Starsinger

Negotiations

There was a part of Aaron that had never truly believed they would get this close. Legendary heroes had searched for the Resonant Stone, to no avail. He was just an ordinary archer. But now he'd seen it, swinging from the neck of Isaiah Mori, concealed in its golden locket.

"He was just wearing it," Raelyn muttered for the third time since they'd left the rogue's celebration. "Like jewelry."

Aaron had seen Delia's head spin when the old fence used the stone's magic, seen the way Sapphire clung to the wall for support. The memory left his veins buzzing, and for the first time since Mercali he felt something stronger than his fear. With the locket, Raelyn could fulfill the prophecy and become the Star. She could come into the power that would let her defeat the fatemongers. We can do this. We can win.

All they had to do was get their hands on that locket.

"He keeps it hidden most times, under his clothes," Katrina explained. "If folks ask, he tells them it's a family heiroom, more sentimental than profitable. You're sure that moonstone's in there? Looked like an ordinary locket to me."

"It matched the description in the Luminarium's manifest exactly," said Delia. They were crammed together in the Drake's undercastle in the dead hours before dawn, finally returned from the celebration. "And I felt it. Isaiah Mori isn't a mage. Last night he was channeling something far more powerful."

"He must not know what it is." Raelyn shook her head. "He'd never use it so casually if he did. Just a pretty locket that lets him shock and awe his friends."

"Would he actually trade it?" Aaron asked.

Jace's brows were furrowed in his usual plotting expression. "He knows what we're after, he plainly has some idea what the stone can do, and still he invited us to deal. He's intrigued by the prospect of the lightning generator. He could be planning to cheat us in order to get it, or to figure out how much we actually know about the Resonant Stone."

"He's working with the fatemongers," Delia said abruptly. "I think." She told them about Pippa, and the mages going missing from Isaiah Mori's household. "She says it's happening all across Prudence. Just like in the Wistful Wood."

Silence settled over them. Raelyn cursed.

Jace chewed his lip. "If he's working with the fatemongers, then he may suspect us. He may be trying to suss out who we are and what we're after. He doesn't know about Delia yet – that's helpful. But we need more information before we move on the moonstone."

"We can move on the missing mages right now," said Delia. "I sensed a wrongness in the room where one of them stayed. I think I can track it. If we search the island—"

"We can't," said Jace.

Delia stopped midsentence. "People are disappearing, Jace. On this island we have an actual chance to find them."

"The Resonant Stone has to be the priority."

"You'd prioritize the moonstone over actual human lives? These are my people, and they're in trouble."

"Delia—" Raelyn jumped in.

"And if we're ever going to get them out of trouble, we need the moonstone," Jace argued. He ran a frustrated hand through his mop of hair. "If you're right and we're up against the fatemongers, we can't spend days searching the island for mages. We can't go in half-cocked."

"We need Raelyn to fully become the Star if we're going to fight the fatemongers' Shadow," said Sapphire. "And that means we need the stone."

Delia opened her mouth and then snapped it shut again. Her green eyes blazed fiercely as she looked at each of them in turn. Sapphire was the only one who didn't look away. The scout met her gaze straight and raised her eyebrows. Delia exhaled sharply and sat back.