Page 251 of Lady of Ashes

Tarek’s hand brushed the back of her neck before she felt him coast his lips along her ?esh.

It had been a week since the king and queen of Windonelle had been murdered. It had been a week since Prince Callan and Princess Eva had fled for their lives. Lord Lairwood, Hand to the King, was next in line to take the throne according to royal charters, all neatly orchestrated over the centuries by Alaric and Balam Tyndell themselves. Of course, Lord Lairwood was also conveniently murdered that night, leaving the path to the throne open for none other than Mikale Lairwood himself. Talwyn had also learned that Mikale and his sister were not Lord Lairwood’s flesh and blood.Balam had used the strange powers he had to alter people’s reality, and made the Lord believe them to be his children.

Alaric had been right. It would have been a much smoother transition if Callan had married Veda. She knew now the plan had been to eventually kill Callan, when enough time had passed, and then Veda would have called on her brother to take the throne after claiming she didn’t know the ?rst thing about ruling a kingdom. There would be bumps and resistance with how things had actually played out.

But Alaric had taken care of that, too.

Everything had been pinned and blamed on the Fae. Well, not all the Fae. Speci?cally the “treacherous Fire Court” to the North with the aid of the Water Court to the South. But humans being mortal, they were wary of all the Courts, her own included, despite it being declared the Fae Queen of the Eastern Courts was on their side. Despite it being announced that she had killed the Fire Prince in revenge for killing their king and queen. The humans had been too distrustful of the Fae for far too long, though, taught to believe that all their troubles stemmed from them because of the Great War.

Because of Avonleya.

She sat at a desk in a suite at the Baylorin castle, the amulets spread out before her. Alaric did not want them to leave the mortal lands, so she was stuck working on trying to shift their form here, rather than taking them back to the White Halls. Tarek had stayed with her every night, gone during the days to do whatever tasks were assigned to him. She was included in many meetings, but she knew there were others being held without her.

She did the same in her own kingdom after all, having meetings long into the night with Azrael and Ashtine after the other Royals had departed.

Not that she had to worry about that any more. She had learned that the winged men she and Azrael had fought were called seraphs, and there were more of them. So many more than she’d have ever guessed. And those rips in the planes she’d been taken to at one time with Scarlett? That was how they were getting them into this world. Through some combination of Blood Magic and Maraan gifts.

They had these rips in every mortal kingdom. Several rips, actually. They had them in the Night Child lands. Their next focuswas the Fae Courts. Talwyn had agreed to let them in on the condition that none of her innocent people would be hurt in any of the Courts. Alaric himself had reassured her that this was solely to force Scarlett’s hand to get them into Avonleya. They were building an army to bring against Avonleya and he had promised she would see the Aonvelyan king’s head at her feet, and that was all she cared about.

“This nightstone is different,” she replied, Tarek’s ?ngers skating across her cheek while he stood behind her. “I have shifted matter and energy plenty of times, but this is denser. Harder. More resistant.”

“You can do it,” Tarek said softly, ?ngers dragging down her throat, across her collarbone. “Your mother would not have left the task to you if she did not believe you could accomplish it.”

“What are you doing here in the morning?” she asked. He was generally gone before she woke, only returning for a midday meal with her before they both went to meet with the Lords and be briefed on any new developments.

“I had nothing to tend to this morning, so I thought I would check in on you,” Tarek replied, reaching past her to pick up one of the amulets.

Some …thing?uttered in her chest at his words, but his next ones had it dying just as quickly.

“What do you plan to do with the Courts?”

“What do you mean what do I plan to do with them? I will rule them. As I have the last several decades,” she replied sharply, her attention going back to the amulets. She picked up her own, holding the cool metal in her palm. It never warmed. No matter how long she held it. It was always cool to the touch.

“Yes, but you are down a few Royals now,” Tarek said casually. Too casually.

Talwyn stiffened, but he continued speaking, not seeming to notice. “When we enter the Fire and Water Courts, Alaric will not let the Royals live if they refuse to side with us. Then again, I guess we only need to worry about Drayce,” he mused, apparently simply thinking out loud at this point. “I know you do not wish to see an Avonleyan ruling over them, and Alaric will not let Scarlett remain in her role. He has … other plans for her.”

“Such as?” Talwyn asked, trying to keep the annoyance from her tone but failing.

“He will not share that with you unless you choose the Blood Bond.”

She had been offered this Blood Bond three times now. This thing that bound Tarek and Death’s Shadow to the Maraans. Alaric speci?cally. She was told it would offer the ultimate protection. Unconditional loyalty that goes both ways. That was how Tarek described it, but she still wasn’t convinced. It seemed too … convenient. It was wrapped up too pretty. She’d learned long ago that anything good and beautiful in her life wouldn’t stick around for long. The Fates did not ?nd her worthy enough to gift her anything that valuable. Pretty things always came at a cost. It was just a matter of ?guring out how big the cost would be.

It was never worth it.

Ignoring his comment about the Blood Bond for now, Talwyn said, “Alaric told me no innocents will be harmed in this.”

“Do you honestly believe Prince Drayce will willingly allow us into his Court? That Cyrus and Eliza and Rayner will not ?ght against us? They cannot stay in their positions, Talwyn.”

She let the amulet she was holding plunk down onto the desk, leaning back rigidly in her chair and looking up at him. “So this is why you are truly here? To learn about my plans for the Courts?”

Tarek shrugged. “It is something that needs to be discussed. Now seemed as good a time as any.”

Talwyn’s jaw was clenched so tightly it hurt. “The Courts are mine to worry about. No one else’s.”

“No one is trying to take them from you, Moon?ower,” he said softly. “But we do need to know what to expect so we are all on the same page.”

“They will be offered the choice of aligning with us or abdicating,” she said.

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