Page 22 of What Lies Within Blood & Heirs

Yet, someone was retching and emptying their guts somewhere, and she couldn't see who. A quick glance across the deck revealed nothing until she spotted Thalon at a wooden door with square glass windows on the quarterdeck, waving her inside.

With one last inhale of the sea, Alora contently bounded up the sea-slick, creaking steps and followed Thalon through what was perhaps a first mate’s quarters, then a short hallway and door leading her to a grand bedchamber.

Sunrise crept through eight massive windows lined with iron crossed bars. The glass so perfectly clean that if it wasn’t for the sun’s glare, it would appear as if nothing was there.

Alora paused at the door and took in the faint smell of rum as Jade picked at an array of cheeses, breads, and fruits arranged on a rectangular table with six chairs around it.

Eldacar paced along a bookshelf full of leather-bound texts near the desk, eyes gleaming when he plucked one from the shelf and rifled through. A four-post wooden bed with draped scarlet and gold curtains sat to her right with a considerable iron and wooden chest at the foot. The oak walls were lined with swords of various lengths and shapes. Some set at odd, rounded angles, like the one Aiden fancied and carried with him.

Scarlet and golden rugs lined the floorboards and a map of Elysian as big as the wall hung with detailed routes on land and sea. All clearly marked were mostly near land, except for two carrying no markings; The unknown lands of Krysenka and Miratara, a star-shaped island to the east, and to its west, a large redXsat in the ocean.

Alora’s smile lifted.X marks the spot. She would have snorted if it wasn’t for the startling movement behind her.

Garrik opened the door, appearing a sickly shade of green. The slight off-balance of his steps made their way beside her, and his hands rested on his hips, body tense with little breathing.

Furrowing her brows, she asked, “You okay?”

Garrik held up a finger before inhaling through his nose. “Perfectly.”

“Are you…” She grinned, watching him place his hand on his stomach. He … he was seasick. “The High Prince, most mighty in all of Elysian,Heir of Mist and Sea, can’t handle the waves?”

He flashed her a nauseated eye of warning before leaning against the door. With another deep inhale through his nose and a heaving shake in his voice, Garrik spoke, “Aiden,whyare we here?”

Aiden’s knees dropped in front of the iron and wooden chest. He pulled a key from his pants pocket and twisted it inside the rusted lock. When the key turned, Aiden pushed open the lid with great effort. The hinges groaned as they ground together.

He rummaged through, dumping the contents of the chest across the rug. Jewelry—some that glowed—odd objects such as gauntlets, cups, pieces of armor, a bottle of lightning, all piled on the floor until his rummaging stopped.

“Soulstryker,” Aiden breathed, lifting a sheath identical to the obsidian dagger. “An ancient blade forged from three sister spirits, not of this land. Held prisoner inside the stones in which it carries. Or had carried,” he corrected and twisted to his feet, eying the sheath as he pulled the dagger from his belt and married the two together with a metallic clink.

Eldacar came up behind Aiden after strolling to the bookshelf and plucking an onyx book from it. His young brown eyes were nothing short of remorseful when their sea captain dropped it open on a wooden desk.

“I knew I had seen this before,” Eldacar murmured, relieved yet … there was something unsteady in his voice. The pages connected with his fingers. His eyes intensely glowed with a look that crossed his face whenever he received a new book. He held his hand there, as if the book spoke directly to him, before he looked up and adjusted his glasses with a quick wrinkle of his freckled nose. “Kerimkhar told you this blade was fated to be used against Magnelis?”

Garrik nodded.

“Sire, did he tell you of the cost?” Eldacar asked.

Her High Prince nodded again as if the act of speaking would loosen his stomach.

“And who exactly will use it?”

“It is yet to be determined.” Garrik’s eyes flicked to Alora, then to Eldacar.

The air in the room fell heavier. Garrik had retreated into his usual silence when something bothered him, and from the look on Eldacar and Aiden’s faces, whatever it was, wasn’t good.

Alora stepped forward, past Jade and Thalon, who leaned against the table, and pressed her fingers to the book, reading:

Whoever wields this blade will bear a heavy payment. For a soul to take is not free, blood shall be given. When the strength of the one who sinks the blade is taken, Life will darken. Blood takes her payment. Death will have her soul. The lifeforce will be stolen, forever obliterated for eternity, never to return.

Shifting on his feet, Aiden rasped, “When Soulstryker is whole and used to spill bleeding guts out, both will die. It’s a heavy price to tear someone’s soul from existence.”

“Then we need to find a way to get this dagger in the hands of one of the High King’s advisers. Stir jealousy, plant the seed that they can be High King. Something. Kill two with the same dagger,” Alora said.

Silence blanketed the room.

Thalon pressed his palms into the table. Glowing golden eyes pierced the wood. “It’s risky.”

“Too risky,” Jade agreed and sat in one of the six chairs, elbows digging into the table.

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