Set in Stone (38 page)

Shona gave him a hard, regal look, but surprisingly didn't scold him or beat him up. She reached out more slowly and cupped the pendant in one hand.

"How is it possible?" she said in an awed voice. "Even my father only has two affinity-sculpted stones."

"So, they're different than regular sculptures?"

Shona sighed and then gave him a little smile. "I forget sometimes how clueless you are."

"Thanks."

"It's not your fault." She patted his hand. "Statues or carved stones are very common. When we say a stone is affinity-sculpted, we mean something entirely different."

"So my Aunt Ailsa, who sent me this pendant, doesn't carve other statues?"

"Oh, she most likely does, and that's probably most of her business. The king only allows a small number of sculpted pieces to be crafted each year." Shona gave him a thoughtful look, "This is probably an unauthorized crafting. Your aunt could get into lots of trouble if anyone ever found out."

Connor held out his hand, and Shona released the pendant back to him. He watched her carefully.

Would she really turn in Aunt Ailsa? He still didn't understand the crime. Or was she trying to maneuver him into a position where he'd feel obligated to gift the pendant to her?

Would he? Could he, now that he'd discovered what good he could do with it?

Shona laughed, a rich, honest sound. "You should see your face."

"Stop teasing the boy," Marcas said sternly. "It ain't right with how much good he's done today."

"You're right, Master Healer," Shona said. "I was only teasing, Connor. I don't really care if this was authorized, but be wary of how many people learn about it."

Connor glanced at the bustling camp and his heart sank. "The entire army knows about it."

"No," Marcas said. "They know you're an unusually gifted healer."

"But you could have done it all yourself, couldn't you?" Connor asked. "All you needed was the pendant."

"Perhaps." Marcas held up the worn sandstone pendant he wore around his neck. "These carvings carry adequate power for most common healings, but that sculpted pendant of yours holds at least ten times as much power, in a far more concentrated form."

"How is it possible?"

"That's what makes sculpted items so rare and so valuable, and so closely controlled," Shona said. "A gifted affinity-sculptor, like your Aunt Ailsa must be, can look into a power source stone and see patterns. Some stones contain vortexes of power, concentrations of whatever gift they grant. Sculptors can craft those stones to focus and magnify those vortexes. The resulting pieces grant powers no regular stone could hope to match."

"So you're saying without this pendant I wouldn't have been able to heal?"

"You have a rare, strong talent, lad. But that pendant triggered it far earlier than otherwise possible, and magnified it beyond your natural ability without years of learning." Marcas tapped the pendant, "So aye, perhaps I could have done as much as you did today, perhaps even a little more." He sat back and gave Connor a little smile. "Then again, perhaps not half so much."

Connor slipped the pendant over his head and held it out to Marcas. "Do you want to try?"

Shona's eyes widened in surprise, and she opened her mouth, but snapped it shut again. She looked at Connor with an expression that made him feel like she was weighing him, judging him. It made him deeply nervous, but he did not lower the pendant.

Marcas stared at it like it was a poisonous snake. His hand twitched, as if he barely restrained the urge to take it. Finally he shuffled a little further away and shook his head. "Nay, lad. It's yours. Common hands like mine were not meant to wield a sculpted stone."

"Why not? You're more Healer than I could ever hope to be."

"My reasons are my own, but have a care. Tasting power this strong, standing in the very threshold, exposes one to inherent dangers."

Shona shot Marcas a warning look, and Connor swallowed the questions he wanted to ask about the dangers. He sensed she would refuse to elaborate, but forced down his frustration.

So he only asked, "What do you mean?"

Marcas hefted his worn pendant. "I know my limits, lad. No need to take such a leap of faith at my age."

As Connor placed the pendant chain back over his head, Shona said, "Marcas, you're a man of uncommon wisdom."

Marcas snorted. "And you, lass, have a gilded tongue when you wish."

She rose and drew Connor to his feet. "Come. Carbrey wants to meet with you."

Chapter 40

Connor was surprised when Shona led him out of the camp and took River Road downstream.

"Where are we going?"

"To the main camp."

"I thought that's where we were."

"Rory's army barely fit in that clearing. You think Carbrey's army could?"

Connor shrugged. "That was the biggest clearing this side of the river for a long way."

"It was."

About a mile downriver, Shona led him into a clearing that he'd never seen before. No stumps remained, and even the earth looked solid instead of pockmarked with holes where Boulders might have ripped trees from the ground.

A large command tent dominated the center of the vast clearing. Smaller tents and cook fires dotted the ground, surrounded by racks of weapons, piles of armor, and huge tables where Linn worked to prepare the evening meal. Shona led Connor directly to the command tent.

