Page 36 of The Vanishing Throne

His hand presses to my chest –oh, that’s why– and I feel a gentle burst of his power, calming, soothing. My breath quiets. My heartbeat slows. He takes the energy – the rush of danger – from me until I’m left shaking. His power washes over me, a hint of flower petals at the back of my throat.

It’s joined by the subtle taste of Aithinne’s. I glance over at her, and I’m startled. Her bright silver irises cloud over to create a swirl of molten metal, deep and vast. The air thickens around us sohot, it’s hard to breathe through.

Thesluaghscreeches again and themortairtakes off running. The ground quakes under its heavy treads and my hand tightens around the hilt of the blade as I prepare for the worst – but it’s moving away from us, footfalls growing quieter and quieter. Until all is still around us, silent. Even the rain has slowed.

Aithinne releases a long, slow exhale. ‘I sent a stream of power off in another direction,’ she says, ‘but it won’t take long for them to realise it’s fake.’

Kiaran doesn’t respond. His hand is still pressed over my heart, his lips to my ear. This time his breathing is ragged, as if he’s trying to get himself under control.

Suddenly, before I can blink, he’s halfway across the room. The warmth from his body is gone and his expression is carefully composed, even cold.She wasn’t taught that emotions are a weakness.

‘I’ll get the horses ready,’ he says, his voice hollow. ‘We should move quickly.’

Chapter 14

Once we ride out of Glasgow, I realise that I’ve never been this far west of Edinburgh.

People always spoke of the Highlands reverently, as if they were a magical place, otherworldly. Now I know why. I have never seen mountains so majestic, so textured with steep, rugged rocks. Clouds settle at their peaks, capping the ranges in white mist. The snow dips lower, extending to touch the base of the mountains in a sprawl like spider webs across the rocks.

Below the mountains are meadows where grass and shrubs have turned brown and green and gold and red, a kaleidoscope of winter colours stretched vast. The scent ofrain and wood invades my senses. We pass waterfalls that start between the sharp, jutting rocks of the crags and spill down and through the meadows.

The fog lingers around us, spraying my skin with the cold and damp. It is a magnificent thing, Highland fog. It feels electric.

I never thought of winter as beautiful, with everything so barren and cold and dark. But I’ve also never seen scenery so magnificent that it made me ache from the sight of its beauty.

Now I understand why this place changes people. Why those I met from the Highlands said Edinburgh would never compare. Why they said magic isn’t dead here. I can feel it in my lungs with every breath, through my veins and in my blood. I think magic was born here.

I’m so enraptured that I don’t even notice Aithinne has stopped until Kiaran rounds his horse close enough to tap my arm. I slow. ‘What is it?’

Aithinne shakes her head once. ‘I sense something.’

‘I don’t,’ Kiaran says.

His sister glances at him. ‘Of course you don’t, you silly thing. You wouldn’t if it were right up your arse.’

I snicker, and at Kiaran’s glare, I say, ‘You’re the one who taught her to swear, not me.’

He opens his mouth to respond, but turns sharply toward the fog. He senses something, too. Then a familiar sensation settles on my tongue: gingerbread and spices, all the things that remind me of home.

I break into a smile as Derrick flies through the fog. He shouts in delight, ‘You’re alive!’

In an instant, I’m off my horse and sprinting through the tall meadow grass. Derrick barrels toward me in a streaming golden light. He flings himself into my shoulder, wings flicking hard. I hug him – as much as it’s possible to hug such a wee creature – with my fingers curled tight around his tiny body.

Derrick’s trapped wings pulse against my palm. ‘Aileana.’ He coughs. ‘Those are my ribs. You’re crushing my ribs.’

I release him, but I continue to stroke the silkiness of his wings. It feels like it’s been so long since I’d last seen him in Charlotte Square, just before I went off for battle. I never thought I’d see him again. I never thought we’d survive. Derrick clings to my shoulder, reaching into my hair to run his fingers through it. He inhales, wings twitching.

‘You damn pixie,’I say softly. ‘How did you know to find me?’

‘I was scouting and I sensed a Falconer,’ Derrick babbles, his wings so fast that they’re but a blur of light. ‘It had to be you and I raced to see if it was really you because we all thought that after this long you were probablydead—’

‘I thought you were dead, too,’ I say softly.

Derrick twists my hair. ‘You never thought you’d see me again. Youlooooveme and youmiiiiissedme. You – Holy hell,’ he says in amazement, his wings fanning. ‘Are those tears? Are youcrying?’

‘I just have something in my eye,’ I say, blinking hard.Damnation.

Derrick blinks at me, his eyes wet, too. ‘You’re right,’ he says, dabbing his cheeks. ‘No tears here, either. Definitely the rain. It’s really wet out here. I—’

---