Page 33 of Winds of Darkness
“You may,” Ashtine answered.
Briar rolled his lips as he contemplated his next words. This was why he didn’t want the others here. Conversing with her required carefully phrasing questions and statements. She wasn’t purposefully vexing, but others found her oddness irritating.
“Why do you find yourself in need of additional weapons at this time?” Briar finally asked.
“I do not require them for this time.”
“For the future then?”
“I do not require them for the past.”
He found himself keeping a smile from forming at her response. “That stands to reason,” he conceded. “What do you fear the future holds that brings you here with this request?”
He could swear something akin to relief flashed in her eyes.
“The future can hold many things. It is most unpredictable,” she replied. “But I fear the Great War was nothing more than one of many.”
Briar nodded slowly. “That is natural to fear, but we have all been preparing.”
She shook her head, that relief gone and replaced with frustration. “It is not enough. It is not going to be enough.”
Briar’s brow furrowed. “The Great War has ended. King Deimas and Queen Esmeray have crossed the Veil, likely to the Pits of Torment. Our Courts have known peace for more than a century.”
“That does not dismiss bloodshed from coming in the future,” she countered.
“I understand, but—”
“You do not,” she interrupted, a gust of wind stirring the sand at their feet.
“If you know of a credible threat, you must tell me, Ashtine,” Briar said, taking a step closer to her. Her gaze snapped to his, and he winced. “I apologize, Princess. The use of your name was not meant to be disrespectful.”
She nodded slowly. Briar was usually fairly skilled at reading people, but not her. He’d never been able to get a read on her, but he’d also never spent much time with her. Certainly not alone like this. And as she stared back at him now, he wasn’t sure where this conversation was going to go next, but by the gods was he intrigued.
He was also perplexed because this seemed like a meeting Ermir would definitely want to be present for.
“At the risk of your ire, does Ermir know what you are here requesting?” Briar asked when she didn’t speak further.
There was another gust of wind, this one sending sand flying so viciously it stung where it hit the flesh on his bare arms. He wasglad his hair was tied up, but Ashtine’s blew across her face as a small swirling vortex appeared at the tips of her fingers.
“Do you require the permission of your Court before acting, Prince?” Ashtine demanded, and Briar hadn’t known she was capable of such a tone. Her usual mystical lilt was still there, but it was layered with an iciness that had his own Fae nature taking notice and his magic stirring in interest.
“I meant no disrespect, Princess.”
“So you have stated, Prince.”
Well, fuck. He had no idea how to deal with … this. It certainly wasn’t how he’d expected this meeting to go today.
“I am taking your continued silence as a denial of my request?” Ashtine finally said.
“That is not—”
“At this point, it is either an approval or a denial,” she cut in.
“It is not that simple, Princess. You know this to be true,” Briar insisted.
“Nothing ever is,” was all she said, and then she was gone, walking among the winds that called to her.
And Briar was left standing on the beach wondering what in the fuck had just transpired.
