The Quest for the Heart Orb (The Orbs of Rathira) Read online

  Quest for the Heart Orb

  The Orbs of Rathira, Book Three

  by

  Laura Jo Phillips

  Copyright © 2014 by Kathleen Honsinger

  Cover art/design Copyright © 2014 by Kathleen Honsinger

  All rights reserved.

  DEDICATION

  For my family. Thank you for putting up with my long hours, the cancelled family movie nights, shopping trips, get togethers and occasional melt downs.

  I love all of you, and appreciate each of you every single day.

  And, as always, for Mom, Grandma, and Great-Grandma---Thank you all for the creativity you passed along to me, as well as the heart to do something with it. There is a little bit of each of you in these books, just as there is a little bit of each of you in me

  Look for previews and coming release announcements at:

  Website:

  www.laurajophillips.com

  Facebook:

  facebook.com/laurajophillipsauthor

  Other Books by Laura Jo Phillips

  The Dracons’ Woman

  Book One of the Soul-Linked Saga

  The Lobos’ HeartSong

  Book Two of the Soul-Linked Saga

  The Katres’ Summer

  Book Three of the Soul-Linked Saga

  The Bearens’ Hope

  Book Four of the Soul-Linked Saga

  The Gryphon’s Dream

  Book Five of the Soul-Linked Saga

  The Vulpiran’s Honor

  Book Six of the Soul-Linked Saga

  The Falcorans’ Faith

  Book Seven of the Soul-Linked Saga

  The Tigrens’ Glory

  Book Eight of the Soul-Linked Saga

  Quest for the Moon Orb

  The Orbs of Rathira, Book One

  Quest for the Sun Orb

  The Orbs of Rathira, Book Two

  Quest for the Heart Orb

  The Orbs of Rathira, Book Three

  Secrets Kept

  Mixed Blood, Book One

  (Available under the name Kathleen Honsinger)

  Secrets Told

  Mixed Blood, Book Two

  Books by Harvey Phillips and Paul Honsinger

  To Honor You Call Us

  Man of War, Book One

  For Honor We Stand

  Man of War, Book Two

  Visit the home of the Soul-Linked Saga online at:

  www.laurajophillips.com

  or email Laura Jo at:

  [email protected]

  CONTENTS

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  Ren sat on a large, flat rock at the summit of Nu Sennet, gazing in awe at the Hidden Sister which, after an absence of a thousand years was, miraculously, no longer hidden. She kept blinking her eyes as though clearing her vision would bring back the broad valley she was used to seeing, but her view did not change. The Hidden Sister remained.

  The sudden appearance of an entire mountain from one day to the next would have been much more shocking if not for the stories taught to every child brought to Sanctuary. Even children as young as she’d been were taught the legends of the Three Sisters, the Orb Quest, and the Braii-Vatra Pact.

  Ren shivered and stood up, pulling her thick woolen hood closer against the wind. She was cold and stiff from staring at the Hidden Sister all morning, but still had to force herself to turn away from it. She hopped down from the rock and began making her way back to the little cabin nestled among a stand of ancient trees nearby, looking forward to a cup of hot tea in front of a warm fire.

  Another gust of wind brought with it an unusual sound. Ren turned toward the narrow trail leading up the mountain from Sanctuary, surprised to see a figure dressed in the familiar dark gray robe worn by all of the Braii. As she watched, the figure paused and tilted her hooded head back. “Ren!”

  Ren had no trouble recognizing the voice. It was Sierna, Adaya’s assistant, and Second among the Braii. Ren changed direction, hurrying down the trail to meet Sierna rather than make her climb further. A few short minutes later she stopped in front of the smiling woman, pressed her palms together and bowed her head.

  “Greetings, Brai Sierna,” she said. “I apologize that you had to walk so far, but I only just heard your call.”

  “Do not concern yourself, Ren,” Sierna said with a wave of her hand. “A little exercise every few years is good for these old bones, I’m sure. Besides, it helped me to work off some of my excitement. I’m sure you noticed the Return from way up there, did you not?”

  “I certainly did,” Ren said. “I cannot tell you how surprised I was when I went out to get wood this morning and found an entire mountain in place of the valley I expected.”

  “We were all surprised, I can promise you that,” Sierna agreed with a laugh.

  “Is there something I can do for you, Brai Sierna?” Ren asked, deciding they’d had enough polite chit chat to avoid sounding rude.

  “Oh yes, of course,” Sierna said, smiling. “Brai Adaya asks to see you.”

  “Then she shall,” Ren replied, then glanced down at the worn, everyday brown robe she wore. “I’m not properly dressed for Sanctuary, but it won’t take me long to change. You can begin walking back, and I’ll catch up with you.”

  “There is no need for that,” Sierna assured her. “This is not a formal summons. Come.”

  Ren frowned thoughtfully as she and Sierna began walking side by side down the trail. She had to slow her own step to keep pace with her companion, but she was used to that. She’d been taller than everyone in both Sanctuary and the surrounding village, Walshire, since she was twelve.

