"How many times do I have to tell you, size isn't important." He grinned wickedly. "It's all in what you do with it."

I nodded in understanding. "You multiplied it."

"By a lot." Kesyn leaned toward Agata and lowered his voice. "He tends to overthink things."

"I've noticed. Though in his defense, I didn't see a way out of our situation either." Agata addressed me. "As little as I like it-and for the record, I don't believe I have ever liked anything less-we need each other, as unfortunate as that arrangement is. You don't stand much of a chance of finding the Heart of Nidaar without my help, and I'm not going to be able to rid myself of Khrynsani attentions until that stone is either destroyed or permanently out of their reach. And to do that, I need you. I'm afraid we're rather stuck with each other for the duration."

I blinked. "Afraid we're stuck?"

"I take it you'd rather I worded it differently?"

Imala cleared her throat. "Tam's used to better reactions from women to the idea of spending time with him."

"I'm going to a continent few have journeyed to and survived," Agata continued, "to find a stone with the power a cult of psychopaths need to open passages to our world to conquer and enslave us all." She glanced back at me. "Can you honestly say that you're looking forward to this?"

"I have things that I would rather do," I admitted. "As if the Khrynsani and the possibility of Sarad Nukpana being back isn't enough, now we have someone who, if she isn't actually from the Lower Hells, has enough black magic to have her own mini army of demon zombies at her beck and call."

"We were lucky she put all of her effort into containing the two of you," Kesyn said. "She wasn't expecting an attack from the rear and didn't prepare for it. She won't make that mistake again. Arrogance will bite you in the ass every time. Remember that, boy."

"I've never forgotten."

My teacher snorted. "If I didn't know you'd forgotten, I wouldn't need to remind you. You didn't expect someone bigger and badder than yourself. Granted, there aren't many of them around, but one of them found you, and you've got a lady and a hunk of rock that she wants. She'll be back, and she'll have an even uglier surprise for you next time."

Agata spoke. "We should be safe-at least from her-while traveling to Aquas. We'll be on a ship."

Imala and I traded an "oh crap, not again" glance.

"What?" Agata asked.

I told her. "The pirates who killed the elven ambassador and took his staff prisoner were killed by Khrynsani death curses."

No one said anything.

Agata looked confused. "And this affects our shipboard safety how?"

"A Khrynsani dark mage tore open a Gate on board the pirates' ship while it was in the middle of the Sea of Stillness."

Agata dark eyes widened. "A Gate can be opened on a ship under sail?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Any higher-level Khrynsani mage can open a Gate if they know a ship's exact location. All it would take would be to plant a tracking crystal on the ship when the Khrynsani agent initially hired them."

"What's to keep them from doing the same thing to our ship?"

"Extreme paranoia on our part. Anything being loaded on our ship is being checked before going onboard. And before we set sail, Kesyn and I will be going over the ship again."

Kesyn grunted. "Work in the palace long enough and you raise paranoia to an art form. If you don't, you're dead, and it won't be pretty."

The mention of palace intrigue made me remember what Agata had said about my ancestor, Kansbar Nathrach, and the piece of the Heart of Nidaar that he'd supposedly brought back to Regor with him. The Khrynsani had searched his home nine hundred years ago-the same home we were in now. It had passed down through the Nathrach family through the centuries. The Khrynsani had searched my home two years ago, and I had a feeling they hadn't found what they were looking for. Were they still looking for the shard? And if so, was it still here? Or did it no longer exist-if it ever had?

I asked Agata to tell Kesyn, Imala, and Barrett about Kansbar Nathrach and the shard.

Afterward, I didn't feel nearly as bad about never having heard of him, as Barrett had no recollection of any ancestor by that name. Barrett's family had served my family for nearly two hundred years, and Barrett knew as much about the Nathrach family history as my parents. If they knew it, Barrett would know it. He didn't.

I frowned. "So Sarad and Sandrina destroyed our home out of spite."

Then Barrett and Kesyn shared a suspicious-looking glance.

"That's not entirely accurate, Your Grace," Barrett admitted.

My eyes narrowed. "What is it?"

"This may have had nothing to do with what happened here," Kesyn said, "but it could explain a few things."

Barrett spoke. "After Sathrik Mal'Salin had you declared a traitor to the crown, he confiscated this house and its contents. We managed to get some of the family valuables out; the rest we had to leave in the armory vault in your rooms and hope they weren't discovered. There simply wasn't time."

I clenched my teeth as the anger built. My family had been forced to flee our home, grabbing what they could, risking capture, torture, and death by remaining one moment longer than necessary. I had repaid Sarad Nukpana-or so I thought. Like rats, they had taken over my home; and like rats, they had escaped.

Not for long.

I took a calming breath. "I wouldn't have wanted you to risk yourselves. Possessions can be replaced; my family cannot. And yes, Barrett, you are family."

"Thank you, Your Grace. What you saw when you returned from the Isle of Mid was much improved over what we found when we first got back into the house."

"It was worse?"

That earned a whistle from Kesyn. "Oh yeah. It was all too obvious that the house had been searched from top to bottom. And when they didn't find what they were looking for, they went deeper-as in holes in the walls, floors, and ceilings."

Since my return, my mother had told me that even after Kesyn was no longer my teacher, he had still maintained close ties with my family. I had abandoned them. Kesyn Badru had not. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Barrett stepped up next to Kesyn. "With all due respect, Your Grace, what purpose would it have served?"

"Most of it was done by Sandrina," Kesyn added. "Sarad was busy with his plans for kingdom domination, so Sandrina appointed herself demolisher in chief. She oversaw the search for whatever they were looking for. And they were looking for something. Hard. However, I got the impression that they didn't find it."

