The Obsidian Palace (Through the Fire Book 3)

by Benjamin Medrano

  “You aren’t the only one, Tad. Beyond that… well, despite discovering it while in that test, it isn’t like it’s part of it. I discovered something new about myself while I was away. Something I retained after my transformation,” Ruethwyn said, pausing and looking at her hand closely.

  “Oh? What’s that?” Korima asked, her ears perking up as she looked at Ruethwyn, using a napkin to dab some gravy off her chin.

  “It seems that it wasn’t only a curse that Resvarygrath left behind. Do you remember what the redcap lord said?” Ruethwyn asked, looking up at Tadrick and Korima, and the two of them frowned.

  “I wasn’t there for that…” Sella said, sounding disappointed.

  “Um, oh! That’s right!” Korima’s eyes lit up. “Ironcrown said something about your blood, that it still retained a hint of the fire that hit you!”

  Tadrick nodded suddenly, smiling sheepishly as he spoke. “That was it, wasn’t it? I couldn’t quite remember, since I was focused on other things.”

  “I’m sure you’d have remembered eventually,” Ruethwyn said, smiling and nodding. “That’s right, though. At a crucial moment, I woke that fire within my blood, and for some reason, it’s still present. I’m not sure what use it’s going to have, but I suspect that my affinity for fire magic may have improved.”

  “That sounds interesting. Both ice fey, and with a fire affinity? That’s an odd duality,” Barton said, looking thoughtful.

  “Is it safe, though?” Sella asked, looking worried. “Isn’t that the sort of thing that Yalline was trying to get?”

  “It feels perfectly natural, and considering the circumstances, I’m sure that I’ll be fine,” Ruethwyn assured her, smiling gently and shrugging. “I’ll say something if I start feeling unstable. For now, I need to look to the future.”

  “So, what are you going to do now?” Wenna asked, looking at Ruethwyn. “You said you were going to try to rescue the people who were taken away, didn’t you?”

  “That’s right. I’m likely going to go back to the capital first to get some of my other things, then I’ll prepare to go into the Golden Dominion. It’s not going to be easy and will be dangerous, but I expected that to begin with,” Ruethwyn told her, smiling slightly.

  “You aren’t worried about getting caught?” Wenna asked, frowning. Ruethwyn thought she saw her glance toward Sella and the others as she asked the question, but wasn’t certain who she’d been looking at.

  “Of course I am. However, I’m not willing to let my fears stop me,” Ruethwyn told her, and felt her resolve strengthen as she continued. “I’m going to plan and take precautions. I’m going to prepare myself to the best of my abilities before I go in. And in the end, if I fail… at least I’ll know that I did everything in my power to succeed.”

  At the thought, Ruethwyn thought back on the offer Imris had made her… and she nearly stiffened as something she hadn’t known was there surfaced in the back of her mind. She didn’t think that she’d shown her shock, though, since no one commented on her expression.

  Instead, as she continued to answer questions, Ruethwyn had to wonder how in all the hells Imris’s summoning name had been embedded in her memories.

  Chapter 7

  Ruethwyn wasn’t sure why she’d woken up so early. She normally slept until a bit after dawn, but after reaching Waterstone, despite going to bed reasonably late, she’d woken up well before the sun broke the horizon. After laying in the bed for a bit, Ruethwyn had finally gotten up. It didn’t help that the guest room’s more rustic furniture and sheets reminded her of Mellesyn.

  “Rustic. I never thought I’d use that term for back home,” Ruethwyn murmured, shaking her head as she slipped on a tunic and tucked it into her trousers. This time, she didn’t almost forget to slip her right arm into the sleeve, at least. She’d done that the previous morning.

  Finishing getting ready, Ruethwyn let out a sigh as she glanced around the room. She nearly decided to leave behind her wand sheath and belt, but the memory of the assassination attempt quelled that impulse. With a sigh, she gathered her things, clipping the wand sheath to her wrist beneath her sleeve and smiling slightly. It was so much easier to put on with both hands, it was ridiculous.

