Shaper of Stone (The Shapers Book 1) (10 page)

“Why did this make you seek out
Tibron. A man who is a complete stranger to you.”

Abella smiled at the old man, “A
stranger who risked his life to save Tavi and myself. He also warned
me to watch for the deceiver’s return. I know it isn’t
much, but at the moment, it is the best I have.”

“He warned you did he?”
Talamas looked at Tibron who seemed to be ignoring the older man.

“Carvis betrayed my people. You
know that I will kill him one day, why do you insist that we play
these games and watch from the shadows. He is there.” Tibron
pointed back the way Abella came. “I could go there now and end
the wretch.”

“He is just a tool. It is his
master that we must stop. When we accomplish that, you may deal with
Carvis as you feel is just.”

“Wait! What are you planning?”
Abella slowly took a step back as she considered the distance to her
horse. Maybe this was a mistake after all.

Talamas noticed the glance to the
horses. He raised his hands so that the palms were facing Abella. He
made it clear he didn’t have any weapons. The same could not be
said for Tibron who bristled with blades, but even the lizard man
sensed Abella’s unease and stayed back, giving her the space
she needed.

“Forgive us,’ began
Talamas. “This is an old argument. Tibron’s tribe was
betrayed by Carvis. Many of his people were killed and an item of
great importance was stolen.”

Tibron said, “I tracked Carvis to
your home where he delivered the treasure of my people to your uncle.
I was studying his habits and preparing to declare my challenge to
the snake when Talamas discovered me. Talamas convinced me that
Vatrale was a greater threat and that my vengeance would need to
wait. We have been working together ever since.”

“Are you saying my uncle is a
thief?”

Talamas shook his head, “No my
dear. He is much worse. He craves power and will do anything to get
it. Theft is the least of his crimes. He will kill or enslave anyone
if it serves his own agenda.”

“I don’t believe this. My
uncle is a good man. He took me in when my family died. He made sure
that Tavi had a home when his parents disappeared. He...”

“I know this is not easy. You
came to us. You suspect something is wrong, but you can’t put a
finger on it. Your uncle is gone, and a man you do not know claims to
be your uncle’s heir. Yet, I know your uncle still lives. I can
sense his power even now. When he joined with that young man he
became a beacon to any with the power to shape. I do not believe this
young man is your uncle’s heir. I believe he is your uncle.”

Abella stared at the old man unable to
believe what he was saying. She wanted to turn and walk away. If she
could, she would forget she ever met Tibron and his crazy, old
friend.

She didn’t move. She wanted to
believe in her uncle. He had been her protector, but during the
attack he abandoned her. He went in search of Devin, but never asked
about her.

Instead of leaving, she asked the old
man, “You said he joined with someone. What do you mean?”

“During the attack he convinced
the young man with him to put on a binding bracelet. Vatrale wore its
match. The young man was bursting with power. Once he donned the
bracelet he sealed a connection between Vatrale and himself. It
allowed Vatrale to draw on that power as if it was his own. And draw
on it he did. The exchange of energy between them was so intense that
I don’t believe Vatrale could control it. It overwhelmed him,
and for a short while he lost control.

“With that much power at his
disposal he would be able to heal almost any wound. For a man of your
uncle’s skill it would be possible to reverse the aging
process. I believe he has done so and now plans to return to his home
as a long lost heir to avoid any unnecessary questions.”

Abella listened quietly and when
Talamas stopped she asked the questions she truly feared, “And
Devin? The young man he drained. Is he dead?”

“No. Vatrale still draws on his
power, which is why I can sense him. If young Devin was dead,
Vatrale’s power would be greatly diminished. I doubt I would be
able to detect him.”

Abella let out the breath she had been
holding. She said, “If Devin is alive, we need to find him.”

“Yes. We must not allow him to
remain in Vatrale’s control. Vatrale has been gathering power
for years and with the addition of the young man I fear he may be
close to his ultimate goal.”