  While they walked she considered and discarded several possible reasons for Adaya’s summons. She’d never been called down from her cabin before, and couldn’t imagine why Adaya had summoned her this morning, especially since she was due to visit Sanctuary the following day. She wondered, briefly, if it had anything to do with the reappearance of the Hidden Sister. It was certainly a momentous and singular event. There would surely be days and days of celebrations, ceremonies, and rituals dedicated to the Return in both Sanctuary and the village. But she no longer lived at Sanctuary, and she had no ties to the village, so the Return could have nothing to do with her.

  It wasn’t her place to question Sierna, or any other Braii, but, as was often the case, Ren’s curiosity got the better of her. “Brai Sierna, do you know why Brai Adaya has summoned me?”

  “Yes, I know, but it is not for me to say,” Sierna said, not unkindly. They walked in silence for another few minutes before Sierna spoke again. “Are you aware, Ren, that today is the anniversary of your birth?”

  Ren was startled. “No, actually, I didn’t realize that. I count the days of course, so I know when to come down to Sanctuary, but I don’t keep track of dates.”

  “Then you don’t know,” Sierna said, stopping.

  “I don’t know what?” Ren asked warily, turning to face her. Brai Sierna’s eyes shifted slowly and deliberately to Ren’s forehead.

  Ren had to lock her knees to keep herself from falling to the ground in shock. S
he took several deep breaths in a futile attempt to slow her suddenly racing heart, then slowly raised one hand to her face. Up high, just a little below her hairline, was what appeared to be a small, rectangular emerald. Except that it wasn’t. Ren’s mother had called it a corona stone. Aside from that, Ren didn’t know why it was there, or what, if anything, it meant. She only knew that she couldn’t remove it, and that it had suddenly appeared on her sixth birthday.

  As though having a green rock stuck in her face weren’t bad enough, on the anniversary of her thirteenth birthday a triangular red object that looked exactly like a brilliant, fiery ruby had appeared below the emerald in the exact center of her forehead. The ruby was larger than the emerald, but just as permanent, just as mysterious, and just as alien to the eyes of all who looked at her.

  Her fingers touched the familiar emerald, then moved down to the ruby before, hesitantly, she moved them lower. Centered between her eyebrows she felt something hard, round and smooth embedded in her flesh. Something that had not been there when she’d washed her face before bed the previous night.

  “What does it look like, Brai Sierna?” Ren asked.

  “A pearl,” Sierna replied, smiling gently. “A perfect, opalescent white pearl.”

  Ren sighed and dropped her hand to her side. “Oh well, it can’t draw any more stares than I already get.”

  Sierna resumed walking and again Ren fell into step beside her. “Why is it, do you think, that people stare at you, Ren?”

  “You know why people stare,” Ren said uncomfortably.

  “Yes, I certainly do,” Sierna said. “My question, however, was why do you think they stare.”

  “There are lots of reasons, Brai Sierna, the most common being that I’m a freak.”

  “I grant you that there are those who think that,” Sierna said. “But they are by no means the majority.”

  “No?”

  “Oh no, not at all.”

  Ren couldn’t help herself. She had to ask. “Why do you think the majority of people stare at me?”

  “Jealousy, curiosity, and admiration are the most common reasons.” Ren was so surprised that she stumbled on the well-worn path. “You’ve never noticed?”

  “No, Brai Sierna,” Ren said once she’d regained her balance. “I certainly have not.”

  “That’s because you’ve always wanted to be the same as everyone else,” Sierna said.

  “Is that so wrong?” Ren asked.

  “No, my dear, it’s not wrong,” Sierna replied. “On the other hand, being like everyone else is not necessarily so wonderful either. It’s all in how you look at things, Ren, and to look at you is to know that you are meant for something special.”

  “I’d rather be ordinary and have friends than be special and alone,” Ren said wistfully.

  “I know you would,” Sierna said, reaching over to pat Ren’s arm lightly. “But you cannot change what is, Ren. You cannot change the blood in your veins, or the corona stones on your forehead, no matter how much you might wish to. However, you can choose whether to fight Fate and her plans for you, or accept them. You’ve spent years fighting and it has done you no good as far as I can tell. Perhaps it’s time to try acceptance for a change.”

  Ren saw the wisdom in Brai Sierna’s words, of course. Just because she had rocks on her face didn’t mean she had them in her head. She also suspected that there was a great deal more to what Sierna was saying than her words implied. “Why are you telling me this now, Brai Sierna?” she asked. “Or, perhaps the more pertinent question is; what is it that you aren’t telling me?”

  “Don’t worry about what I’m not telling you, Ren. You’ll learn that soon enough, though not from me. Instead, think about what I am telling you.”

  “I will try, Brai Sierna,” Ren said.

  “Good,” Sierna replied with an unmistakable air of finality. Ren’s curiosity raged, but it would do her no good to ask further questions and she knew it. They walked the rest of the way in silence, reaching an enormous plateau half way down the mountain a little while later. They crossed through Walshire toward the walls of Sanctuary, and Ren stared wide-eyed at the decorations being put up along the storefronts and houses they passed. There was a palpable sense of excitement in the air as the villagers prepared a grand celebration for the return of the Hidden Sister. Sierna picked up the pace, returning the occasional greeting but not stopping to talk as she usually did. That, combined with the summons and the things Sierna had said, began to make Ren nervous.