  A tiny part of her wondered if she should get another sheath for her other arm, but after a moment, Ruethwyn shook her head, murmuring. “No, I don’t have time to practice enough to get used to it. It’d just cause confusion trying to learn to use a second sheath.”

  Once she’d slipped on her bracelet, rings, and clipped her belt into place, Ruethwyn decided she was prepared enough and headed downstairs. As she descended from the second floor, the manor was mostly quiet. She could hear some activity from the kitchen, and as she reached the bottom of the steps, a maid poked her head out of the kitchen, looking around. When her eyes lit on Ruethwyn, the woman smiled broadly.

  “Ah, Miss Sylaris! I didn’t know you were going to be up so early,” the woman said, stepping out of the kitchen and closing the door behind her. Ruethwyn could see the signs of flour and dough on her apron, and there were a few stray scraps on her fingers as well. “My apologies, but as we told Sir Daskar, breakfast won’t be ready until just before dawn. If you’d like, I could get you a mug of cider or such, however.”

  “Thank you for the offer, but that won’t be necessary,” Ruethwyn replied, smiling gratefully at the woman. She was a little surprised by the offer, but it truly was appreciated. “I’m not usually up this early, but today seems to be a touch unusual. I’ll just go out and get some fresh air before breakfast.”

  “Well, if you’re sure…” the woman said, hesitating for a long moment, her attitude puzzling Ruethwyn briefly.

  It took longer than it should have, but suddenly Ruethwyn realized what the issue was. She’d seen looks like the one she was receiving before, but they’d never been directed at her, but instead at Madeline, Korima, or even Sella. If Ruethwyn wasn’t mistaken, which she had to admit that she could be, the cute brunette found her attractive and was trying to get her attention.

  A few possibilities flitted through Ruethwyn’s head, but none of them included toying with the young woman. Ruethwyn was a bit perplexed by the attention after how she’d been treated over much of the past year, too. Eventually, she smiled at the woman. “I’m sure. I’ll just wait for breakfast. Thank you for the offer, though, I do appreciate it.”

  “As you wish. I’ll see you at breakfast, then,” the woman said reluctantly.

  Ruethwyn nodded and quickly headed for the door, not wanting to upset the woman. She was feeling surprisingly unsteady, if she was being perfectly honest. The attention was unexpected, but at the same time it made her think back to the previous day and consider how the various guards and others they’d met had reacted. She’d gotten a lot of attention, but at the time, she’d just thought that it was her transformation, and maybe her hair color. If it wasn’t, though… it made her a little uncomfortable when thinking about it.

  Stepping outside, Ruethwyn realized it was still a bit cool out, though it didn’t have an effect on her. However, she also heard loud breathing as there was the sound of a sword cutting through the air. Turning to look, Ruethwyn blinked and smiled as she saw Tadrick nearby.

  The young man was standing near the stables, and he wasn’t wearing thick clothing, but was instead in a thin tunic and trousers. Despite the chill, he was sweating as he quickly swung his sword through what Ruethwyn guessed was a training routine. He’d said that he trained every morning once before, but Ruethwyn had never actually seen it, which made the sight a lot more impressive to her. It took a few moments, but Tadrick noticed her.

  After finishing the routine, Tadrick lowered his sword, nodding to Ruethwyn as he breathed hard, smiling slightly at her as he took a moment before speaking. “Hey, Rue. I didn’t expect to see you up this early.”

  “I woke up and couldn’t sleep. So this is what you usually do every morning?” Ruethwyn asked, nodding toward his sword.

&n
bsp; “This? Nah, I’ve been lazy the last few days, though not too much. I usually get up earlier than this to jog for a while, too,” Tadrick said, shrugging. “I’m still getting used to this sword, so I need to put in some effort. It’s an amazing piece, but the balance is slightly different than my old one.”

  “I suppose it’d have to be. Your old sword was a bit longer than that one is, right?” Ruethwyn commented, looking at the blade a little more closely. It was a functional weapon, without many of the adornments she’d seen before. The metal was also darker, and with a purple hue to it, normally a sign that it was alloyed with adamantine, though some people would tint metal to give it the appearance of being alloyed.

