She weaved through the streets, continuing to focus on the dragon stone ring and the power within it, but there came no response from Ceran.
Every so often, Jayna detected a hint of dark magic, but that flared somewhere in the city before it disappeared.
It was more than what she had been aware of before. Even after the Celebrants of Asymorn had been active, Jayna hadn’t seen nearly so much activity. It suggested that something else was going on. Maybe it was all about the combination of attacks in Nelar. Maybe it had something to do with both Asymorn and Norej.
She still hadn’t learned why Nelar though.
It had to be about more than this being some ancient foothold of the El’aras.
There was some other reason.
And once she uncovered that, she would know why Ceran had left her here.
Jayna tore her gaze away from the houses surrounding the courtyard. Answers wouldn’t be found there. Gods, she barely knew anything about Nelar, despite having been here for the last few months. Everything seemed to leave her with more questions. She knew about the dular, she knew about the ruling seven dular families, and she knew about the relationship they had with the sorcerers—a continuously antagonistic one, but one where they had tolerated sorcerers for a long time. Up until recently. What else was going on?
She was tempted to go and visit Char, but that was something for another day.
As she headed back toward her home, she had the distinct sense that somebody followed her. She slowed, her brother’s lessons coming back to her—how to double back and loop around so she could avoid anybody following her too closely. When she did that now, she didn’t find anybody there. Either she wasn’t being followed, or whoever tailed her was skillful enough that they managed to avoid her detection. She tried another approach, sweeping around and searching for somebody who might have chosen to follow from a different direction, but once again, there was no sign of anyone. Maybe it was Matthew. He’d proven able—and willing—to follow her like that.
She stayed in the shadows of an overhang of a particularly small building. Most of the buildings were stone, but this one was wooden, as if it had been built in place of one that had collapsed. There were other places like that throughout the city, though most of them were on the outskirts, closer to the forest’s edge.
She didn’t see any other movement.
It really was just her imagination. Jayna had gotten jumpy with everything that had happened, though she doubted anyone would blame her for that.
She peeled away, heading back toward her home again. When she neared, she slowed down once more, doubling back, watching for any signs of anybody who might have been there, but still not coming across any. She tested with sorcery again, creating the pattern that would allow her to pick up on magic and sending it wafting down the road, but it detected nothing.
On a whim, Jayna used the Toral ring, borrowing from its power to create a circle of energy that went sweeping down the street.
She felt a soft energy in the distance.
It wasn’t close—it had to be several streets away—but from what she could tell, it was a dark energy. She was tempted to go after it, to see if she could uncover anything about it, but then it faded.
Whatever dark energy was out there must have known she had picked up on it.
As she looked at the house, she had no way of knowing whether Eva had even returned. Eva still needed to deal with finding answers about her past, which she had not been able to uncover before. If they could find the answers now, Jayna owed it to her to help.
And she had already begun to come up with some answers, even though they were not the ones she would have ever imagined. What if Eva was one of the ancient Ashara? Was it possible she was some sort of creature of fire that could take on human form?
Her friend had gaps in her knowledge. For so long, they had thought those gaps had come from some injury she’d sustained, some trauma she had faced, or even some enchantment that had stripped them from her, but what if the gaps came from whatever magic she possessed that held her in her human form and had stripped memories from her?
Raollet had said that taking on a human form would change an Ashara.
She took another deep breath, and after probing one more time for dark energy, she strode forward, reached the door, and pushed power through it in order to unlock it, then stepped inside.
Heat struck her, blasting her like a furnace, washing over her. The fire crackled with an intensity in the hearth that Jayna hadn’t experienced in quite some time. There were other times when Eva had sat before the fire, the blaze raging, but most of the time, Eva kept a comfortable fire, despite the normal warmth of Nelar.
Jayna never really understood it, but if what she had learned about the Ashara was true, then it made sense. The Ashara liked hot, dry heat. Considering the kind of heat coming off of Eva’s blasting fire, what was drier than the air in her home?
She closed the door.
Topher wasn’t there, and Eva sat alone in front of the hearth.
Now was her opportunity.
She would’ve liked to have had more time to prepare, to decide what she needed to say to Eva, but she might not get a better chance to take a seat and talk.
She grabbed a wine glass out of the cabinet. This was a conversation to be had with wine. She found a bottle resting near Eva’s feet, so she knew her friend had already started.
Jayna settled down in one of the faded stuffed chairs and looked over to Eva, who sat with her eyes closed, her head resting back, breathing slowly.
“Don’t say anything,” Eva said.
Jayna swallowed. “I thought I would have a glass of wine with you.”
“Don’t say anything,” Eva repeated. She popped one eye open, looking over to Jayna before closing her eye again and leaning back, resting against the chair. “I know what you were thinking.”
“I’m not thinking anything,” Jayna said and gripped the wine glass in her hands, twisting it from side to side. Finally, she leaned forward, lifted the wine bottle, and poured herself a glass. When she was done, she grabbed the glass off the ground next to Eva and filled that one as well, offering it to her.
Jayna set the bottle down and sipped the wine. It was an oaky flavor with earthy undertones, mixed with something that reminded her of the smell of the moss that grew along the walls in this city.
“Where is this wine from?”
“Not here,” Eva said.
Jayna took another sip before holding it tightly and looking over to Eva. “We need to talk.”
“No. You may feel the need to talk, but I don’t want to listen.”
“I didn’t go looking for information about you, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“I wasn’t thinking anything other than having another glass of wine.” Eva lifted the glass and drank it in three large gulps before setting it back down next to her. She seemed to consider something for a moment before grabbing the bottle and filling the glass again, then downing that one too.
“We still need to talk. After you left, I learned more from Raollet—”
Eva raised her hand, cutting her off. “I said don’t.”
“All he had were stories. That was it.”
“I heard the direction that most of those stories were taking.”
While they didn’t know if Eva truly was one of the Ashara, from the way Eva stared blankly, she must have started to believe it.