The Queen's Opal: A Stone Bearers Novel (Book One)

by Jacque Stevens

  Kitti and the other thief had run off, and Kol had found his own blade.

  Cain had had this coming for a long time, and taking on a muscled man twice Kol’s size was far easier than Kol had ever imagined. This man was nothing but an overgrown boy.

  Kol was the bandit now, the one with blades and a little bit more. Magic. Fire. Maybe he could really do it this time, prove he wasn’t the boy crying in the alley he had been when his house had burned or when Redd had died, the one The Lord had disparaged.

  Kol had once sworn he would never be a thief, never be like the man who had beaten him from the time he was small. When that hadn’t worked, he had sworn he wouldn’t be a wizard instead, wouldn’t be like the ones who had burned his home.

  He would break both promises now and laugh.

  The monster in his chest roared to life.

  * * *

  Falberain was calling, a place of innocence and light.

  As Drynn had touched Kol, he had felt its seductive call, the glittering mist swirling around him. Once he entered its distant realm, he wouldn’t have to fight anymore. That was the choice he had, the choice Saylee and all the heirs had. He hadn’t had enough visions to know how long Saylee had lasted before she surrendered to it. How long would he?

  His vision cleared until the sight and shape of the cobblestones reformed under his cheek. The opal glowed in his hand, and the world seemed on fire. Kol held his blade, ready to kill the man in front of him, and Drynn knew he didn’t have a choice at all. He had to stop this, stop his friend. He was the only one who could. If he couldn’t, there would be no going back.

  The boy he saw in his visions, the one that could be his friend, would never return.

  “Kol. Don’t.” Drynn’s voice was small as he coughed on smoke and awkwardly moved to his knees. Blood soaked his head scarf and pooled over one eye.

  Kol shook his head. “It’s wot he would’ve done to me, and you know wot will happen if I don’t. He’ll bring in Sorren or The Lord. You’ll be trapped for good this time.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I knew that could happen when Tayvin first mentioned Mira, but we’ll work it out. We’ll go back to Xavian. He heals with magic, and said he would help us. We’ll say he did everything from the start. It’ll be a wizard’s word against Cain’s.” Drynn re-found his knife, a small stain of red on the blade, and pointed back to the house.

  “Wot, you’re thinkin’ like a thief now?”

  Drynn shrugged, but from Kol, the words made him proud. “It was Nami’s idea, but I think it’s a good one. Xavian loves his family, even if he doesn’t know my brother and me yet. He’ll help us because of them, and I can learn to be more like you—to survive here. If something else happens, we’ll work it out. If we can trust each other. But even if you can’t trust me, you can’t kill Cain because you’re not like him. Or The Lord. You’re not a killer.”

  Kol still held onto Cain’s shirt, but his grip was loosening. He wanted to go with Drynn; nothing could be more obvious. So why wouldn’t he?

  “You don’t know what I am,” Kol said. “You don’t know anything! You’re just a stupid elf. Sorren, maybe Xavian—all the robes will want you, and you don’t even know why!”

  Drynn waited, leaving the words hanging. This had been gnawing at Kol like a thorn, and he had been lashing out at everyone around him, unwilling to let anyone pull it out and put it right. Kol was going to tell him, and Drynn wouldn’t leave until he did.

  They had come too far for that.

  “The robes are parasites,” Kol continued. “They drain magic, and you’re a source. They take it and you die. You fell because I’m just like them. I’m just like all the thieves who hurt you and I’m just like the robes who attacked me too.” A spire of fire crackled in the wind.

  There it was. The final piece. Drynn should be terrified, but somehow, he knew that he had already won. Cain didn’t matter. He never had. Neither did any of the other threats standing in their way. Acknowledging this was the only thorn holding Kol back, and now it was gone.

  Silly, because it wasn’t Kol’s fault at all. It never had been.

  Drynn was dying, being drained by an ancient spell long before they ever met each other.

