Page 134 of Lady of Ashes

“She has a condition that causes her joints to stiffen and become painful, sometimes making mobility nearly impossible,” Tava replied tightly. “The tonic offers enough relief from the pain that she can at least move around, which helps ease the discomfort even more.” She paused for a moment before adding, “Although with this cold, I doubt even the tonics will be enough to ease that right now.”

She led the way back to the street, passing more of the same types of shacks these people called their homes. Callan had never been this deep in the slums. He had certainly never come here as a child. The slums were full of lazy men and women who would rather fall into a liquor bottle than make an honest living. Fathers who abandoned their families, and mothers who regretted having children. That’s what he’d been told, taught to believe, and whilehe hadn’t entirely believed such things as he got older, he could admit there was still some sort of stigma attached to the place and its people. His parents would lose their minds if they knew he was in the slums of Baylorin with only Finn as a guard.

They would likely faint if they knew his betrothed was kneeling before them.

A few minutes later, Tava turned down an alleyway. There were a handful of barrels alight and several people gathered around them, trying to soak in the warmth. Most of them didn’t even acknowledge their presence as they passed. A few looked at them, and, although they could not see him beneath his hood, Callan could see them, illuminated by the ?ames. Gaunt faces, weathered by age and the elements. Hopeless eyes. Defeated souls.

Tava strode purposefully along until they were nearly at the end of the alley where a man was sitting against the brick wall. His eyes were half- closed, and Callan was fairly certain that was vomit down the front of the coat he was wearing. He had a scraggly beard, and the shoes he was wearing had holes in the toes.

Tava pushed her hood back, going to kneel once more, and Callan couldn’t keep himself from grabbing her elbow to stop her. She looked back at him over her shoulder as she said, “You insisted on coming with me, and I compromised on that front. But I will not allow you to keep me from helping these people.”

Callan opened and closed his mouth, having nothing really to say to that as she jerked her elbow from his grip.

“We’re here if anything happens,” Finn murmured from his other side, his eyes keenly watching the alley and the people in it.

“Ivan,” Tava said quietly, shaking the man’s shoulders. “Ivan, can you hear me?”

“Is that you, angel?” the man slurred.

“The angel is not here tonight,” she answered softly. “Just her helper.” “Nah,” the man slurred again. “You were always the angel. She was just the shadows you traveled in.”

Tava laughed softly. “If you say so, Ivan. Let’s get you up and over to Mary Ellen’s.”

“Gah,” he grumbled. “She ain’t gonna let me back in that place.”

“Of course she will,” Tava said, looping his arm around her slender shoulders, and before he realized he was moving, Callan was coming to the man’s other side.

“This ain’t no angel,” Ivan slurred as Callan looped his other arm around his own shoulders.

“Maybe it is,” Tava argued. “He is helping you, is he not?”

“Fuck, angel. The shadows helped me, too, but that didn’t make her no angel.” A hiccup escaped him as they got Ivan on his feet.

“Let me take him. You lead the way,” Finn said, coming to relieve Tava.

Tava let him and began leading them back down the alley. There were whispers as they passed by this time, and a few even started following them. Tava didn’t seem concerned, but Callan sure as hell was. These people may not know the Crown Prince was among them, but he was certain at least a few of them had to know that Tava was now engaged to him. News had to reach even this corner of the slums, didn’t it?

It took ten minutes to get to their next destination. This building seemed to be in better repair than any of the others they had passed. It was two stories and had a wrap-around porch, although a number of the boards were rotted, and Tava stepped carefully as she made her way to the door.

“Hey, angel,” Ivan slurred again while they waited for someone to answer the bell she had rung, when she pulled a string near the door.

“Yes, Ivan?” she asked pleasantly.

“Didn’t I hear you was getting married?”

Tava’s spine stiffened, and she pulled her cloak tighter around herself. “I do not know. Did you hear that?”

“Pretty sure. Is it true?”

Tava cleared her throat. “Yes, Ivan. I will soon be married.”

Ivan whistled low under his breath. “That’s one lucky son of a bitch. You take such good care o’ me. I can jus’ imagine how good you take of ‘em.”

“That is enough, Ivan,” Tava said ?rmly as the door opened.

A formidable looking woman stood there in a long, cotton nightgown. Her face was illuminated by a candle, and Callan could just make out the streaks of grey in her light brown hair. Her brown eyes skipped from Tava to Ivan and back again before she sighed and stepped to the side.

“I was wondering when I would see him again,” the woman said, as Tava stepped past her and motioned for Callan and Finn to enter.

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