Jindera covered her mouth to hide a smile. She lacked a year of being the proper age to own land. “Thank you.” She put the fork down. “What about Beder? Did he come here?”
“He did and used fire against us. Then Lajin and the Green Holder arrived. This is what happened.”
As she listened to the tale of how the tale of the firestarter had ended, her eyes widened. “So he’s dead.”
The oldest of the elders nodded. “That he is and we’re grateful.”
“Lajin and his lady accepted no reward.”
“Why should they?” Corin asked. “What they did was for the good of the land.”
“Just so,” the bearded elder said.
Jindera used a piece of bread to sop the juices of the roasted bovine from her plate. She began on the briarberry cobbler topped with a large dollop of clotted cream.
Corin pushed back from the table. He hoisted the keg of cider. “I’ll see if there are any other sales to make.”
“Don’t become too involved,” Jindera said. “I’d like to see how Audin and his family are settling into the Garden. We may need to spend a few days there to make sure they know how to tend and harvest.”
“And collect the remainder of thy parents’ share,” Corin said.
A short time later, she helped Corin close the wagon. As they prepared to leave, the oldest elder approached. “When will you return?”
“In a few days,” Jindera said. “Would you like us to take any of the village’s share to sell in Pala?”
He shook his head. “A group will leave soon for Desert’s Edge. We’ll take our share and that of the healers. They may send a new gardener.”
“I don’t think they can,” Corin said. “There was a fire at their house.”
“Beder?”
“Just so.” Jindera climbed onto the seat.
By mid-afternoon, they reached the Garden. Jindera stared at the house. The roof had been rethatched and most of the fire dawizard had been repaired.
Audin stepped from the barn, then ran to the wagon. “Have you come to toss us out?”
She shook her head. “Corin and I have come for the rest of my parents’ share and to see how you fare.”
“When Mara and Lajin were here, I believe they took some of the stock.”
“We heard what he and Mara did to Beder.”
Audin helped Jindera to the ground. “I wish I could have watched. He burned my oldest sister when she refused to be his servant.”
“How is she?”
“She has scars on her face, arms and one hand. She hides in the house and cries because she’ll never wed.”
“Bring her to me. I can help.” Jindera moved to sit beneath a large beech tree. A short time later, Dalna arrived. When Jindera saw the burn scars she felt sick. How could Beder have done such an evil thing? She smiled at the young woman. “Sit near me.”
Jindera freed the Red Jewel and called Corin to support her. She touched the Jewel to Dalna’s hand and tried to envision the hand and fingers whole. Slowly, the scars paled and then vanished.
Dalna moved her fingers and stared at Jindera. “Oh.” Tears gushed.
“I’m not finished.” Jindera slid the Jewel along the scars on Dalna’s arms. She took a deep breath and turned to Corin. “I’ll need thy support now.”
“It’s thine.”
Carefully, she placed the Red on the young woman’s cheek where the heavy scar tissue pulled Dalna’s mouth to one side. As Jindera envisioned the young woman’s face, Corin’s strength flowed easily. Finally the scars were gone.
Dalna touched her face. Her tears flowed freely. She grabbed Jindera’s hand. “Thank you.”
Jindera smiled. “You are as beautiful as I remember.”
“How can I pay you?”
“Do something for someone who needs a friend.”
Corin touched Jindera’s shoulder. “Someone could bring thee tea sweetened with honey and some cheese. I remember how using the Jewel weakens thee.”
Dalna rose. “I’ll do that.” She ran to the house.
Before long, Audin’s mother arrived with a platter of cheese and fresh fruit. Dalna carried the tea. “You have performed a wonder,” Audin’s mother said.
Once Jindera and Corin finished the snack, the sun had moved to the west. He pulled her to her feet. “The storage house.”
Audin and two of his sisters joined them. Jindera removed the remainder of jars and sacks from the shelves holding her parents’ share. While Corin carried the things to the wagon, Jindera began to show Audin and his sisters how to store and preserve the various spices, herbs and medicinals.
They walked outside. “In this bed, the entire plant is to be pulled, but save a dozen to go to seed. This is how we collect the seeds and they should be planted in trays and placed outside during the winter to get sun. Once all are pulled, hang the plants to dry. Then the bulbs can be removed from the stem.” She moved to the healal bed and showed them which leaves to pick and dry. “They must be the size of your hand or larger. Once dry, crush and store the leaves in a sack.”
“Can you stay a few more days?” Audin asked. “I know how to handle the scallion and peppa plants but little more.”
Jindera nodded. “We had planned to remain here for at least five days.
For the rest of their stay, Jindera helped Audin label the garden plots and showed him how to plant, nurture and preserve the various plants. By the time the stay ended, she felt sure the Garden would flourish.
The night before they planned to leave, Jindera sought her twin on the inner path. Though his voice was faint, by drawing on Corin’s strength, she was able to tell him about Tomon and the wizard.
When she opened her eyes, she met Corin’s gaze. “They have their thread and are going to Pala as soon as they help a village and some farmers save their crops.”