  Once they passed through the ridiculously tall double doors into Sanctuary’s marble halls, Ren fell back a pace so that she was following Sierna, her head up, spine straight, and eyes forward, as though she weren’t at all embarrassed by the new stone in her forehead. It was just her luck that the halls were filled with children bustling from one lesson to another when they entered. She considered looking into some of the faces around her just to see if Brai Sierna was right about the motivation behind the stares she felt directed at her, but decided to postpone the experiment for another time. Almost before she knew it, she found herself standing outside Adaya’s private chamber door.

  Sierna knocked lightly, then opened the door and stood aside for Ren to enter. She’d never been invited into Brai Adaya’s private chambers before, and she was relieved to find that it was warm and cozy, with tapestries on the stone walls and handmade rugs scattered around the perpetually icy floor. Adaya, First Brai of Sanctuary, sat in an enormous carved wooden chair that dwarfed her small, bent figure. Ren had sometimes wondered if Adaya was as old as Sanctuary itself, and would not have been completely surprised to be told that she was.

  “Greetings, Ren,” Adaya said, her warm smile increasing the myriad lines on her face. “Thank you, Brai Sierna, for bringing her so quickly. You may leave, now.” Sierna bowed and left the room, closing the door quietly. “Please, sit and warm yourself,” Adaya said, gesturing to a chair apposite her own in front of the fireplace.

  “Thank you, Brai Adaya,” Ren said, taking the chair, though she would have preferred to sit on the floor.

  “Did Brai Sierna tell you why I summoned you?”

  “No, Brai Adaya, she didn’t,” Ren replied while Adaya studied her intently. Old she might be, but her blue eyes were sharp and bright, missing nothing. “She said only that you wished to see me, and that changing my robe wasn’t necessary. I hope that was correct.”

  “Yes, yes, of course,” Adaya said, waving a gnarled hand. “I see you have a new corona stone. How old are you now?”

  “Twenty,” Ren replied.

  “That is good,” Adaya said, nodding. “Yes, very good. I had feared, for a while, that you would be too young when the time came, but thankfully that is not the case.”

  Ren wanted to ask what she meant, but held her tongue. Adaya preferred to speak in her own time, and didn’t care to be rushed. Instead, she held her hands out to the warmth of the fire and waited, the only sound in the room the crackling of the flames. Three full minutes passed by Ren’s counting before Adaya spoke again.

  “Ren, you remember the story of the Braii-Vatra Pact, do you not?”

  Ren frowned. Everyone at Sanctuary knew the answer to that question, down to the youngest child. It was required. “Of course, Brai Adaya,” she said. Adaya nodded expectantly, so she continued. “In exchange for creating Sanctuary, the original First of the Braii, Brai Lea, promised Vatra Gariel that all who lived within its walls would watch for the return of the Hidden Sister, and stand ready to provide assistance to the Orb Quest if such aid is requested.”

  “Yes, that is correct,” Adaya said. “As far as it goes. There is more to the promise; secrets known only to a few Braii at any one time, and some known only to the First. I will now share one of those secrets with you, Ren, Daughter of the Mareon.”

  A cold knot formed in Ren’s stomach. “I am honored, Brai Adaya,” she said, though the doubt in her tone was unmistakable.

  “One of our sworn duties to Vatra Gar
iel, and the people of Rathira, is to keep and shelter the Maiden of the Heart Orb here, on Nu Senna, until the Hidden Sister returns. Upon that event, we are to provide her with all she will need to take her place with the Orb Quest.”

  Ren stared questioningly, but Brai Adaya’s silence confirmed her suspicions. “You must be mistaken, Brai Adaya,” she said, outwardly calm, though inwardly she was struggling to remain in her seat rather than run straight back to her mountain top. “It cannot be me.”

  “Why can it not be you, Ren?”

  “Because I’m…I’m too different,” Ren replied, hardly able to believe that this subject had come up twice in one morning. “I’m cursed, Brai Adaya. You know this.”

  “How many times have I told you that what you see today as a curse, you will one day acknowledge as your greatest blessing?”

  “Many times, Brai Adaya,” Ren admitted. “But…are you certain that you haven’t made a mistake?”

  “Yes, Ren, I’m certain,” Adaya said. “You alone bear the corona stones. That is why you were brought to us.”

  “My mother didn’t intend to bring me here,” Ren argued. “It was only luck that we found this place before she died.”

  “Not luck, Ren,” Adaya said, shaking her head slowly. “It was Fate, as foretold by Vatra Gariel himself.”

  For long moments Ren could only stare, too stunned to form any coherent thoughts. Finally, one question arose in her mind. Perhaps not the most important question, she knew, but one she wanted an answer to. “Why did you never tell me this before?”

  “Because a secret told is no longer a secret,” Brai Adaya said. “And because I wanted you to grow up without the weight of that knowledge.”