-o-

The next three weeks crawled forward.
The man calling himself Horatio was busy asserting his authority over
the barony while trying to earn the friendship of Abella. Each night
he would invite her to dine with him. During the first week she used
the loss of her uncle as an excuse to avoid spending any time with
Horatio, but he shortly grew tired of that and demanded that she join
him.

Abella sobbed during that first dinner,
and confessed that being able to share her pain with Horatio did help
her accept the loss of her uncle. Instead of hiding from him, she
sought him out. She used their shared loss as a way to connect with
her cousin. She burst out in tears at the mention of her uncle and
would constantly pester Horatio about how he was dealing with the
loss.

It did not take long for the steady
display of emotions to wear thin on the new lord of the estate. Soon
it was he who was avoiding her. Just as Abella had hoped.

Vatrale always struggled with emotional
outbursts, and that discomfort was also evident in Horatio. The
similarities didn’t end there. Horatio knew the estate and the
servants like he had lived here his entire life. And not
surprisingly, he could shape the earth.

When Abella discovered he could shape,
she could no longer deny the idea that the man claiming to be her
cousin was in fact her uncle. As the ability to shape became less
common, Vatrale spent much of his time searching for those who could
benefit from his training. She could not believe that he would
overlook his own son in his efforts. The only reason he would have
done that is if the son didn’t exist.

Three weeks passed while Abella tried
to learn the truth about her uncle and Devin without revealing her
concerns. She learning little she did not already suspect. To
discover anything new, she would need to search his room.
Unfortunately, that was going to be easy. The man calling himself
Horatio, or one of his guards, always seemed to be present.

She had still not discovered a way to
search his room without being discovered when a message arrived from
an associate connected to the royal court. Horatio had filed all of
the appropriate petitions for an heir to assume a hereditary role,
and had dismissed them without a second thought. It was a common
enough occurrence that he had no reason to suspect it would be
otherwise.

He had forgotten one simple thing.
While the ruler of a barony was often a hereditary position, in this
case it was not. Vatrale was appointed the steward of the land. A
position which was not passed down from generation to generation. In
fact, the position only existed until a new lord was appointed Baron
of Kelit.

The royal council was arguing amongst
themselves, but were clearly leaning toward stripping the lands and
title from the Vatrale family and bestowing them upon another. Their
recommendation would go before the king at the end of the following
month. It was unlikely that the king would oppose the request.

The man pretending to be Horatio, son
of Vatrale, spent the next day gathering supplies before he departed
with a band of lizard warriors led by Carvis. The official story was
that they had left to petition the royal court in person, but for a
man on a diplomatic mission they carried a frighteningly large array
of weapons.

-o-

Abella and Tavi sat on a bench near the
pond where they first met Talamas and Tibron. They were waiting for
the two men to arrive.

A wicker basket sat on the ground
between Abella’s feet. Balls of yarn and knitting needles stuck
out of it. Her eyes moved from scanning the treeline for any sign of
movement to the basket as she reassured herself it was still nearby.

Tavi dangled a fishing pole in the
water. If anyone looked closely they might notice he had brought no
bait. Tavi wasn’t trying to catch dinner. They just wanted a
convenient excuse for why they were here should anyone discover them.
The precaution was probably unnecessary. This was the fourth time
they had used this spot and not once had they seen another person.

Talamas and Tibron had never been late
before. They were always the first to arrive. The change in routine
made Abella nervous.

Abella was just about to suggest that
they leave when a weary Talamas emerged from the treeline. He quickly
looked around the clearing before waving and trotting over to the
bench. Although the distance wasn’t more than twenty yards, the
old man was winded when he reached Abella.

“You’re alone,”
states Abella. “Has something happened to Tibron.”

“He is following Vatrale. For men
traveling to the royal court, they left in the wrong direction. He’ll
find out where they are going and report back to us. With luck, they
may lead us back to your friend.”