Chapter Six
The Orange Jewel
Seven Jewels and seven threads. Find them, twine them and bind them into a braid to discover how to unlock the secret of the Jewels. What was pale becomes dark and what was dark changes to light. Sometimes destruction is the path to end a cycle of tyranny. To the Orange is given the rule of all creatures but man. Seek within and look without to find the truth buried in old lies. Where one was found many exist. Follow the road of the past where one walked and not the other. Hidden deep is what you seek and what you must end for the ruin of many comes before the end of seven.
Reena and Andalor reached the inn in Desert’s Edge at dusk. Though they had coins in plenty, Andalor traded songs for their food and room. She sat at a corner table and enjoyed the music. When he sang about the lyrcat and the flitter, her laughter joined that of the inn’s patrons. His music could make her laugh, cry or think. Did he have any songs that might hold clues to solving their prophecy? She would have to ask.
What had the old woman meant about the path they should follow? Who had walked and who hadn’t? Should she and Andalor go to Pala? But they both had traveled there and by the same route. What about the Palace of the Seven Jewels? They had both been there, but Andalor had traveled across the desert and reached the Screaming Hills on his first visit. The second time, they had traveled together. Going there was tempting. She had enjoyed their stay among the ruins. While there, her sight had begun to return. She and Andalor had found Mara and confronted Tomon. She stroked the Orange Jewel. A decision had to be made soon.
Andalor strummed a final cord and bowed. He carried his hat to the innkeeper and spilled the coins on the bar. The innkeeper pushed them into a box. Andalor accepted a carafe of wine and carried it to the table. He filled two goblets. “To a quick success in our quest.” She touched her glass to his. A serving maid arrived with platters of spiced antel, banta, tubers and vegetables.
Reena and Andalor served themselves. When they finished the savory food, they waited for kaf and a sweet. He stroked her hand. “Have thee thought about where we should go? Liara and Valmir intend to leave the stronghold soon and trav
el to Pala. We could return and join them. We could find our thread there.”
She looked up. “I thought of Pala and of the Palace of the Seven Jewels. Neither is the place where we’ll find our thread.” She clasped the Orange Jewel.
“Then where?”
“The Screaming Hills. Thee were there. Thee saw the cave where Liara found the White. I never went further than the plains.” She released the gem and opened her eyes. Had she really chosen that destination or had the Jewel influenced her and steered her toward or away from the thread?
“Are you sure we shouldn’t return to the Palace of the Seven Jewels?” he asked.
Reena grasped his hand. “We need to find the cave where Liara found her Jewel.” Confidence filled her voice. “There is more there than the cave. Don’t ask me how I know, but this is the right choice.”
“Even for the second part of the prophecy?”
“Maybe.”
Andalor drew her hand to his lips. “If this is where thee believe we must go, I’ll follow. In the morning, we’ll buy supplies and take the road past the lair toward Pala. We’ll come to a crossroad that will take us to the plains.”
“Once we arrive there, will we be able to climb the cliffs? They seemed steep to me.”
“There are trails leading from the plain to the mesa. I went up one. There are at least three usable ones I know about. Once there, I’ll remember the one I used to reach the heights and how to find the spring and the cave.”
A serving woman brought slices of dark chokla cake topped with clotted cream and fresh moonberries. Reena lifted a bite on her fork. “Disa would love this.”
“Indeed she would, but since she isn’t here, I will.” Andalor leaned forward. “On our way to the plains, we’ll pass the road to the village where my family lives. I’d like to visit and tell them about my brother.”
Her fork clattered on the table. The wizard who looked so much like Andalor had died when the comcrystal had shattered. “Will thee tell them I was the one who killed him?”
Andalor gripped her hands. “Not thee. Gregor used my brother to spy on us. That was the reason he died when Disa broke the crystal.”
“Why didn’t thee die?”
“She knocked the crystal from my hand and threw me out of rapport. I had a blinding headache. Did thee also suffer?”
She nodded. “My head ached and I had a vile temper caused by the pain.”
“Then don’t blame thyself. Gregor paid for the evil he wrought.”
Reena met his gaze. “And thy hand wielded the dagger.” She wished she could relieve the pain she saw in his amber eyes. Losing his brother had hurt him.
“Don’t thee mean tossed?” He gulped a breath. “In that moment I meant to kill thee rather than allow the Black to control thy actions.”
She nodded. “And that was the right course to take for thee also could have died.”
He brought her fingers to his lips. “Finish thy cake. When thee are done, go to bed. I’ll do another set to please our landlord and learn from him which merchants are the best ones for our supplies.”
* * *
When Andalor reached the sleeping chamber, Reena was sprawled across one of the beds. He pulled off his boots and lay on the second bed. As he drifted toward sleep, he thought about the coming trip to the Screaming Hills. Reena was right. What he recalled about the place where he had met Valmir and Liara seemed to fit the prophecy.
Would Reena go with him to his family’s home or would she want to stay at an inn and wait for him? Telling his parents about the death would be hard, especially with the guilt he felt. He could have been the one who had fallen into the wizards’ hands.
Andalor rolled to his side. If he hadn’t left home to join the Minstrel’s Guild, he would have been there the day the wizards had arrived. His parents would have lost two sons.
