn’t dismiss her observation and question so easily.

  The door clicked open. “Lass? Dinner be set.”

  Jewel bit her lip to keep from smiling. I notice he didn’t say “come and eat afore it gets cold” like he usually does. “Alright. We’re coming.”

  ~*~*~*~

  Jewel had learned from past experience that if she wanted to lay in bed and think, she had to be sneaky about it. If she tossed and turned (as she was wont to do) then Rialt would instantly take notice. If she didn’t keep her breathing deep and even, he’d even notice that. So she had to be especially sneaky.

  Why did she always turn to Rialt first? True, he was more protective than the other two and was usually the one nearby. But that couldn’t explain everything.

  “Lass, you be no sleeping.”

  She obviously needed to work on her sneakiness. “Just thinking.”

  “Oh?” his tone invited her to talk about it.

  “Alexandra asked me a question that made me think. Do I depend on you too much?”

  He snorted. “No. I wish you would.”

  She smiled at his response. “You know I’m independent.”

  “Eh, lass, I know. But do no worry about that and sleep, eh?”

  “Alright,” she said as if she actually intended to. She even rolled on to her side to reinforce the impression.

  Eyes closed, breathing deep and even, she continued to think. Alexandra’s observation didn’t really scratch more than the surface. When Jewel actually slowed down enough to think about it, it wasn’t just help that she turned to Rialt for. Whenever she wanted reassurance or some measure of comfort, it was always him that she reached out to first. Half the time she didn’t even have to ask for it—he automatically gave her what she needed.

  That thought pulled up the memory of when he had gently massaged her hands and neck. The memory of warm, callused skin on hers brought a rush of tactile memory to her skin. Her skin tingled as if he had touched her only moments before.

  What is this? Jewel had no personal experience with this sensation before, as the men in her life had never felt comfortable enough with a blind woman to approach her. But she’d listened in or participated in enough girls' late night talk to recognize the symptoms well enough. I…when did I fall for him? She couldn’t remember any flash of high emotion, or some turning point where her feelings suddenly changed. In fact, if not for Alexandra’s question, she might not have realized it at all.

  Her heart started beating faster and she had to focus to keep her breathing under control. She needed to quickly bring her racing heart back to a normal beat as well. It sounded so loud in her ears that she couldn’t help but think that Rialt would soon notice it, too. The man was uncannily in tune with her.

  Alright, heart, calm down. She put it into a straightforward, concise summary. I’ve fallen in love with Rialt Axheimer. I think.

  “Oh, you have,” Elahandra informed her quite smugly.

  Jewel just about leaped out of her skin.

  “Lass?” Rialt’s weight shifted on the other bed, making the springs of the mattress squeak a little.

  Of course he noticed that. Jewel waved a hand at him. “It’s fine. Elahandra’s talking to me.”

  “Ah.” The springs squeaked again as he returned to the bed.

  What do you mean I have? Jewel frantically demanded. You knew about this and didn’t say anything to me?!

  “And miss watching this play out? Heaven forbid.”

  Jewel could feel a headache develop. She rubbed her temples, futilely. Am I even allowed to marry my own armsman?

  “What a silly question to ask. Of course you can. I’d have never let this develop if you couldn’t.”

  Jewel let out a slow breath of relief.

  “In fact,” Elahandra continued with open amusement, “I rather insist that you two marry soon.”

  Elahandra…I’m not even sure if he feels the same.

  For a moment, it felt like a hand reached down and patted Jewel lightly on the head. “Are you so sure he doesn’t?”

  As suddenly as she had come, Elahandr
a disappeared. Jewel let her head flop back on her pillow and lay there thinking. Elahandra obviously knew something about Rialt that she didn’t. No surprise there. But the way she’d responded suggested that Jewel should know it as well. Now, had Rialt ever said or done anything to suggest…Jewel suddenly froze as Rialt’s voice came to her mind with perfect clarity. “Well, if you do decide to fancy one of us, I be the best candidate.”

  At the time, I thought he was just teasing. But what if he wasn’t? What if he were trying to find out if I really did prefer him? She gulped a little nervously. Her stomach did flip flops at just the thought. Did she dare ask?

  She turned her attention to the other side of the room, concentrating on the sound of Rialt’s breathing. It had roughened and deepened, bordering on a near snore—in other words, the man was fast asleep.

  Jewel raised a hand and pinched the bridge of her nose. Of course he was asleep. The minute she really wanted to talk to him, he fell asleep. Clearly she’d have to wait until tomorrow to sort any of this out.

  With a soft sigh, she tried to snuggle into her pillow a little more. It didn’t noticeably help promote any thoughts of sleep. Obviously this would be a very long night.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Timing, once lost, was not easily regained. Jewel learned this the hard way the next morning as she struggled to find a private moment with Rialt. But it seemed that from the very moment of her waking that everyone wanted a piece of her. Alexandra was the most demanding, as she showed up for breakfast and proceeded to monopolize Jewel’s day.

  By dinner, Jewel mentally threw her hands up in the air and gave up. Obviously she wouldn’t get any chance to talk to Rialt today. She’d probably have to wait until tomorrow…although the odds of tomorrow being any different were very slim. Alexandra had made it plain through dinner that she had every intention of stealing Jewel away the next day as well.

  There was just one problem with this plan.

  In the past, Rialt had been her friend and armsman, so Jewel hadn’t thought twice about sleeping in the same room as him. But that had changed overnight. Now being in the same room as him would be wildly inappropriate and beyond awkward. Worse, Jewel had no idea how to fix it without severely ruffling his feathers.