“If not, I might know where to
look. I finally managed to get into his room, and I discovered this.”

Abella lifted the basket from the
ground and placed it on the bench. Tavi stood, and moved closer to
the water’s edge. The boys departure left space on the bench
for Talamas, allowing him to easily see into the basket. Beneath the
knitting material was a ledger and beneath that was a picture frame.

“May I?” asks Talamas as he
reached into the basket and removed the ledger first. He flipped
through the book, pausing on some pages as he tried to make sense of
the cypher within.

“I don’t understand. What
is this?”

Abella took the book from Talamas and
turned it around so that he could see the pages.

“This book was hidden in a secret
drawer under my uncle’s desk. He recorded all his business
transactions in a private code. Only he and I know it, which is why
it doesn’t make any sense to you. He varied it a little here,
but I could still decipher most of it. This ledger documents the
creating, transportation and storage of something. I don’t know
what it is, but from the figures it must have taken almost two months
to create one. There are a few periods where production picks up, but
those spikes are short lived. One or two shipments at most. It looks
like it picked up again over a month ago.

“And this means something to
you?” encouraged Talamas as he waited to hear what Abella
discovered.

“Devin’s name is next to
the entry where the production count jumps up. The previous entries
only showed shipments of one at a time. Then the one with Devin’s
name on it increased to five. There are a few other times when the
numbers rose above one and on each occasion there is a name next to
it.”

She glances over at Tavi to see what he
was doing before lowering her voice, “I recognize some of the
names. They were students who trained with my uncle. The entries all
seem to fall around the time when they left his training. I don’t
think Devin is the first person he abducted like this.”

Talamas nodded his head in agreement
with Abella. “Is there anything else.”

“He mentions picking up the cargo
at a mine and delivering it to the tower for storage. I think Devin
is being held at this mine.”

“Do you know which one?”

“Not yet, but there aren’t
a lot to pick from. Around Kelit we have only a handful and two of
them have closed. The ones that are closed are a limestone quarry and
a silver mine.”

Talamas rubbed his chin with the back
of his hand before speaking. “Nerafpan is often found in silver
mines, and I believe Vatrale would need a great deal of nerafpan.”

“If he has anyone transporting
goods to one of the mines, there will be records somewhere. I’ll
go into town and speak to the caravan masters to see what I can
learn.”

“That seems like a good idea
except for one problem. Won’t the niece of Vatrale asking
questions seem out of place?” asked Talamas. “I think it
would be best if I spoke to them. The young boy there could go with
me. An old man trying to find work for his grandson won’t raise
any eyebrows.”

Tavi looked over his shoulder at the
two on the bench and nodded his head indicating he would be willing
to help.

Abella briefly considered the plan
before agreeing with it. “Maybe someone has seen something. I
think it is our best option for now.”

“At the very least, it will keep
us occupied until Tibron returns.”

Talamas reached into the basket and
removed the second item. It was a portrait. The silver frame was
about nine inches tall and perhaps six inches wide. The portrait
showed a young woman with long blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes.
She looked almost identical to Abella, but the portrait must be at
least fifty years old.

Talamas raised the portrait so that he
could see both it and Abella at the same time. He smiled softly at
her. “You look a great deal like her. Where did you find that?”

“It was under the ledger. I
wonder who she is.”

“I have no idea. Maybe a relative
of yours considering the resemblance. I doubt it means anything.”

Abella took the portrait back and
placed it at the bottom of her basket. The ledger went in on top of
it, and finally she shuffled the knitting material to conceal them
both. “You are probably right, but I think I’ll keep it
anyway.”

-o-

The next several months quickly fell
into a routine.

Before Shira was taken prisoner, she
spent long nights with her husband as he practiced shaping. She
couldn’t do any of it herself, but she learned all that she
could so that she would be able to encourage him. Thankfully she was
willing to share that knowledge with me.