by Kay L. Ling
Elias usually lit the cave with mineral oil lamps or clumps of foxfire, but Elantoth had received a supply of lightgems from Aberell City, and Ertz had donated a few to Elias and Jules. A desk and chair stood along the left wall, and a lightgem glowed on the desk. Beyond the desk was Elias’s empty bed. Other furnishings included two tables covered with gem and mineral samples, oversized wooden chairs with tapestry pillows, and freestanding wooden shelves with books, ledgers, tools, and pottery. On the other side of the cave, Elias, Jules, and Lana sat on animal skin rugs, their backs to their visitors, having their morning coffee beside a heap of glowing corrustone.
Tyla called, “Good morning! We have a gem delivery!”
The humans turned, and Lana said, “What a nice surprise! I mean seeing you three, not getting gems.”
“But gems are always welcome here,” Jules added cheerfully.
Elias stood and brushed crumbs from his green robe. “Come in. It’s good to see you.” He came to meet them, beaming with pleasure. Lana and Jules followed.
Tina Ann thrust the strongbox toward him. “We foun’ more gems in that stream. Best you hide ‘em here.”
Elias took the box to his desk and opened it, and everyone crowded around.
“Yes, these look familiar,” he said, picking up a white stone with a vein of green crystal. “Docina.”
“And the pink ones are feridium, aren’t they?” Jules said.
“Yes. They’re used in fialazza. You remembered.” Elias picked up a pink stone flecked with gray.
Before he could touch one of the yellow ochre stones, Tina Ann reminded him, “The yellow ones be the bad ones.”
“I have not forgotten. I’m sure Jules hasn’t, either.”
Jules laughed self-consciously. “If all Dark gems are as unpleasant, I don’t know who’d want to use them.”
“The idea with this kind of gem is to project the negative emotions onto someone else,” Elias said with a wry smile.
“I can’t think of anyone I hate enough to make suicidally depressed.”
“All of the negative energy gems are a bad lot. I don’t know this one’s name,” Elias said.
“Me an’ Ben just calls ‘em ‘Evil Yellow Stones,’” Tina Ann said.
“Quite appropriate,” Elias agreed with a chuckle.
Unable to hold back any longer, Tyla brought out her jeweled knife and held it out to Jules. “I just got this. It’s a lot like yours. I hope you can teach me how to use it.”
Jules looked stunned. “Where did you get it? It’s amazing!” He examined the blade and hilt. “This blade incorporates ground gems, just as mine does.”
Tyla told him about finding it in the armory, and explained that according to Gem Master Ertz, the knife had bonded with her because she was the first member of the Anen clan to pick it up after its owner died.
“No one else can use its powers?” Jules asked.
“No. Try it if you want.”
He did, and then handed it to Lana who had no luck with it either.
“Putting a ward on the knife is a clever idea,” Lana said, “but I’m glad you didn’t ward yours, Jules, or I would never have been able to use it.”
Using a jeweler’s loupe, Elias examined the gems. “Gems often resemble one another, making it difficult to identify them.” After studying each, he said, “If I’m not mistaken, your knife has gems for foresight, strength, healing, courage, optimism, protection, and telepathy and clairvoyance. Has Ertz looked at the gems to identify them?”
“Yes, and he said the same as you, only he found three rare gems. One of them uses your thoughts to move objects.”
“Cool!” Lana breathed.
Tina Ann declared proudly, “Now she can do stuff like makin’ luggage float upstairs. Me an’ Maggie Ann ‘most fainted away seein’ Kitana do that. Don’t think S ever done such a thing.”
“Maybe she didn’t have this gem,” Lana said.
“Didn’t matter anyway ‘cause breghlin fetch everythin’ she need,” Ben grumbled.
Tina Ann said, “Orderin’ us aroun’ be more fun than floatin’ stuff.”
“What are the other rare gems?” Lana asked, steering the conversation back to Tyla’s knife.
“The second one creates illusions. If I think about a maraku, a maraku appears. Of course, anyone who tries to touch it will discover it’s not real.”
