Page 2 of Fate of Echoes and Embers
“I would ask you the same.”
It was a story I had no intention of sharing.
“Uh, guys. Can we put the measuring tape away?”
Both Kael and I looked at Mev, neither of us having an idea of what that meant.
“Never mind. It would take too long to explain. Kael is friends with her. But I have a feeling she was more than a friend to you?”
Fucking humans.“A feeling? Because you’re reading me?”
No human could enter the Aetherian Gate without some type of intuitive ability. Typically, once they came through, those abilities were heightened due to the magical qualities of our realm. Mev, the daughter of a king, had apparently become quite powerful in her short time here and could sense both emotion and intent in others.
“I’m not reading you, Marek,” she said calmly. “But women’s intuition is real.”
Kael and I exchanged a glance. He shrugged.
“Issa is the woman I intend to ask for help,” I said.
“You’re going to Hawthorne Manor?” Mev asked.
“I am.”
Kael cleared his throat. “Correction.We’regoing to Hawthorne Manor. Issa is a good friend, as Mev said.”
From what I knew of Kael, that was surprising, to say the least. Gyorians and humans were very rarely friends, especially when the Gyorian in question was the son of the king who hated humans with a vengeance.
“It a long story,” Mev said. “Which it seems like we’ll be able to tell you on the road. I can’t believe Kael’s Issa is the woman you’re asking for help.” Her eyes widened. “Oh my God, of course. She senses magical qualities. Kael…”
He was looking at her with amusement.
Mev pretended to scowl at him. “You figured it out already.”
“More than that,” he said dryly. “I thought of asking her as well, especially when Marek said we were porting here.”
“Why didn’t you?” she asked.
I was still reeling from the fact that Kael was a friend of Issa’s.
“Because she won’t do it.”
I tended to agree but remained silent.
“Even if we tell her the situation?” Mev argued. “If she can sense the Wind Crystal.” She lowered her voice. “Which I assume is something she’s capable of doing since it’s apparently the strongest of all magical artifacts. It would be nice if Marek can verify it really is in the Maelstrom Depths before risking his neck to retrieve it.”
“Precisely my thinking,” I said, leaving it at that. Assuming “risking my neck” meant risking my life, it was actually much worse than that. Surviving the Maelstrom Depths would be nearly impossible. “It would be helpful to know the Crystal was there for certain.” I turned my attention to Kael. “You don’t believe she’ll do it? Even if finding the Wind Crystal is the only way to reopen the Gate?”
Popping his last piece of bread into his mouth, Kael sighed heavily. “She’ll not want to leave Hawthorne Manor. The border has become more unstable since Mev’s return. Her people are everything to Issa. Keeping them safe is more important to her than anything, including the Gate.”
I didn’t argue his point. Kael was right about Issa’s love for her people, but I could think of one thing even more important to her than that. Either way, I was going to Hawthorne Manor to at least try to convince her to accompany us.
“You’re not going to tell us how you know her?” Mev asked.
“No,” I answered. “I’m not.”
Kael waved the serving girl to us. “I’ll simply ask Issa.”
“Maybe he doesn’t want us to know, Kael,” Mev countered.
