Page 7 of In Darkness Forged

And with that, he hurled the shield to the ground, no doubt intending it to land at Lord Nevenhall’s feet.

But Sandric misjudged his own strength. The shield bounced, tumbled across the floor, and slid for several paces before coming to a stop.

A single soft gasp could be heard in the echoing silence that followed, and even Sandric gaped and blanched as he saw the result of his outburst.

The shield itself remained whole and unblemished, the metal as unyielding as it had always been. But its darkness was now also unbroken by the presence of any light.

After eighty years, the beautiful white stone that had stood guardian over the Dreichel family’s fortune and power had broken free of its mounting. As the shield held everyone’s gaze, the stone continued to tumble end over end until it came to rest, and if Aislin was the only one who noticed it, the crowd could hardly be blamed.

Because its light had finally been extinguished, and what remained was simply a rock—a smooth but otherwise unremarkable orb lying like a forgotten pebble at Aislin’s feet.

Silence invaded the hall like a living being, freezing the breath in every chest and daring even one finger to move, until…

“What have you done?”Lord Dreichel’s anger echoed from the high ceiling and reverberated around the room. Anger and… Was that fear in his gray eyes?

After that first stunned moment, Sandric’s horror had already turned back to bitterness. “Something I should have done years ago,” he said mockingly. “Set us free from an elaborate lie meant only to impress others. Or do you truly believe a rock could have anything to do with our prosperity?”

“Arock?” His father’s face grew dangerously red. “You think that is simply arock? You cannot possibly comprehend the damage you have done!”

“A magical rock can be replaced. Unlike your family!”

“And youwillreplace it,” Lord Dreichel snarled. “If it takes your entire life, you will find a way to restore what you have destroyed with your ungrateful and self-indulgent behavior!”

Sandric looked back at his father defiantly. “Or?”

“Or what?”

“What if I choose not to attempt something so ridiculous? What if I refuse to embark on a quest doomed to failure before it begins?”

Lord Dreichel appeared to be choking on his own anger and disbelief.

And Aislin…

The idea came to her in a flash, and on an ordinary day, she would have scoffed and discarded it.

But this was no ordinary day. Her family’s very lives were at stake. If they were driven from their home, they had nowhere to go. No one in the village would take them in—not if they risked bringing the lord’s anger on their family in the process. Oh, Brannic would try, but Aislin could not pay him, and she refused to be a burden to anyone.

They would be forced to leave Brightvale, but her mother and grandmother would not last a week on the road, on foot, with no money and no protection. Aislin would have no way to feed them, no way to shelter them from the elements…

She saw one slender strand of hope and didn’t stop to think. Didn’t stop to plan, didn’t take a moment to tell herself how preposterous it was. She only knew that she could not let her father down. Could not let her family fall apart in his absence.

“I’ll do it.”

At first, no one seemed to hear her, so Aislin repeated herself, a little louder this time. “I’ll do it!”

Finally, her words seemed to penetrate the silence, and Lord Dreichel turned to see who had spoken.

“I’ll find a way to restore the stone,” Aislin said. She suddenly felt the weight of every eye in the room and hoped her voice did not quaver.

The lord’s gaze raked her from head to toe, and she saw the grimace when he finally dismissed her as beneath his notice.

“What is that woman doing here?” He seemed to be speaking to the empty air, as if she weren’t even worth being addressed directly.

But it was too late to lose her nerve.

“I came to petition you, my lord. To find a way to settle my family’s debt.”

“Then come back later.” Lord Dreichel started to turn away, but Aislin could not afford to give up so easily.

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