Rise of the Faire-Amanti (The Ascendant Series Book 3) Read Free Page B

barely tolerable food options available in the Dark Lands he coerced her to eat. She still seemed much too thin and fragile.
    I was able to defeat Gren today, wasn’t I? she asked, glancing at him. I’m stronger than I look.
    His mind started to turn towards his dream, but he forced it not to. You don’t have to remind me of that, he thought instead.
    She took another bite of the biscuit and gifted him with a small smile. Both of them realized they were drifting from the conversation and looked back at Gren and Scarlyt. The pair was eating in silence, used to Kyr and Ty being in their own little world.
    “Sorry,” Kyr mumbled around the biscuit.
    Gren shrugged it off and glanced at Ty. “If Vycor did take the V’larian ambassadors prisoner, how does that tie in with the V’larian supplies and weaponry you saw when you were Malak’s prisoner?”
    “I have no idea,” Ty replied. “I’m not sure those two things necessarily go together.”
    “What if Vycor negotiated with the V’larians for the items you saw?” Scarlyt asked. “Don’t we provide them with tajeria?”
    Ty nodded. “Yes. The V’larians rely on our Elixir to provide them health benefits. Their atmosphere has been growing more toxic, so they need more Elixir.”
    “Maybe Shaya and Vycor decided to up the price,” Kyr mused. “Instead of just the jewels, textiles, and food products we normally get from the V’larians, they asked for the weapons and whatever else is being stored out here.”
    “And why is it stored out here anyway?” Gren asked in his deep, gravelly voice. “If Vycor is stockpiling these things, wouldn’t he want easy access to them?”
    “We would have found them during one of our regular scans of the palace,” Ty said. “He couldn’t risk it. Besides, we know Vycor has connections out here, at least at the mine. The guards know what’s happening. I suspect he could get to the V’larian items easily enough.”
    Gren and Scarlyt nodded. Just a few days ago, word had reached them from two of Scarlyt’s most trusted Peace Keepers, Jenna and D’arl, who were currently undercover inside the mine. They had found another store of V’larian weaponry. They suspected it was meant to be used in the event there was ever an uprising inside the mine, but no one knew for sure.
    “Then what are the rest of the V’larian supplies intended for?” Scarlyt wondered. “And why is he waiting?”
    They all sat in silence for a minute, mulling over the information at their disposal. Ty knew they didn’t have enough pieces of information to answer with any confidence, though.
    “I think we’re going to need Sem to do a little more investigating,” Gren said at last.
    Ty’s first instinct was to argue. He was worried enough about his cousin as it was. Sem tended to act first and think things through later. It had always gotten him in trouble when they were growing up. And with the dream he’d been having…
    He stopped himself again.
    Kyr reached over and took his hand, sending him comforting thoughts. She shared his general concerns about Sem, but she also knew that Sem was currently their only link inside the palace. They needed him, and they needed information.
    “I agree,” he said finally, forcing himself to use logic and not emotion. “Sem is our best bet to try and fill in the missing pieces.”
    “I’d prefer to get those answers sooner rather than later,” Scarlyt said. “I’ve got good people risking their necks right now. I figured you’d be at the palace by now with Vycor’s head roasting on a spit.”
    Ty couldn’t be offended by the woman’s plain words. The truth was, they had all imagined things progressing more swiftly than this. Their initial plan had Ty and Kyr using their joined abilities to break through the protections, then driving a vessel through the megais to the palace. They would use the most powerful source of energy on their planet, the Gift of the Yen-Ki, to fuel their journey. They would