Horse Stone (Book 1 of Ilyrian Series)

Chapter 56

Adrianna...

My eyes grew wide when she said that, and my heart skipped a beat before it started to pound faster and faster in a way that I had never felt before, for it was not of fear but of excitement as if I was finally going to be able to learn about a past that I didn't know and had a feeling was tied to my present and future.

Adrianna chuckled while she cocked her head and studied me. "So you have heard about me," she said, and I wordlessly nodded. She didn't narrow her eyes at me but studied me further while she raised an eyebrow. "How?"

I couldn't hold her gaze any longer, so I looked down and away from her calculating gaze. "Um..." I cleared my throat and shifted on my feet. "I know it because an old lady gave me a book with your name in it," I said. I cleared my throat again and shifted on my feet some more. "She had also given me... a necklace, which was how I was able t-"

I had reached for the necklace that had the stone on it and didn't feel it around my neck where it should be. My eyes grew wide, and my heart skipped a beat, this time with fear. "My necklace," I said and looked on the ground in blind panic, but I couldn't focus on anything because my eyes were blurry. "That's how I talked to horses and to Vanar. I-I don't know where it's at. I-I lost it."

Fear settled on my shoulders; I twisted around to look behind me and made sure that it wasn't there.

It wasn't.

Tears blurred my vision, and I angrily wiped them away before Adrianna could see them, but they still kept coming.

Again, I wiped my eyes, angry at myself for losing something so valuable and with the potential to help Vanar, or so I thought.

I had no idea what I had done with it, where it could have gone, and I was sure that it was lost forever with no hope of getting it back.

"Gave you a stone?" Adrianna asked. Concern and sadness filled her voice, and I knew it was because I looked like a mess.

I nodded and didn't look back at them because a part of me felt silly for crying. "Yes," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. I cleared my throat and tried to gain my voice back to no avail. "She gave me a stone, and then I was able to hear Vanar and the horses at the barn after I put it on." I wiped my eyes and cleared my throat again, trying to keep my voice from quivering and shaking. "Well, now, I don't know where the stone is, and I can't talk to Vanar any longer." I pressed the palms of my hands to my eyes and rubbed until I saw black spots, but I kept going because I wanted to wake up from this nightmare. "I don't know how to help him."

The squeak of a leather saddle filled my ears, and then I felt Adrianna behind me. She placed her hand on my shoulder and squeezed, but I didn't look at her. "Child, look at me," she said, her voice gentle yet firm.

I sniffled but did what I was told to do and looked at her. My vision was fairly blurry, but I could still see the kindness and concern in her eyes and written on her face. "Yes?" I asked, my voice quivering. "What is it?"

Adrianna's gaze grew softer, if that was even possible, and she tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Child, you don't need the stone to talk to Vanar," she said. She cleared her throat and stood taller while she studied me. "If what you said is true, then you are bonded to him just as much as I am."

"But I have to have the stone, don't I?" I asked and wiped my eyes again. "I mean, it was given to me a-a-and then it tightened around my neck so that I couldn't take it off, and my cat had this shocked look on her face when she saw the stone, and I know that I can't show it to anyone, a-"

"And I am sure that you will get it back once you have completed what you needed to do here," Adrianna said, interrupting me from my rambling. She cleared her throat and took a step back, growing serious. "The stone chooses its person once its wearer passes on," she said in a tone that sounded more like a teacher.

I furrowed my brows and cocked my head while I studied her. "What do you mean?" I asked, confused. "Did the stone have more owners before me?" I asked, and she nodded.

"Yes," she confirmed and nodded again. "If I know what stone you are talking about, then it goes to different people. It has magic in it, and past owners of the stone have put their magic into it, too, making the wearer powerful."

"But how would you know?" I asked, even though I had no idea what it does. "How would you know what it did and does." I studied her some more, wondering what secrets she was keeping away from me. My eyes grew wide, and a smile appeared on her face because she knew that I. "Unless..."

Adrianna's smile grew wider, and she nodded in confirmation about the question I didn't ask but knew. "I have it," she confirmed and pulled the stone from underneath her shirt. "And I am its controller until the day that I die."

***

I stared at the stone, and relief washed over me because I knew that it was safe. However, I felt sad and cold without it, and I knew that it was because it had been a constant thing in the new life that I was learning about, and I didn't want to be away from it.

Adrianna tucked the stone back underneath her shirt and cleared her throat. She stood taller, and I could tell that she felt a little uncomfortable with me staring at the stone. "Is it calling to you?" she asked.

I took a deep breath and shrugged while I licked my lips. "Sort of," I said and pulled my gaze away from where she had hidden it before I looked at her. "It's... just been comforting to have it on, you know?" I asked. "And... now that I don't have it on..." I shrugged again and cleared my throat while I trailed off.

Adriana hummed and nodded in agreement. "I know," she said. She cleared her throat again and cocked her head while she studied me. "It feels like another heartbeat, doesn't it?"

I hesitated but nodded before I looked away from her and towards the ground. I had no idea how she knew that unless she had felt it, too.

Adrianna chuckled. "I feel what you have felt," she said. She cleared her throat and shifted on her feet while she grew serious. "Now, we have some information that we have to discuss. I am sure that you have questions, correct?"

I chewed the inside of my cheek and slowly nodded. "I do," I confirmed. I looked at Vanar, wanting to hear what he said and to move a hand through his mane, but I didn't touch him while I looked at Adriana. "I just don't know where to start."