Stone and Crow (Veiled Kingdoms: The Lost Fae Book 1)

by Stella Snow

  The light only lashed out once, but the acrid scent of something burning filled her nose immediately. She recoiled in horror. The faelight snuffed out and the magic snapped back into her.

  “Crap.” She crawled over to it. The bottom left corner of her bedspread and a spot of carpet were scorched.

  Cursing magic and her own stupidity, she rubbed at the carpet with her fingers. That just resulted in some of the carpet hairs breaking off, leaving a bald, scorched spot. It was only a couple of inches wide, but someone would definitely notice if they came in.

  Sighing, she sat back with her head in her hands. It could have been so much worse, but the near catastrophe scared her. This wasn’t a violin recital where the worst thing that could happen was a public embarrassment. If she’d really lost control, this end of the house could have been destroyed.

  With short, abrupt movements she tucked the bedspread underneath the mattress on both sides to hide the burn. Then, making as little noise as she could, got up and pushed the bed over two inches so that the foot of the bed covered the burned mark on the carpet. Mostly.

  You couldn’t really tell the bed had been moved, but it did look a little off-center now if you stood right in front of it. She would just have to hope no one noticed until after she was already in the Sidhe.

  Her alarm beeped. She shut it off quickly, stifling a yawn. All the training was exhausting enough, but she felt like she’d been hit by a truck. Gavriel had warned her she might be more tired than usual today, but that had been a huge understatement. She knew she’d feel better if she’d been able to sleep, but her nightmares kept waking her up lately.

  There was a soft knock at her bedroom door. She whipped around so fast she lost her balance. The smell of burnt carpet still lingered in the air. No one could come in here yet.

  “One moment!” She changed clothes quickly, hurried to the door and peeked out. It was Salathia.

  Her guardian frowned. “Is everything alright?”

  “Of course. What’s up?”

  “I am not patrolling this morning, so I thought we might do a little training.”

  “Sure.” Melodie moved forward, forcing Salathia to take a step back so she could get through the door. Shutting the door firmly behind her, she gave Salathia a little smile. “Ready if you are.”

  Salathia opened her mouth to say something, then stopped short, her lips pressed into a thin line. “Alright. Let’s head outside.”

  She followed her out onto the back porch, heart still pounding away in her chest.

  “Melodie, are you even listening?” Salathia asked, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

  “Yeah, sorry,” she said around a yawn. “I didn’t sleep well last night. Bad dreams.”

  That wasn’t completely a lie either. She’d woken up three times in the few hours she’d had to sleep.

  Salathia sighed but continued with her explanation. Melodie tapped her hand against her leg to try to stay alert. Even if she hadn’t been tired, it would be hard to focus on Salathia droning on about suppressing her magic. It seemed absolutely ridiculous after last night.

  “Yeah, that makes sense,” she said after a lengthy silence when she realized Salathia was waiting for a response. “Can we call it for the day? Everyone is supposed to be arriving soon and I need more coffee.”

  “Sure.” Salathia cast her glamour and stood.

  “Why are you doing that?”

  “Doing what?”

  “Using that glamour? The only people here aren’t human.”

  “It’s just polite,” Salathia said, starting back toward the house.

  “Why is it polite to hide what you really look like?”

  “Melodie, you know exactly why I’m doing it. You are aware of the tension within the community. If you have some objection to what I’m doing, just say it,” Salathia said, using the same tone of voice she always had to scold her.

  “Alright, why are you acting like you side with the people that hate us?” She crossed her arms, hating how Salathia could make her feel like she was a kid again when she knew she was justified asking what she had.

  “I am trying to be diplomatic, and to avoid creating any more issues for Esther to deal with. That’s it. I don’t feel the need to make a statement like Gavriel.” Salathia gestured at the house. “I want to stay on good terms with the Forgotten, so I choose to not worry about unimportant things like my pride.”

  “They’re just being racist. And it’s stupid because they are elves too, at least partially.”

  “It’s complicated,” Salathia said, her tone clearly indicating she wanted the conversation dropped.

  Melodie ground her teeth together and followed Salathia through the back door. The tantalizing scent of coffee beckoned her to the kitchen. She didn’t bother with creamer and sugar like she usually did. All that mattered was getting some caffeine in her system. It burned her mouth a little with the first sip, but she powered through and chugged it.

  Dale arrived first, followed closely by the pregnant woman who had been at the construction company. Dale nodded at Melodie with a warm smile that she returned.

  She heard Rachel’s laugh before she saw her. Rachel came in the backdoor along with Gavriel. He was smiling and laughing along with whatever she was saying. Melodie felt her heart drop into her stomach. Her hand went to her face where the light scar from the barghest was still visible. She couldn’t really compete with someone as confident as Rachel.

  Melodie sighed and mentally kicked herself. There was no competition. Gavriel was helping her, nothing more. If he wanted to be with Rachel that was none of her business. Getting jealous was ridiculous.

  She plastered on a smile and waved at them.

  Rachel disconnected from Gavriel and trotted over to Melodie. “Hey, darling, you ready to read a bunch of old, dusty scrolls?”

