“Come on Sherlock, we’ve got this," Jacob calls out, beckoning me to the war table. Talking it out like Sherlock Holmes with a lead was always Jacob’s best solution to problems we didn’t know how to solve.
I walk over to the table and pull out the king’s chair, plopping down on the cushion. Jacob and the others join me as soon as they’ve cleared their areas, all of us coming up empty.
“Okay, so the king was one for secrecy and paranoia, right?” Jacob starts. “So we need something that isn’t obvious, but also doesn’t take too much work to activate. He’d want to be subtle and wow his guards. There’s no way it’s this close and he never flaunted it.”
“But we’ve checked all the furniture,” I point out. My hands absently run over the ornate arms of the chair as I study my surroundings, hoping something obvious will pop out at me.
Sitting down is only making my frustration worse, so I grip the arms of the chair and scoot it back. As I stand, I brace myself on the arm rests. As I put pressure on it, something clicks down, a button hidden in the wooden carvings. The sound of stone shifting has my head snapping up in hope.
“Well that did something, but there isn’t a door open.” My voice is full of excitement.
“What did you do?” Emrick questions suspiciously.
“I pushed against one of the carvings and it pressed down like a button," I explain, standing up and going over to the wall.
“There, beautiful," Gerwyn points out a circle similar to the lock downstairs. Oh great, another hand embedded in stone… my favorite.
“That went well the last time," Jacob jokes, bumping his hip against mine as he claims the spot next to me.
As soon as I take a deep, calming breath, I prepare to press it. I have to find the stone, and more importantly my mouse. I go to push my hand into the indent, but Emrick growls and stops me, wrapping his huge hands around my wrist a few inches away from the wall.
“Let someone else try," he commands, looking pained. I put my free hand on his cheek to calm him. My heart warms at his protectiveness, but it has to be this way.
“There’s only me, big guy. I have to," I soothe him before pulling him in for a kiss. He doesn’t look pleased, but he relents with a forced nod.
I don’t hesitate this time, I jam my hand onto the spelled lock before anyone else protests. Just like last time, my hand becomes immovable as stone envelops my hand. This time there’s no guessing, instead I follow the same steps I did last time, making the lock my bitch. After a few tense minutes I have my hand back and the stone wall shifting until a door swings open with a rumbling creak and a shower of dust and dirt.
The room beyond is narrow and long, wrapping around half of the tower. The space would be plenty if it wasn’t so cluttered with treasures.
Stone basins are pushed against the walls, holding more gold than should be possible. On the walls, shelves are lined with antiquities and tomes, all of which look old and expensive. I can almost imagine the king wading in the large gold tubs like Scrooge McDuck.
As I delve further into the room, Dormy’s squeaks catch my attention. I’m relieved that he’s here, and walk as quickly as I can manage in the cluttered space.
Eventually I pinpoint that his distress call is coming from a wooden chest. After flipping the latch, I start to lift the lid but it resists, refusing to budge for me.
“Big guy? I need some muscle," I call over my shoulder. Heavy footfalls make their way toward me until he’s looking over my shoulder. I point to the chest and shift my position so I’m as out of the way as I can be. He grunts as he tries to force the lid open, but it resists. Apparently I wasn’t just weak, his muscles visibly shake under the pressure, but Emrick isn’t one for giving up. He keeps yanking at the lid until a huge crack echoes in the space, the lid ripping clean off.
“That was a bit scary, but definitely impressive," I say with a laugh, in awe of his huge raw strength yet again.
Emrick shifts out of the way with a grin and I hurry forward. Dormouse is huddled in the corner of the box and he squeaks happily as I scoop him out and snuggle him.
“You had me so worried, little buddy. Don’t scare mommy like that again," I chide before handing him off to Emrick.
The chest has a hole carved into its side, lining up perfectly with the one in the wall. Though now a piece of wood is covering the hole, blocking Dormy’s only escape route. Crazy mouse.
With my companion safe, I pick back up the search for the illusive stone. The others join in and we rifle through every box and stack of treasure we can find. Eventually I find a wooden box, no bigger than a shoe box. Inside is an assortment of stones, all varying shades of pale blue. I know one has to be the stone of power hidden in plain sight. Though I have no doubt he knew exactly which one held his power.
“I found it! Sort of,” I call out, rushing out to the war table and dumping them out. I spread them over the surface of the table so I can properly see them. Most of the stones are shiny and have odd edges. Only one is smooth and shaped perfectly to fit in the indention on my crown. Not to mention it practically thrums with magic the moment my hand hovers near it.
The light blue stone has swirls of silver, giving it a unique look, almost an icy blue that perfectly depicts the lands. I pick it up and grab Gerwyn’s hand, walking over to an empty side of the room in case the Spirits want to have a word again.
“Ready? This is your last chance to run away from this crazy," I ask hesitantly, but I want him to be absolutely sure. I’m even more nervous than I was the first time. The first time we didn’t know what would happen, this time I know I’ll be greeted with pain and overwhelming power.
“I’m ready, beautiful," he meets my gaze so I can see the confidence and love radiating through him. It effectively clears up any doubts I have and I close my eyes.
Time to fix Winter.
As I unleash my magic, I realize that the corruption in this stone is so much stronger than Spring. It’s a sickly, thick magic that seems to drown everything in its path.