Chandi and the Moonstone by Suzi Yee

Author:Suzi Yee [Yee, Suzi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Expeditious Retreat Press
Published: 2019-08-24T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Jackson didn’t know which irritated him more, that he couldn’t find anything out about “moonstone” or that all the spirit activity had completely died down. He and Ariadne conducted all the interviews and searched all the visitors and ruin finds for something sorcerous in nature, but everything came up dry. After a week, the abbess called off the extra precautions and the Order of the Guard resumed normal activity, but Jackson continued to reinforce the wards in the main hall, just in case.

When he drew a blank, he consulted the scholars, again, a move he rarely made. Much of their “scholarship” was doctrine related, so he went to the only resident scholar with a scientific bone in his body: Brother Bartholomew. That old bird had seen and heard of everything, so when he drew a blank on moonstone, Jackson didn’t have much hope. Still, Bartholomew promised to dig into his library and the sorcerer had high hopes when Bartholomew asked him to stop by his quarters after dinner.

Jackson brought his bottle of whiskey to wet the owl’s whistle and placed three short raps on his door. Through the thick wood, he could hear him rise to open the door—Jackson figured he must have found something if he was answering his door instead of yelling his customary “Enter.” The owl motioned him in to the set of chairs and waved his other hand toward some glasses for the amber liquid in Jackson’s hand. Jackson started pouring while Bartholomew hovered over a few open books at his desk.

“I see you have been busy.” The sorcerer raised his drink to his host before taking a swig.

“I’ve always loved a good puzzle,” Bartholomew replied before tasting the contents of his glass. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t brandy; he set the glass down. “I found references to moonstones, which are a precious gem of the ancients, but not actually from the lunar body.” He placed an open book in front of Jackson. “It’s actually a feldspar, only the cleaving and refraction of light gives it a pearly or opalescent sheen. It was thought to have healing powers and had strong associations with the moon and feminine energies, but I have yet to find any contemporary sources that support such claims.”

“Then there is moon rock, which is actually from the lunar body but not nearly as pretty.” The scholar pulled another tome out and laid it in front of the sorcerer. “Apparently, the ancients also had a fascination with them; they brought some back to Earth when they first landed on the moon. Your people really are totemic.”

Jackson chuckled privately at Bartholomew’s assertion, first that Jackson had anything in common with the ancients just because he was human; and second, that the owl was disparaging faith beliefs and totems when he was a scholar of a church that literally believes everyone under the shattered moon is stuck here because in some past life, they didn’t run away fast enough from the apocalypse. Still, the sorcerer didn’t argue and simply took another sip.

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