Page 43 of If The Crown Fits
“Lance.” I stood up too. “If you don’t tell me what it is, I’m not going to steal it for you.” Which was an utter lie. I knew my head was on the table. If I stole the jewel for myself, not only would I never be able to sell it, but also Lance would be after me for the rest of my life. I wasn’t that stupid. But Lance was drunk and it was worth a shot.
“Lance!”
“It contains magic,” he cried out and I fell back into my seat.
“How much have you had to drink?”
Lance didn’t reply.
“You can’t be serious,” I scoffed.
“It’s a Myrgonite stone. It has no equal in the realm.”
“Rhen told me that Everness and Norrandale have fallen out over these stones in the past. I understand it has value and the kingdom might need money. But surely there is a better way to go about this?”
“It’s not about the money.” Lance sighed. “It’s about the power it holds.”
“I have a really difficult time believing these little gemstones possess magic. I mean, what kind of magic are we even talking about here?” Of all the ridiculous conversations I might have had in my life, this one certainly took first prize.
“It’s not the stones themselves. It’s the objects they were forged into,” he responded, as if I should have known this already. I was no stranger to the myths and folklore of the kingdom, but apart from the Evernean Forest, I believed them to be fairy tales. If this kind of magic ever existed, then it was long gone and dead.
“You’re going to have to give me more context.” It was as if we’d forgotten he was blackmailing me into stealing from his enemy. But the longer I could keep him distracted and talking, the more important information he would keep revealing.
“It is believed that King Evrin’s wife, Queen Riona, took a few of the jewels for herself and had a goldsmith forge them into three objects using an ancient magic.”
“All right.” I blew out a breath, trying to gather my thoughts. “And what kind of objects were they?”
“That’s the problem. Nobody knows.”
Growing up in the forest had me experience things for which there was often no logical explanation. I’d practically grown used to the unexplainable noises, or pairs of yellow eyes looking at me through the dark. Even now, it often felt as though the trees were watching me as I went about my business. Living in the forest for most of my life had forced me to respect it, but as I grew older, I blamed anything unusual on my imagination. Although, if thepast few days had taught me anything, it was that I didn’t know what to believe anymore. Was it truly possible for magic not to be entirely gone?
“I cannot tell if you’re actually being serious,” I said, almost repeating myself.
“I am.” Lance pressed his fingers to his head as if he were in pain. “When I was younger, my father and I went to Norrandale. I overheard King Eric by accident once. I know it’s real.”
“And you’re convinced Cai has a piece of the precious stone?”
“He is the future king of Norrandale. And like I said, the objects are believed to have been passed down from one generation to another after the stones fell into Norrandale’s hands.”
“And what do you plan to do with it?” Cai possessing that kind of power was one thing... Lance was another.
“I plan to protect Everness.” The words were that of a hero and yet I didn’t believe him. Didn’t believe he was capable of caring about anything or anyone but himself. Then again, perhaps neither was I.
“So you thought that if your sister married Prince Cai and became queen of Norrandale, she would grant you access to magic? Magic which, by the way, Norrandale have done such a good job of hiding that nobody apart from you seems to know anything about.”
“If that were the case, I would have asked Eloisa, not you.” Which begs the question, why didn’t he ask her?
“So, what happens when this is over and Cai finds out? You break off the alliance? How long do you plan to keep up this ruse?”
“Cai won’t find out.”
I stared at him, flabbergasted. “What do you mean, he won’t find out? Of course he’s going to find out.”
“Why don’t you let me worry about that, and you just worry about your part in this?”
“Are you going to kill him?” I was almost too afraid to ask.
“That could make things a little messy. Unless we make it look like an accident, of course—”
