Page 69 of Lady for Embers

She should have known. If she hadn’t been so absorbed with her own... everything, she would have known right away. There was no excuse for missing this, and now Ashtine was alone.

Talwyn had tried to contact her for hours since their conversation on that beach. She couldn’t Travel to her because she didn’t know where she was. Where had Abrax taken her in the middle of the sea? She’d sent wind messages, but they went unanswered.

Now here she was, pacing her chambers in the White Halls while the clouds obscured the stars and the moon in the night sky. Did Briar know? He couldn’t possibly. He would have never left Ashtine if he’d known she was carrying his child. She couldn’t be very far along. Fae pregnancies were slightly shorter than mortal pregnancies, magic helping the babe to develop faster, but the extra power took a toll on the mother. Fae pregnancies were brutal and taxing and only got worse as the babe grew stronger.

And Ashtine was doing this alone. Because of her.

Talwyn raked her hand through her hair, pushing it out of her face where the mahogany strands had fallen during her agitated treks back and forth across the rug. If Azrael were here, he’d have told her twenty times to stop pacing already.

If Azrael were here, he wouldn’t have missed all the signs. She should have known.

She sent another wind message off to Ashtine, knowing full well this one would go ignored too. Should she send a message to Briar? Or send one to Azrael to tell Briar? Did Ashtine not want Briar to know? These were all things she wanted to discuss with Ashtine. She didn’t want to overstep, didn’t want to strain their relationship any more than she already had.

And while the child could end up with wind or water magic, Ashtine always seemed to simply know things, usually from the winds whispering secrets to her. The way she spoke on the beach about Briar’s bloodline... Abrax was there to do more than protect Ashtine. He was there to protect the Water Court Heir too. Which was another predicament. Unless they had another child—which was incredibly rare among the Fae—the Wind Court would be left heirless. Even then, there was no guarantee a second child would have wind magic. It was why relationships across the Courts were frowned upon and why itneveroccurred among the Royals.

When this news got out, there would be an uproar across the Courts.

Then again, they’d likely be in the middle of a war. Maybe Court heirs would be the least of their worries.

Talwyn cursed under her breath, releasing a gust of wind in the room to siphon off her restlessness. She turned in her pacing as the door to the chambers swung open. She didn’t bother to look up, already knowing who it was. Admittedly, she’d forgotten about him. Forgotten he would likely show up here. If she’d remembered, she’d have gone to the mountains to pace. Or the Black Halls. Anywhere but here really.

“I did not expect you to be here.”

Not ceasing her movements, she glanced over at him. Tarek had paused in the doorway, his tunic bunched in his hands and halfway up his torso as if he’d been in the middle of undressing as he walked.

“I live here,” she said coolly.

“I thought so too, but you so rarely grace these Halls these days, I was beginning to wonder,” Tarek replied, coming out of his momentary shock. He released his tunic, letting it fall back down his body.

She ignored him, dragging both hands through her hair this time.

“Did you go to Siofra today?”

That made her feet pause. “What?” she asked, ?ngers still tangled in her strands.

“Did you go to Siofra today? To speak with Stellan and Arianna?”

She should have, she supposed. After getting into the prison had failed, she probably should have made a trip to the Shifter territory. That had been her plan until she’d spoken with Ashtine. Now this was all she could think about.

“No, I did not go to Siofra,” she replied, stalking to her desk and pouring a glass of water.

Tarek watched her warily, clearly trying to decide what to say next. “What did you do today then?”

She took a big drink of water, mainly to give herself time to think, before she answered. “I tried to get into the Underwater Prison, but it was futile and a waste of my day.”

Tarek’s brows rose. “Ashtine could not help you?”

“She would not.”

“Would not or could not?”

“Does it matter?”

“Those are two very different things, Talwyn,” Tarek answered, moving slowly towards her. He stopped directly in front of her, the tips of his boots nearly touching her bare toes. When she said nothing, he reached out a hand, cupping her cheek. “If it is the ?rst, you can make her. You are the queen, Talwyn. She cannot deny you.”

He wanted her to force Ashtine to do this? Even if she wasn’t carrying a child, she would have never forced her into this.

Guilt churned in her stomach at the thought, because that was a lie. She would have de?nitely tried to force her. She’d never used her Court Vow with Ashtine. It had never been needed. It had never crossed her mind to do such a thing. She’d known Ashtine her entire life.

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