The sense of fear settled it for me. I would do what I could to trade for the gemstone if possible.

  “Everything’s fine, folks. Go back to eating. Something made its way up here that should have been under more protection. But all is fine now.” I said out loud to the room.

  People went back to eating, but glances came our way more often than normal.

  I set the bag down in front of me, but closer to the center of the table.

  “Well, that was exciting,” I said with a smile. “Let’s talk a little about your gems, what I can do to help you beef up your sorcery skills, and maybe trade for some things that could give you better attacks or defenses in the material realm.”

  They returned to their seats, but they all looked at the bag.

  Jade said, “I touched all of them, and there was no problem. I didn’t hold them long, but I am sure I touched each one.”

  “I trust Bella. Maybe it had not been primed until you touched it, or maybe it had something to do with how you still held the protective bag, or being a sorcerer. I really have no idea.”

  “Will you want it?” She asked.

  “Maybe. Probably yes. However, I want to ensure that you are fairly compensated. It might be too dangerous for one of us to use, but it still represents power, and you should not part with it casually, even if taking it into protection by me or The Tower is the best option.”

  She looked at me oddly. “That is very kind of you. You had quite the opportunity to take it off my hands while we were all worked up. And I probably would have done it.”

  I shrugged. “A friend once pointed out to me that my ignorance of an object’s worth today would be remedied tomorrow, and if he cheated me, I would not look favorably on it later.”

  She nodded. “That is probably true, but I thank you regardless.”

  “Besides,” I said, “I had already half planned to help get you all decked out before you left anyway. Although I really was hoping for your help. Golden cognitos are rare, and the city really is in a lot of danger.”

  Starla said, “I can only say that in the short time I have gotten to know Gwydion, I trust him and his judgment. He has been more than fair, even generous in helping me.”

  Stix waved his hand, “I’m sure we are all honorable men, but what about the magic?”

  Jade sighed again. “And honorable women.”

  He replied, “Of course. You know what I meant.”

  She gave him a look. “Yes, I think I do.”

  I raised an eyebrow between the two and looked at Stix. “Are you sure that you are a monk?”

  It was his turn to shrug. “After a fashion. A bit more of a rogue than a true monk.”

  “Oh,” I said. “That explains a few things.”

  The others nodded as well.

  “So, my thinking is that I should check out the other amethyst gems because you will want to see what kind of magical powers you can call up, and then if you have an object that can receive sockets, we can work something out.”

  “How do you know what the gem powers are?” Jade asked.

  Starla said, “This is where Gwydion practices some special magic.”

  Jade turned to the rune lord, “What do you mean?”

  Starla looked at me, “I didn’t mean to steal your thunder.”

  I laughed. “Go ahead. I’ll take it from wherever you leave off.”

  Starla said, “Magical rune stones and gems can be placed into objects with sockets. But when you put, say, a gem into a socket, you get a random effect. Gwydion can cheat that process and let you choose whatever power you want out of the options.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Stix and Jade both said, “That’s cool.”

  Stix asked, “Is that an enchanter ability?”

  “It is more of a prodigy effect,” I said. “I am a prodigy with gems and can sort of talk with them. I can also add and remove gems after being placed in sockets. Usually, once they are in a socket, the only way to remove them is to destroy the gem, which has a chance to destroy the magical object as well.”

  “So you are the best game in town for magical gems,” Stix said.

  Starla laughed. “He’s the only game in town and maybe the whole realm.”

  Jade said, “You could have really negotiated from a position of strength with us, you know.”

  I smiled. “Yes, I have been told more than once that I am not always a good negotiator.”

  “An admirable quality,” Stix said.

  “Except when I am overly cautious of the one I am dealing with.” And I gave him a significant look.

  Starla and Jade both laughed. “He has you there, Stix,” Jade commented.

  “How do we proceed?” Stix asked, ignoring them.

  “I’ll want to check out Jade’s gems so she knows her options,” I said to Stix.

  Turning to Jade, I continued, “Since you already started, we can work on yours first. Do you have an object in mind for sockets or types of rings you would like?”

  Jade reached down and lifted her staff. “This was my master's, but it feels like it is mine now. I have been able to use it. When I first picked it up out of the rubble after the explosion, it got all warm in my hands, and then it sort of felt comfortable.”

  “Yes, after your master died, the magic that bound it to him would have ended, and because you were the first mage to touch it afterwards, it aligned with you. Depending on its enchantments, it could be that another would have a hard time using it, could not use it, or could not even touch it.”

