Page 38 of Fate of Echoes and Embers
“My father knows, of course.”
“Nerys?”
I shook my head. “No one.” Then, qualifying my statement, I said, “Some know more than others about the information I seek. Bram, for instance, secured that ledger for me because he knows I pay handsomely for any information tied to the Maelstrom Depths.”
Issa’s brows drew together. Anticipating her question, I added, “Some believe the same dark magic that tainted the waters in which my mother dove also made the Maelstrom Depths so dangerous, even for water-wielders. Like other unexplained phenomena in Elydor, the belief is that an ancient ritual, tied to a time when magic in Elydor was unbound to the elements, was used for personal gain. For power. And when someone, or something, is too powerful?—”
“Elydor seeks a balance.”
“Always.”
Issa was now properly horrified. “And yet, believing they may be tied to each other, you are prepared to descend into the same Depths whose dark magic may have claimed your mother?”
“Who else should retrieve the Crystal than someone with a command of water, who has spent his life seeking the truth of such waters?”
“A truth you’ve not fully grasped.”
I could not argue that. “There is no help for that unfortunate fact.”
“Why, Marek?”
“I’ve told you, Nerys and Mev?—”
“No. That is not what I ask. Why did you tell me about your mother?”
Why, indeed?
“Because I promised you I would. And I don’t intend to break a promise to you again, Issa. Not even an unspoken one.”
She could push back. Press me as to the real reason. But, as difficult as it was to tell the story of my mother’s death, and my inability, after so many years, to piece together a puzzle that would haunt me forever… telling her the true reason I opened up to her unlike I had with anyone before?
Some truths were better left buried at the bottom of the sea.
14
ISSA
“I’m not surprised,” Mev said as we walked toward the docks. I recounted the smuggler’s conversation from last eve, pushing Marek’s revelation to the back of my mind. The confession, and subsequent promise, was too much to consider at the moment.
When we returned to The Drowned Oath, Kael and Mev were already abed. After a fitful sleep, my dreams filled with visions of Lord Draven standing at the gatehouse, denying me entry to my home, I woke to Mev at my door. Apparently, Marek had left already, so a quick change and breaking our fast in the ale-scented hall of the inn saw us following Kael back to the docks.
“That the same man I left in charge of Hawthorne Manor is making a play to become Lord Protector of Estmere.”
“Well,” Mev said, her presence in Valmyr Port seemingly no longer a secret. Some stared openly, others bowed as she walked by, but one thing was clear: Mev was no ordinary human. “Maybe not all of that. No shade to you at all, Issa. If you knew how many men I dated whose glaring red flags… Never mind. Bad analogy.”
I had no sense of what she spoke about.
“Sorry. I forget sometimes, especially in Estmere, that I’m not just in some medieval town in England. That this is real.”
It was hard to imagine being transported, without warning, to a place you didn’t know existed and then taken by the son of your enemy. “I am sorry I didn’t help you,” I said, not for the first time.
“No worries. I get it, friend code and all. If it had been Clara, I’d have done the same and protected her at all costs. Anyway, what I meant to say was… don’t beat yourself up about not seeing Draven for who he really is. The guy’s obviously pretty crafty, and from what you’ve told me, has been keeping his cards close to his chest for a long time.”
That one, I could understand, even if I’d never heard the expression before.
“Maybe even since when my father was alive.”
“Most likely. When we get to Aethralis, we will speak to the king. He’s been a champion of Estmere since its inception and will not take kindly to the type of power play Draven is attempting.”