There was another reason he wanted to go home. Three of his sisters and his youngest brother had talents. The wizards never tested girls and his youngest brother had been sent into the forest to learn about lumbering. Perhaps when the Jewels were destroyed and Liara’s plans became viable, some of his siblings would journey to Pala. The land would need talented people to heal the dawizard done by the wizards and the Black Jewel.
What was the thread he and Reena must find? Did any of the pieces of the old songs he’d found in the Guild’s archives hold a clue? One popped into his thoughts.
The Jewels were found in darkness.
Their light a beacon bright
They held the fire of the sun
And the clear ice of the moon.
In darkness there was no light
And in the light darkness fled
Until the power was drawn
To rule the land of men.
He had no idea what the song meant. When he’d shown the fragment to his teachers, they had shrugged. The chorus was equally odd.
They gather in a circle.
They shade from dark to light.
Then shade from light to dark.
And white turns into black
Only to change to white again.
Good is evil and evil good
When they gather in a circle.
What really happens when a Holder bonds to a Jewel? Did a gradual corruption of the person take place? The thought that Reena might change and become the person she’d been when she bore the Black distressed him. He pushed this thought away and rolled to his stomach. Worrying about the things he didn’t yet understand wouldn’t aid the quest.
In the morning, he and Reena purchased enough supplies to last for a tenday. He wasn’t sure when they would reach a village with a large enough market for more than a few purchases until they arrived in the town where his family made their home. Once their purchases were loaded on a pack horse, they rode away from Desert’s Edge. As they camped beyond the entrance to the stronghold, he wondered if Liara and Valmir had left. He had no desire to return to where the wizards had lived.
On the second day of travel, they ate their evening meal in a village tavern where they heard that several of their friends had passed this way. They reached a crossroads and continued along the road to Pala. At a second crossroads, they turned into the road leading to the Screaming Hills.
Just as their supplies ran low, they reached the village where Andalor had grown up. Reena halted in front of the rustic inn. “I’ll wait here.”
Andalor dismounted. “Why?”
“I won’t be welcome at thy home.”
He lifted her to the ground and held her close. “I am thy Chosen and thee are my Holder. Thee have nothing to fear.”
She grasped his shoulders. “There are so many things I wish I could change.”
He stared into her eyes. “A thing we all wish but no one can change what is past. Thee have lost much, but now thee will gain a family. Wait and see.” He led her and the horses past the village square to the shop where his father and brothers made furniture that was usually sent to the market in Pala or Quato.
As they entered the large work room, the aromas of sawdust, shellac, varnish and wax brought memories of the days when he’d helped in the shop. Andalor paused to watch the man with graying hair carve a chair back. “Father.”
The chisel hit the floor with a clang. His father turned. His mouth curved into a smile. “Come home, have you?”
“For a short visit.” Andalor pulled Reena from behind him.
“And who is this young woman?”
“Reena, Holder of the Orange Jewel. I’m her Chosen.” He kept his hands on her shoulders. “This is my father, Andir.”
Andir laughed. “You always had a knack for finding roses in the swamp. My lady, I’m pleased to meet you.”
“Just Reena.”
Andir touched the lute case. “Is this the one I made for you?”
“The lute has seen more of the land that you can imagine.”
“I’m sure you’ll tell us all.” He winked at Reena. “Boy could never stop rhyming and tal
king.” He paused at the door into the rear room. “Dalor, come and finish up. Your brother has come home.”
Aldalor’s oldest brother dashed inside. He clapped Andalor’s shoulder. “Welcome home. Come to settle down?”
“Not this day. We’re passing through.”
“And you would drag this lovely on your rambles.” He winked. “I would keep her.”
Andir shook his head. “See to the apprentices. Your mother will have my head if we linger.” He strode to the door. “We’ll hear all the news at dinner.”
“Where are the others?” Andalor asked.
“On the farm but they return this afternoon.” Andir ushered them outside.
Andalor held Reena’s hand. He felt her desire to withdraw but he urged her down the lane to a sprawling house. “Thee will be welcome.”
His father opened the door of the house. “Dala, come quickly. I have a surprise.”
When his mother appeared, Andalor released Reena’s hand. He caught his mother in a bear hug. “Mother.”
She patted his cheek. “Why didn’t you send word you were coming home? Lunars have passed since we heard from you. What have you been doing?” Question after question rolled off her tongue. She stopped and took a breath. “You smell of the road.” Her eyes widened. “Who have you brought?”
“Mother, this is Reena, Holder of the Orange Jewel.”
Her hand flew to her mouth. “My lady, welcome. We’re honored to have your presence in our house.”
Reena smiled. “The honor is mine.’
“Come. Come. Baths for both of you. Have you clean clothes? No matter, there are things here that should fit. Andir, send to the farm and have the children bring four more bantas, tubers, greens, legumes and eggs.”
When the door of the bathing room closed behind them, Andalor took Reena into his arms. “We’ll have to stay a few days. Mother will never allow us to leave until all our clothes are clean and mended.”
“No more than three or four. We must continue on.”
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