The inside was spartan, with several folding chairs drawn up along the outer walls and a military bunk in the far corner. A wide, round table dominated the center of the room, holding a large map, edges held down by piles of parchments. General Carbrey and his captains stood around the table.

"Come in, lad," Carbrey said. "I hear you've found a gift for healing today."

"Yes, sir. Healer Marcas was kind enough to teach me some."

Carbrey looked pleased. "You show great promise, Connor. I'm looking forward to exploring that talent of yours when this business is over. Lady Shona's conditional patronage is a little unorthodox, but appears to be justified in this case."

"Thank you, sir."

"Now, to business. You know these mountains?"

"Better than anyone."

"Don't try to impress me, lad. I don't like boasters. Just tell the truth."

"It is the truth, sir."

Rory cracked a smile, as did the hulking Captain Peader, but the other five captains all remained expressionless.

"Very well," Carbrey said. He pointed at the map and said, "Let's see if that confidence is justified. Take a look and tell me what you see."

That was the first map Connor had ever seen. It showed a wide land with mountains along the northern border and the western side. Large sections, dotted with cities, divided it. One name drew his eye. Raineach. That was where Aunt Ailsa lived.

Carbrey pointed to the northern section, "We're up here, lad."

Connor scanned the map, trying to memorize as much as he could. This was the first time he'd ever gotten an idea of what Obrion really looked like. He found Merkland on the northern end of the map, up near the mountains. Carbrey traced the Wick River up from Merkland and pointed to a spot in the mountains that read Alasdair Quarry.

Amazing that the land could be drawn like this. He started tracing the mountains around the quarry with his fingers, trying to reconcile the drawing with what he knew.

He frowned. "This map is wrong, sir."

The Captain with fiery hair barked a laugh. "How many maps have you read, lad?"

"This is the first."

"Then what makes you think it's wrong?"

"Here, sir. Just look at Mount Ingram." On the map, he pointed to a peak to the northwest of the quarry and explained how it should have been set directly north of town. And to the east, the map showed one unbroken peak instead of the multiple mountains in the range.

He finished by saying, "It's more incomplete than actually wrong, sir."

Carbrey said, "Tell me then, lad, can you lead a force around Alasdair without being spotted?"

"I can."

"Tell me true. Lives of your own loved ones are at stake."

"I know it, sir. It'll be a hike, but we can come out of the mountains up by the quarry and take Quarry Road right down onto the plateau.

Carbrey smiled, "Very good." To the captains, he said, "We will muster at the foot of the slope. Light watch fires and make sure we are seen."

To Rory, he said, "You will lead the assault force on the manor. This is to be a precision strike."

"Understood, sir. My team is already assembled."

"Excellent. That woman made me the fool today, Carbrey added with a rueful smile. "This insurrection must end tonight."

"We'll take her alive, sir," Rory promised.

"And the Water Moccasin, Kilian," Carbrey added.

"And the girl Builder," the flame-haired soldier said. "I'm looking forward to interrogating her." His eyes seemed to glow as he talked, and Connor worried more than ever for Verena's safety.

"Focus, Aonghus," Carbrey said. "Take those three, and we'll have won an intelligence coup like this country has never seen." He stood tall, "Gentlemen, the fiasco this morning proved that times are changing. We must be nimble, adapt to the situation, and change ever faster. Tonight, we take the first step forward into a new world."

Chapter 41

After they left the command tent, Shona drew Connor to a far corner of the field. Soldiers filled the clearing, either eating dinner or sleeping in neatly assembled rows of small tents, cots, and blanket rolls. They passed Rory's company, slipped between a row of large water bladders hanging from tripods, and stopped at a cheery little fire. It burned in a ring of stones, with a couple of logs nearby for benches. No one else was around.

Shona sat on a log and drew Connor down beside her. The afternoon was fast fading, and shadows lay over the forest. Even with hundreds of soldiers within earshot, for the moment they were very much alone. Connor felt intensely aware of Shona's presence close beside him. He blessed the spirits for granting him so much time with her.

Shona handed him a cup. "Drink this."

Connor gulped the contents. Water, but filled with grit, as if she'd scooped it from the bottom of the river.

He grimaced. "What was that?"

"Soapstone."

Well, at least it wasn't sand, but no one had mentioned any special properties of soapstone yet. Then he laughed at the thought that he'd been teasing Hamish all along for sucking on rocks while now he was drinking them.

Shona frowned. "This is no laughing matter, Connor."

"I'm sorry. It's nothing. You wouldn't understand."

"Oh, so not only am I absurd, but I'm also slow-witted?"

How did the conversation get so twisted around so fast?

"No, of course not. It's just . . . my humor is so far beneath you, Lady Shona."