Assassin of Curses: (The Coren Hart Chronicles Book 3) by Jessie Eaker (best novels in english TXT) 📕

She hangs off every letter she gets, pouring over them for some tiny detail she might have missed.” Docila turned to look at me. “It gets annoying. Not that she talks about you, but you don’t even acknowledge she’s there.”

“But she wanted me out when I was just a child.”

She stabbed her finger in my direction. “Listen Coren. She feels deeply guilty for making you leave. I guess we all do. And Floria asks about her brother all the time, which doesn’t make it easier for her.” She shook her head. “Even though I’m not her flesh and blood, she treats me as if I’m one of her own. As I’ve grown, I’ve come to understand her a lot better.” Docila stood erect and clasped her hands in front of her. “So my price is for you to visit Mother at least once a year.”

I shook my head. “She seemed pretty eager to get rid of me.”

She sighed. “Coren, you have no idea what it was like living with you. I was in constant fear that I would get seriously hurt.” She took a deep breath. “Mother was afraid too. And just think, she was pregnant with Floria. What if you made her miscarry, or she died in childbirth, or even caused the new baby to be stillborn. With your curse then, it could have caused a thousand things to go wrong. Which is why she felt she had to choose between her oldest son and her unborn child. She knew her oldest could take care of himself, but her unborn...” she trailed off.

I hadn’t thought of it that way. “How do you know this?”

“We talk. Father means well, but he’s a man and doesn’t really understand. So she talks to me.” She looked away. “Creator knows I’ve needed to talk with her lately.”

I shook my head. “Are you sure that’s what she wants?”

“I’m sure, but ask her. It would go a long way to easing her guilt. Just don’t tell her I’m blackmailing you into it.”

“And what about you, Docila? Do you want me to visit? I still have my curse.”

She shrugged. “As long as it’s not for too long, I guess I could handle it. Besides, it would be nice to make fun of you again.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “And what will you do if I refuse.”

She grinned wickedly. “I’ll tell the princess about the time you wrecked the privy.”

My eyes got big. “You wouldn’t dare.”

She just smiled.

I held up my hands. “I surrender. I’ve been outmaneuvered.”

Nodding in satisfaction, she took a large spoon and stirred the pot hanging over the fire. “Now back to this thing you need to find. What exactly do you need from me?”

“To show me the Griffin’s Key. Other than being something of legend, I have no idea what it looks like.”

She gave me a sad look. “Coren, I don’t have anything resembling a key. For that matter, we don’t have any locks. I don’t know how I could possibly help you.”

I sighed. “It’s likely something very old. Ancient. And it might not look like a key. I had to find something called a mirror, and it looked like a ball of glass. Have you run into anything like that? Or perhaps it might have acted strange or be protected somehow.”

Docila gave me a funny look. “Ancient, you say? Well, there was the place I hid the goats. It had some ruins in it and sort of qualifies as strange.”

I leaned closer. “How so?”

She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “It was back in the spring. We’d gotten word the soldiers were coming, and they were taking everything of value. Father sent me into the woods to hide the goats. I thought I’d take them up to a small clearing about a mile from here, but the goats were being stubborn, as they frequently will, and before I knew it, I had lost my way. I thought that if I cut due north, I would cross the stream that runs close to our house. As I led the goats, I found I kept veering east while they tended to stay in the northern direction. I stopped and restarted several times but kept veering off.

“I finally got angry and made a conscious effort to go north. It got harder and harder, like something was pushing against me. But you know how stubborn I can get. I knew I had to get the goats to safety, or we would not have enough to make it through the winter.

“Then suddenly the resistance just stopped, and I almost fell into a break in the woods. And it had ancient ruins in it. The goats loved it because it gave them big rocks to climb on, and the grass there was wild and tender. I figured if it was hard for me to find, then it would be doubly difficult for the soldiers. So the goats and I bedded down right there and stayed overnight.” She licked her lips. “But the really strange thing was at night. There was this glow coming from some of the stones. It wasn’t scary or anything, but strange.” She sighed. “I returned to the house the next day to find the soldiers had come but had not been able to find me. They had searched the woods, and even found my trail, but couldn’t follow it.”

I leaned forward excitedly. “Can you take me there?” I asked. “That might be it.”

Docila opened her mouth to reply but didn’t get the chance. Just then, I heard the back door open and Floria come flying in. She came down the stairs until she could jump the rest of the way down. Her face flushed from running. “There are two people coming up the path,” she said breathlessly. “A man and a woman.”

My heart leaped