1
ASTRID
Booming voices echoed down the mining tunnel. I lowered my pickaxe and rolled my knotted shoulders, bouncing my head in time with the lilting beat of the ancient folk song. At the end of the tunnel, around the bend, and two ledges down, The Wet Beard heaved with the dwarven miners who had already hung up their carts and their pickaxes for the evening. They’d traded their thirst for gems for that of ale.
Not me. At least, not yet. I’d join them soon. Because, according to legend, these mines hid a powerful gem, whose mineral traces wound like lightning through stone. Us dwarves had been searching these tunnels for it for so long, I couldn’t remember a time when we didn’t talk about it every day and night.
In fact, the song echoing from the tavern was about the fabled gem.
And I needed to be the one who found it.
It had power beyond compare. Of course,exactlywhat that meant, no one quite knew. There were lots of popular theories. One of my favorites involved endless amounts of the mostdelectable chocolates from the mainland. That seemed like a great power to wield. Who needed immortality or impossible strength if you couldn’t enjoy something as sweet as cocoa? ‘Course, as much as I’d never say no to chocolates, I needed the gem’s power for something a little more important than that.
“Astrid?” a voice called from down the tunnel.
Hefting my pickaxe to my shoulder, I smiled at the girl who strode toward me. Her long silver hair hung down her back in a loose braid, and stars practically sparkled in her matching eyes. She wore a long gauzy blue gown and carried a foaming mug in her delicate hands. Fates, it was good to see her again.
“Lilia!” I beamed and hustled over her to her, careful not to trip on the cluster of gold-orange gems scattered around the mine’s floor. These gems—sunstones—were still treasures, even if they weren’t the grand prize. They glittered and shone, providing light and warmth in the dank, dark tunnels of The Deep. Without them, we couldn’t grow our food.
Beaming right back, Lilia handed me the mug. Liquid gold sloshed over the edges. I took a long, long gulp, relishing the sweet taste. After hours spent mining, my parched tongue sighed in contentment. There was no other ale on the Isles quite like Lilia’s. Not that I’d ever tasted anything other than hers and the brews found in the mountain here.
I’d been cursed as a babe. I could never poke a single toe outside these mountainous walls. The world beyond the mines would never be mine, no matter how much I wanted it to be.
“You’re looking good, Astrid,” Lilia said, bouncing on her toes. There was a new sparkle in her eyes that hadn’t been there the last time I’d seen her. Squinting, I leaned in close. Blush dotted her cheeks.
“Hmm, are you going to tell me what has you beaming like a dwarf who discovered a new kind of mineral?”
She chuckled softly, and instead of answering, said, “How goes the mining? I looked for you in the tavern, but…” Her eyes darted around the skinny tunnel that vanished into darkness. “Still rarely taking breaks these days?”
I twisted my hands around the arm of the pickaxe. “What would you be doing if you were me? You can’t even settle anywhere for longer than a fortnight. I’ve been stuck down here for twenty-six long years.”
She sighed, nodding. “I’d be going stir crazy, too. Fates, I’d probably claw at the walls to escape. Any luck?”
I hefted my axe off my shoulder and angled the pointy end toward the nearest cluster of sunstones. “Well, we’ve got enough of these to light up an entire village. But as far as the Everstone is concerned…” Sighing, I dropped the axe heavily to the ground. It punched into the rock, the sound bouncing ominously down the tunnel.
“You’ll find it,” Lilia said, then pressed her lips together, like she didn’t believe it any more than I did.
Shrugging, I started toward the mouth of the tunnel, letting the raucous sound of the tavern finally call me away from my work. “Maybe it doesn’t exist, Lil. Could be nothing more than a fable. A lot of the dwarves have given up, you know. I’ve heard them whispering that it’s pointless to keep looking for it. They think we should just focus on the sunstones. We’ve started trading them with some ships that come in from the mainland.”
“Yeah, well.” Lilia threw an arm around my shoulder, walking steadily beside me. “We don’t listen to naysayers, now do we? Besides, I’ve recently learned there are lots of fables in this world that are real. Impossibilities, even.”
I arched a brow in her direction. “Like what?”
“Well, the dragons, for one.” She beamed.
“Are you talking about your brother’s dragons? ‘Cause he’s had those for years.”
“Well, I have one of my own now.” A strange smile curled her lips. “Two…in a way.”
I tapped at my ears. “I’m sorry. I think my hearing might be going. I swear I thought I heard you sayyou have two dragons. How in fate’s name have you managed that?”
“It’s a long story,” she said with a laugh. “One I can’t wait to tell you around a barrel full of ale.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle right back, despite my disappointment at going another day without the Everstone. Truth be told, I hadn’t expected to find it. As hard as I tried, there were far better miners down here than me. If someone eventually discovered it, it wouldn’t be me.
I eyed Lilia. “You bring me any of that chocolate?”
She shot me a mock frown. “How dare you suggest I’d ever visit you without it. I’ll give it to you when we sit down for a drink.”
