Page 64 of The Fury She Holds
His hands stilled. “Unbelievable,” he sighed under his breath. “Fine.” He turned his attention to Faron and admitted, “I can coerce.”
Faron’s jaw could not fall any lower than it already had. He turned to Egan and asked, “And you?”
“Uh, I don’t even know. I’m a bit…wild…in a fight.” He shrugged.
“Uh huh.” Faron turned to Carrick who still stood in the entrance. “And you? Are you going to tell me you’re half bear?”
Sybil snorted, but Carrick shook his head. “I’m just plain old me.” He cracked his knuckles.
Faron’s eyes circled the room before settling on Tal. “You’ve certainly gathered quite the talented crew here.”
Tal shrugged, never being one for fanfare. “Can we get to the important part now?” she asked Rainier.
Rain gave Faron the briefest of explanations. “The night after the rescue at the incinerator, Sybil had a vision of Tal standing opposite the Pyrie amid a group of nobles. She couldn’t see any identifying features nor understand their purpose.”
“It was bleeding vague, is what it was,” Sybil complained. He and Sybil had been checking sources for anything on mages, the Pyrie legend, and any connection to the noble families. With the information gained from the books she stole on the night of the masquerade, Sybil had been unsuccessfully attempting to force a vision about the Pyrie. Her struggle wasn’t uncommon, especially given that the details were obscure.
“The Pyrie? You mean the children’s story?” So, Faron had heard of her.
“Legend. She was real, but a really long time ago,” Rain clarified.
“How can the vision be possible? She’s dead, right?”
Sybil chimed in, “Visions don’t always have to be literal. Sure, I could see events happen before they unfold, but they can also be symbolic. I’m guessing this one is something symbolic involving the three of them.”
“Well, what do they have in common?” Faron asked questions they’d already investigated at length.
“Blazing pigs, can we get to the new information please?” Tal grumbled.
“Hold on, Tal.” Rain held up a hand to stall and received a nasty glare. “Now that Faron knows, I think we can look at this from his angle,” he spoke animatedly. “So, obviously, both Tal and the Pyrie have fire fury, which is extremely rare. With the nobles surrounding them in Syb’s vision, I’m inclined to think that has something to do with their powers being exploited, especially now that we know the mages are after her.” He turned to Faron. “Do you know about anything that would connect nobles with fury—especially fire fury?”
Faron paused, his expression darkening. “Ever heard of the Fury Rings?”
No one answered.
He clenched his jaw and inhaled. “One of the reasons fury is rare is that those in power have always exploited it. It’s a wonder you haven’t been warned about them.” The attention he turned on Tal sent a flurry of butterflies through her middle.
“My earliest memories are of the man who housed me here. He made it very clear that to reveal my fury would ultimately bring my death. He never said why, and I never asked.”
“Frankly, I’m surprised we haven’t heard of Fury Rings before.” Rain would have been the first to know about them. The fact that he didn’t learn until now must have been frustrating.
“Only those with an invitation can participate, and only those with something to offer the most powerful people in all the kingdoms get one.”
Tal wondered if Faron would be counted as one of those powerful people.
“Rain, the invitation the other noblemen mentioned at the king’s masquerade…” Egan remembered their conversation the day after Tal’s performance at the palace. Rain nodded.
“What invitation?” Faron’s attention whipped between the youngest of the group and Rainier.
“I attended the masquerade under the guise of a foreign dignitary and spent what I could of the evening among some of the noblemen. There was a brief mention of an awaited invitation, but nothing specific. One of the men shut down the conversation quickly.”
Faron frowned. “Do you know who spoke of this? Could you point them out if you saw them?”
“Briggins brought up the invitation to Lighton, and Mordency told them to save the topic for another setting.”
Faron’s expression darkened further at the mention of the three names.
Tal didn’t recognize any of them. She wouldn’t get involved in matters of the king’s court, but she wondered what Faron would do about it. “Do you think they were talking about this special Fury Ring invitation?” she asked Faron.
