Free Forged in Fire (The Forged Chronicles Book 3) by Alyssa Rose Ivy Page B

is.”
    When he didn’t say anything else, I moved the conversation. “Nice place.”
    “It suits my needs for the present.”
    “For the present?” The house seemed permanent enough to me.
    “I am here as a watcher. I will return home and unite one of these days.”
    “So you aren’t from here?” I left the question of what a watcher was until later.
    “No. I am here to watch.”
    “Hence the term watcher.” Maybe something was straightforward for once.
    “I suppose I should not laugh. You might grow upset again.” His eyes twinkled.
    I glanced at an arched doorway that appeared to lead to a kitchen. “I assume you want to eat dinner now?”
    “Are you in that much of a rush? Not long ago you implied you were not hungry.”
    “I’m not hungry.” Not really. “But I’m anxious to reach Belgard.” I wasn’t sure how much time I had away from James, nor what was happening to him. I didn’t want to believe he could change completely, but I knew it was possible. Anything was possible.
    “Would you like to clean up?”
    “Do I look like I need to clean up?” I looked down at my dirty clothes. “Ok, maybe you have a point.”
    “I will go get us some water.”
    One of the things about Energo that was hard to get used to was the lack of modern amenities. I’d never take a toilet or sink for granted again. Or a hot shower. That one for sure.
    With my hands washed, I helped Elron bring over a couple of containers to the table. I wasn’t particularly hungry, but I helped myself to some fruit. “Thank you.”
    “Are you thanking me for the food?” He made a sandwich out of bread and some sort of meat.
    “For the food, but mostly for getting me out of that forest. I was lost.” There was no reason to pretend otherwise now.
    “So you admit it?” He took a bite of his sandwich.
    “Yes.” I cracked a smile.
    “I assumed as much.”
    “All I want to do is get to Belgard.” Then back to James and hopefully to some normalcy, but I‘d start with Belgard.
    “What is in Belgard you need so badly?”
    I took a bite of a bright red fruit. It was juicy, and as I didn’t have a napkin I used the back of my hand to wipe my chin. “The Essence.”
    He exhaled loudly. “You seek out the Essence?”
    “Charlotte?” I took another bite of the fruit. “Yeah. I need her help.”
    “And you assume you will get an audience with her?” Elron set aside his sandwich.
    “I guess you could say we’re friends of friends.”
    “Have you met her?” He watched me with interest.
    “Yes.” And my initial impression had been a good one. Nothing about her had scared me, yet some things had changed, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready to face her.
    “What is she like?” He resumed his eating.
    “I take it you haven’t met her?”
    He shook his head. “No. I met the Essence that came before the one before her.”
    “Ok, that’s a confusing line, but I take it you mean the one before her mom?”
    He nodded.
    “What was she like?”
    “I asked you about the current one first.”
    “Ok.” I considered how much to share. “Charlotte is sweet. Beautiful of course.”
    “Of course?” He finished off his sandwich. “Do you assume that all powerful people have beauty?”
    “No. But she is.” She had an ethereal beauty to her, and I had assumed she was just as beautiful inside and out, but now James was making me doubt it.
    “Ok. Sweet and beautiful. I would think there would be other words to describe the Essence.”
    “She seemed like a normal girl to me. But maybe that’s because she was from the same wo—”I stopped myself.
    He smiled. “What was that you were going to say?”
    I sighed. “You already know, don’t you?”
    “That you are not of Energo?”
    “Yes.”
    He shook his head. “I know you were not raised in Energo, but you are of this land.”
    “Um, nope.”
    “You are.”
    “That’s impossible. I hadn’t even heard of it until a week ago.”
    “But your parents must be from