Page 82 of Lady of Ashes

“What do you mean the winds no longer speak to you?” Azrael asked from where he sat. His eyes were closed, his head tipped back against the chair, and his breathing was fast and shallow, as if he still couldn’t quite catch his breath.

“Queen Talwyn already knows this, Prince,” Ashtine replied. “She can tell you what she wishes you to know.”

Azrael’s eyes slowly opened, earthy brown irises settling on her. “What the fuck happened while I was gone?”

“Do not speak to me like I am beneath you, Prince Luan,” Talwyn answered.

“Have you told the Alpha his sister is back?” Ashtine asked in her silvery lilt, but before Talwyn had a chance to answer her, she had turned back to Briar. “Why is Rayner holding the hand of a child?”

Talwyn followed her gaze and found the Ash Rider indeed had a little girl’s hand enveloped in his. She had golden curls that bounced with each step, and she was chatting merrily beside him as he made his way around the great hall they were all in. Tables had been set up, with food constantly being brought out to ?ll them. The children were eating as if they hadn’t had proper meals in months. Eliza and Neve, along with some of the older children, were directing the younger ones to bathing rooms, and they would emerge in fresh clothing that actually ?t them, rather than the ill-?tting garments they’d arrived in. Laughter and chatter ?lled the air, along with excited squeals and the endless patter of running feet, as they ran and played and explored. Despite the lack of food and proper clothing, they were obviously well cared for. Very few possessed the destitute and dispirited looks that often accompany poverty.

But that was not what struck Talwyn most. No. What assaulted her the most were the varying scents that accompanied the children. There were so many woven among them, she couldn’t place where each one was coming from. Shifter blood. Witch blood. Night Children. Even Fae. All of them, in one way or another, had some form of magical bloodline ?owing in their veins.

“I do not know,” Briar was saying to Ashtine. “I can only assume he knows her from the last few weeks.”

“One would think she would be afraid of a male whose eyes swirl with smoke and who can disappear among ashes,” Talwyn commented, as the little girl continued to chatter away, telling him some kind of story. A slight smile tilted on the corner of the Ash Rider’s normally stoic features.

“Children tend to see things far more simply than adults,” Ashtine replied. “It is a shame we lose such clarity as we age.”

Sawyer appeared at Briar’s side, leaning in to speak into hisbrother’s ear. Briar’s eyes widened slightly before he nodded once. He turned to Ashtine as he said, “Sorin has requested my presence for an update on how things are progressing down here. Do you need anything before I take my leave?”

“I do not,” Ashtine replied. “I shall send a note if I require you.”

Briar nodded once, his lips forming a grim line, before he turned and left the hall, but Sawyer lingered next to the Wind Princess. Talwyn was about to ask if he needed something, when Azrael’s voice came from behind them.

“Where is Nasima, Ashtine?”

Talwyn’s gaze snapped back to the Wind Princess at the question. Indeed, the silver hawk was not in her usual place on Ashtine’s shoulder. How had she missed that? When was the last time she had seen Nasima with her? It couldn’t have been that day they’d argued, could it?

Ashtine’s lips pursed for a moment before she said tightly, “I have already stated the winds no longer speak to me.”

“What does thatmean?” Talwyn demanded.

For the ?rst time that day, Ashtine turned to face Talwyn fully. Winds swirled around her, and some of the children let out cries of fright, wide eyes turning to look at the Fae Princess. Her sky-blue eyes were hard, unforgiving. The female that stood before her had Azrael pushing to his feet and stumbling to Talwyn’s side, a hand going to the sword at his waist.

“What is the meaning of this, Ashtine?” he barked.

But her eyes stayed pinned on Talwyn. “You forced me to choose,” she whispered with a terrifying calm. “I told you. I warned you that the winds answer to what lies there. I begged you to walk a different path, but you did not turn. You forced me to choose, and I chose you, your Majesty. But the sacri?ce of that choice has been arduous.”

“I did not ask you to choose,” Talwyn snarled.

“You are correct,” Ashtine replied, her winds swirling faster around her. “I chose you of my own free will. A concept that is dif?cult for you to comprehend.”

“You are bound to choose me,” Talwyn retorted.

“I did not choose you out of any duty or vows of my Court, Talwyn. The choice would have been far easier, if that is what I could have based such a decision on.”

“This is not the place for this conversation. We are not in our Halls, and there are listening ears everywhere,” Azrael said, giving a pointed look in the direction of Eliza and Rayner, who were indeed watching them intently.

“May I escort you somewhere, Princess Ashtine?” Sawyer asked, stepping to her side.

“Yes, please,” she answered, placing a hand in the crook of his elbow. As he began to lead her away, she looked back over her shoulder. “You best inform Stellan, your Majesty. You do not need any more strained relations at the moment.”

Talwyn bristled at the slight, her back straightening and teeth clenching as she bit down on a reply.

“What did she mean bythat?” Azrael ground out.

“Stellan was upset by Sorin going behind his back and taking Arianna on this mission. I went to visit him, and things became heated,” Talwyn answered. She cast a side-long look at Azrael. “You should rest. Then I can ?ll you in on everything, and you can do the same.”

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