  And thanks to Kol, he now knew why. The Lady had given her magic, her life force, to stop the drow and protect her people. Her stone had only renewed that curse. That’s why he had to leave the forest. The humans would know how the initial spell was cast, and now he and Kol could stop it together.

  So Drynn smiled, and in that moment, the fear vanished.

  * * *

  Why the hell was the elf smiling? Didn’t it hear what Kol had just said? He could kill its whole race without blinking. Any wizard could. He was a monster, and he had always been.

  “You’re right,” the elf said, choosing its words as slow as a man teetering on the edge of a cliff. “I didn’t know that about your magic. I should have though. The opal showed me—my mother died the same way. All of us could die because we were too afraid to find the answers. I don’t want to be afraid like that anymore.”

  The elf put down its knife. “I don’t want to be a thief. I want to be a bearer, a healer instead. And I need your help to understand the magic and the thieves of your world. So next time you need magic to protect us, you won’t have to take it—I’ll give it to you.”

  “Why would you do that? Why would you ever trust a man like me?”

  “I need to trust someone. Show me that I can. Come with me. Everything is so new, and I want to learn it, but I really need someone I can trust. I think you want it too. We could help each other, learn the magic together. Tayvin isn’t that hard to get along with. He’d like you if you put the daggers away. He’d go after the ones who pointed daggers at you.”

  Kol jerked back, fingering for his knife, the elf’s closeness seeming another trap. “You think I want that, some kind of happy family? Naggin’ me all day, gettin’ yourself in scrapes again and again, and expectin’ me to bail you out?”

  “Don’t you?”

  No words came. Kol had no idea what he wanted anymore.

  “You held me in an alley. My brother saved me, but he didn’t hurt you. He wouldn’t. Be my brother and let Cain go.” No fear entered its words. Like wishing hard enough could make the words true.

  But something inside Kol started wishing it too, that he could become whatever man this wide-eyed kid thought he could be. A kid whrd enough could make itu out of troublefavor could be helpful for the help you for the next book o one a yeWhatever Drynn thought he could be. Not a bandit. Not a boy.

  Something new.

  A brother, a hero. Something foreign and self-destructive, like the elves themselves. No longer moved about by thieves and wizards. He could master his gifts and make his own choice.

  Kol stepped away, trying to pull the flames back into himself. Once the opening of the alley cleared, Kol bowed toward Cain as if he had performed the trick on stage. “You see? I’m a robe, and that’s my brother, but you can go.”

  CHAPTER 36

  DRYNN’S HEART BEAT loud in his chest as Cain bolted from the alley. Smoke still trickled through the air, and blood kept dripping from his forehead, clouding his vision, but it had worked.

  It had actually worked. Maybe not as fast as healing Mira, but it worked just the same.

  And seeing it work, knowing there was at least one human he could trust as a brother, depleted another pocket of fear that had taken residence in his soul, healing him as the figures in his visions said it would.

  Drynn could be a bearer, help his people and the other races, just like The Lady had.

  Or at least, he wanted to try.

  Kol sank down to his knees looking exhausted. He faced Drynn, now at eye level. “Your head hurt?”

  Drynn frowned at the reminder.

  “Good,” Kol said without pause. “’Cause you completely deserved that one. Who taught you to use a knife?”

  “No one.” Drynn turned his fro
wn to the small blade. It wasn’t like a sword at all.

  “Well, you’re gonna learn.” Kol held his own dagger. “If you’re gonna knife a man, go for the heart.” He sliced the air in front of him, then looked to Drynn to copy the movement.

  Drynn left Jesp’s knife on the ground. Go for the heart. The Lord’s words again. Drynn’s new friend was damaged still, more than Kol might realize. More than Drynn could fix all at once.

  But it was a start.

  And Kol knew how to survive around here. They needed that.

  A shout rang out down the alley. “Drynn!”

  Drynn smiled at his brother’s voice. Now everything would be all right. They were all together again.

  Tayvin rounded the corner, relief crossing his face when Drynn came into view. He really shouldn’t worry his brother like that all the time. The sword was already out.