  “I might need another cup of coffee,” she said through another yawn. She picked up the pot again. “Are there actually going to be scrolls?”

  “Absolutely. The Sidhe has borrowed some human technologies, but something about relying on magic makes them a little slow to advance in any other area.”

  “You know a lot about the Sidhe, have you ever been there?”

  “Nah,” Rachel said with a shrug. “Thought about sneaking through a few times, but figured it wasn’t worth the risk. Maybe once I graduate, I’ll give it a go. If we can ever reopen it.”

  “What year of college are you in?” She’d wondered how old Rachel was. No one treated her like a kid, but she was obviously younger than most of the adults.

  “Final year of my master’s degree.” Rachel blew out a puff of air and clapped her hand on Melodie’s shoulder. “If you ever think ‘oh, it’s just two more years of school’, let me tell you now that those two years will be the longest of your life.”

  Ms. Nancy arrived along with the rest of the group. “Everyone who is helping today, to the library. Everyone else, go find something useful to do,” Ms. Nancy shouted, striding off toward the library with a heavy-looking trunk.

  Rachel linked her arm in Melodie’s. “Time for a hellishly boring afternoon.”

  “I’m actually looking forward to learning more about the Sidhe and Forgotten history.”

  “Nerd,” Rachel said with a grin.

  Chapter 15

  Once everyone was gathered in the library, Esther opened the three large trunks set in front of her desk. They contained a disorganized mess of old, dusty scrolls and a few books that were barely holding together.

  “These are the Founder’s records on the gate and the relics. Any reference to the Great Unsettling or a relic needs to be flagged. Ms. Nancy and John will filter through everything we find. If you find anything that might specifically address the problem we are having, let me know right away. However, we probably won’t be that lucky.”

  Stacks of books and scrolls were passed around. She took what she was handed and sat in one of the chairs that had been brought into the study. Th
ere was a woman with blonde hair in the chair next to her, but she got up and moved to the opposite side of the room as soon as Melodie sat down.

  Gavriel caught her eye and took the seat next to her. Rachel plopped down on the opposite side. Melodie smiled down at her scroll. Sometimes making a statement was appreciated.

  She unfurled the first scroll in the stack and read it slowly, looking for any mention of relics or the gate. Near the beginning, a passage caught her eye.

  There were five relics known to have been used in the first Great War, all wielded by one of the Marked (also called Martyrs). That the gods would give such tools to those they had chosen is no surprise. The Marked always have some important role to play in the wars, some would even argue that they are chosen because they hold the relics, rather than that they are chosen and then given the relics. That was certainly true in later wars when the relics had been lost and reclaimed by various people the gods never intended to have the relics.

  Some of the more cynical among us would say that the relics were not a gift at all, but instead tricks played on mortals. These people believe that in order to use the amazing power of the relics, there is a price. However, no one has been able to say exactly what that price might be. Considering those who have a relic never survive for long, perhaps it is less that the relics are cursed, and more that the wielder succumbs to the pitfalls that every person in power faces. Betrayal.

  After the first Great War, the relics were all lost, possibly even destroyed. At least two must have survived and have been used in the years since, though their influence was much more subtle than in times past. It is my opinion this is due to a desire to keep the use of the relic as secret as possible to avoid anyone who might try to steal it.

  The Great Unsettling is a perfect example of this more subtle use of the relics. No one can say with certainty which kingdom was the aggressor, or who closed the gate. That there was a relic used is indisputable, what else could have closed the gate between worlds? However, there is no way to prove which kingdom used the relic. It is even possible that some faction not associated with any of the established kingdoms has the relic and used it to create unrest for some reason that is not yet apparent. The closing of the gate certainly wasn’t the main cause of the unrest that followed, and the true reasons for it remain unclear.

  So, the Stone was a relic. The Stone couldn’t have been used to close the gate this time, so it must be a different relic that was causing it. Since she had no idea what it did, there was still a chance it could be used to open it. Melodie had to find out everything she could about the Stone, and this was a perfect opportunity to search for information without it being suspicious. She didn’t want to break her promise to Salathia unless it was absolutely necessary.

  Melodie continued to skim down the scroll, flagging mentions of the gate and relics with post-it notes as she went while trying to memorize as much of the information as she could. There was another relic called the Mirror of Carmun that was rumored to show the future, though some people said it showed you the way you would die. That relic hadn’t been seen for over three hundred years either.

  “Finding anything interesting?” Rachel leaned over to peek at her scroll.

  “Interesting, yes. Helpful, no.”

  “Oh, I guess you haven’t learned about any of this Sidhe history yet, have you?”

  “Nope.”

  “Lucky, I’m having flashbacks to after-school tutoring lessons,” Rachel said with a groan as she plopped back into her seat.

  “Me too,” Gavriel said as he ran a hand down his face.

  Rachel and Gavriel launched into a quiet conversation about terrible tutors and Melodie slid down in her seat, trying to tune out their conversation and her annoyance with Rachel’s unnecessary flirting.

  There was little about the Stone itself. It was thought to have been lost or destroyed after the first Great War, and the author had no information on what exactly it did. Whether the Stone was cursed, or just plain dangerous, she still hadn’t seen anything that would justify keeping it. Yet, her mother had died to steal it. Not that her mother was the smartest.