  “That’s right. I also got a little advice from Essryl, though putting it into practice is harder than I’d expected,” Tadrick replied wryly, letting out a soft sigh. “I should’ve expected that, really. I guess I’m just going to have to work harder.”

  “I can agree with that. Working harder, I mean,” Ruethwyn said, smiling in return. “That’s pretty much been what I’ve tried to do for the past year. I haven’t always been successful, mind you, but I’ve tried.”

  “You’ve had a rough year,” Tadrick said bluntly, taking a moment, then sheathing his sword and rolling his shoulders. “I’ve tried to imagine it a lot of times, but I’m certain that I’ve fallen short every time. How did you keep going, Rue? Knowing someone like Essryl was at the end of the road, along with the dragon and everything else… how have you kept going so easily?”

  “Easily isn’t the word I’d have used for it,” Ruethwyn replied, shaking her head and walking over to the nearby fence around the stable. Leaning against one of the posts, she thought about everything, trying to keep her emotions under control.

  “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said it was easy. You make it seem like it was, though,” Tadrick replied, shivering slightly and walking over to lean against the fence as well.

  “Here,” Ruethwyn told him, murmuring a spell and letting her magic spill out of her fingers to cast the spell to keep Tadrick comfortable. She didn’t charge the spell with much mana, no more than was necessary for an hour or so. It was a bit wasteful of her, since the spell was more efficient to maintain for a long period, but she didn’t mind. It was so effortless to cast spells now that she took pleasure even in minor spells.

  “Oh, thanks!” Tadrick said, grinning broadly. “You didn’t have to do that, you know.”

  “You’re welcome, Tad. And it isn’t a problem, I wanted to cast it,” Ruethwyn replied, shrugging slightly and looking upward at the morning sky. It was somewhat overcast, but despite that, she could see that the sun was approaching the horizon. Dawn was still a way off, she suspected, but it really didn’t matter. After a minute more, she continued softly. “It was hard, Tad. I just… put one foot in front of the other at first. I nearly despaired for a time, and even after I left the infirmary at the academy, it was a while before I had anyone who believed in me.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. I remember Navaan pointing you out to me the first day at the academy, and how alone you looked,” Tadrick murmured, a guilty note to his voice. “It shocked me… mostly your appearance, but the explanation he gave. If he’d told me you were trying to rescue those who’d been taken from Mellesyn, I would’ve thought you were insane.”

  Ruethwyn laughed at that, smiling as she looked at him in amusement, shaking her head quickly as she spoke. “Sorry, I’m not trying to make light of your comment. It’s just amusing because you aren’t the only one who felt that way. I learned to bottle up my feelings quickly, because I heard some of the priests talking. They worried that I might be unstable, and if I’d told people what I planned at the time… I wouldn’t have gotten into the academy. They would’ve carted me off to some monastery in the southern mountains to ‘come to terms with my fate.’”

  “They what? You’re… you’re joking, right?” Tadrick asked, his mouth slightly agape as he stared at her.

  “Why would I be joking? They knew I’d lost everyone I knew in the world. No one was missing from the village that day, Tad. Everyone was in town, wonder of wonders, and no one escaped. The priests knew, because they’d coaxed every bit of information from me that they could,” Ruethwyn said, her smile bitter now as she looked at the sky. “They were afraid I might go mad. I can’t say that I blame them… I think I might have if I hadn’t had a goal.”

  “Gods,” Tadrick muttered in disbelief, shaking his head slowly. “It’s hard to believe, after seeing everything that you’ve done.”

  “While it could’ve happened, it didn’t. That… in the end, it’s a path untraveled. For all I know, Essryl would’ve hunted me down and killed me,” Ruethwyn said bluntly. “I’m happy with the path I’ve taken. At least it allows me to continue trying to rescue them.”

  “I see,” Tadrick said, nodding slowly.

  Ruethwyn glanced at Tadrick, considering for a long moment. Finally she spoke again, trying to keep her voice calm. “So, have you and Sella made up?”

  “I don’t know,” Tadrick replied as his shoulders slumped. “Probably not, considering that. I can’t believe I screwed things up with her so badly, and I’m not sure what I even did.”

