The Sapphire Soul by Matthew S. Cox

Author:Matthew S. Cox [Cox, Matthew S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B08KWRS679
Publisher: Division Zero Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

23

A Question of Reckless Concern

Oona

After the ‘business’ of their visit concluded, an hour or so of polite socializing with Queen Xorana passed in a foggy blur. Oona’s mind hadn’t been in the room with them, too lost to worries over Isilien and shock at the potential truth a past Talomir monarch might have committed an atrocity so horrible it had to be erased from history.

They’d debated the meaning of Solana’s message for a while, wondering if ‘beyond the gates of Isilien’ might be far simpler than the need to physically go there—namely, the curse could be broken by a mage using the type of magic once taught there. Xorana and Merix considered it an unlikely interpretation. They didn’t believe the spirit would be so cryptic in referring to such an obscure ancient ruin as a roundabout way of referring to arcane magic. Something about Isilien itself had to be crucial. Oona inexplicably felt the urge to agree with them. Considering her hunch to be a nudge from Tenebrea, she accepted they would have to go there.

Not only did the exact location of Isilien remain unknown, they wouldn’t be able to find whatever Kitlyn’s mother sent them in search of without some manner of complex key. Worse, how could they search for a key when they didn’t even know what form it took? It could be a literal key, or a dagger, or perhaps even a bottle of magical water. Emerald and amber obviously suggested a physical item of some form set with jewels. A literal key could be fancy, but so could daggers or swords. It might also refer to a green bottle holding amber liquid.

Oona spent most of the time they’d socialized trying to think of an object simultaneously bejeweled and deadly. The riddle complicated things to the point of frustration. It had to be something deadly not by mere existence but training. Even a dagger could be deadly in the hands of someone who’d never been in a fight before. One did not need to be a master duelist to murder a sleeping person, or a chicken.

The ‘small yet large’ most likely implied the item was bigger than a key ought to be, yet not of a size to be burdensome. Perhaps a small version of something also existing in a larger form. Kitlyn’s idea of a dagger fit the logic: small as blades go, but large for a key.

I cannot fixate my thoughts on it being a dagger or my mind will close to a different truth.

“Are you planning to ride home like that, my love?” asked Kitlyn.

Reality intruded upon Oona’s mental debates. She found herself in their guest bedroom, standing in her smallclothes beside the bed. Evidently, she’d removed her dress and become lost in thought.

“No. Of course not.”

Sighing, Oona collected her tunic and breeches, then donned her armor. Each time she put on the scout’s leather, she mentally stuck out her tongue, making childish faces at the nobility, who’d certainly gasp at her. It bothered

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