Page 42 of The Dragon King’s Claw (The Dragons of Serai #17)
Back in the Jewelry District, I found a reputable shop and walked in. I specifically chose one that was owned by a Hulfrin. Not that I wanted to speak to a Hulfrin specifically. I would have settled for anyone who wasn't a Chelli. Just in case.
The Hulfrin woman looked up and waved. “Be right . . . with you.” She gaped as the King came in with his guards. Then, to her customer, she said, “Uh, I'm so sorry, but it's the King. I have to give him priority.”
Her Tyasmoran customer turned, saw that she wasn't lying, and bowed. “Your Majesty.” He nodded at the saleswoman. “Of course. Please help them first.”
The Hulfrin rushed over. “How can I assist you today, Your Majesty?”
“I'm Claw Shinkai,” I said, pulling her attention away from the King. “I'm investigating a few murders.”
“A few?”
“Yes.” I took the air stone out of my pocket, slipped it out of its evidence bag, and handed it to her. “What can you tell me about this stone?”
“The stone and the setting?” She peered at it. “Or just the stone?”
“Just the stone. I believe it's a blue topaz.”
“You are mistaken, but it's a common mistake. This is a blue garnet.”
“A what?” I peered closer. “I thought garnets were red?”
“The common ones are. But they come in many colors. This particular blue is one of the rarer shades.”
“How rare?”
“Only one mine produces them.” She held it up, her fur-covered face crinkling as she sighed. “So beautiful. Where did you get it?”
“The mine, if you please!”
She jerked back. “Oh. Sorry. Yes, uh, it's . . .” She frowned. “What's it called again? Chelli owned, of course. Just outside the city. Ummm, Hallax. Yes, the Hallax Mine.”
I gaped at her.
“Hallax, you say?” The King nudged me.
“Yes, there was a terrible accident there many years ago, but they reopened rather quickly, albeit through another tunnel. I suppose when you have blue garnets to mine, you don't want to waste any time. Still, I always thought it was insensitive. What with all the deaths.”
“Deaths? What deaths? Who died?”
The King laid a calming hand on my shoulder and asked, “What happened?”
“They hit a pocket of something flammable. Gas, I think. It exploded, and the supports caught fire. The miners barely made it out.” She grimaced. “The Chelli ones at least. The humans weren't as lucky.”
“Humans? You're saying that Chelli, who have shorter legs than most humans, made it out safely, but there were humans who didn't? That sounds suspicious.”
“I don't want to imply anything, Your Majesty.” She glanced at the Tyasmoran, who was listening intently.
“There are rumors, aren't there?” I asked. “Rumors concerning the deaths?”
“Yes.”
“Tell us. Please. It's important.”
She cleared her throat. “So, as you mentioned, Your Majesty, Chelli are shorter in stature than most humans. This can delay the transport of mined goods. So, the Chelli hired some humans to carry out the gems while they mined them.”
“And only the humans died when the mine exploded?”
“Yes, but you should know that it wasn't just the Chelli. The Chelli had a Ricarri partner. She's a . . . tough woman.”
“You know her?” I asked.
“Sure. Everyone in the city knows her.” She glanced at the Tyasmoran again.
“I mean, I'm not speaking ill of her. I'm just telling you the facts.
She's partners with the Chelli, and I wouldn't be surprised if she, well, encouraged them to be, um, less concerned about the humans.
Look it up for yourself. I assume she's listed as part owner of their shop and the mine.”
“They have a shop here—the Chelli and this Ricarri woman?”
“Yes. It's uh.” She leaned in and whispered, “It's the Rushao Jewel.”
“Of course it is.”
“Excuse me?”
“Who is the Ricarri woman?” Tingles were creeping up my spine. Closer. I was getting so close to unraveling this mess.
“Oh, she's Lady Juva Rashan.”
“My General's wife?” King Tor'rien hissed.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
My hands clenched as if I could clutch that key piece of information. To hide my elation—which was completely inappropriate—I said, “I'm so sorry, but I didn't get your name.”
