The Crown of Stones: Magic-Price Read Online Free PDF

is that,” she said, with a knowing, provocative smile. “But I’ve always wanted to know what it was like to pull power into your veins, to command it…to let it fill you. It must be wonderful.”
    “It is.”
    “Then how can you possibly control it? Feeling the aura in a stone is inborn for a Shinree. Yet only you, Troy, seem capable of resisting its call. Why is that?”
    “I don’t know. I guess most aren’t willing to try.”
    “Most don’t have a choice.” When I didn’t reply, her head cocked to the side. “You aren’t troubled by that? You accept the slave laws that regulate your people?”
    “I accept that the alternative is too risky. Allowing my entire race to be free, to cast magic at will…countless would die every day to feed our spells.”
    “So, you think the Shinree should be condemned to live forever in captivity? Forced to serve, being bred and educated on the whims of their masters?”
    My voice sprung up. But I was more annoyed at myself for indulging her. “What the fuck do you want me to say, Taren?”
    “I want you to say that drugging them is wrong. That the
Kayn’l
elixir given to the slaves doesn’t just stop their magic, it numbs their senses. It steals their memory.”
    “
Kayn’l
takes away their ability to do harm, intentional or otherwise.”
    “It makes them mindless.”
    “What if it does? At least they’re incapable of the things I’ve done.”
    Taren froze. “You envy them. How interesting.”
    “It’s not envy exactly, it’s….” Unable to stop myself, the words just poured out. “I’m not like them, Taren. I wasn’t born in some labor camp. I wasn’t bred to sweep floors or plow fields. I was made as a weapon, a means for Rella’s King to protect his land. And because of a deal Raynan Arcana made with my mother, I’m locked on that course by a spell until the day I die. If Rella calls me to defend her, I go. I have no hope of living any other life. No choice but to do what I was made for. That’s the cost of
my
freedom, Taren. I know it. I live it. But some days…it’s just real hard to pay.”
    I walked away. Taren called after me, but I was done with her incessant questions. I was ankle-deep in swamp to do justice in the name of Kael’s king, not to waste ten years of abstinence on one, mouthy criminal.
    “I should have gagged her,” I mumbled.
    It was an offhand remark, but the idea stuck, and I found myself heading in the direction of my horse to find something to stuff in Taren’s mouth. It wasn’t far. Unfortunately, there were no straight lines in the swamp, and even less solid ground. As a result, what looked like a quick trek wasn’t.
    Hopping from one scattering of rock to another, clinging to patches of vine-choked trees, as I slogged through the endless gooey mire, I did my best to avoid the stagnant, winding streams that cut through the spongy ground like outstretched fingers.
    I wasn’t sure what kind of creature it was that called the coiling waterways home, but I’d seen their dark shapes darting below the cloudy surface. More importantly, I’d seen the regurgitated remains of their dinner on the banks and I wasn’t interested in adding my bones to the pile.
    At last reaching my dozing, brown mare, I ran a gentle hand over her back. “It’s all right, girl,” I said softly. “We’ll be leaving soon.”
    Kya opened her eyes. Her response was a curt blow of air through her nose and a head toss that was clear petulance. I didn’t mind the attitude though. Kya was one of the few constants in my life, and the only company I could tolerate for long. Even if too many years with me had made her moody.
    Picking clumps of mud from her mane, I yelled back at Taren. “Where did you leave your mount? If the poor beast is still alive, I’ll make sure he gets back to his owner. That was pretty low, by the way,” I added, “jumping a one-legged, old man.”
    Taren didn’t answer. After a minute or two, I glanced over my