I wish I had her easy confidence, but I couldn’t lament that now. I may no longer be Jeweler to the Blessed, but my talents as a jeweler were required before our meeting with the Feared tonight.
The gemstones were warm in my hand as Hart and I found a quiet spot, hidden in a copse of trees, to work. I’d shared Mother’s words as we walked. He didn’t have much more insight into them than I did, but he patted his pocket, where he’d kept Alaric’s papers, and said he’d see what he could find.
He took a seat next to a tree trunk wide enough to support his shoulders. I set up a makeshift table and clamped the first stone in place. It would be tricky, since Father’s saw wasn’t made of adamas, but we couldn’t risk attempting to retrieve Alaric’s tools. These stones didn’t have to be pretty; they just had to work.
“You don’t need my help this time, Chaos?” Hart asked as he unfolded Alaric’s pages and flipped through them without looking up.
Heat surged through me at the gruff tone of his voice. The first time I’d asked him for help in Alaric’s workshop, I had still been terrified he’d touch me and learn my secret.I studied him now. A dark lock of his shoulder-length hair fell over his face, and he tucked it behind his ear as he flipped another page. Working together on that project had been one of the first times I’d offered him a shred of my trust. It had also been one of the first times he tried to offer me information in return.
“Remember, I’m an excellent stepper.”
I choked on a laugh, and though his tone was low and dry, when I glanced at him this time, his lip tipped into a smirk.
“So I’ve been told.” I waved the saw in my hand. “Today we’re using a hand saw and a clamp.”
My seat wasn’t the perfect height, but I had found a stump to sit on. With the board placed over two stones, I had the closest I was going to get to a workshop table and stool. I leaned in close and felt for the most intense heat before I determined where to cut. Each slide of Father’s blade against the stone sent a shiver down my spine. It wouldn’t be a smooth cut. I had to get over that. My teeth clenched as I cut deeper, sawing away the quartz from the adamas.
When I held the piece again, it was even warmer to the touch—adamas.
I’d forgo preforming, but I’d attempt to smooth the jagged edge by hand if I had time. For now, there were more stones to cut. It occurred to me that none of the Blessed’s usual trappings actually mattered. The stone didn’t need to be set in a ring or pendant. The bearer only needed it to touch their skin while they took or wielded.
I was already working on the second stone when Hart’s low chuckle broke through my thoughts. “Alaric included a line fromChampions of Kavioshere. Are you familiar with it?”
Every word on the pages was burned into my mind. “‘Rules create order, fire breathes chaos, forge your own path.’”
I didn’t look up but heard Hart’s grunt of acknowledgement. “‘Forge your own path’ is certainly in line with yourtheory on choice being the final trial. Not that I’d doubt your hypothesis after your mother’s words.”
“‘Rules create order, fire breathes chaos,’” I mumbled to myself. Our first conversation in Linia surfaced. The morning before we entered the library. When Charon and I had discussed our connection—and why I’d heard him through the Oldwood. He’d said we were connected through Eris’s magic. As Hart had confessed, he was connected to the throne of Kavios the same way. It called to him.
My head snapped up, and I met his forest green gaze. He was waiting patiently. “It’s more than just the throne room,” I said. “The throne and a dragon. To make a choice worthy of Eris, I think we need both … together.”
Hart nodded, but he looked pensive.
I felt for the pendant beneath my blouse as I considered his hesitation. “I know we already assumed the throne room, but this means we also have to get Charon in.”
He studied me as I pulled the pendant free. The answer had been right beneath our noses in its shape. A dragon wrapped around the throne. “I suspect that’s true,” he said. “I also suspect Charon is more than aware of his usefulness. He plans to help.”
We fell into silence. I set the pendant down and forced myself to look at the gem on my workbench. Hart was right. This was no extra burden on Charon, and the castle entrance was more than large enough for him if we could make it past the Blessed.
Hart’s warmth appeared at my back as I finished another gem. His low voice in my ear sent gooseflesh across my skin. “You look like you could use a break.”
The pages remained by the tree trunk. I had more stones to cut, but with his mouth so close I could feel the heat of his breath, I couldn’t remember why all of that was necessary. All Icould think of was how close his lips were to my neck. With a slight tilt of my head, he’d have full access.
“Don’t we have work to do?” I whispered, unsure what I wanted his answer to be.
Hart’s chuckle was low. “We do, but haven’t we learned that life is about choices? So many of ours are dictated by what is needed from us. We have so few chances to take something for ourselves.”
I turned on the stump to face him. He knelt and inched between my legs as they spread around his broad frame. “And this is what you choose for yourself?”
His green eyes grew deadly serious. “It’s the only choice that has ever made sense to me. I’d take Themis’s summons and all that came with it. I’d accept Eris’s curse all over again to find you. I’d choose you every time with no regrets.”
My breath stilled with his words, and though I searched for a response, I found none. I leaned into his heat, chasing that warmth that soothed a place inside of me I hadn’t even known was cold.
Rough callouses gently stroked my cheek. He cupped it like I was a precious gem, one worthy of his worship. I didn’t know what it meant, but I only seemed to come alive like this under his touch. He nipped my lip, a slight brush of his mouth against mine, and I wanted more.
We had no shortage of problems to solve. When we took care of those, more would rise to require our attention. I kept on thinking that things would be fine when we broke our curse, when we freed Hart from Themis, when we overthrew Rodric. But was that even true? As much as I hated to consider it, we weren’t guaranteed success in our goals. Even with these gems, the Feared and the Storm may not be enough to overpower the Blessed. Waiting for the perfect peaceful moment had deprived me of any happiness I could find in thepresent.
The smoky taste of Hart’s lust mixed with my own. I was grateful for this connection—happy to know that his thoughts were so aligned with mine. Maybe I didn’t need to finish my endless list of tasks to find a moment of peace. Maybe I only need to seize those moments where I found them.
