Page 164 of Lady of Ashes

“Will you?”

“What is it you are looking for?”

“What am I not looking for at this point?” she said with a huff. “Information on the Maraans. The Avonleyans. Figuring out what a Source is. The keys.”

“Ah.”

“So will you? Show me where they are?”

“I don’t see why not,” he replied. “However, I think you would have better luck in the libraries of the Wind Court. They are much more extensive.”

Her gaze ?ew back to his. “Why would you just bring this up now?”

“Why would a young queen refuse to keep her magic fully replenished? Mysteries of the universes, I suppose,” he mused.

“Funny,” Scarlett deadpanned.

Briar merely shrugged.

“Will Ashtine let me visit them?”

“I may be able to persuade her.”

Scarlett snorted a laugh. “I bet, Prince.” Another bout of silence before she asked, “Why is Nasima not with Ashtine?”

Briar visibly stiffened. Even in the night she could see his features darken, his twinkling eyes harden. “Because she chose Talwyn over the winds,” he ?nally gritted out.

“What does that even mean?”

“The winds favor Avonleya. You have an idea of how Talwyn feels about the kingdom. She became upset with Ashtine when the winds stopped whispering of the kingdom across the sea. Ashtine has kept Talwyn’s secrets, so I do not entirely know what has been said or done, but her loyalty was called into question. When she chose to stand by Talwyn, the winds stopped speaking to her all together. Nasima left, and she finds it very difficult to walk among them.”

She wasn’t sure what to say to that. She could feel the aggression rolling off of Briar. “You do not agree with her choice?”

“No. I have tried to convince her to reconsider, but in the end, it is her choice to make.” He paused, then added, “Just as it is yours to allow yourself to weaken, I suppose.”

“Where is she now?”

“At her Wind Citadel in the Shira Cliffs. She is … not well.”

Scarlett nodded. “At least you are accepting of her choices,” she grumbled.

“Understanding and accepting are two very different things,” Briar said. “But that argument aside, she has given me reasons for her choices, to help me understand. We have discussed them as much as we can. The bigger issue is that her duty to Queen Talwyn prohibits her from being able to give me detailed explanations. Something that is not a hindrance for you and Sorin. He seeks to trust you.”

“It is my own fault he does not,” she replied quietly.

“Yes,” he agreed, never one to say something simply to try and make her feel better or assuage her guilt. “But it is also in your power to rebuild such a thing.”

“Such a thing takes time.”

“It does, but refusing to start somewhere will only make it take longer.”

“I often forget you are as old as Sorin,” Scarlett replied. “Then you speak like an ancient sage, and I remember you are the same age.”

“For the record, Sorin is older by three seasons.”

A laugh bubbled up from Scarlett’s throat. “And Sawyer?”

“I am older than him by nearly seven decades.”

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