Page 37 of Beneath a Shattered Sky
What’s going on?I silently ask the bond in my chest and am instantly hit with a wave of smug anger.
“The Goddess is clearly aware of our efforts to be subtle.” Drystan rides over and leans down to pull me back up into the saddle. “Either that, or she disapproves of us dragging the Fomorian around with us like a stray dog.”
“Fuck. You,” Caed retorts. “Your Goddess wanted this little bonding experiment, remember?”
“Enough,” I say, voice quiet. “It’s not anything to do with Caed. She’s punishing the Summer Court. Her anger with them isn’t going anywhere any time soon.”
“How do you know that?” Bree asks, riding up alongside me.
I shrug. “I just asked the bond. She’s furious.”
There’s a second’s silence as they all process what I’ve said. Did I do something wrong? It felt natural to just reach for Danu and ask.
Drystan kicks Blizzard back into a walk. “There’s still five days’ travel between us and the Apporas river. Try to remind the Goddess that we’re keeping a low profile before she decides to burn down anything else.”
I blush, then shrug. “If blessing the shrines is for nothing, can we not just blink to Illidwen? Surely there’s no point continuing this way.”
He stiffens, then shakes his head, lowering his voice until I can barely hear him. “We could, but do you really think the others are in any shape to stand up against another minor royal right now? Are you, for that matter?”
I glance back at Jaro, noting the shadows under his eyes, and then at Bree, whose ears haven’t stopped twitching since we left Siabetha. Finally, my eyes land on the two Fomorians riding a few paces behind everyone else.
“You’re right,” I reluctantly admit. “The southern courts weren’t kind to us.”
“Your wings are still sore—don’t try to deny it—and we could all use a chance to heal. I’ve carefully planned the route. The chances of us being discovered are slim to none.”
I can imagine so, given that we appear to have left roads behind entirely.
One of his hands leaves the reins, landing on my shoulder. He trails his finger lightly over the fabric covered skin there—a question—and I nod.
Strong fingers dig into my muscles, teasing out the knots in my neck before working their way down.
“Bricriu also made a good point, back in the Spring Court.” Drystan pauses as I let out a pained gasp when he hits a particularly sore knot at the base of my top left wing, soothing away that hurt with firm strokes before continuing. “This is the first time you’ll see much of your own Queendom, and it will probably be the last time for a long time that you can travel so freely without a retinue. Despite the circumstances, you should enjoy what you can.”
“I’ll enjoy it when my people are safe.” I sink back into him. “But we can’t do that with half the Guard so… distracted.”
It’s too weak of a word for what Jaro and Bree are going through, but I can’t bring myself to call them broken. Broken implies they may never recover, and I refuse to believe that.
“Five days is enough time for you to get a little more flight practice in, and for them to work through what’s happened.” Drystan edges Blizzard left around a fallen tree. “We are at war. These moments of rest are sometimes more vital than the moments of action.”
There’s wisdom in his words. “If Cressida refuses to bow, I won’t take it lying down as I did with Aiyana and Eero.”
He chuckles. “The unseelie wouldn’t respect you if you did. We’re different breeds, for all that we are the same species. Just remember to check for a lavellan in your bed before you go to sleep.”
A what?I quickly decide I don’t want to know and shrug off the words. “Unseelie are dangerous, got it.”
“No more so than the seelie turned out to be,” he grouches. “But Cressida is older than Aiyana and twice as powerful.”
Considering the damage Eero and Aiyana have done, that doesn’t fill me with confidence.
Eleven
Rhoswyn
The next shrine is a boulder with some dirty strips of fabric knotted around it. It seems even more abandoned than the first. I almost feel bad that Danu isn’t revitalising it like she did before everything went down in Siabetha.
It’s a depressing sight to eat dinner next to, but we’re all hungry and more than a little bored. I certainly never expected having Caed in the group to make things so… quiet, but it has. Perhaps he’s being careful not to push his luck.
“I thought there were shrine keepers?” I mumble, just to break the silence.
