Page 72 of Crown of Ashes and Desire

The shadow spirits burned down my throat. The third bottle offered no more relief than the first two.

“Either you sacrifice her, or I will,” my father had warned. “My methods will be far less merciful.”

I hurled the empty bottle over the wall, watching it shatter with grim satisfaction. The spirits dulled the persistent pain in my chest, but they sharpened the rage building since discovering Ada in that ancient corridor.

What had she really been doing there? Sleepwalking? Or meeting with one of the factions that sought to undermine me?

I pushed myself to my feet, the room swaying as the spirits took full effect. One thought crystallized through the haze: confrontation. I needed answers.

The journey back to my chambers passed in a blur. Ada stood by the window, silhouetted by the night sky. She turned at my entrance, eyes widening.

“You’re drunk,” she observed, wariness creeping into her posture.

“Astute as always,” I slurred, and talked toward her. “And you’re a liar.”

She backed away, palms raised defensively. “Hakan, you’re not yourself. Whatever you think?—”

“What I think,” I cut her off, and closed the distance between us, “is that you’re playing a very dangerous game. Meeting with my enemies. Plotting against me.”

“That’s not?—”

“STOP LYING!” I roared, and slammed my fist into the wall beside her head. “I saw you with the map, Ada. The silver inkgave it away—ancient pathways marked in enchanted script. I’m not a fool.”

Her eyes widened with genuine surprise, then narrowed again. “You can see through—” she began, surprise evident.

“Shadow vision,” I cut her off. “I can see through fabric, walls, illusions—anything touched by shadow. Nothing stays hidden from me in my own realm. Who gave it to you? Narin? Azra? Which faction are you aligned with?”

“I’m not aligned with anyone,” she insisted, anger replacing fear. “I’m just trying to survive until this ritual that you insist will spare me, though we both know that’s a lie.”

“You expect me to believe you found that map on your own?” I pressed.

Ada hesitated, weighing her words carefully before responding. “Lady Narin approached me this morning,” she admitted. “She claimed to represent something called the Shadow Resistance—a faction opposing your father. She offered me escape through hidden pathways.”

“And you believed her?” I asked incredulously.

“No,” Ada replied, and surprised me. “That’s why I was in that corridor—to verify if the pathways on the map actually existed before trusting her offer.”

“Why would you doubt Narin’s intentions?” I pressed. She sounded curious. “She’s made no secret of her opposition to my father.”

Ada’s gaze was steady when she answered. “Because her timing was too convenient. Because she insisted I leave tonight without Melo, claiming my guardian’s magic would trigger alarms in the passages. Because she spoke of a ‘Twilight Sanctuary’ that sounded more like prison than refuge.”

Understanding dawned. “You thought it was a trap.”

“I didn’t know,” she confessed. “That’s why I needed to confirm if the map was genuine. When I found those ancientmarkings in the corridor that matched symbols on the map, I thought perhaps—” She stopped herself. “But then you appeared.”

I studied her, searching for deception and finding none. “If the pathways were real, would you have gone?”

A conflicted expression crossed her face. “I have reasons to leave this place that you couldn’t possibly understand,” she said. “But I’m not foolish enough to walk blindly into a trap, even to escape you.”

“Reasons?” I laughed bitterly. “You think I want to sacrifice you?”

“I think you’ll do whatever your father demands,” she shot back. “Just like you always have. Power over love, wasn’t that your choice five years ago?”

The truth of it burned through me. The shadow spirits amplified the pain, turning it into rage.

“You know nothing of my choices,” I hissed, and closed my hand around her throat—not squeezing, just holding. “Nothing of what I’ve sacrificed.”

“Then enlighten me,” she challenged. “Tell me what was worth destroying me for.”

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