Page 8 of In Darkness Forged

“I can find someone to fix your stone!” she cried out desperately. “And I swear I will do it, in exchange for forgiveness of our debt. For my family being allowed to stay in their home.”

The lord’s face hardened. “Who are you?”

Perhaps she ought to apologize for her presence. Bend her knee and beg for him to be lenient. But that far, she would not go. Her name was nothing to be ashamed of.

“I am Aislin,” she said quietly. “Daughter of Charys.”

And then he knew.

“You.”

His hatred slammed into her like a blow. In his mind, she was the one who had cost him his seer. The foretellings that had brought him prosperity had ended with her birth, and they would never come again.

The crowd seemed to draw away from her, as if afraid of being tainted by proximity. No doubt Lord Dreichel intended to bring the full weight of his judgment to bear on the ragged woman in their midst, and no one wanted to be caught in the backlash. Not with a man whose moods fluctuated like the weather.

“Yes,” Aislin said simply, lifting her chin as she faced the man who held her future in his hands. “I have come because my mother and grandmother are about to be thrown from the only home they have ever known. I acknowledge your right to demand payment, but in honor of my family’s past service, I ask that I be allowed to cover our debt in this way. I have no money, but I have hands and feet and a willingness to attempt the impossible in order to save them.”

She expected him to sneer, to throw her out, or simply say no.

She did not expect him to laugh. And it was not merely a brief chuckle—he laughed loud and long, clapping his hands together as if applauding the ridiculousness of the situation.

And still, no one in the room dared do more than breathe, as if sensing the danger hiding behind that unhinged laughter.

Which ended abruptly as Lord Dreichel favored her with a coldly mocking smile. “Do you even know what you are asking?”

“For the chance to save my family,” Aislin said firmly. “We wish to remain in our home. That is all.”

Enchanters were not that rare among mages, so surely it could not be too difficult to find one who could renew the stone’s magic. And even if it was a costly enchantment, she could likely find some other way to repay them besides money. She was strong and capable, and she was not afraid of hard work.

“Done,” Lord Dreichel said suddenly, his face turned to an expressionless mask. “While I deal with my miserable excuse for a son, you will repair my stone.”

Aislin nearly fainted with the shock. He’d agreed? She actually had a chance?

“But before you grow too giddy with satisfaction, I suppose I should tell you…”

Whatever it was, she could do it.Woulddo it. Failure was not an option.

“No human mage has the ability to enchant such a thing.”

Surely he was wrong.

“My great-grandfather purchased that stone from the Marlord of Revenfell. It cost him nearly half his fortune, but they swore it contained the secret to their power, and there is no bargaining with their kind—not when their magic gives them every advantage. And now”—Lord Dreichel’s face twisted—“there is no way to reach them at all. Not when they’ve retreated to the heart of their lands, only to raid our borders and disappear into the darkness.”

Shock and dismay sent the blood from Aislin’s head straight to her toes, leaving her dizzy and faint. “You mean…”

Dear gods, what had she done? That stone had come not from the hands of a human mage, but from…

“Don’t even think about going back on your word, Daughter of Charys.” Lord Dreichel’s expression remained unyielding as granite. “That stone’s magic has ensured the prosperity of these lands for generations, so it is worth far more than your life.”

More than your life, Daughter of Charys. He had named her mother for a reason. His stone was worth far more than the life of the woman who had stolen his seer by the very fact of her existence.

How could he hate her so much for something she could not help?

And what would happen to her mother and grandmother if she died on this absurd quest?

“My family…” Aislin began to say, but Lord Dreichel was in no mood to listen.

“Perhaps you should have asked more questions before you made promises, but now you are bound. Bound to go wherever this task requires.”

---