A Dawn of Onyx (The Sacred Stones, #1)(35)

I shook my head, “No, I’ve seen soldiers. That was something much more. You’re a master.”

“I had a worthy teacher in my father,” he said, looking down.

“Well, thank you for trying to teach me. I’ll give it the best I’ve got.”

He hiked up the stairs, a grin twitching on his lips.

Later, back in the apothecary, I realized that had been the only time I’d ever seen him smile.

***

If I wasn’t too sore to walk after a morning spent attempting to outmaneuver a master swordsman, the hike up the stairs to the library was sure to be the end of me. Keeping the oath I had made to myself this morning to discover more of the castle and build up a defense of knowledge, I had decided to start somewhere that scared me the least—visiting Mari where she worked. I hoped she might have more information on the king, the seer, and the castle itself. But also, I just liked the girl.

When I reached the top of the near-endless stairs, I was met by books upon books sprawled across spirals and rows of shelves. I’d never seen so many of anything in my life. The library was all warm shades of tea and tan, with worn reading desks and antique velvet chairs strewn throughout. By the time I found Mari in the ‘Gnomes and Sprites’ section, I still had just barely caught my breath.

“Hello,” I squeaked, irrationally afraid of disturbing the books’ peace. The room felt like a temple—reverent in its silence.

“Arwen,” she beamed, flitting over to me. “I can’t believe you actually came up here. It’s quite the climb, isn’t it? Papa said no job is worth the trudge up those stairs each day, but I don’t mind.”

“The view must be unbelievable way up here.”

Mari gave a knowing smile and walked us over to one of the stained-glass windows that looked down onto the forest below. The pines and oaks looked even more foreboding from above, filtered through the colored glass. Acres upon acres of deep, crisp, greens and gloomy black. A crack of thunder made me jump, and Mari turned, getting a better look at me.

“What’s with you? You look terrible!”

I slumped against the window. “Thanks.”

She leaned even closer, inspecting my face. “Ugh, and you’re sweaty!”

“This is going to sound bizarre—” I started, but realized I wasn’t sure how to finish the sentence. If I was going to live here, at least for the time being, I needed one person I could open up to. Last night had been—

I couldn’t sit alone with all the feelings much longer.

“…Yes?” she prompted, going back to putting books away.

Pushing off the glass, I followed her and scanned the library. An older, bespectacled woman was reading in a corner to our left, and two men who looked like generals were perusing the maps section.

Keeping my voice low, I started small, to test her out. “I spent the morning learning to swordfight with Dagan.”

Mari whirled to face me. “What? Why?”

And here was the hard part… Could I trust Mari? My instincts were never this strong, and they were pushing me to open up to her. She had only ever been kind to me, sought out my friendship, tried to make the transition—though she didn’t know the whole truth of it—easier for me.

I blew out a breath.

“I came here because my brother was going to be sentenced to death for theft, and I offered to work as a healer to pay off his debt. I spent my first night in the castle dungeon and the king was in the adjoining cell, pretending to be a prisoner in his own keep.” When her face contorted, I cut in. “I would tell you why, if I knew.”

“You met King Kane Ravenwood? And spoke to him? What was he like?”

“Horrible,” I snapped. “And miserably handsome. An awful combination.”

Mari laughed, “That does seem to be the consensus throughout the kingdom. How does that lead to a swordfight with Dagan?”

I told Mari everything. King Ravenwood’s lies, the awful lieutenant, my attempt to run, our wretched agreement, and my exchange with Dagan this morning. I told her of my mother, my siblings, my childhood in Abbington. Everything except for Powell’s abuse.

Mari sagged against a tall bookcase beside me. She actually seemed at a loss for words for the first time since I had met her.

“I’m so sorry you’re stuck here,” she finally said. “Shadowhold isn’t that bad, though. It’ll grow on you, I’m sure of it. I’m even more sorry about your mother’s ailment. I can’t imagine what it would be like to see Papa suffer in such a way.”

My heart hurt when I thought of my mother, attempting a journey to safer lands in her condition, and without her medicine as I never made it back with it that night. “The healers in my town weren’t ever able to figure out what it was. We tried every single potion, ointment, and therapy we knew. Eventually they told me to stop trying to heal her and just keep her comfortable while we waited for the inevitable.” I thought back to the day Nora gave me the stern talking to. I had never felt so defeated.

“I am so sorry, Arwen. At least your small town had a healer, there are many that have to travel for medical help. In Serpent Spring, on the border of Peridot, there aren’t any healers for miles. Once a man had his arm lopped off by a windmill and had to be flown via wyvern to Willowridge. Why he was up there, I don’t even want to know.”