  Melodie felt a pang of guilt immediately. She didn’t really know enough to judge her mother that harshly. She sighed and flipped to the next page. She didn’t know what she should do about the Stone, if anything. Until she was sure she couldn’t just break her promise to Salathia and tell someone about it.

  She kept reading until eventually she had flagged every mention she could find of the relics. After a few minutes spent rereading some passages, Melodie set it in the pile for Esther to review. Then, she grabbed the next scroll from her pile and sat down to repeat the process.

  A little while later, she was startled when a sandwich was set down next to her. John smiled then handed the other plate he was holding to Rachel. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was. Taking an eager bite of the sandwich, she checked the time on her phone. It was already noon. She had already read through two scrolls, and was a good way through the third, though she didn’t think she had found anything even remotely useful for opening the gate yet. Most of the scrolls simply agreed that the whole thing was just a mystery.

  Melodie continued to skim the scroll in between bites until all that was left on the plate was crumbs. She eyed them, still hungry. Gavriel had only taken a few bites of his sandwich and it was lying on the plate forgotten as he pored over a scroll intently. She wondered if he would even notice if she took the rest of his sandwich.

  The next thing she grabbed wasn’t even a scroll. It was a short, weathered slip of paper that had been stuck in the scroll below it. As soon as she started reading it, she knew it was what she had been hoping to find. The beginning described a relic that cast a red glow––exactly like the one Salathia had hidden away in that cave. Whoever had written this had also used the relic when they had it.

  “Anything helpful in that one?” Gavriel asked, his eyes flicking between her face and the scroll.

  “No.” Melodie rolled the slip of paper up. She needed to finish reading this later when she was alone. If there was a chance the Stone was the key to opening the gate she needed to know, but if she handed it over to Ms. Nancy, it would get dismissed since the Forgotten thought they didn’t have the Stone.

  Ms. Nancy stood up with a scroll in her hand and pulled Esther out into the hall. Gavriel watched them leave, his mouth turned down in irritation. Rachel was showing something to John, and no one else was looking at her, so Melodie tucked the slip of paper in her pants and covered it with her shirt. She grabbed another scroll and opened it in her lap. Her heart was pounding out of her chest even though she knew no one had seen her.

  Nancy said something from the hallway, her voice loud enough to hear, but not quite understand. She sounded irritated. Melodie exchanged a look with Gavriel.

  A couple of minutes later the door flew open and Ms. Nancy walked in with a satisfied grin on her face. “I think we have a solution.” She waved a scroll. “I have found the records from when the gate was reopened after the Great Unsettling.”

  Gavriel stood, his body tense with excitement.

  “Now, the Founders had all died when the gate was reopened after the Great Unsettling. Apparently, they had voted to let the gate stay closed, but that was overturned by the time their grandchildren became the elders.” Ms. Nancy paused as if to add dramatic effect. “They used a piece of a godstone to reopen it.”

  The room grew tense. Salathia and Gavriel looked confused and suspicious. Gavriel had briefly mentioned the godstones earlier that day, saying they were the source of magic in the Sidhe.

  “There is no godstone on this side of the Veil,” Gavriel said cautiously.

  Ms. Nancy pulled a large chunk of blue stone from the inside of her jacket. One side was perfectly smooth while the other side was jagged, as though it had been dug out of something larger. From where she was standing, the godstone was a cold spot in the room. She had no idea how Nancy could stand touching it.
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  “This is impossible. You cannot take a piece of a godstone, they are indestructible. Countless have tried and failed,” Gavriel insisted, crossing his arms as he stared at the strange object.

  “Just because you have not heard of it, does not mean it hasn’t occurred,” Ms. Nancy said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “And here it is.”

  “How did they take a piece of the godstone?” Salathia asked, walking forward to get a better look.

  “That knowledge has been lost, which is probably for the best,” Esther said stepping forward and tapping Ms. Nancy’s arm, prompting her to put the piece of godstone away. “We do know that the Founders used the piece of godstone to force the gate to reopen. We should be able to do the same. However, from what we can tell, the godstone is dying since it has been separated from its source for so long. It can be used, and it should have enough magic left inside of it to give us the power needed to reopen the gate one more time, but it may be completely depleted after that.”

  “We have to try,” Gavriel said fervently.

  Esther held up her hand, halting whatever else he would have said. “I know. We have no intention of leaving you trapped here when we have a chance to reopen the gate.”

  Melodie wondered at the tone of Esther’s voice. She left no doubt that she was going to try to open the gate, but the frown hadn’t left her face since she had walked into the room behind Ms. Nancy.

  “When do we open it?” Gavriel asked, his shoulders tensed as he crushed the scroll he was holding without noticing.

  Ms. Nancy thought for a moment. “We can make our first attempt in six days. We need to prepare, and the ritual recommends a new moon.”

  Conversation erupted around the room. Gavriel had a dozen more questions and Rachel was right up there with him, leaving Melodie alone at the side of the room. For once, no one was staring at her. Part of her wanted to stay and listen in, but she was burning to read the piece of paper she’d found in the scroll.