The Carnelian Way

34.2

Shadows gobbled up the remaining light of the day as she waited with Mai. She rested her head against his collarbone, closing her eyes and considering what he had said about the risk of invasion. She doubted even the most vehement Denese rebels would want to find themselves at the mercy of new masters. Better to reconcile than start afresh as slaves. As for the Magisterium, if there was a choice between keeping the magic in their veins, or letting it fade or be snatched away, Rina had no doubt the Magisterium would do what they must.

"How will we rebuild Hypat?" she said. "Is it even possible?"

He ran the tip of his finger in a spiral over her stomach. "Hypat wasn't built in the middle of a desert to demonstrate Denese domination over the natural world. Nor was it by chance. You see—" his body pressed closer to her, and she had the sense that she was about to hear something few people knew. "The only known reserve of Carnelian crystals grow there, beneath the city itself."

"What about this mountain?"

Mai scoffed and said, "I was homesick when I came here—the cave is merely a replica. A pale shadow—if that."

"So the Hypat mines—they're crystal mines? I thought they were long gone, that the prisoners mined gold and other—"

Mai cut her off. "Other precious resources are found in and around Denea, too. These are things that are found elsewhere, and in greater numbers—though the nations that hold them stockpile their wealth to keep the prices down." He shrugged as if to say it worked for him. "Were it common knowledge that a productive Carnelian crystal mine remained in Old Denea." He snorted, the sound bitter. "Better the kings and queens of this world continue to think they can only be found through luck, inheritance or our favour."

Yes, Rina thought. Eurora might be powerful, but it took every spare soldier and navy vessel to protect their borders from without, and each guard to protect it from within. Another border, one that was rock and ash and dust, requiring constant shiploads of food and water for a standing army, would be even harder to maintain—near impossible through an enemy blockade.

"So, with the crystals below, it could be done? They could help reinvigorate the land?"

His chin met the crown of her head, and his smile vibrated through the bone that touched bone. "I've not wasted these centuries. Those Denese who rebelled and could be allowed to live helped to restore their land—even if they didn't know it. When the time is right, Denea will be reborn."

"We'd still have to protect it—if it was restored," she said.

"My love," he said. "The Devastation is a legend, but it is far harder to build than to destroy. Such an act of power would deter any invasion for centuries to come."

She nodded, understanding the truth in his words, and turned in his arms, catching a flash of green from the mural behind him. To walk in the grass in Hypat. To plant lavender in memory of Martha. To see wild roses grow and smell the scent of jasmine at sunset.

The cave cooled with the darkening of the valley, and she shivered.

"Will you tell me—about what is being done?"

"Of course—you bear my heir. That's why I brought you here."

He told her of the mining operations. A portion of the crystals was sent for Eurora's use: infused by the Magisterium to power towns and cities, or to store the Taint from forsakings. Many remained in vaults beneath the ruins of Hypat's citadel, ready for use in the future. Still others, smaller but flawless crystals, had been set within tunnel floors and walls like veins.

The miners dug beyond the crystal mines. They created tunnels that burrowed deep into the land, following the path of long-gone riverbeds. The tunnels branched out like roots beneath the desert sands and the once fertile crescent of a nation, and one day, the crystals within them would be used to send the Carnelian Way back into the land.