He took a second to regulate his breath again.
“Alastor came and spoke to me earlier today. He’d met with one of his spies who had finally returned from Norrandale.”
I didn’t know how many spies Alastor had working for him, but they always managed to find valuable information in the end, and I was thankful that there were people who were willing to risk their lives for such important knowledge.
“As we know, Aries is in Norrandale looking for the Myrgonite mines.”
“Well, he does have a thing for power and greed.”
“But Alastor’s spy found out that Aries was also looking for something he labelled ‘archaic treasures’. Objects from hundreds of years ago that the old kings used to believe contained magic.”
My stomach twisted into a knot. “You mean Aries is actively looking for the Myrgonite objects?” There was so little known about them apart from the stories that had been told through the generations.
“I’m afraid so.”
“But we don’t know for certain what these objects are. Only that we have been warned against their magic.”
“I think I might have found something on it.”
“Oh?” I said with surprise. The old Cai hadn’t wanted anything to do with the objects or any kind of magic. I supposed what happened in Norrandale had changed him in more ways than one.
“After dinner I went to the library to look for something to read, you know, to try and get my mind off things a little.” Not my idea of a distraction, but fair enough. “And I found this really old book with a story inspired by Queen Riona and the Myrgonite objects.”
My brows furrowed. “Someone wrote a story about it?”
“It was strange, the book had no title and no author. But it did mention that King Evrin had a diary where he wrote about the queen and the objects.”
This was interesting. “Do you think there’s a chance that the diary is real?”
“I’m not sure.” Cai shrugged. “The chances are pretty slim. But if it does exist, then maybe it would have some answers about the objects.”
“Maybe.” I thought about it. There was so little known about those magical objects, and the stories had become too distorted over the centuries. It was hard to know what was true andwhat had simply been made up. But if we had a trusted source like King Evrin’s diary, it might tell us everything we needed to know. Based on the conversation I had had with Aries in Argon, I knew he wasn’t only coming after the Myrgonite mines in Norrandale. The gemstones would make him rich beyond compare, yes. But there was no end to Aries’ greed. It had always been a matter of time before he came after the objects.
“We need to find some more writing that confirms the existence of the diary.”
“I’ll go and see if I can find anything in the library tomorrow,” Cai replied
Even if nothing came of it, at the very least Cai was leaving his rooms again.
“That’s a good idea. I’ll see if I can find anything in the royal study.”
It was a long shot. If the diary existed, we didn’t know what was written inside and where we would find it. It could be a complete waste of time, or it could be the answer to everything.
Chapter 8
Gwen
I tied my hair into a braid, though a few stray strands still managed to fall in front of my eyes.
My grey mare was already saddled up and ready for our early-morning ride. The air was ice cold — I could see every breath I exhaled — but snow had yet to fall.
I pulled on my riding gloves, my fingers already numb.
“You ready, girl?”
Bessie looked slightly unimpressed that I’d dragged her away from her breakfast, but she followed as I led her out of the stables. Her hooves clacked on the cobblestones until we reached the grass, where I used an old tree stump to mount.
We started on our usual route away from the palace gardens and towards the line of trees in the distance.
