Trial By Fire (Going Down in Flames #3)(74)

Her grandfather harrumphed like he almost believed her. “This is where your paper would begin.” He held the disk out for her to see. “Hundreds of years ago, dragons who applied to marry would have grabbed the edge of this with their right hand, slicing through their palms and sending blood into the maze. If the blood combined well, marriage would be approved. If there was a negative reaction, the marriage was denied.”

“But how can a metal plate tell you that?”

“The spell checks for traits such as greed, tendency toward violence, intelligence.”

“So,” Bryn said, “when you talk about bloodlines combining, you are literally talking about mixing together blood to see if the genetics will result in something undesirable.”

“Exactly. And that is knowledge not all dragons are privy to,” her grandfather said. “Calling me first, rather than turning this over to whatever Directorate member was the closest, leads me to believe you are ready to share in such knowledge and you will keep it to yourself. As will your knight.”

A strange sense of pride and belonging flowed through Bryn. “Thank you. And yes, we’ll keep this information to ourselves. There’s one more thing I need to show you.” She backed up a few feet and performed the grabbing maneuver, which made the sword appear.

Her grandfather stared open-mouthed. “How did you do that?”

She pushed up her sleeve revealing the bracelet. “This called to me the same way the sword called to Valmont. When I put it, on the sword appeared.”

He blinked and stared then shook his head. “Miss Enid, have you ever read of such a thing?”

“Only in legends. It’s an elemental sword, created from the elements Bryn holds power over. The bracelet focuses those powers and forms them into a weapon.”

“Forget diamonds, this bracelet is a girl’s best friend,” Bryn said.

Miss Enid pointed toward a bookshelf in the back of the room. “There are more boxes back there like the one Bryn opened, but I don’t believe we have any other keys.”

“Key? What key?” her grandfather asked.

Bryn held out her necklace so he could see the charm. How could she explain this without making it sound like a conspiracy? “When I first came to school, Onyx gave me a protection charm as a gift. He said he placed it on this key because it reminded him of me.”

Her grandfather touched the small golden key. “Keys like this are not uncommon.” He released the charm and pressed his lips together like he was contemplating something. “It seems like more than a coincidence your key opened a box containing a weapon. Especially since Onyx gave it to you. Do you know the legends?”

“I thought jewelry makers created the keys to be rebellious after the Directorate was formed and hybrid marriages were forbidden.”

“That is partially true, but before there was any conflict with the Directorate, keys like this were worn to symbolize a dragon’s ancestry.”

Miss Enid retrieved the open box the bracelet came from. “For experiment’s sake, try to remove the bracelet and return it to the box.”

Bryn didn’t want to, but one look at her grandfather told her it wasn’t optional. “Sure.” She grabbed the cuff and tried to slide it off. It didn’t budge. Holding the bracelet with one hand she twisted the other arm. It didn’t slide or twist or anything. It felt like it had fused with her skin. “Umm…we may have a problem.”

Miss Enid stared at the box and then at the bracelet. “Try using your key.”

“Where?” Bryn pulled the key from her blouse and touched the bracelet with it. A keyhole appeared between the red and blue stones. Reluctantly, she inserted the key and turned it. The bracelet opened a fraction of an inch and Bryn was able to remove it like a normal bracelet.

“For now, place it in the box,” her grandfather said. “I don’t believe it’s something you should wear all the time.”

“Does that mean I can keep it?” She’d been sure he’d claim it as Directorate property.

“Why don’t we allow a few Greens, who I trust implicitly, to study it? Then you can have it back. Without fully understanding it, I’m afraid you could hurt yourself or others.”

She didn’t like that answer, but he made a valid argument. “I guess you’re right. I’d hate to reach for a pencil in class and accidentally stab someone, but you should make sure no one tries it on.” She told him about the Trial By Fire.

“That will make testing it a bit difficult, but I’m sure we’ll figure something out. Now, is that all you have to tell me?” her grandfather asked in a teasing tone. “You’re not hiding a giant flaming battle ax or a cannon that shoots daggers made of ice?”

“No.” Bryn grinned, enjoying this side of her grandfather she’d never seen before, “but both of those would be cool.”

“All right then. I will need to use you occasionally to open this door, unless we find a way to keep it open. If I call you out of class, you must come immediately.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Excuse me,” Miss Enid said. “I’d like to perform a quick test which could help in that area. If all three of you would leave the room and close the door, I’ll see if I can exit without your aid. If that works, we could leave a guard and a librarian inside the room to protect it and catalog it, plus you could come inside whenever you wish to visit.”