  “How do I know which it is?” Jade asked.

  “Let me see if I can take it,” Starla said.

  Jade looked at me. “Is it dangerous?”

  “I have no idea,” I said.

  “Want me to give it a try?” Starla offered.

  “Okay.” Jade held the staff out.

  “Don’t think about giving it to her,” I told Jade. “Because you can will an object to change owners. Just let Starla take it from you if she can. You don’t have to put up too much of a struggle.”

  Starla reached out, and her hand passed right through the staff.

  “Ooh,” I said. “That’s top shelf. Your master had some game.”

  Jade grinned widely. “That means someone couldn’t just take it from me.”

  “Probably not,” I said. “Unless you allowed them to do so or outright gave it to them. Try to hand it to Starla, but do not will her to own it.”

  Jade paused a second, getting her mind set, and then handed it to Starla. Starla picked it up and held it.

  “Can you call on any of its magical features?” I asked.

  Starla concentrated. “No. I can sense there is magic there, but I cannot use it. It’s just a magical stick.”

  “That is quite exceptional, Jade. Starla could use it as a magical weapon, but not as a mage staff. My guess is that it has the ability to use each of your spells as well.”

  “Yes,” she said. “I can cast my own spells out of the staff, and it saves me casting points. How did you know?”

  “Mine works the same way,” I said. “The enchantments needed to make such a weapon are far more than I can do, myself. You will need to always have at least one casting point in order to use the magic in the staff, however. So be careful that you don’t drop down to zero casting points.”

  “Thanks, I did not know that,” Starla said gratefully.

  And there are other cool magic effects as well.” I looked at Starla, “Are you comfortable showing your staff?”

  They turned to her, and she pointed at her necklace and then held out her hand. With an act of will, the necklace disappeared, and her staff-spear was suddenly in her hands.

  Stix’s eyes grew large. “That is cool.”

  She returned it to a necklace.

  Jade and Stix looked at me. “Do you have something like that as well?”

  I moved my hand to the side, and my staff rapidly unwrapped itself from the ring. I sent it back again a moment later.

  “I can’t perform the kind of spell that morphs a weapon’s shape, but there are others in the city that can.”

  “I may want to check that out,” Stix said as he drew the two plain fighting sticks from their sheaths on his back by using a kind of overhead simultaneous draw with both hands.

  “Show him their tricks,” Jade suggested.

  “What, in here?” He asked.

  “Well, don’t blast anything, just light them up.”

  “Oh, that's what you meant.” He said with a twirl of both weapons in his hands. He actually twirled them in opposite directions. He might be annoying, but he had game.

  With a moment’s concentration, the two sticks began to glow. One gave off an orange-red glow, and I could feel heat from it; the other had a blue-green glow, and I could feel coldness around it.

  “Nice combo,” I said. “It would be an unusual adversary that could protect itself from both of those extremes.”

  “Thanks.” He said as they dimmed and he returned them to their sheaths on his back.

  “I noticed that neither of you had sockets in your weapons. That is highly unusual for magical objects of their power levels. We must have been destined to meet. One option I can offer is to give you five sockets in them that rune stones and magical cut gems could go into.”

  Jade said, “If I gave you the cursed gem, that would leave six amethysts for the five sockets.”

  “True, unless you decided to put other gems into them. But either way, you might end up with extra gems.” I admitted.

  “If I didn’t use the amethysts, what gems would I want to use?” Jade asked.

  “You would need to make that call, but maybe some kind of defensive armor or an offensive spell. Gems are very useful, but they are usable only once or in rare cases, two or three times per day, depending on their levels.” I advised. “But they could give you extra powers that you don’t have because of your guild.”

  Stix asked, “But your Single Use Spell rings could do that, too. Right?”

  “True. But the Single Use Spell rings disappear after being used, where the gem powers are reusable every day.”

  Jade sighed. “It’s a bit much for me to take in. This is your area of expertise. What would you offer for the gem? Maybe we can start there.” She suggested hopefully.

  I thought about it. “Well, you will want to keep the 42pt gem because it is very powerful. The most powerful gem that I use in my staff is only a 28pt gem.”

  “Do you think they would be too dangerous for me?” She asked.

  “I don’t know. I think you will be okay, but it depends on what I find in the gems when I inspect them.”

  Stix said, “You might as well look at them since all the other choices are based on that going forward.”

  Starla said, “He’s not wrong.”

  I scooped the other gems up and put them in front of me. “I’ll start with the 7pt and work up to the 42pt since they will continue to offer greater options along similar lines.”