Free Second Stone by Kelly Walker Page B

responding. “We tried with fire. I think it was working, but then she seemed to drift farther away.” Her voice hitched.
    “Don’t lose hope. She responded. That’s something.” In long strides, Garith moved to crouch down in front of Jessa and Rink. “If she responded, that means things we do can make a difference; it isn’t all up to her to fight whatever has ahold of her on her own. We can help her. We just have to figure out the right way to do it.”
    “You’ve got a point,” Torian said as he came out of the tent to join them. “But how?”
    Straightening up and looking back and forth among his friends, Garith said slowly, “I think we need to find a Roth.”
    “Why?” Jessa asked.
    “Because the gift of the Roths seems to take place inside their head. I think they would have more experience than anyone with this. Plus, maybe they can talk to her.” Garith’s heart lightened at the mere thought of having a direction, of having something they could do. If he couldn’t convince the rest of them, he’d do it on his own.
    “So on to Sheas Harbor, then?” Jessa asked.
    Garith’s face darkened. “No. It’s too risky. If they see her vulnerable like this… Well, we just don’t know what to expect from them.”
    Around the campfire, three expectant faces turned to the prince, waiting for him to tell them what to do. Garith watched them watching Torian. Couldn’t they see how lost Torian was? “The Roths aren’t at Sheas Harbor, anyway, remember?” Garith said.
    “I think Hendel’s wife is,” Torian said.
    “So then we need to find the Roths. The other ones, I mean,” Rink chewed the inside of his lip thoughtfully.
    “Torian, if you want to go to Sheas Harbor to get Oren so you can dethrone Reeve, I think we would all understand, but we can’t take Emariya there. Why don’t I take her to find the Roths while you continue on to Sheas Harbor?”
    “I think I know where they are.” Leil was so quiet that Garith wasn’t entirely sure he’d heard him right.

CHAPTER NINE
    Over Whispers and Sights
    Torian took a ragged breath. It misted in the cool air as he peered at the expectant faces watching him from around the campfire. Couldn’t they tell he didn’t have any answers? Perhaps he’d misinterpreted their looks. Maybe they knew he was only one thin line of self-control away from slipping into madness. Answers were in short supply, but he had plenty of fodder for a meltdown.
    Leil repeated himself, louder this time, “I think I know where the Roths are hiding.”
    If Torian was ready to lose control, Garith had already tumbled over the edge. The boy was a tightly coiled snake, ready to strike at the first unsuspecting person to walk too close.
    “How? And why should we believe you?” Garith darted over and jabbed his finger into Leil’s chest.
    “What reason would I have to lie?” Leil’s eyes remained flat as he avoided Garith’s glare and looked at Torian.
    “Let’s start with where you think they are,” Torian said, drained. Could he trust this man? Emariya had accepted his apology as sincere, but she hadn’t exactly proven herself to be the best judge of character.
    “I heard Khane talk about it once, before. He mentioned wanting to visit them, to show them he’d become more than them. When we were bringing Lady Emariya to you, he claimed that after we delivered her and got our payment, he’d go south, then cut up into the mountains. According to him, the Roths are holed up in the peaks just over the border.”
    “I still don’t get why we should trust you,” Garith said.
    Jessa spoke up, “Garith, please, what other choice do we have?” She put a restraining hand on his arm.
    Garith shook his head. “You see the good in everyone. Not everyone is as they appear.” He cut his eyes back to Leil.
    Jessa dropped her hand. “Maybe I am naïve. You’re right. But at least I am not as stubborn as the two of you.”
    Rink doubled over, laughing so hard he clutched at