Page 168 of Lady of Ashes

Sorin released a long-suffering sigh, his ?ngers running along his brows. “Perhaps now is not the best time for your delightful, yet insulting, sarcasm, Love.”

“Perhapsyou should stop saying perhaps,” she muttered back, rolling her eyes.

Sorin’s lips twitched, but he turned back to face Talwyn. “Wejust began theorizing about them after we returned, when we stumbled upon one by sheer luck. We are not even sure they are the actual keys. We need Ashtine to take them to the Shira Cliffs to con?rm they are skystone ?rst.”

“They are skystone,” Ashtine lilted softly from beside Talwyn. “But you may come see for yourself if you require tangible proof.”

The princess looked exhausted. She’d lost weight, and her eyes were muted. Even her hair seemed more dull, her skin ghostly pale. She moved to pass the amulet back to Scarlett, but Talwyn held out her hand for it. Ashtine passed it to her instead, giving her a wary look.

“Do you have any ideas as to where the other three are?” Talwyn asked, studying the amulet. The chain did seem to be skystone. It just lacked skystone’s brightness. The amulet attached to it though, this one being Falein’s symbol, was the darkest stone she’d ever seen.

“One of them, yes. The other two, no,” Scarlett answered. “I do, however, know a Fae will be in possession of one of them.”

“Why?” Talwyn asked.

She continued to study the amulet while Scarlett gave a brief explanation of what the Oracle had said to her.

“There could be a hundred ways to interpret the Oracle’s words,” Talwyn said when Scarlett ?nished speaking. “She is hardly helpful on the best of days.”

“Rude,” drifted an icy voice from a shadowy corner on the far side of the room. Azrael and Talwyn both spun quickly towards the source to ?nd Death’s Shadow and the Witch standing there, both in black and both blending in with the darkness around them.

“Who are you, and why are you here?” Talwyn demanded.

“Talwyn,” Ashtine said quietly, “she is the Oracle of whom you speak.”

The Witch tilted her head slightly, her red-brown hair swaying with the movement.

Talwyn worked hard to change the tone of her voice from annoyance to respect. “I apologize,” she said tightly, bowing her head. “I did not realize you had left your cave.”

“I came to check in on an old friend,” the Oracle replied, her eyes darting to Cassius.

Talwyn didn’t know how to respond to that. The Oracle was centuries old …

“I replaced the previous Oracle upon my mortal death,” the Oracle supplied, sensing her confusion. “Before that, though, I was called Death Incarnate by some.”

Talwyn started, the amulet clattering to the table. “You were a Wraith of Death.” Her eyes darted from her, to the Night Child smiling like a maniac in the shadows, to Scarlett, who was smirking like a damn cat where she still sat casually in her seat. “You all … All of you are here.”

“Allow me to introduce you to mychildhood friends,” Scarlett purred. “I am told you know Death’s Shadow, although we call her Nuri,” she continued, nodding towards the dark corner. “You have just met Juliette— a Witch, the Oracle, and the niece of the High Witch.” Her gaze then shifted to Cassius. “As for this one, he trained us at the Fellowship in the Black Syndicate and was one of my personal tutors.”

Talwyn schooled her features back into neutrality, pushing down the shock at learning who all these people truly were … and at having not only an Avonleyan on the Western Courts throne, but a godsdamn Wraith of Death.

“And why, exactly, are they all here?” Talwyn asked tightly.

“Because we need to ?nd the Contessa, and they are going into the Night Child territory with me,” Scarlett answered.

They spent the rest of the meeting planning the mission into the Night Child territory that was to happen in three days. All the Courts were sending in extra spies to see if the Contessa’s whereabouts could be pinpointed. Talwyn had to admit she was getting worried though. No one’s spies had seen or heard from the Contessa in months. All had been quiet on the Night Child front. It wasn’t uncommon not to hear from her, butsomeoneinside her lands always knew how to get in touch with her.

She’d wanted to take one of the amulets with her to see if she could shift the shape of them. Scarlett had said the amulets themselves were something called nightstone, but, of course, she’d refused to let her leave with even one of the things. She said once they had con?rmed they were the actual keys and had found theother three, they could start working on shifting them. It wasn’t as if she could argue with her. They were equals, no matter how much it disgusted Talwyn that an Avonleyan sat on a Fae throne.

Talwyn was walking down the path to the main gates so she could Travel home, when the sound of footsteps behind her had her tensing. A moment later, he spoke.

“So this is how we are going to do this now? I am your Second, Talwyn. We need to speak outside of formal meetings.”

“Do we?” Talwyn asked. “I seem to learn more during these formal meetings than outside of them these days.”

Azrael apparently chose to ignore the verbal bait. “You need someone, Talwyn. Ashtine is … not herself. And even if she were … You need someone.”

“That someone is not you.”

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