“I'm Alensi.”
“Thank you for being so candid with us, Alensi. I have just a few more questions and then we'll let you get back to your customer. The humans. You say they didn't make it out. Are there any rumors about why?”
Alensi leaned in and whispered, “People say that Lady Juva drugged the humans. It was to keep them from complaining about the long hours.”
“She drugged them?”
“It's just a rumor, sir.”
“Yes, I understand. Does the rumor mention what kind of drug was used?”
“Uh, I think it was the dreaming drug. Humans do love their nectar. And it was the drug that made them slower to react. That fits with nectar. I heard that while the Chelli ran out of the mine, the humans were left behind, floundering in confusion.”
“Because of the drug.”
“Yes, sir. They needed direction, you see? In that state, they needed someone to tell them to leave.”
“But no one told them?”
“Well, the Chelli miners didn't want to risk a greater explosion.
That's what they said. They supposedly ran for their lives and didn't remember the humans until they were outside. By then, the possibility of flames spreading to the nearby forest became too great a risk, so they had to close the entrance.”
“They closed the entrance?” The King leaned in. “Those humans didn't stand a chance.”
“No, I don't believe they did, sire,” Alensi said. “And that is bad enough. But I suspect something more sinister, and most of the jewelers around here share my suspicions.”
“What do you suspect?” I asked.
“That Lady Juva saw an opportunity.”
“An opportunity?”
“Those humans had been working for nearly a month. It was getting time to pay them. But you don't have to pay dead men.”
“So, they buried them alive to save some coin?”
Alensi shrugged. “I don't know what happened, Claw Shinkai.
As I said, it's only a rumor. Either way, when the Chelli used their magic to close that mine entrance, those poor humans were sentenced to a horrible death. They burned in there. I just hope the drug kept them from feeling too much pain.” She shook her head. “Those poor people. Burned alive.”
A chill ran down my spine. “Burned.”
“They say that once closed off, the mine would have become an oven. The flames got hot enough to rival Dragon fire.” She inclined her head to the King.
I looked at King Tor'rien. “The weapon.”
“The Chelli,” King Tor'rien said.
“It was retribution.”
“Retribution?” Alensi asked. “Are you saying that a bunch of humans have killed some Chelli?”
“No,” I hurried to say. The last thing we needed was for another rumor to circulate—this one about murderous humans. “No, we don't know anything for sure yet. But thank you for your help. You've been most enlightening.”
“My pleasure.” She started to hand over the garnet, but then declared, “Oh! This is an enchanted stone.”
“Yes.” I held my hand out for it. “It's drained though. How did you know?”
“It's not drained. I saw the glint.” Alensi put it in my palm and then tapped it three times.
The stone started to glow and air wafted out of it.
“Holy fuck,” I whispered. My head spun. Just when I had it figured out, things took another turn. Thoughts slammed forward from the back of my mind, shoving their way into my notice.
“Thank you for your help,” the King said. “I will come back the next time I'm shopping for jewelry. I never forget someone who has done me a service.”
“Oh, that would be lovely, Your Majesty. Thank you so much!”
He nodded and ushered me out of the shop. I didn't notice my surroundings. I was too focused inward. The King helped me into the carriage as I continued to stare at the glowing garnet. A blue garnet from the Hallax mine enchanted to keep a man breathing underground. And it wasn't drained.
“One more thing.” Alensi came out of her shop and waved at us.
I looked up, something telling me that what she said next would glue it all together.
She looked around, back behind her, and then ran over to the carriage. Sticking her head in, Alensi whispered, “Children were working in that mine. Human children. Those poor parents. They never even got to bury their babies.”
“What do you mean? I thought you said they reopened the mine?”
“I said they opened another tunnel into the mine. But they never reopened the original. All those bodies are still in there. The owners said it was too dangerous to unearth them.”
“Dangerous for who?” the King asked.
“Yes, that is the question, Your Majesty.” Alensi bowed and went back to her shop.
Burned and buried children.
Yup, that did it.