A Dame to Die For by Jamie Sedgwick

Author:Jamie Sedgwick [Sedgwick, Jamie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1542896002
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Inarrowed my eyebrows as I stared at the drawing. “What are you talking about?”

“Have you heard of seeds that need fire to germinate? Like giant redwoods?”

“I don’t know... I may remember hearing something about that.”

“Sequoia seeds are protected inside the cone. It won’t open unless it gets scorched by a wildfire; that’s how they grow.

“Fascinating,” I said. “Thanks for the botany class. What does that have to do with me?”

“This organ inside of you, Hank. It’s like that. It can’t grow except in very specific circumstances.”

I thought back to the last moments before I died. There was definitely fire, no doubt about that. There was also an explosion that decimated me, and everything else within a few hundred feet. “It’s not possible,” I said. “I was blown to smithereens. No organ could survive something like that.”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you! This thing isn’t a normal organ. It survived the explosion because it’s a seed. It’s hard as a rock, Hank.”

I gave her a skeptical look. “For the sake of argument, let’s say it could survive a blast like that. What’s the point? What could possibly come from a seed?”

“You could,” she said. I snorted. Gen turned the book back, and flipped to the next page. She scanned the next few paragraphs. “It’s called a heartstone. It says here that it stores up information about an ogre, all throughout his life.”

“Like what? Like a memory stick? Like a computer?”

“Yes, something like that. The stone contains memories and genetic information. If an ogre dies prematurely, the heartstone can be used to regrow him. That’s why you’re still the same person, Hank. Your memories make you who you are.”

I leaned back in the seat, gazing out the window at the back of the mansion. It was dark, damp, foggy out there. The place looked dead. “I still don’t get it. What’s the point?”

Gen flipped the page. “It says here that it’s a way to guarantee the continuity of the species. Since ogres are so rare, even a natural disaster could wipe out most of the population. This makes it so the population can be restored.”

“By planting a seed and growing an ogre?”

“There’s some sort of magic involved, but it doesn’t name any spell. It just says that the seed can be germinated by a powerful mage. Listen to this:

Due to the nature of the heartstone, the ogre, while maintaining his stewardship and authority over the fae, must also remain keenly aware of his dependence on the very creatures over which he rules. In order to perpetuate the species and assure that wisdom is passed on to their youth, the ogres rely on the fae just as the fae look to the ogres for protection...”

My head swam. Gen leaned closer.

“Don’t you see, Hank? It’s the balance of nature. The fae rely on Stewards to protect them and keep the peace, but the Stewards need the fae, also.”

“So what happened?” I turned my head to lock eyes with her. “What happened to the other ogres? Why didn’t the fae do something to save them?”

“I don’t know,” she said.

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