“Still, that could be useful,” said Jules.
“The third one affects temperature, both hot and cold, but only in a limited area like the size of this room.”
Elias said, “I’ve never heard of that gem. I have ones that create cold. I use them to preserve food.”
Lana said, “Your knife has some very unique powers, and you’ll be able to produce others with gem combining. I’m excited for you!”
Elias handed the knife back to Tyla. “If anyone in the Anen clan will put this to good use, it’s you.”
Tyla asked Jules, “Can you teach me how to use it?”
“Trial and error is the best teacher. As you strengthen your intuitive link with the knife, it will get better at knowing what you need.”
“That’s what I found with Jules’s knife,” Lana said. “I consciously used specific gem powers, but letting the knife tap my subconscious worked best.”
“We’re still learning what mine can do,” Jules admitted. “Don’t expect to learn everything about yours in a few days.”
Elias said, “Whether using loose gems or the knives, there will always be more to learn.”
“It sounds corny,” Lana said, “but Jules says my powers are unusually strong because I’m emotional and care deeply about others. From what I’ve seen, you’re the same way, Tyla. You’ll do great things with your knife.”
“Thanks. I hope you’re right. I’m timid—not as willing to take chances as you.”
“That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s smart to be cautious.”
Jules said, “You said your knife glows like mine. Would you demonstrate?”
“All right.” She tightened her grip on the hilt and opened her mind. The blade began to glow. “I can draw strength and courage, and I’ve healed minor injuries like cuts and bruises, but that’s about it so far.” The blade faded and went dark.
Lana said, “Most of the time, I discovered what Jules’s knife could do when I was in trouble and needed help. If someone shuts you in a freezing room, I bet you’ll be able to produce heat.”
“There is definitely something to that. Great need can create great powers,” Elias said. “I haven’t been a very good host. Lana brought us coffee. Would any of you like some?”
“I would,” Tyla said, and the breghlin nodded. They liked anything bitter, and unsweetened coffee was acceptable. The group sat down around the corrustone, and Elias served them.
“We had an unexpected visitor a few days ago,” he said. “Tyla, I think you’ll remember him—Vegmir, head of the Nafaren clan.”
Vegmir had been part of the second mission to overcome the Amulet’s malfunctioning gem-power barrier. Some of the rare gems the team had used, which had proven successful in solving the problem, had belonged to his clan. “Yes. I remember him. Why did he come?”
“He’s worried about the artifact gems.”
“Why? Has something happened to them?”
“No, but the gems are famous and officials are looking for them. When the delegation from Mierek came, you showed them the gem collection, and knowing you used the artifact gems to break through the Amulet barrier, I’m sure they expected to see them.”
“They didn’t ask where they were, and I never thought to mention them.”
“Officials are particularly interested in the Focal Gem. The day you broke through the barrier, you met officers from Aberell Fortress. Did you tell them what you planned to do with the gems?”
“No. It never came up.”
“Not only did officials visit Vegmir’s clan, they stopped at Morodin’s, too.”
“I
thought the gems were on display so all the Amulet clans could see them.”
“They were until recently, but there have been roving bands of Outcasts, so Vegmir and Morodin decided to hide the gems, which turned out to be a blessing. The officials might have taken them.”
“They have no right to do that,” Lana said.
“They’re marked with a clan coat of arms,” Tyla said. “Just because the gems have historic significance doesn’t make them public property.”
“Morodin and Vegmir have no intention of handing them over. The gems are well hidden, and Jules and I are leaving tomorrow to set up wards.”
“Good,” Tyla said. “I don’t trust anyone outside the Amulet to keep them safe, and we have enough to worry about without the Focal Gem falling into the wrong hands. Friday, the Joint High Council votes on where to send S. None of the options seem as safe as leaving her here.”
“Oughta take her outta the cage an’ step on her,” Ben suggested quite seriously. “That be the end of the problem.”
“Don’t think it hasn’t crossed my mind,” Tyla said.
