Lorne Ashveil's Arc

Chapter 2 of 6

The boy learned fast. Two weeks passed, and Damien could name every rune on the cabin wall. But Lorne had not forgotten the hunger in that young face. A thief could learn the same as a student. So Lorne set a test. He took Damien walking past a grove of pink-blossomed trees, their branches curling like ribbons, and made sure the boy saw the flat stone he carried under his cloak. The stone glowed. Colors bled across its cracked face, green and red and violet, and runes crawled over every inch of it. Lorne set it on a low bench between the trees. "An old rune," he said. "Ancestry magic. Older than the vault. I need water. Wait here." He walked toward the stream and did not look back. He wanted to see what the boy did when no one watched. When Lorne returned, Damien sat exactly where he had left him. The stone lay untouched on the bench. "You didn't take it," Lorne said. Damien shrugged. "I wanted to. My hands got close." He looked up. "Then I remembered your lock. And I don't know what that stone does. Taking it half-blind gets me killed." Lorne smiled. The thief had chosen the slow way twice now. That was enough. He reached for the stone. "Wrong answer." The voice came from the blossoms. A small fairy stepped onto the branch above them. Flowers braided her hair, and her wings threw rainbow light across the bench. Lorne knew her by reputation. She dealt in favors, and she always collected. "Nyx Thistlewhim," Lorne said, careful. "This is not your business." "Made it mine." She dropped to the bench and crouched beside the glowing stone. "Your boy passed your little test. But he lied." She grinned at Damien. "His hands didn't just get close. He touched it. While you fetched water. Then he set it back." Damien went still. His jaw tightened. Lorne looked at the boy. "Is that true?" Damien said nothing. That was answer enough. "He touched it, felt the heat, and got scared," Nyx said. "So he faked being good." She stretched. "Thought you'd want to know. I don't like liars getting free lessons." "And your price?" Lorne asked. "Cheap today. I was bored." She flicked a blossom at Damien's chest. "Watching his face pay me back plenty." Her wings flared, and she rose into the branches and was gone. Silence held. Damien would not meet Lorne's eyes. "You didn't steal it," Lorne said at last. "But you lied about wanting to. That tells me more than the stone." He picked up the rune. "A thief I can teach. A liar I cannot trust with what I know." "Then I'll stop lying," Damien said, low. "We'll see." Lorne turned toward the cabin. The test had answered one question and opened a worse one. His successor could resist theft. He could not yet tell the truth.