A Fire Endless (Elements of Cadence, #2)

by Rebecca Ross

“But tell her if she refuses to starve this bard off the isle, then I will see it as a challenge to my reign and I will spread my blight further. She will watch her maidens fall, one by one, and her brethren will sicken, from root to stone to branch to blossom. There will be no end to what I will do to devastate the earth, and they need to be reminded that they serve me.”

It was evident to most of the folk that the northern wind was threatened by the earth spirits, who were the second most powerful spirits beneath him.

Jack’s music gave them a thread of hope, and if he left Cadence, their forbidden dreams would crumble into dust.

“I banish you, Kae of the Northern Wind,” Bane said. “You are no longer a favored messenger of mine. You are my shame, my disgrace. I cast you down to the earth and the mortals you love, and should you desire to ascend once more and join my court . . . you will have to be shrewd, little one. It will not be an easy task to rise after you have fallen so low.”

“Hamish Brindle.”

You’ll be fine.

Oh god

She had delved into the lore of the isle and discovered that the Breccans had raided even before Cadence was divided by magic. Descendants of a fierce and proud people, Breccans were born with swords in their hands and hot tempers and possessive bonds.

he was a favored son of one of the west’s thirteen thanes. As such, he was to inherit a large swath of land and was considered a powerful noble.

But before she could invite Jack, she needed to know where his father was—the man who had secretly given her to the Tamerlaines after Innes ordered her to be abandoned in the Aithwood.

“I had another daughter, after you,”

And if you are going to thrive here, you must wear those places down to bone.”

“It’s called Aethyn,” Innes answered. “It’s what killed your sister. The only poison in the west that we don’t have an antidote to counter. Because it has no odor or taste, someone’s drink can be poisoned with no fear of detection.”

!!!

You will feel side effects, however, and you’ll need to continue taking the doses in order to build up a tolerance to it.”

“If I am weak for wanting you, then let me embrace that weakness and make it my strength,” he said, his gaze fixed on the west. “And if you must haunt me, then let me haunt you in return.”

He sang for Adaira.

“You would risk the conservation of our lands rather than let us freely take from the east?”

“But I promise, when the seasons begin to pass and your husband refuses to join you here, you’ll change your mind.”

But he doesn’t refuse to come??? He can’t

But through the roar of her pulse and the din of her memories, she heard it—a very faint thread of music.

It was a harp, playing faintly in the distance.

Who would dare to play in the west?

“Yes. His music has provoked this storm, and there is no telling how long it will now last.”

How are they sure about that

Yes, he could tell there was a scratch on the parchment. Someone had removed the first seal and tried to replicate it with a second.

I fear to tell you that the song you played for me last night was carried on the wind, making its way into the west.

I must now ask you to please refrain from singing for me or doing so in a way that would cross the clan line.

The Breccans were reading her letters, which meant they were most likely also reading the ones Jack wrote to her.

Jack wondered if the two of them could communicate in code.

“I’m going to sing for the spirits again.”

Blight was seeping beneath her olive-toned skin.

“I’m looking for a book of music,” she whispered. “I’m looking for records of the last Bard of the West.”

“Instead of playing to strengthen the people, he played to gain more power for himself. Instead of playing to make harmony among the spirits, he played to command them. It didn’t take long for the fire to grow weak, the crops to fail, the tides to flood, and the wind to become far harsher than it should.”

“I would like the second half of Joan’s journal.”

“You’ll soon learn that if we halted our lives every time it storms, there would be little life remaining to live. We make the most of what we have here.”

“Does Innes know you’ve armed me?” she asked, a touch wryly. “I never do anything without Innes knowing,” David said, deeply serious.

It looked like tiny red jewels, slowly deepening to a dusky blue color as they hardened. They glittered in her palm like chips of ice. “What is this?” she whispered, letting the gemstones tumble from her hand.

The poison was still in your blood.”

The same jewels Innes had been wearing in hers. “Whose blood was in my hair last night?” she asked in a wavering tone. “It belonged to the thane who murdered your sister,”

Only it had never been him. It had been nothing more than a poison-addled mirage—she had seen what she wanted in that moment.

I was angry not because she was inconveniencing me, but because I was afraid she would one day push herself too hard and fail to show up at my door.”

“I don’t think that’s a fair comparison, given what I haven’t done versus what Moray has.”

If he was refusing to answer her question, then chances were that Jack’s father wasn’t dead. He was still alive.

Bane’s lightning struck the closest apple tree. It was the spirit who had been transforming to answer Jack’s call. The beam sliced the maiden in half, clean through her heart.

“At last you summon me.”

Jack knew that the spirit’s voice had been hindered by Bane.

Your clan cannot stand alone against him, nor can the spirits of earth and water. You will need to unite with them and join your rival clan. The isle is stronger as one, and perhaps you will be able to . . . to defeat . . . dethrone . . . him.”

Jack was both Tamerlaine and Breccan.

“You are the one to bring unity, Jack. The Tamerlaines will need the Breccans, and the Breccans will need the Tamerlaines.

“I am Ash. Laird of Fire.

But strangest of all . . . he could taste ashes in his mouth.

“Sidra,” Torin said. “If something happens to me, speak with her. The lairdship passes to her first, and then to Maisie.”

“No fever, but you’ll tell me if it begins to fester?”

Something else has to be going on here