“When we took away her powers, we could have killed her. Maybe we should have,” Jules said. “But it’s too late now. You’d start a civil war.”
Lana sighed. “If she ever escapes and regains her powers, I’ll feel responsible since it was my idea to turn her into a beetle, and now some people see her as a harmless bug.”
“It was a good way to keep her from regaining her powers, and a fitting punishment. Don’t blame yourself,” Tyla said. “You should all come to Elantoth Friday. You deserve to be there when we hear the results of the vote. Mierek will contact us via the Pedestal Room, and probably Aberell will, too. I’ll clear it with Raenihel and the elders, but I’m sure they’ll say you can come.”
“We’d be honored,” Elias said. “We’ll be back from our trip by then.”
“I’ll get one of the part-timers to cover for me at the jewelry store,” Lana said. “I wouldn’t want to miss this historic moment.”
“I’ll send an invitation to Franklin, too,” Tyla said.
“Will S be there, waiting for news?” Jules asked.
“Not a chance,” Tyla said. “She’ll be spending the day in her broom closet, as usual.”
Chapter 32
Mid-morning the day of the vote, Tyla went down to the kitchen, partly to see who was there, and partly to get something to eat. She had skipped breakfast after waking with a nervous headache, but she needed something in her stomach besides raaka. She reached the bottom of the stairs and paused. For some reason, every breghlin had an orelia feather in her hair. Maggie Ann, Brenda Ann, and Tina Ann were chopping vegetables.
Brenda Ann looked up. “Come on in, but we puts you ter work if you ern’t careful,” she warned, nodding toward the vegetables on the worktable. “We be slow today.”
Maggie Ann held up two bandaged fingers as Tyla came over. “Cut meself twice, I be so nervous. How long ‘fore the vote?”
“A couple hours,” Tyla said. “The humans should be here soon. Why are you wearing feathers?”
“An orelia feather behin’ yer left ear be good luck,” Brenda Ann said in a tone that said Tyla should know this. “If you doesn’t want S goin’ to the woodspirits, you oughta be wearin’ one.”
“The fellers from the Breghlin Ministry be here,” Maggie Ann said, peeling the tough skin off a turnip. “They gonna take news to the clans, soon as we gets it.”
Tyla spotted a bowl of ripe, sweet fruit on the counter and helped herself. “Our ministry will send messengers, too. Gnome clans won’t get a newssheet for days.”
Tina Ann, chopping carrots so energetically that her feather bobbed, said, “Breghlin a long ways from Elantoth come yesterday with cabbage. Said census gnomes been to see ‘em.”
“Erficials be spreadin’ the word ‘bout S everywhere they goes,” Maggie Ann said. “By now, every breghlin know S got turned inter a beetle an’ gnomes be in charge.”
“You’re better off now, aren’t you, with us in charge?” Tyla asked, confident the answer would be yes. The large-scale breghlin revolt that Elias, Lana, and Jules had feared had never materialized. Most breghlin had been loyal to S only out of fear and had been glad she was gone. If they had any regrets, it was that there was no longer anyone more miserable and downtrodden than them. For generations, they had captured gnomes and turned them over to S for her work camps, and they had enjoyed that.
“I s’pect so,” Maggie Ann said, “but breghlin don’ like takin’ orders from gnome erficials an’ some refuse ter obey.”
“An’ now they has turnips fer heads,” Brenda Ann said gravely.
“They do not,” Tina Ann said. “Turnips fer heads,” she repeated in disgust, shaking her head, which made her feather wave. “Got no more brains than a turnip, repeatin’ such a lie.”
Tyla couldn’t hold back a smile as she pictured turnip-headed breghlin shaking their fists at gnome officials. “They would never use dark powers on you,” she said.
“Don’t be so sure,” Brenda Ann mumbled.
Footsteps clattered down the basement stairs and Arenia called, “Tyla, they’re here—Lana, Jules, and Elias.”
Tyla turned toward the stairs, wondering why Arenia sounded tense.
“They’re headed to the office. Elias has news he wants to share with us before the vote. He looks upset.”