  “Are you all right? What happened?” Tayvin looked from the burning waste bin to Drynn’s face to Kol nursing his ribs on the ground.

  Kol scooted back with his hands raised. “I didn’t hurt ’im!”

  Drynn could have laughed. “Kol, he was talking to both of us. He wants to know if you’re hurt.” Drynn turned back to Tayvin. “There was someone, but Kol helped me and . . .” Drynn trailed off. Tayvin had already walked past Kol, checking for more thieves.

  Then he turned back with a sigh. “I hate these alleyways. Better to live in trees. You should try it sometime.”

  Kol cycled through a range of expressions, more bewildered than pleased. He didn’t seem to know what to do with someone caring about him. “You think I should live in a tree?”

  “It might make you happier. I tried living in a box, and it’s no fun at all.”

  “I told you,” Drynn started. “Tayvin is just—”

  “A complete idiot!” Kol stood, and his face settled on a scowl. “You just charge into everythin’ with your sword, don’t you? Everyone in this town is lookin’ for you! If any of us got hurt, it might’ve been your fault. And we’re gonna have to go to the Tower now if we’re ever gonna compete with all this magic.”

  Tayvin tilted his head. “We’re going to the Tower?”

  “His idea, not mine.” Kol jerked his thumb back at Drynn and started to walk away.

  “Where are you going?” Drynn asked. Would he have to chase him down again?

  “To get Xavian.” Kol pointed past the smoke to a few flames still licking the scattered trash. “The fire is still burnin’, and I can’t get it to stop, so I’m makin’ Xavian do everything. That’s the new plan, ain’t it? We’ll use the robes to learn all the magic the Tower has to offer, and no one will touch us again.” He stomped ahead of them, like the whole business offended him.

  Tayvin rocked with laughter in his wake. “You sure know how to pick them, don’t you? That boy doesn’t make a bit of sense. But I suppose Cindle turned out all right.” He put his sword away.

  Drynn paled. He hadn’t told Tayvin about Cindle. How was he supposed to explain that one? He really didn’t want to. He liked his brother the way he was. All confidence, no matter the situation. Impulsively running to the first solution that occurred to him and somehow making it work. A different sort of innocence than Drynn, but one he would rather see unspoiled.

  And now their previous bond with Cindle might be the only reason Tayvin was accepting Kol without a fight.

  Tayvin squatted and grabbed Drynn’s arm, forcing Drynn to hit himself in the forehead. Right where he was bleeding. Ow. What was Tayvin doing?

  Tayvin shook his head. “Foreheads bleed a lot; you have to hold it if you want it to stop. Humans tie bandages all over themselves like they’re playing dress up when it happens.”

  Oh. Drynn had just been brushing the blood away. He wasn’t used to bleeding so much.

  Drynn moved his hand away a few moments later. Nothing but dried blood, but Tayvin readjusted the band on Drynn’s forehead anyway, muttering about getting something to clean it when they got back to Nami’s house. Like the ale the humans had used on Drynn’s foot.

  How did humans come up with this stuff? And Tayvin had learned it. He had taught Drynn how to fight Cain. His brother wasn’t an idiot, but Kol had been right. Everything was different here, and Drynn didn’t know how much he could trust his brother to protect him anymore without help. There was too much they didn’t know.

  “Why are we going back to the Tower?” Tayvin asked, finally stepping away.

  “I think it has the answers we’re looking for. It might be dangerous, but we can trust Kol and Nami’s family.” Drynn needed to trust people again. He would just have to use the opal’s help until he could pick out the right people on his own. Renewal. He would have to explain that too. “I healed Mira. She’s Xavian’s daughter, so he’s going to help us with the rest of the magic, figure out what’s going on at home. Why Mother got sick, what the opal is, everything.”

  Tayvin shrugged, like it was only natural that their original quest should be solved in seconds. “That’s great. I always thought you’d pick up healing faster than me, but you aren’t really going to use magic, are you?”

  Drynn frowned. Something in Tayvin’s expression reminded him of Saylee’s brother, the loathing in Marryll’s eyes when a human called him a fairy. But it was still Tayvin.

