Page 164 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
Hallie stiffened. Hopefully they couldn’t tell. “That’s good.”
“What did he do?” Her mother’s question was too pointed.
She’d never been a very good actress. “Nothing.”
Her mother pursed her lips, but her father covered his wife’s hand with his. “He came by the ward this morning to check on his family and give Niels a blanket from his hover. Said it might help. Asked after you.”
She wasn’t sure how she felt about any of that. The scholarly part of her brain latched onto the Niels bit, wondering why Kase thought that specific blanket might help. The hurt part of her began to complain—loudly—that he’d gone to see Niels instead of her…but the reasonable side reminded her it shouldn’t have mattered, because she didn’t want to see him anyway. She hated feeling so conflicted.
“How are Lady Les and Lord Jove? And Niels?”
If she kept her tone light, it would be fine.
“All are doing much better. The nurses think Niels will wake soon, and the Shackleys were leaving the ward this afternoon. The Yalv who was with them probably saved their lives.” He gave a short, disbelieving snort. “To think Gran probably could do the same thing…”
Navara couldn’t do much at all, according to her useless journals. Useless and…
Wait. Navara had been looking for a new way back to Myrrai, back to her people, so that the Lord Elder could heal her son.
Hallie’s mind raced.
Navara might not ever have made it back to her people, but maybe her search had led her to clues as to the location ofthe Second Gate. If she couldn’t use her power to reset the Gate, they would have to stop Jagamot with the swords—combining the Essences plus the sliver of Toro’s soul that was in Valora.
It was the plan Hallie favored because it didn’t need to use her power directly. She just had to put her power into a sword. What that entailed, she wasn’t sure—she probably had to bleed onto the blade, but it seemed to be better on the outset. She’d be happy to give up the power forced upon her.
Supposedly, King Filip’s power was in the sword. Hallie didn’t quite understand why or how, but that was what Fely had said.
They’d also need to figure out the Loffler situation. He was still in the Gate somewhere. That certainly wouldn’t help anything.
Saldr looked at her and gestured to the soft flames, but Hallie shook her head. He came over and, after bowing to her parents, took a seat on her other side.
“I can’t,” she said. “It won’t work.”
“If you approach the power with doubt, you will not succeed.” Saldr smeared a little bit of dust between his index finger and thumb. Murmuring the word of power, the dust reacted, congealing into a sphere. It floated and emitted a glow that grew with each passing second. At his direction, the sphere floated from above his palm and joined the larger one a few feet away. “If you would like to practice, I will tell Fely to sit beside you just in case.”
Hallie could feel her parents’ stares burning into the side of her head. She wasn’t sure if they were curious or terrified. She didn’t like the idea of either.
“Will you give it another try?” Saldr asked. He slipped off his locket and set it in her hand. “Try it with my Relic. It will not offer the same control, but it is wholly constructed of Zuprium.”
The weight and feel of it was the exact same as Fely’s. She peeked at the lid, which was a match to hers, an intricate star pattern—like a decadent compass rose, delicate swirls hugging the edge. Interesting.
Hallie clutched it tightly and reached into her pouch. With the dust coating her fingers once more, she spoke the required word and, in her mind, concentrated on the product, on the glowing ball of fire made from dust all the while begging for her power to rise from her core. “Yrea.”
Nothing. No heat. No spark. At least the trees were safe.
Was it because she wasn’t fully Yalven? Was her blood mixed too much with those who didn’t hold power?
She opened her eyes to see Saldr’s small smile; he probably meant it to be encouraging, but to Hallie, it screamed disappointment. “I do not expect you to accomplish this task in one day, so do not be too hard on yourself. We will keep trying.”
“We don’t have time,” she hissed through tight lips.
“We have no choice but to use however much we have left to us, whether it is enough or not.” Saldr hesitated, but he put a gentle hand to her shoulder and squeezed. “We will work again tomorrow. Practice grounding yourself. Study.”
To her, studying meant pouring over old texts in the library and taking copious notes, not people-watching. All she could grasp from watching the Yalvs use their power was that theirs worked and hers didn’t. But she was too tired physically and emotionally to fight Saldr about it.
Besides, he was trying his best. She was the problem, not him.
She handed back his locket, and he draped it across his neck, tucking it away once more.
