Page 61 of Once Upon a Crown
I pressed my lips together. “Do you think she gave you that dagger on purpose, knowing what it is?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.” He handed the dagger back to me and I slid it into the pocket of my breeches. Suddenly it felt heavier, making it impossible not to be aware of the knife and whatever ancient power it might possess.
“So, it doesn’t say anything about what the third object could be?”
“The king himself doesn’t sound certain in his writing. But he seemed to believe that the other two objects and their power were connected to the third somehow.”
“Does it, by any chance, mention that the stones can’t be destroyed?” he asked.
“I don’t know yet,” I said, stepping closer to him. “But Rhen will keep looking.”
“Do you think it’s safe for him to know all this?”
Cai wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me against him.
“Rhen only knows it could be a dagger and a necklace. I don’t think he suspects your family’s necklace that you gifted to Eloisa without knowing what it was. The necklace is safe with my belongings and nobody knows about the dagger.”
He rested his head against my stomach, appearing tired and worried. I held on to his shoulders, savouring this quiet moment before we would step out of the tent and be surrounded by soldiers and preparations to attack.
“Aries doesn’t know what the Myrgonite stones look like yet, neither does anyone else. If he doesn’t find the mines, he’ll put all his energy into looking for the objects.”
“What if we used it against him?”
“What do you mean?” Cai moved his head so he could look up at me.
“I mean, what if we somehow used the objects against Aries to stop him?”
He was taken aback, as if he could not believe the words that had just left my mouth.
“We’ve talked about this, Elara.” Briefly, when we were heading to Argon and still didn’t know what the objects were. I’dmade the suggestion of using them in the future and Cai shut me down, claiming it was too dangerous.
“Why not? It’s going to be difficult if not impossible to beat him as it is. This way we could save thousands of men from dying for the sake of nothing.”
He pulled back from me. “Did you not hear everything you’ve just told me about Queen Riona and what the magic did to her?”
I stepped away from him. “Only because she became greedy and overused the objects for her own power and gain. This is for a noble cause. To stop someone from doing the same thing Riona tried to do.”
“We have no way of knowing what the consequences would be for something like that.” He stood up. “I am not prepared to risk your life to find out.”
“But maybe if we used them together—”
“Promise me.” He took hold of my wrists, looking into my eyes with a serious expression. “Promise me that you will not try and use the objects in any way.”
His eyes were pleading. Begging me.
“Fine. I promise.” But I wasn’t sure I meant it.
Chapter 25
Gwen
My stomach rumbled as I made my way to the dining room.
The walking stick made the process feel achingly slow, especially because I was also carrying a book with me. I wanted to return it to the library after dinner and didn’t want to hobble back all the way to my rooms to retrieve it, doubling the distance I would have to walk.
According to the physician, it was for only one more week that I needed to keep off the ankle.
I missed my morning rides. But the winter mornings were now so cold, it probably wouldn’t have been very pleasant anyway.
