“And at the most?” I asked.
“I don't know. No one has ever dared to join three of them. The magic would be wild. Unpredictable. And if you merged three stones of the same color, the power would be even greater.”
“The same color?”
“There are four colors of soul stones—gold, red, blue, and green,” he explained. “Each animal family—Canine, Feline, and Avian—has four fae races within it, and each of those races has a different color of stone associated with it so that every family contains all four colors. To distinguish between the jewels of each family—”
I snorted. “Family jewels.”
Dalsharan gave me a hard look and I went quiet.
“To distinguish between the jewels of each family,” he started again, “each color has three shades—pale, neutral, and dark. This makes every soul stone unique. Now, if three warlords whose stones were of the same color, just different shades, united their soul stones, the already extraordinary power would be magnified.”
“Hold on.” I lifted a hand as something started to click in my head. “The Lion Soul Stone is a shade of gold,” I said. “And so is yours.”
“The Lion Soul is pale gold, my stone is dark.” Dalsharan nodded as if encouraging me to continue.
“What color is the Coyote Soul Stone?”
“Neutral gold,” he said in an approving tone.
“That's why you guys were so worried about getting them back! And that's why they didn't want you to go!”
“And that's why I had to,” he said softly. “Those stones are brothers to mine. I must see them safely back to their warlords.”
“Why couldn't their warlords go after them?”
“Because without them, they're weakened. I was the only one left, Ravyn. It had to be me.”
I shook my head at him. I didn't follow his reasoning, but I let it go. “You said that three merged stones could open wards at the very least. What could three merged stones of the same color do?”
“Potentially, they could do anything,” he said grimly.
He probably thought I was concerned about what the Farungal would do with that kind of power, and I was. But something else had occurred to me.
“How about stop the war?” I growled. “Could they do that?”
“You don't understand.” Dal shook his head. “Sure, a trinity of soul stones might be able to wipe out the Farungal. But they might also wipe out the rest of us along with the monsters. The risk is simply too great.”
I went still. “Oh.”
“Yes. Uniting the soul stones are our very last resort. I told you, they are wild, just like our beasts, and such savage power cannot fall into the hands of the Farungal.”
“But if a single stone only works for a specific race, wouldn't the three together need members of those three races to use it?”
“Not necessarily. For a warlord aligned with one of the stones, it would, of course, be easier to wield the power; the Beasts would help him. Guide him. But if someone were strong enough—mentally strong enough—and had the will to withstand the Beasts, they could command the soul stones. They wouldn't even have to be Fae to do it.”
“So, with only two of them, the stones are useless to the Farungal, but with three, they could be united and used.”
“It's a possibility. If one of the Farungal were strong enough.”
“But on their own, they only work for faeries of a specific race.” I made a huffing sound. “No wonder you were shocked when that thing worked for me.”
“It didn't work for you; it nearly killed you. Still, you shouldn't have lived long enough to remove it. The Lion Soul should have torn through your human body and killed you instantly.” Dalsharan shook his head at me and a tone of wonder entered his voice, “Ravyn, you survived wearing a soul stone. Who are you?”
“What kind of question is that?” I scowled at him.
“I'm asking if it's possible that you have some fae blood in you. In particular, Lion Fae blood.”
That wasn't as crazy as it may sound. Humans and faeries have been getting down and dirty since they first met, over a thousand years ago, and sometimes—it's rare, but it happens—children are born from those unions. When those children are born to human mothers, both mother and child get whisked away to Varalorre, where the baby is raised as fae and the mother is awarded a sort of honorary fae citizenship. But some human women have been known to hide their pregnancies because they don't want to leave Stalana. I think those women are fucking crazy; I'd give anything to go to Varalorre. Maybe all those baby hormones made them nuts, but whatever the reason, there are now humans running around Stalana with fae ancestry that they don't know about.
“I don't think so,” I said and snorted.
“Why do you say it like that?”
“I come from a long line of close-minded assholes. I can't imagine any of my ancestors having sex with a faerie, much less bearing a child by one.”
“A randy fae man wouldn't have cared if your ancestor was an asshole so long as she was beautiful. And if you're any indication of the looks that run in your family, I'd say there's a good chance that was the case.”
A slow grin spread across my face.
“Don't smile at me like that,” Dal said but he smiled too.
“You think I'm pretty,” I said in a sing-song tone. “You want to kiss my pretty lips.”
“I told you, I haven't decided yet.”
“Oh, you've decided.” I tossed the meat pie aside and crawled over to him. “You just don't want to admit it yet.” I rose on my knees before him and leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “I won't tell anyone.”
Dalsharan jerked back, put a hand to my chest, and pushed me away. “This is why I don't take a lot of lovers.”
I flushed with embarrassment and sat back on my heels. “Whoa. Okay. I misjudged that situation.” I started to get up.
Dalsharan grabbed my wrist with a growl, yanked me down, and rolled me beneath him. He pinned me to his pallet with his body, and I felt him harden against my thigh. But he didn't kiss me. He glared at me.
“You're a fucking distraction!” the Hawk Lord snarled in my face. “I was so busy flirting with you that I didn't think things through. I didn't warn you about the cold in a Farungal fortress or the dangerous treasure they keep. I didn't even tell you about the soul stones. I let you go in there unprepared and you almost failed your mission because of it. Because of this!”