Song of Blood & Stone (Earthsinger Chronicles #1)(91)

If the True Father were to access his power now, there was no telling the amount of damage he could do.

Jasminda strained to remember the words Eero had spoken after he’d stabbed his sister, words Oola had not understood for they had been in the tongue of the Cavefolk. The words invoked the blood spell, and if Eero used it, so could Jasminda.

She stooped next to a fallen soldier and pulled the knife from his belt. Jack’s gaze was questioning, but he made no move to stop her. She squeezed the knife’s handle and moved closer to the standoff between the twins with Jack on her heels.

Oola’s face was clouded in misery as Jasminda circled around Eero and approached him from behind. His shoulders stiffened, but he did not turn. Instead, he took a step closer to his sister and wiped the tears from her face, then wrapped his arms around her waist.

With a yell, Jasminda ran forward and plunged the knife into his back, then whispered the string of words that would bring him to the brink of death and release his Song.

The stolen Songs inside him catapulted at her, their attack violent. She kept a hand on the knife but her knees buckled under the onslaught. The Songs were tainted; they battered ruthlessly. Her connection to Earthsong flared as her own Song fought back. Like a virus infecting her, the stolen Songs wore away at her shield, dragging her under. They were oily, slick with a layer of malevolence from their former host. Jasminda took them on, having no other option, but feared she would not survive the struggle.

Her knees hit the ground, and blackness swept over her vision.

Suddenly, another Song brushed against her consciousness. Oola was trying to link with her. Jasminda gladly gave up control of her Song, and the practiced strength of Oola’s immense power took over. The queen funneled the stolen Songs away from Jasminda. Her hand, still clutching the knife impaled in Eero’s back, was covered by Oola’s. Blood ran down Jasminda’s arm.

Using the same spell Yllis had discovered to trap his Song in her pendant, Oola manipulated the energy to force the stolen Songs into the knife before pulling the blade from Eero’s back. The sickly taste of blood magic fled Jasminda’s tongue as the Songs were imprisoned.

Oola pulled both their hands away, and the knife clattered to the ground, the blood on it spreading, hardening, transforming into the red stone of a caldera.

Jasminda fell back, gasping for breath, as Oola released their link. Jack was there behind her, propping her up, his arms buoys in the whirling sea, keeping her afloat.

Eero crumpled to his knees screaming, his brittle shell pierced at last. Jasminda slammed her shield into place as the man’s emotions sprang free of their bonds. She did not want to experience the suppressed feelings that five hundred years of ruthless brutality had forged.

Oola’s tear-stained face stared blankly at her brother’s weeping body. Her attention moved to Jasminda, eyes heavy, but grateful. “It is done,” she whispered, then shot into the air, soon becoming a dot against the sky.




"Your Majesty." A phalanx of uniformed men approached, each bearing stripes marking them as generals. Jasminda pried herself from Jack's arms, intending to give him space to deal with the endless duties that must await him in light of all that had just happened.

"One moment, if you please,” Jack said, holding up a finger. He extended his hand to Jasminda who grabbed it without thinking. He pulled her forward, away from the men and towed her along, moving swiftly through the multitude of people, all of them in various stages of confusion or awe.

“Where are we going?” she asked, darting a glance behind her at the frowning generals.

“I have no idea. Somewhere without all these blasted people.” He quickened his pace.

They were nearly at a run when they reached the outer buildings of the base. Jack led them into a structure she quickly recognized as the storage room they’d slept in on her first visit. It was only days ago but it felt like another life.

He pulled the door closed then turned to rest his forehead on hers and brought their joined hands between them. A single overhead bulb barely illuminated the space, but his face was so familiar to her it did not matter.

"I'm sorry I put you in the dungeon," he whispered, his breath warming her mouth.

"I'm sorry I tried to run away. So there, we're even. No more apologies." She could not keep the smile off her face, even as the exhaustion of the past hours took hold.

He captured her lips with his, and her fatigue melted away. She wrapped her arms around him, drawing him close, feeling energized by this stolen moment.

Beyond the walls of the storage space, voices called out searching for Jack.

"You have much to do now, Prince Jaqros. Or should I call you king?"

"Only if I may call you queen.” He took a step back and bent to one knee. “Jasminda ul-Sarifor, will you marry me?”

Her heart stuttered at the sight of him before her. He brought her hands to his lips. “Will you love me? Honor and protect me? Rule with me? Be my queen? Repair the damage of the two lands with me? Grow old with me? Have children with me? Make this world a better place with me?”

Tears pricked her eyes and her whole body trembled. Her answer stuck in her throat, but she pushed it out.

“Of course, Jack. Of course.”

She fell against him, and they both toppled to the ground.

The generals had to wait quite a while before their prince returned.