Tyla felt a stab of fear, though she couldn’t imagine what bad news he might bring. “I’ll be right there.”
Arenia ran up the stairs, and the breghlin stared after her.
Tyla hurriedly finished her fruit. “If it isn’t a secret, I’ll tell you later.”
By the time she reached the office, Ertz was sitting behind the desk, and Elias, Lana, Franklin, Jules, Raenihel, and Arenia had taken seats, leaving a chair near the door for her.
“Should I close the door?” Tyla asked.
Elias’s face looked pale and strained. “That won’t be necessary. There’s too much going on today to call everyone together right now, but my news isn’t secret.”
A heaviness settled around Tyla’s heart. She dreaded whatever he was about to say.
“Jules and I went to ward the artifact gems, and when we arrived, the gems were gone.”
“What!” cried Raenihel. “How?”
Elias shook his head and answered heavily, “We don’t know, but officials visited both clans a few days ago, asking about the gems. Neither clan admitted to having them. Sometime between then and our arrival, the gems disappeared.”
“It seems the officials must have taken them, but how could they have discovered where they were?” Raenihel asked.
“Someone had only to think about the gems’ whereabouts, and the officials would know where to look,” Ertz said.
Elias nodded. “You echo my suspicions.”
“If they planned to take the gems, why not be upfront about it?” Franklin asked.
Lana frowned. “That would be bad PR.”
“Since when has Mierek ever cared about that?” Franklin shot back.
“We can’t be certain Mierek was responsible,” Elias said, “but of course, that’s the natural assumption.”
Anger smoldered in Jules’s blue eyes. “We stayed a couple days, hoping someone had moved the gems to a new hiding place without telling the others, but that wasn’t the case.”
“Right before we left, I resorted to reading the clan members’ minds, and they didn’t seem to be hiding anything,” Elias said. “Everyone was disturbed about the missing gems.”
Ertz sat back in his chair and rubbed his forehead. “This would be heavy-handed, even for Mierek. If they believed they should take the gems for safekeeping due to the influx of Outcasts in the Amulet, they should have explained that. The clans might have surrendered the gems voluntarily. Of all the artifact gems, Mierek would be most interested in the Focal Gem. It’s a one-of-a-kind gem, to the best of our knowledge, and extremely important to all of us.”
“Maybe they stole it because they expect to need it soon, and they were afraid the clans wouldn’t give it up,” Lana suggested.
Ertz said, “I’m not sure I follow you. Need it? For what?”
“If the vote goes the wrong way today, S might go to a low-security woodspirit site where one of The Eight could free her. Maybe Mierek wants the Focal Gem on hand so they can combine their powers.”
Ertz nodded slowly. “If the worst should happen, they would be prepared to deal with it.”
Tyla felt a chill run down her spine. Her mind jumped to an even worse possibility. “What if one of The Eight took the Focal Gem?”
“That isn’t likely. Mierek was looking for the gems, not The Eight,” Ertz said.
Elias gave Tyla a thoughtful look. “That’s an interesting twist. Mierek had just been asking about the gems, so suspicion naturally falls on them. But The Eight could be planning to combine their powers—for good or for ill.”
“One of them could be planning to join forces with S,” Arenia suggested.
“The Eight wouldn’t come looking for the gems themselves, but they could hire Outcasts like the ones you caught at that illegal mining operation,” Tyla said. “Speaking of which, did anyone ever catch Slyhand?”
“Not that I know of,” Raenihel said, “and I’m sure we would have heard about it from Aberell. We thought he’d come looking for his missing associates, but he seems to have abandoned them.”
“Maybe he heard they were in our dungeon,” Arenia said.
“Aberell kept that out of the newssheets,” Ertz said. He glanced at the clock on the wall. “We should have lunch now, then gather in the Pedestal Room and wait for Mierek to contact us. I’ll need you humans to step outside when they do, but you can sit with us until then.”
“The vote had better go our way,” Elias said as everyone filed from the office. “We’ve had enough bad news today.”
