There, Aru saw the mouth of a cave that was far different from the dazzling cavern far below them. This one was draped in a black cloth that did not ripple like the sheets covering the other caves.
As if it did not wish to be found.
Aiden led them up the staircase. With each step, those odd sounds kept finding Aru. She imagined she could hear bits and pieces of someone speaking.
Such soft hands she had…
He never removed me when he cooked and, oh, how I ate…
I was promised to her true love…
Aru paused on the staircase, shaking her head. “Am I going insane?”
“I think we’re past that,” said Brynne.
Aru was not amused. “I’m serious! Do you guys hear that?”
Brynne, who was a couple of steps ahead of her, blinked. “Hear what?”
“The stones,” said Rudy, standing below her with Mini beside him. “You hear them, too?”
Aru nodded.
Rudy looked out over the ruins of the city. “The stones talk here,” he said. “They tell you about who they met…who they saw…who loved who. I guess you could call them ghosts, in a way.”
Welp. Definitely creepy. But on the plus side, thought Aru, if that was all that waited for them in Vasuki’s cave, then at least they wouldn’t need their weapons.
Aiden stepped onto the landing. In his hand, the Sun Jewel flashed with light before dimming. It seemed like a sign:You have reached your destination. Aiden returned the jewel to his backpack as they approached the cave. Aru calmed herself. She was fully prepared to yank open the sheet and run inside.
However, she wasnotprepared for a slender hand parting the cloth from the other side.
“We’ve been expecting you,” said a silken voice.
The sheet opened to reveal a beautiful woman. Jeweled lights in the cave ceiling dappled her dark skin, so that it looked as if she’d been draped in rainbows. She smiled at them. “You must be here for the maintenance work. I am Aleesa. Come in, come in.”
On the other side of the door, Aru stepped into a jewelry display half the length of a football field. She blinked, her eyes adjusting to the peculiar glow of the treasure room. A domed ceiling stretched a hundred feet above her, the glossy rock striped with bands of ruby and gold. Huge pieces of quartz and topaz, jasper and amethyst were embedded in the stone walls. Spanning the space were two glass-encased rows of exquisite jewels sitting on silk pillows. It was like a massive jewelry store—in every way except for one.
It was loud.
On their way to the cave, Aru had only been able to hear bits and pieces of frail voices. But here it was like someone was whispering in her ear, and though the voices were soft, the words were insistent.
I watched his face on the battlefield when he realized he would die. I felt his last heartbeat, and if I could have wept tears, I would have….
I lived on her favorite garment, swept the floors of her great palace. No one speaks her name now, but I knew she was loved….
Without me, he never would have remembered her. And yet they lost me. Why did they misplace me?
One phrase repeated every few seconds, echoing from the different gems strewn about the cave:Did you hear me?
“Yes, my darlings,” said Aleesa, speaking to the cave. “Yes, I hear, I listen.”
The whispering quieted.
“You’re rather early,” she said to Rudy.
He stared at her, his jaw a little slack until Mini helpfully elbowed him in the ribs.
“Um, early maintenance…rounds?” he said.