"Do you think it was the shard?" Agata asked him.

"It was right after Sarad had been outmaneuvered once again to get his hands on the Saghred. Though if they were looking for something like that, it wouldn't have been something they could have achieved with a simple burglary. They would have needed you out of your house permanently."

I knew exactly what he was saying, and so did Barrett and Imala. I didn't know if Agata Azul knew the story of my wife's death, but I wasn't up to telling her.

Sandrina Ghalfari had poisoned my wife Calida. It had been the first step in forcing me out of court and then out of the kingdom. I knew they'd wanted me out to open the way for Sathrik to kill the queen, his mother. What if it was more? What if it they simply needed me out of my house so they could ransack it for a piece of the Heart of Nidaar? Did my Calida die in agony for a sliver of rock?

I didn't say any of this out loud.

I met Imala's eyes. She knew.

"According to the histories, Kansbar Nathrach brought it back from Aquas with him," Agata said. She then told them about one or more of the objects brought from Aquas being cursed and causing storms and sickness on the return voyage, and that all objects were thrown overboard. That may or may not have included the shard. "However, once Kansbar returned to Regor, the Khrynsani captured and tortured him, and when he wasn't forthcoming about the shard's location, they watched him for the rest of his life, short though that was."

"No shard?" Imala asked.

"Not that anyone knew of."

"The house has always been in the Nathrach family," Barrett said.

"And if Sarad and Sandrina still didn't find it here," I noted, "chances are good that he hid it somewhere else, or it doesn't exist anymore."

"You forget a third option," Agata pointed out. "A rather obvious one."

"Which is?"

"Barrett, you said that you removed some of the family valuables before the house was confiscated and ransacked. I assume that included the family jewels?"

"It did."

"I take it they're back here now?"

"They are."

"Would you mind if I examined them? Being a gem mage, if a shard from a stone of power is among them, I should be able to find it."

Chapter 15.

Who knew my family had so much jewelry?

There were chests of it. They weren't particularly large chests, but they were still chests. I couldn't help but think that Phaelan Benares would love to come across these on a ship he'd just taken.

Thanks to my family's quick thinking, the Nathrach family jewels were all here rather than adorning Sandrina Ghalfari. My armory had survived as well, with the addition of the jewels and art my parents couldn't take with them. It had remained undiscovered during Sarad's sacking of my family home.

We goblins are most proficient at hiding things, be it money, jewels, alliances, dead enemies, or inconvenient emotions.

Imala had returned to the palace, leaving my house security in the capable hands of her team. Kesyn had adjourned to the nearest couch to take a nap.

I looked closely at the jewels spread on the table before me. They were easily worth a fortune.

My mother would possibly know if one of the pieces had a stone that flickered like flame. But my parents and Nath weren't due back from the country until tomorrow. Since Talon was going on the expedition with me, he would be coming back home via mirror in a few hours.

Mother had only had me and Nath; there'd been no daughter to pass the family jewels down to. Considering how Nath and I had turned out, that absence had to be a source of disappointment to her.

We were both doing everything we could to make our pasts up to her-especially me. She had given many pieces to Calida, but none of them had resembled "flames captured in stone."

I didn't remember my mother wearing such a stone, but then she had worn only a few pieces, not being much for socializing with the previous regime.

Barrett leaned over the table next to me. "Sir, may I recommend you examine one drawer at a time. The entire collection would be a bit overwhelming all at once."

"There's more?"

"Of course. The Nathrach ladies have always enjoyed their finery."

He didn't mention Calida, but I knew he was thinking about her, as was I. She had been exceedingly fond of jewels, but only the smaller, more understated pieces, which meant I'd never seen some of these pieces in my life. Not all of the jewelry had been maintained. If it was attractive and wearable, it had been kept clean and polished. Garish pieces had been left to gather dust and tarnish. I shifted through a tray of bejeweled castoffs.

"Some of these are quite...large," Agata noted.

"And gaudy," I muttered.

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to."

"They do speak for themselves, don't they?" Agata said.

"Loudly," I agreed. "I assure you we have good taste, at least the last two generations do." I picked up a pendant with a ruby the size of a goose egg. "How would a woman even wear something like this?"

"The better question is why she would want to," Agata said. "Though it could be nice on a sword pommel."

We went through drawer after drawer in the jewelry cabinet, and chest after chest. Nothing looked like it was or ever had been flickering with flames. There was much that was bright, shiny, or sparkling, but there wasn't a flickerer in the lot.

I was getting discouraged.

I glanced at Agata. "Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Do you sense anything from any of this?"

"Other than the Nathrachs at several times in their history had questionable taste in jewelry-no, I don't sense anything. That being said, many gems of power are activated only by touch."

I took in all the pieces of jewelry, most set with more than one stone, the chests stacked with multiple trays, and sighed. "We're going to need coffee."

Agata nodded in agreement. "A lot of coffee."

Legend said the Heart of Nidaar was like flame contained inside of a stone. It didn't say what color the stone was, which wouldn't really have mattered in regards to what we were doing. I wasn't about to leave any stone unturned-no pun intended. Or untouched.

"Do you think the shard would react to me?" I asked, shuffling through a small pile of loose stones, turning them this way and that, looking for the telltale flame.

Agata was doing much the same. "Unless you have gem talent, it shouldn't. Do you have any gem mages in your family?"

"Before tonight, I would have said no. But tonight I discovered one of my ancestors had not only sailed to Aquas and returned, but also may have brought home a shard of the very rock we'll be searching for."

Agata turned an opal the size of a hen's egg in her fingers, gazing at the light playing in its sparkling depths. "Ignorance can be enlightening."

"I'm not enlightened yet."