Page 84 of Ash and Feather

“Why did I come in here?” I asked, giving him a sad smile. “I’m such an idiot sometimes.”

I placed the tree carefully back in its spot and started to turn away, but something else caught my eye as I did—another new figure.

It stood alone on the other side of the table: An elegant, magnificent bird with flowing wings and a trailing tail, its feathers rendered in a myriad of fiery colors. Reds and oranges, warm hints of purples and blues…how had he managed all these different colors? What had inspired such a masterpiece?

My heart pounded as I stared at it, though I had no idea why.

Before I could reach for it or study it closer, a sudden flood of warmth overtook me.

Moth abandoned me and pranced over to the door, tail swishing expectantly.

Neither of us was surprised when the God of Fire joined us a minute later.

And despite all of my confusing, messy thoughts, the sight of him standing in the doorway still pulled a sigh of relief from my lips.

I still went to his side and wrapped my arms around him, losing myself in his strength, in the smoke and cedar scent that clung to him. I still wanted to stay caught up in these things, indefinitely.

I still loved him, mess and all.

Or maybe it wasbecauseof the mess. Because he’d trudged through the wreckage to find his way back to me, time and timeagain. Because he knew how to live in the shadow of graveyards, and how to navigate around ruined and broken things, same as I did.

He kissed the top of my head before drawing back. Torchlight spilled over his face. I noticed how dull his eyes were, how tightly his jaw was clenched—how tightlyeverypart of him was clenched. It was as if he was afraid he might collapse into total exhaustion if he relaxed even the tiniest bit.

“You seem tired.”

“Much less so,” he insisted, “now that I’m back at your side.”

I warmed at the words. My hand found his, and I focused on that warmth, letting it build between us since it seemed to help ease the stiffness from his tired shoulders. I wanted nothing more than to lose myself more completely in him and our kindling heat, to pull him toward his bedroom—toward rest—and lock the doors behind us.

Instead, I told him of my practice and the goddesses who had stopped by for a visit. I delivered Cepheid’s message word for word…though I left out the part where I’d nearly impaled the Star Goddess with a blade of fire. He clearly had enough on his mind; there was no need to add to it.

His gaze was distant as I finished, fixed in the direction of the bird statue I’d been studying.

“What happened in the mortal realm? You and Valas were gone much longer than I expected you would be.”

He didn’t reply right away, but I could sense the unease rolling off him. The torches reacted to his mood as well, their fires dancing brighter, wilder. The flare of extra light made the glass figures gleam brighter, highlighting all their edges.

It felt like we were surrounded by swords, suddenly, all their sharp tips shining, pointed directly at us.

I locked my eyes with Dravyn’s, urging him to continue.

“We’ve found Cillian,” he said after a pause. “And if you’re going to speak with him as planned, we need to move quickly. I don’t think we have much time left before everything in Avalinth goes to hell.”

Chapter 21

Karys

The following evening,Dravyn, Valas, Mairu, and I traveled together to the easternmost edge of the Kingdom of Galizur.

As Mairu had predicted, the rest of the Star Goddess’s court had followed her lead and chosen to ignore whatever was happening in Avalinth. The Stone Court had been of a similar mind—though the Healing God had mentioned he’d be monitoring the situation and willing to aid us if we returned with any injuries, at least.

The final member of our own court rarely visited the mortal realm, so it was no surprise when Zachar also declined to join us.

So the rest of the Shade Court came alone to where the land narrowed into a peninsula that jutted out into the tranquil turquoise waters of the Kelden Sea.

Mindoth’s Keep, the premier training grounds of the Galithian Army, stood in the center of this jutting land.

The waters on either side were filled with ships. Warships—manned by trainees and seasoned soldiers, alike—made up the bulk of them, but there were also vessels carrying various goodsof all kinds, most of them hailing from the continent to the north, or the islands in between that continent and Galizur. Part of the training that took place here involved protecting incoming supplies and seeing them properly distributed.

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