Free Aster Wood and the Blackburn Son by J B Cantwell Page A

around the crowd, and nobody spoke.  
    My insides twisted with disgust.
    “He’s using her,” I said, gritting my teeth.  
    “Indeed,” Owyn said. “Though she seems quite happy to be used.”
    “She’s not!” I spat. “She doesn’t want this. You don’t know her.”
    “No,” he said. “But I know him . There is some other, larger plan at work here. Some role Jade has to play that we do not yet understand.”
    I remembered the last time I had seen Jade, her face contorted with malice until it had become nearly unrecognizable. My fingers bunched into fists as I remembered the feeling of hanging from that ledge inside the Fire Mountains. She had left me there to die as she ran from the mountain to her new master.  
    Yes, there was definitely a plan for her.  
    It’s not her fault.  
    The voice was quiet in my mind, still weak, still hurt by her betrayal. But it was sure.  
    I remembered Rhainn and Cait, slaves against their will, unable to stand up to the monster who controlled their fates. I pushed the image of the chasm inside the mountain away, replacing it with the face of the demon who had nearly taken my life just yesterday.  
    It’s not her fault.
    “The fact remains,” Owyn continued, “that no other gold remains in the Fold that we are aware of. If there is any, it is not nearly so much as Aster will need. We must take the gold from Jade.”
    I snorted, unable to stop the laugh from escaping my throat.  
    “That’s insane,” I said. “If you think you can take so much as a pebble from someone as powerful as Jade, you’re delirious.”
    “That matters not,” he said. “I know what you need.”
    “And how would you know? I haven’t even told them yet.” I gestured around at the crowd.
    “You forget that I once walked in step with the one who first raised this alarm. That I was once of the Eight. I know what is needed to balance the Fold, and I am guessing it is more than your medallion can provide for.”
    The feeling of mistrust I had felt before flared again. Owyn had nearly as much information as I did. How?
    “Well, none of that matters, because it’s impossible,” I said. “She would never give you or anyone else the gold. We need to find another way.”
    “Do you truly believe she is too far gone to give her prize to the boy who rescued her from her dungeon?” He raised his eyebrows.
    “How do you—”
    “She told me about the mountain. Though she seems not to associate it at all with the Corentin who now rules her.” His hand brushed absently across one of the wounds on his cheek. “Though his power over her and all who reside in that mountain cannot be denied.”
    “She won’t give it to me,” I said. “There’s no way.”
    “You must find a way,” Kiron said, stepping forward. “You must fight her, if necessary. If it is, in fact, real gold that sits at Riverstone, that is the best start we could possibly imagine.”
    “And we haven’t much time,” Owyn said. “I have also seen the army amassing in the east.”
    Silence fell over all of us. I chewed on the insides of my cheeks, thinking. So many problems, and I felt at the center of each one.  
    The last time I had seen Jade she had all but outright threatened to kill me. She almost had, in fact. There seemed to be little chance of reaching her now.
    And yet, Owyn had said that she still remembered. Somewhere inside, she knew that I had been the one to save her from Cadoc’s prison.
    Owyn walked up to me, his face softer, as if he could hear the thoughts inside my head struggling to find reason.  
    “You are no ordinary child,” he said quietly. “Many more would have left us beneath Stonemore to rot. You went against the wishes of your friends to not release us. And you, not Almara, not Jade, not Kiron nor I, were the one to take the Book. Do you understand me? In ten thousand years, no one else could perform such feats.” He placed one hand on my shoulder. “There is a way.”
    “She’ll