The Shadowsteel Forge (The Dark Ability Book 5) Read Free Page B

in anyone. As far as Rsiran knew, it was possible that Alyse shared those gifts, too, since she shared the same bloodline. “It has to do with Father and Mother.” Rsiran hesitated. “Have you seen her since… since the guild released you?”
    She hadn’t been a prisoner, not entirely, but she also hadn’t been allowed free to roam the city. That was why Rsiran hadn’t found her, and why he hadn’t known that the guild had her, rather than the Forgotten, or even Venass as he had feared. Had he known it was the guild, would he have searched with the same intensity? He couldn’t say whether he would have. At least she was in the city. Safe. Everything he had gone through as he searched for her had put him in more danger. Not only him, but those few people whom he cared about.
    “Mother thinks it’s safest that she doesn’t see me,” Alyse answered.
    Rsiran glanced to Brusus who shook his head. “Can’t force that, Rsiran. She holds onto a different kind of anger.”
    “Anger? Why would you describe my mother as angry?”
    Rsiran sighed. This was what it came down to. This was how everything that had happened to his parents really came together. Secrets that they’d hidden from him, as well as his sister, their entire lives. Now that he knew, and knew more about what it meant, he still didn’t know how to react. There was anger, but he figured that was natural given what had been kept from him, and by those who knew how much he’d suffered.
    “Because that’s what she is. Angry,” Rsiran said. “Have… have they ever told you about their life before we were born? Anything about how they met?”
    She shook her head. “You know that Mother and Father aren’t sentimental like that.”
    He grunted. Describing them as not sentimental seemed an understatement. “You asked what happened to Father and why he was in Thyr. I told you that I’d learned he’d been there before, but I didn’t know why at first.” Rsiran paused, looking at his sister’s expectant face. “That’s where he met Mother.”
    The corners of Alyse’s mouth pulled up in what he recognized as an annoyed expression. He’d seen it countless times growing up. “That’s ridiculous, Rsiran. Mother and Father met in Elaeavn. If I know anything, I know that much.”
    “Mother couldn’t have been in Elaeavn.”
    “Fine. I’ll play along. Why?”
    “Because her father is—was—one of the Forgotten.”
    And Della’s brother, but that seemed less important to Alyse. For him, that piece was much more important.
    “That’s not possible.”
    “Why?” Rsiran asked. “We don’t know anything about their lives before we were born. You said so yourself. And I have seen Mother. She told me enough to figure out why Father had been in Thyr, and why the Forgotten wanted him. The rest… well, for the rest, I had help.”
    “It’s not possible because I’ve met our grandparents. I’ve met Mother’s parents.”
    Rsiran frowned. Alyse was only a few years older than he was. How would she have met their grandparents but he had not?
    “When?”
    Alyse bit her lip.
    “Alyse? This is more important than you realize.” Maybe more than he realized. “When did you meet them?”
    She let out a long sigh. “It’s been a few years. They came to the house when you were at the smithy with Father. They only stayed for the afternoon. Mother tried to get them to stay longer, but they wouldn’t. I don’t remember much, but there was an argument. That’s the only time I’ve ever heard Mother angry,” Alyse said.
    A few years made it recent enough that they could still be active with the Forgotten. When he had killed Evaelyn and the others who had stolen the techniques of Venass, most of the Forgotten had been destroyed. At least, they figured that most of the organized Forgotten had been destroyed. The Alchemist Guild thought that was all that needed to be done with the Forgotten, especially now that they had rescued the kidnapped smiths, but