  Drynn just had to explain. “I don’t know if I have a choice.”

  They had left the forest. There was no going back; their former security seemed to be nothing more than an illusion. His mother was dead, but Drynn wanted to be a bearer and make her proud. He wanted to stop the endless fighting, and heal the new world he had discovered. Befriend the humans or find new ways to defend themselves so their home would be as safe as he remembered.

  Not just as he remembered. Something different. Something terrifying and exciting and beautiful, just waiting to be discovered. Different than he imagined, but still worthwhile.

  And if Tayvin couldn’t see it yet, he would just have to follow Drynn a while longer.

  EPILOGUE

  A PILE OF unbound parchment lay in front of Drynn, spelling out his own adventures. As Drynn pulled back his quill and rubbed the ink from his hands, he blinked at the branches around him. The images of the human lands were so fresh he had almost forgotten where he was. Home. Birds called, leaves rustled, and wind sounded in his ears just like he remembered.

  Until a human yelled from the ground and stomped out all the undergrowth below him.

  “Drynn?” Kol looked left and right before looking upward. Humans never looked up. “There you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you! Everyone is looking for you! Hiding from your admirers again?”

  Admirers? More like stalkers. Or hecklers. Everyone in the forest had questions since they had returned home from their two-year trek in the human lands, mostly centered on how a boy like him had managed to duel wizards, kill drow, or a million other things. Before he knew it, he would be stuttering out an apology for being the same awkward kid they grew up with. Just with a stone that could heal and friends who would beat him bloody if they knew he was apologizing.

  Kol sighed as if he already knew the answer. “They look at me a lot more than they look at you.” As the only human to regularly visit Titainia, it was only natural. Stone or no stone.

  “You like that they look at you.” The human pranced around like he was on stage again.

  Some kind of denial built behind Kol’s eyes, but then he laughed. “You got that right.” He adjusted the hilt of his blade and leaned against another tree. “So are you coming down, or do I have to keep craning my neck to talk to you?”

  Drynn nodded, closing up the inkwell and pulling the manuscript with him.

  “What’s that?” Kol asked when Drynn reached the ground in front of him. Already several hundred pages long, the history was too big to hide.

  “Well, I thought—other people should know what happened. They want to know, but I’m not so good at telling them. So I thought, maybe I could write it for
them, like a history? The other bearers did.” The words came out quick and defensive. Drynn knew, logically, that Kol was more likely than anyone to understand Drynn’s quest to bridge the gaps in their old histories, but the habit of ducking his head was a hard one to shake.

  Even with his best friend who had traveled the world with him.

  “So you aren’t hiding. You’re performing important bearer duties. And you didn’t come and get me?” Kol snatched the manuscript away, flipping through the pages in a rush.

  “You want to help?” He was going to rip it. Or smear the ink at least.

  “I have to, don’t I? You’re writing about when we went to the Tower next, right? After we beat Cain?”

  Drynn nodded. But he had run out of room and would have to start another volume.

  “You don’t know half the things that were going on in there. That’s why I had to go with you in the first place. And humans never talk that way.” Kol pulled out the quill and crossed out large chunks of dialogue, adding in his own with venom.

  It might be more accurate, but did they have to add in all the slang the thieves used? Drynn was trying to write a history the scholars would accept, something to replace the human’s bard stories and to be handed to someone Drynn felt needed it most.

  Then Kol frowned, and wrinkles crossed his brow. “How do you spell your name again? The freaking long one?”

  “It isn’t that long.”

  “Yeah, it is. I have to take a nap every time I try it.”

  Drynn was starting to wonder if he would ever get the manuscript back. He opened his mouth to protest, but Kol shook his head on his own.

  “Never mind. You can tell me when we get to the library. That’s where you write books—on tables, not in trees.” Kol restacked the pages and returned them. “You’ll write your part, I’ll write mine. We’ll finish this thing together and if anyone looks at you funny, we’ll blast them. Just like we always do.”