  “Really?” Ruethwyn asked, her eyebrows rising slightly as she looked at him curiously. “I thought you had.”

  “I’ve gotten the hint that coming along without asking for permission was a terrible idea, but that isn’t it, it can’t be.” Tadrick sighed heavily as he spoke. “She’s been acting distant for a few months, not just the last few days. I’ve tried to patch things up, but I don’t know what’s wrong. Do you?”

  “At least partially. While Sella said a few things to Korima and I, it’s entirely possible that she didn’t tell us everything,” Ruethwyn admitted.

  “Then what did I do? How’d I screw everything up?” Tadrick asked.

  Ruethwyn was quiet for a long moment, watching the light slowly grow. A tiny part of her wondered if she should share with Tadrick. It wasn’t as though Sella had said anything in confidence, and she’d noticed some of Sella’s hesitation at the time, so it wasn’t as though it would give much away.

  “Do you remember the dinner at Ivy Vines?” Ruethwyn asked suddenly, lifting her left hand and holding it up against the sky, simply watching how the light backlit her hand.

  “Yeah, of course. It was fun, I thought,” Tadrick said, sounding a bit nervous. “Was it too much? Flaunting wealth, or something like that?”

  “Mm… that wasn’t what she mentioned, though it may be a part of it,” Ruethwyn replied, the suggestion surprising her. After a moment, she continued. “It definitely might. Still, what I was going to point out was your attitude, as well as Navaan’s. The two of you were competing over her, weren’t you?”

  “Um, I guess? Maybe a little? I was surprised he was interested in her, to be honest,” Tadrick confirmed slowly, a note of worry in his voice. “Is she…?”

  “No, Sella isn’t interested in Navaan. However, the problem is that when you two were competing with each other, you lost sight of something important,” Ruethwyn said, wondering to herself why she was involved at all. Relationships were complex, and she’d never had one herself.

  “What’s that?” Tadrick asked, turning to face Ruethwyn.

  “Sella,” Ruethwyn said simply.

  “What?” Tadrick asked, looking slightly taken aback. “But she was right there!”

  Ruethwyn sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, then spoke more tartly. “That’s not what I meant, Tadrick! I’m talking about Sella herself, and how she felt about things! You two were fighting over her, but did you ever stop to consider how that made her feel? She said she felt like some sort of object or prize to be fought over, not a person you valued and liked. She also said that she remembered how you and Navaan only really started paying more attention to her when she mentioned that she had an innate mana core. She didn’t feel like you valued her opinion or feelings, and then you wen
t and invited yourself on this trip without even asking her! What did you think was going to happen after all that?”

  The blood drained from Tadrick’s face slowly through her explanation, and when Ruethwyn finished, he was quiet for a long moment. Then he reached up to rub his face and spoke softly. “Well, shit.”

  Ruethwyn didn’t know what to say to that, so she didn’t say anything as he turned back so he could lean against the fence again. She waited instead, looking at the sky. She was so glad this wasn’t like her hometown.

  “At least I know, now. Maybe I can fix it, but who knows? I’m not sure if anything like that can be made up for,” Tadrick continued after a minute, his tone rueful.

  “Better that you’re willing to try than to just give up,” Ruethwyn said, smiling again at last. “It makes me think better of you.”

  “Like you said, one step forward at a time,” Tadrick replied, and she saw him shoot her a grin as he asked, “I don’t suppose that if it doesn’t work out, that you’d be interested? I know you and Korima might have a thing, but…”

  Ruethwyn couldn’t help laughing at that, shaking her head, then smiling at him as she replied gently. “Sorry, Tad, but I’m afraid there’s no chance there. I’m not interested in men, and my relationships look messy enough as it is. You’re going to have to ask someone else.”

  “Alright. I just had to ask, you know,” Tadrick replied, not looking disappointed. Nodding toward the door, he asked, “I’ll bet breakfast is about ready, shall we?”

  “Sure,” Ruethwyn agreed, pushing away from the fence and heading for the door.

  It was odd, but the discussion with Tadrick had helped her mood more than she’d expected it to.

  Chapter 8