The Way of the Sea

Chapter Twenty: Moonstone

Quickly, she lowered herself to the muddy seabed and closed her fingers around one of the strange-looking tools that everyone else was claiming. Next to the tool was a dark, cloth bag tied with a string and Eden picked it up.

The last merrow to come through was the one Deagan had put in charge. He faced the prisoners with a scowl. "You know how this works. But, starting today, your work is doubled."

The other prisoners groaned, but Aela flinched at his voice, and Colin tensed.

The guard continued. "There will be no talking or complaining, or your workload will be increased further. Get to work."

The crowd of prisoners started moving.

"Wait -- how does this work? What do I do?" Eden whispered to Aela, lifting the tool in her hand.

"Just do what I do," she answered, moving toward one of the miniature geysers.

Colin took in a breath like he wanted to say something, but when Eden looked at him, his mouth had clamped shut and his eyes had averted, sweeping the landscape beyond them. What he was watching for, Eden could only guess.

Aela paused. "Don't tell me you aren't jumping at an opportunity to explain how moonstone works."

"Well--" Colin turned back to Aela with a hard look, but there was no malice behind it. He huffed as if the effort it would take to defend himself would distract him from the superior purpose of enlightening Eden of the inner workings of moonstone. He looked back at Eden, ignoring Aela as she smirked in his direction.

"It's an incredible feat of nature," he said. The constant tension surrounding him momentarily dispersed. This time, even though he whispered, there was no doubting the eagerness in his voice. "Magma heats the moonstone found deep beneath the seabed. The heat causes the moonstone to leak through the sediment in liquid form, and once it hits the cooler water, it hardens back into rocks and settles on the ocean floor, forming these little mounds and chimneys that you see --"

Aela snapped her fingers, and energy zipped through the rope, zapping Eden and then Colin. It felt only like a pinch on Eden's wrists, but it got Colin's attention.

"Yes, yes," Aela mumbled. "Science. When you put it that way, it sounds utterly delightful." She turned to Eden. "What he means is that you and I will be getting hot and tired, chipping away at the rock all day. And then we get to haul it all back to the castle furnaces, where we will become even more hot and tired."

Colin grimaced apologetically.

"Why do we need to mine for this stuff?" Eden continued. If he was going to keep answering her questions, she would keep asking them. "What is it?"

The apology that was written across Colin's face vanished, and disbelief took its place. "What is it?"

Eden hesitated, her eyes flicking back and forth between Colin and Aela.

Does Colin know I'm not from here? Is it okay if he knows? What do I say?

Colin continued before she could come up with an answer.

"I don't know how anyone could not know about moonstone -- it's only the source of all magic! The lifeblood of Ársa!"

"No talking," the lead guard said. Eden looked up and caught the guard glaring at Colin, who, rather than cower and stutter like he did when Captain Deagan spoke to him, glared back. The guard's sneer held an undercurrent of laughter that was not mirrored in Colin's eyes. He turned back to the other prisoners, and that's when Eden noticed that the fingers on Colin's right hand were frosted in ice, and a sudden cool radiated from him.