Emerald Strength (Jewels of Illumination Book 4) by JMD Reid

Author:JMD Reid [Reid, JMD]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fallbrandt Press
Published: 2021-03-16T22:00:00+00:00

17

Forty-Ninth Day of Temperance, 755 EU

Avena treasured her conversation with her father despite the cold. The frigid temperatures only heightened how special this was. It made her feel so painfully alive. For a time, the ache of Ōbhin’s suicide in her heart had faded. Inside the manor house, the others were still holding the wake and honoring his memory.

A silence fell on Avena and her father. The pain was rising in her. She wanted to say something before the guilt overwhelmed her again. She had failed her promised. It sickened her at times. She would never heal from this. Maybe when she died, she would meet his soul in Elohm’s bosom and find forgiveness from him.

Because he was the only one who could forgive her.

Before she could find the words to say, a commotion echoed at the gate. She glanced over it and frowned, catching a glimpse of rainbow robes. The garb of a refractor. Why would one be here? She could think of a few reasons.

Deffona . . . So that must be Charlis.

“Father,” she said, her mind rushing into action. She became aware of all the jewelchines in the vicinity, the tens of diamonds inside the house buzzing away, her collection of topaz healers, the emeralds on her earthen gauntlets in her room along with the amethyst of her binder, the rubies several people carried as igniters, the aquifer in the kitchen, and more amethysts on the members of the Watch at the gate. “I need you to do something.”

“What?” he asked.

“Deffona’s here. I need you to take her out the side door of the manor house and then out the main gate. Hide her somewhere in the city.” She raised her hand to stop him from asking questions. “I mustn’t know. I can’t lie well any longer. I’m more and more in tune with Honesty than I used to be. It doesn’t matter where you take her, just make sure it’s safe. Bring her back the day after tomorrow. We’ll see the king and bring our evidence against the high refractor.”

He gave a slow nod. “Okay. It can be anywhere in the city, right?”

“Just so long as I don’t know. I’ll stall him as long as possible. It’ll give you time to get her outside. Once he’s inside the grounds, slip out the side of the house and out the gate.”

“You think there’s someone looking for her?”

“If he’s not, someone will be.” Avena smiled at her father. “I trust you. Protect her for me.”

The look in his eye brimmed with emotion for a moment. “You just can’t know where she is?”

She nodded.

He kissed her forehead. Her eyes closed and then her father burst from her in a jog, heading to the front door. She braced herself for Charlis, cold kissing her cheeks. Her fingers felt numb from it. She gathered the front of her skirts and marched across the lawn, breath puffing out before her.

A snowflake fell from the sky, drifting down before her.

Her mind worked on what she would say.

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