Page 27 of Ash and Feather

He nodded absently.

But no matter how many times I repeated the words, the guilt still remained in his eyes, haunting and dark, even in the bright glow of firelight.

Chapter 8

Karys

Later that day,Mairu and Valas both met me in the open fields just south of the Palace of Fire.

Dravyn had gone to speak with Halar and the rest of the Sun Court after promising to help me practice my magic whenever he returned. He’d seemed more like himself before he’d left, but I was still worried about him, in need of a distraction—and impatient, too—so I’d asked the others to help me practice in the meantime.

“You sure you’re ready for this?” Mai asked.

I nodded, turning my attention away from thoughts of Dravyn and focusing fully on her. She looked beautiful, as always, her hair plaited in rows and woven through with strands of shimmering gold. She wore a fitted top paired with a skirt that flowed beautifully around her, shifting between all the colors of a sunrise-splashed sea with such perfect precision that I wondered if she’d spelled it with her magic.

She smiled as I nodded—but it was a propped-up sort of smile, one that was trying too hard to pretend everything was fine.

Valas arrived a few minutes later, looking as though he’d just been roused from a nap. His shirt was untucked, his hair disheveled, his saunter the definition of effortless.

Mai gave him a disapproving look.

He only smiled and yawned in response, ring-laden fingers sparkling as he brought his hand up to cover his mouth.

Mai rolled her eyes, but she was biting her lip as she looked away, and I could guess at what she was thinking easily enough: It was unfair for anyone to look that good when they’d just woken up.

“All caught up on your beauty sleep?” I asked, arching a brow.

His expression brightened. “Almost.”

In the distance, Zell trotted and pranced around, occasionally leaping straight up, kicking his feet and sending ribbons of flame into the air.

Moth soared in and out of these ribbons, trailing his own fire behind him—ribbons of a bolder red than Zell’s. The combination of the two of them was mesmerizing.

I watched their show for a moment, smiling at their antics, trying to concentrate on anything but the task before me in hopes of soothing my nerves.

Mai was much more focused than I was. She wasted no time declaring the lesson officially in progress, signifying its start with a sharp clap. “The first thing I believe you should work on isrelaxing.”

Just the word made my stomach lurch and my hands shake in a decidedlyunrelaxed manner.

“This ability to traverse instantly from one place to another is one that almost all divine beings share,” Mai went on, “and inevery case I’ve known, it’s a magic that works in essentially the same way: You can’t out-stubborn it or force it into submission, no matter how powerful you become.”

“Can’t I try?” I asked with a rueful smile. “I’m much better at being stubborn than I am at relaxing.”

Mai gave me a stern frown, shaking her head.

“This should go well,” Valas said, settling down on a lush patch of the silver-green grass. He sat cross-legged and propped a hand under his chin, grinning like a child eager to watch a funny play.

I shot him a dirty look. “Did you tag along just to antagonize me?”

“Of course he did,” Mai said.

“Don’t worry,” said the Winter God, still grinning, “I made sure to wear clothing I didn’t care about this time, so we’re good in the event that you accidentally set me on fire.”

“What about if shepurposefullysets you on fire?” Mai inquired sweetly.

He scoffed. “That won’t happen, because Karys and I are best friends.”

I snorted. “No forcing it,” I said to Mai, reminding her of where she’d been interrupted. “What else is there to know?”

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