The Traitor Queen (The Traitor Spy Trilogy #3)(119)

He chuckled. “What about the other stones?”

“This will be harder to remember. Shield stones have stone settings, strike stones have wooden ones. The rest use bronze, copper, gold and silver, with different textures on the handle so you can recognise them by touch.” She took these out one by one, describing what they could do. One was for noise-blocking, another would make an ear-splitting sound. A few could produce light, for illumination or signalling. One made a short, constant firestrike for cutting or burning, another used forcestrike to project any small missile set into the bowl. Another pair were designed to explode after a delay, though she warned him that it could be after anything from a count to ten to a few hundred.

Then she pulled out a handful of rings from her pockets.

“Most of the vest stones are single-use stones. These are multiple-use ones, so don’t throw them away when they’re depleted. The smallest are for communication,” she said, slipping two rings holding iridescent gems onto his little fingers. “They don’t activate until you press them down into the setting, against your skin. The one on your left hand connects with the ring I’m wearing, the other was going to connect with Halana, but Savara will now be wearing her rings. Don’t use hers except in urgent situations. You could distract her at a bad moment.

“The dark red ones are strike stones. The pale blue are shield stones.” She pressed them onto his first and second fingers, then held out the last two. “These are new to us, and we don’t have many of them. The clear one … you gave Halana the idea, actually. We’d never bothered to make stones with the sole purpose of storing magic to be retrieved later as pure magic, rather than to be channelled to a purpose.”

“A storestone!”

“Yes. We have about twenty of them. They have only the strength of three average magicians stored in them. Halana didn’t want to risk adding more, and most of Sanctuary’s strength was being taken and held by Traitor magicians – which made it instantly accessible rather than having to reach for a ring. If these were strengthened in peace time, however, they could be more useful.”

He took the ring and slipped it on the last free finger of his right hand.

“And the other?

“The purplish one,” she grinned, “is a Healing stone.”

“Kalia made it?”

“No. A stone-maker read her mind, tested what she’d learned on a volunteer, then made a few stones. She says the stones have been taught to boost the body in whatever Healing it’s already trying to do.”

Lorkin picked up the ring and examined it. “Smart. That way, if it works, it won’t matter what kind of wound needs Healing. The wearer only needs to know how to use magical force to hold bones in the right position so they don’t heal crooked, or the sides of wounds together, or to remove poisons, infection or a build-up of blood. It wouldn’t work for using Healing beyond what the body needs, like easing pain, or tiredness, though. How many did she make?”

“Five. Wait … easing tiredness?” Tyvara frowned. “You can stop yourself feeling tired?”

“Ah … yes. I didn’t mention that when I was in Sanctuary, in case it made people feel more … well … annoyed with me.”

“Does it take much magic?”

“No.”

“Could you ease my weariness, or Savara’s?”

“Yes.”

She waved a hand as he tried to give the ring back to her. He looked at her hands. She wasn’t yet wearing any of her rings. “Do you have one?”

“No.”

“Then take it. There’s no point in me having it. I can do all these things already.”

“Savara said you’d say that, but insisted I offer one to you anyway.”

“I appreciate the offer, but she’d be doing me more of a favour if you wore it.”

“Why would I need one, when I have you?” Taking the ring, she smiled. “She wants to see you.”

She caught his hand in hers, and led him across the room and into a corridor. Savara was in the main suite, surrounded by people talking in groups or arriving and leaving. Looking around, Lorkin recognised all of the Speakers – except Halana, of course. Seeing him, Savara held up a hand to the woman she was talking to, then walked over to meet him.

“Lorkin,” she said, her eyes dropping to his vest then up to meet his gaze. “All prepared for the fight?”

He patted his chest. “Yes, thanks to you and whoever prepared this for me.”

Tyvara held out the purple ring. The queen smiled and nodded. “Give it to Speaker Lanna.”

As Tyvara moved away, Savara stepped a little closer and suddenly all sound ceased as a barrier surrounded them. Her expression became hard.

“Has she given anything away?”

Guessing she meant Kalia, Lorkin frowned. “No. All I sense is guilt. I’ve caught her thinking that she is a fool a few more times.”

“Not even a hint that she is planning something?”

He shook his head. “I wouldn’t lower your guard, though.”

Her lips pressed into a grim smile. “No. She will be well away from me, watched closely.” She sighed. “I suspect whatever she did backfired and got Halana killed, and she doesn’t want to risk making the same mistake.”