Broken Stone (Souls of the Stones, #3) by Kelly Walker

Author:Kelly Walker [Walker, Kelly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Souls of the Stones

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

Properly Screwed Up

Emariya broke away from her grandfather’s embrace and looked behind her. Where did Torian go?

“Do you have any more mindroot?” she asked. “I wasn’t able to retrieve my things from inside the estate before we made our escape.”

Worry filled her grandfather’s eyes. “Did your mother...”

Emariya nodded. “She tried.”

When she’d first greeted Alara and Kahl, Blaine hung back, giving her some space. Now he approached, joining the conversation. “Princess Emariya did well, she fought hard not to succumb to her mother’s grasp.”

She looked to Blaine, surprised at the praise. “Blaine did well, too.”

Alara smiled at her husband. “It’s so nice to see you two getting along.”

“Emariya, you need to keep practicing your walls. Don’t leave yourself at your mother’s mercy if you are caught without your mindroot again.”

Her grandfather’s unexpected rebuke stung because of its truth. Had she practiced more, her mother might not have been able to interfere, and she would have been able to finish what she’d intended.

“But, I partially blame myself,” Kahl said. “I should have gone into the estate with you. I could have helped protect you from Valencia.”

“We had no way of knowing my brother would be here, or that my mother would be lingering either,” Emariya said.

“Come, child. I’ve some mindroot in my tent.” Her grandmother smiled, beckoning her to follow.

The walk to her grandparent’s tent was short, but filled with anxiety as Emariya repeatedly looked around for Torian. Her sense of dread steadily increased. It wasn’t like him to just wander off without telling her.

Alara pressed a tiny vial filled with orange powder into Emariya’s hand. The old woman’s fingers lingered, clasped around Emariya’s. “Emariya, dear, I hope you don’t think I am too forward.” She paused, looking to the tent ceiling as if searching for words written on the canvas. “But, I wanted to tell you not to fear the natural course of things. It stands to reason that you and Torian will eventually have a child. I’ve seen the way you look at each other. Anything born of that love...anything born of you...could not possibly bring anything but good.”

Emariya’s eyes filled with tears. Had she not worried over exactly that? Unfortunately, she’d seen evidence to the contrary. “If only that were true. You, grandmother, are undeniably good, and my mother is undeniably not. And I too...have done...things.” Images of the Damphries soldiers being burned down where they stood flashed into her mind.

Alara’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Perhaps you are right. Or perhaps there is good and bad in all of us, and your mother’s experiences combined with her choices led her down the wrong path. I wish you could have seen the girl she was before the anger jaded her.”

“Me too,” Emariya whispered. After dissolving a dose of the potent orange powder on her tongue, she excused herself, wanting to look for Torian.

Only moments after she left her grandmother’s tent, Emariya ran into Jessa, who was carrying a bucket of water. “Oh!” the girl exclaimed, dropping the bucket.

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