Page 53 of Sea of Stars

“Magic,” I scoffed. “There’s no such thing as magic.”

“Yes, magic was eradicated when the divinares stopped being born with the gift of the Moira. It doesn’t exist in the world you know, but it existed in the world we grew up in,” Achates said, gesturing toward the brutarian and Augury. He glared back at me. "I have never met anyone so stupid before."

I was about to protest, but Achates held up his hand. "Shush. Just shush! Give me time to think, boy. We’ll have to go to the twelve drop spots and see how many have been taken,” Achates sighed.

The human that was with them, who had the thick black beard, finally spoke. “There’s more missing than just the two you already have.” He was looking intently at Harish's dagger, his brow was furrowed. “King Septon II has three more besides the one he holds,” he said pointing at me. “Don’t look at me that way,” he said calmly to Achates.

I glanced at Achates and saw him glaring evilly at the human.

“I wasn’t looking at you any which way, Garret,” Achates grumbled, staring back up at the sky. "Humans are the most infuriating..."

Garret cut him off, “I told you I used to work for King Septon II. There’s nothing I can do about that.” Garret walked over to me and knocked the knife out of my hand. “While we’re talking about the blood daggers, is anyone going to talk about what just appeared while Breghton was holding this one?”

I felt so stupid. Why hadn’t I looked down? “What did it say?” I asked immediately.

“Stop!” Augury’s voice cut through the air. “Enough...” she paused. “...Enough excitement for one day. Garret, go to bed. And Breghton join your friends. We could all use some rest.”

Garret looked like he had been smacked in the face. He walked away from the fire so that I could no longer see him.

I settled down next to Denton. “Did you see what it said?”

Denton shook his head.

The conversation about the human king having daggers was unsettling. It did confirm that other races could get predictions to glow on the blades though, even if they couldn't interpret the symbols. My mind wandered to another question I had. I stared at the brutarian, who was now lying down on the other side of the fire from me. “Why is there a brutarian hanging out with a bunch of divinares anyway?” I whispered to Denton.

“His name is Vellswar. I’ve heard of him in the books I’ve read." For some reason, Denton didn't seem to want to share what he remembered learning about Vellswar.

"So what do you know about him?"

"Well, he was exiled from the brutarian kingdom after he swore his allegiance to King Averis during the siege. He was told never to come back to the brutarian camp where he was born. He would have been beheaded with the rest of the captured men if it wasn’t for his bloodline."

I felt cold despite the fire burning bright. Denton didn't seem to want to finish his thought. I guess I was going to have to pry the answer out him. "Bloodline?"

"You have to promise you won't do anything."

"Denton, who is he?"

"He’s Mortwar’s brother."

"Are you serious? And we're letting him live?" I was trying hard to keep my voice low.

"Breghton, you heard the story. He was exiled. He's lived alone in the Azure Cliffs ever since. He's barely one of them. At this point he's more divinare than anything else."

I stared at Vellswar across the flames. Anger swelled inside of me.

Denton must have seen my face, because he added, "Breghton, you promised you wouldn't do anything."

"I never promised," I said through a clenched jaw. I turned away from Denton and lay down on the sand. I closed my eyes tightly and hoped that Denton would leave me alone. Eventually I heard him lay down beside me. His snores started right away, easing me into my own slumber.

***

Snow drifted gently down from the sky, leaving a blanket on the ground. It caused a trail of small footprints to lead directly to where I was standing. I touched the bars and tried to peer in through the darkness. The metal was as cold as ice on my bare hands. I went from bar to bar, feeling the iron. From one end of the gate to the other, the metal was as strong as if it had just been forged. There wasn't a single weak, rusty spot on the whole gate.

I crouched down and began to dig. Snow flew through the air to both sides of me. When I got to the cold, matted dirt, I used my sword to cut away at it. Then I cupped the loose dirt with my hands to move it away from the gate. Eventually I made a hole deep enough to stand in, but still the iron bars continued deeper. I climbed out and gripped the bars, trying to pull myself up. My hands slipped on the ice that coated them. I ran over to the gate’s edge where the massive mountains began. I found one crevice and placed my hand in it. I was able to successfully hoist myself up. To my dismay, there was nothing else to grab onto. Not one spot on the whole stupid mountain to put my hand in next. I slid down the side.

I peered once again into the brutarian camp. Everything was still. A few small huts stood several feet in from the gate. Nothing besides divinares would be living in something so small.

“Jeremody?” I whispered. I so badly wanted to believe that the crow hadn’t eaten him. “Jeremody?” I said a little louder. The camp remained still and quiet. I had to face the fact that he was dead. I needed to complete my mission to honor him.

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