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“I’m sorry, ‘holds the goddess’?” Caelan repeated. “As in the body of the goddess is trapped in the stone? I thought the Godstone was just a vessel for the powers of the gods.”
Noemi smiled. “No, the goddess actually sleeps in the stone.”
Caelan’s poor brain was going to be mush before he left Caspagir. He’d stood in front of the stone hundreds of times, and he’d been standing in the presence of a goddess. That was almost too much.
If Noemi noticed his distress, she didn’t let it stop her explanation. “In Caspagir, we possess the Wind Stone, as it holds the God of Storms.”
“But why is it in the lighthouse? Why wouldn’t you keep it in a chamber in the castle where it is easier for you to secure?”
Noemi chuckled. “You make it sound like we have any real control over the stones. The Talos family are still the only ones who bond with the god or goddess within the stones. The rest of us are only the keepers. And the God of Storms wishes to be in a place where the sea and the wind meet. It won’t allow us to move it farther inland.”
Caelan leaned forward, his brain struggling to wrap around what he’d just taken as normal. “As keepers, you don’t harness the power of the Wind Stone? At all? Do you speak to the god?”
Some emotion Caelan couldn’t quite name passed over Noemi’s face. “I speak to the god, but he does not speak to me. And no, I don’t pull on the power of the god. Amara told me some of her relationship with the Goddess of Life. In my youth, I might have envied her a little, but I’ve since come to understand that it was an added weight that no ruler should have to bear.” She looked as if she wanted to say more, wanted to ask him something, but she didn’t and Caelan felt no need to volunteer anything. Not yet, at least.
He had not officially bonded with the Godstone, but he had access to some of the power. The goddess had never directly spoken to him, but he’d always felt something. He’d just not realized it was the goddess he was feeling. Maybe it was a burden, but he’d also felt that it was his birthright, his responsibility.
“Ilon?” he prompted in a rough voice. There was too much that he still needed to think about.
“In Ilon, you will find the Light Stone, for it contains the God of Wisdom.”
Rayne huffed a soft laugh. “A country of scholars and artists. It explains much.”
Noemi offered up a small smile and nodded. “Yes, the God of Wisdom definitely had an influence on the development of Ilon.”
“But if there are a total of six stones, where could the others possibly be? The Empire can’t have one and there was no worry when New Rosanthe seized Damardor and Uris-Oladul.” Caelan made a scoffing noise in the back of his throat and shook his head. “You can’t possibly mean that there’s a stone in Zastrad, the land that worships a dead god.”
Noemi didn’t blink and something cold slithered through Caelan’s veins. “We know little about the Godstone of Zastard other than it’s fractured down the center. We don’t even know what god was contained within the stone, only that it is dead now.”
“And…and the other two?” Rayne whispered, his voice rough. No one wanted to speak about a god that had died.
“The Fire Stone is, not surprisingly, on the Isle of Stone, where it is guarded by the dragons. It holds the Goddess of Fire. We’ve never given much worry over that one. I think we all agreed that the Empire couldn’t attempt to steal the Fire Stone unless it already possessed another one of the stones and could harness its power.”
“Like they now have the Godstone,” Caelan murmured.
“And the final stone? What god is inside and where is it?” Rayne said, pushing them forward, but Noemi didn’t speak for several seconds. She seemed to grow paler before their eyes. She stared at the tabletop, lost in her thoughts. Caelan was getting ready to ask what worried her, but the question seemed silly. There was plenty they all had to worry about.
“The final is the Blood Stone. It’s the one we have all prayed would stay hidden. We believe the Goddess of the Hunt lies locked inside. I’ve heard just a few stories, but she was a brutal goddess that bathed in the blood of her prey. I fear what power she might bestow on any who might be able to commune with her.”
The chill was back, wrapping tight around Caelan. “The Blood Stone is hidden within the Ordas, isn’t it? That’s why the Empire hasn’t shown interest in moving its troops from the border toward Sirelis. The Empire won’t attempt to take the Wind Stone that way. It’s preparing to go after the Blood Stone.”
