Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 184

Chapter 184: Glowing stones
Everyone froze for several moments.

“What did you say?” Barnabas said slowly.

“A large stash of jewels, in that side room. They glow!” The messenger panted. He was sweating heavily, and looked exhausted. “They were hidden behind a large rock we had to move–”

“Did anyone touch them?” The Count demanded.

“Yes, I brought one out—” The messenger reached into his pocket and pulled out a shining emerald, glowing green, but as sweaty as he was, it slipped through his fingers.

“NO!” Barnabas screamed, flinging himself forward in the most undignified way.

There was a collective gasp as the jewel fell in seemingly slow motion towards the ground. The messenger scrambled after it, but wasn’t able to get his hands back on it until a moment too late.

It hit the ground and shattered.

The messenger blinked at the shards under his hand and lifted his palm to peer more closely.

“You clumsy fool!” Barnabas roared just as the man spasmed and convulsed.

The atmosphere changed from embarrassed and shocked to horrified as he suffered a seizure.

“NO ONE TOUCH HIM!” The Count’s glare promised swift punishment for anyone who disobeyed, but he turned to watch with fascination as the man on the ground slowly came back to himself.

The messenger put one hand to his forehead and rolled to his side. After a moment, he rose to his knees and stood.

“I’m–I’m so sorry, Lord Oakdown. My clumsiness was unforgivable–” He stuttered, “I’m not sure what it did to me just now–”

“How do you feel?” The king asked, interrupting Barnabas with some interest.

“Your Majesty, I… I’m not sure.” The messenger looked down at his hand. Anaisa glanced down as well.

The messenger’s acting was far beyond what she expected from him; clearly the man had some experience in either espionage or acting in plays, perhaps as a hobby.

If she hadn’t known, she would not have guessed that he had broken one of Deborah’s imitation stones as a cover for where he’d actually gotten his powers, down at the tree.

Which, she still didn’t know what powers each of the three who had gone with Trace had received… so her reaction was in fact fully genuine when his hand swelled to three times its size.

“Gah!” She cried, leaping back and tripping over the hem of her dress. Unable to use her tied hands to balance herself, she fell to the ground, twisting and hitting her face rather hard on a rock.

The commander pulled her back to her feet, but she felt dust and small rocks stuck to her face that she couldn’t brush away. A warm trickle slid down her jaw and dripped from her chin.

It stung, and she would probably get a black eye.

Tears leaked out despite her best efforts to contain them, and she looked back towards the messenger. His hand was returning to normal breadth, and he looked at the other. It similarly grew far too large and then shrank to the size of a child’s hand before returning to its original dimensions.

Murmurs broke out amongst the soldiers.

“Magic–”

“Did you see that rock glow?”

“Didn’t that woman say—”

“SILENCE!” Barnabas turned and snapped at the subordinates, and they came to attention immediately. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. “Your Majesty, what an interesting development this is,” He said more quietly. “Perhaps we should investigate this ourselves?”

The king’s jaw clenched, and Anaisa wondered what command he was attempting to resist. Or maybe he was simply angry about being manipulated by a man who had occupied one of the dozen most trusted positions in the kingdom.

The monarch looked at her, his eyes asking a hundred questions she didn’t know how to answer. She didn’t smile, but turned her head to the left to glare at Barnabas again.

“I have full confidence in your abilities to handle this matter without me,” King Harold replied slowly. “I will stay out here and deal with this prisoner.”

“Your Majesty, I had intended to bring her along as a sort of shield against their attacks, should they have survived the depths of the caves,” Barnabas turned and bowed deeply, “I was also certain you would want to see the store of magical jewels! Think of the power a monarch with magic would hold!”

“To make my hands larger or smaller?” The king cast a bemused look at the soldier who was still experimenting with his power, subtly, to one side. His feet were now changing their dimensions, as those around him watched with a sort of fascinated disgust.

Barnabas smiled tightly with faux amusement at the king’s joke. His gaze promised retribution should King Harold continue to defy his wishes.

Anaisa wondered what threats made the monarch so compliant. Perhaps Barnabas had left orders for an assassin to kill Sapphira, or the queen, if given the word. With the lion’s share of the king’s guard here, Anaisa imagined it would be far easier than normal to get an assassin in… especially with Denholm engaged to the princess and planning a wedding.

All it would take was one dressmaker, one florist, one anything to get close enough to wreak havoc in the castle. Of course, with Barnabas away, he would face no suspicion, and likely just order the king to name him successor immediately…

There were so many possibilities. Barnabas had played a long, patient game to make the shift in power as seemingly natural as possible. If his son took the throne, he would have a puppet king to control while he accomplished his purposes.

And if Denholm dared to become less than fully compliant, Barnabas would likely not hesitate to have his own son killed, particularly if he fathered an heir that would be more easily pliable.

“Let us go,” The king decided after a moment, and Barnabas smiled warmly. “Sanders will come with us.”

“Lead the prisoner back in,” Barnabas directed. “Do not let her touch anything, and send word ahead that no other soldiers are to touch the stones.”