Page 115 of Lady of Starfire (Lady of Darkness #5)

Talwyn

T alwyn sat atop a brown mare next to Azrael, who was on a slightly larger black horse. She wished she could be in the sky with Jetta and the other Witches who had all left the day prior, along with Sorin, Cyrus, and Cassius, but Thorne was nowhere near ready to fly.

She’d stayed with him in the stables for the first two nights. Last night, Az had insisted she sleep in an actual bed and get a decent night’s rest if she was planning to come with them to fight in the Earth Court.

The Witches were adept at healing all types of life it seemed, and the past centuries of tending to the griffins had made them experts on the beasts too.

It had still taken three of them to get Thorne to a place of sure survival, and even then, once they got him moved down to the stables, one of them watched him for the next day to make sure that remained the case.

Talwyn had paced in that stupid stable that smelled like shit and wet fur until Az had appeared with a stool and forced her to sit down so her still bleeding arm could be tended to.

She rotated her arm now as they sat waiting, Azrael glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

“The Healers sent along some herbs and ointment for that,” he said.

“It is fine.”

“It is not, Talwyn. You need to—”

He stopped speaking abruptly, a muscle ticking in his jaw.

“Say it, Az,” she said sharply.

Azrael looked around before moving his horse off to one side, and she followed. When they were far enough from the others, he said, “You do not heal as quickly, Talwyn.”

She barked a humorless laugh. “I am very much aware of that fact, Prince.”

“Are you?” he countered. “Because I am not so sure you are.”

“What in the realm makes you say that?”

“Because if you truly understood that, I assume you would be smarter about your choices.”

She glared at him, waiting for him to go on, because she knew him well enough to know he had more to say on this subject.

“You are at every disadvantage now. It is stupid to not take every advantage offered to you now,” he continued.

“The herbs will speed along your healing, while the ointment will make you more comfortable. I know you need to fight in the war, and you should. You are an asset with your sword and bow, but what happens when your arm is too stiff for you to lift that sword because you refused this?”

“I get it, Az,” she grumbled. “The lecture can stop.”

She reached down into a small saddle bag. She’d never needed to have one before. Always able to store items in a pocket realm. Azrael had needed to get all her things from there.

His hand clamped around her arm, causing her to lift her eyes back to his. He had moved his horse closer, their legs brushing against one another.

“You do not ‘get it,’ Talwyn,” he said, his voice low. “I need you to take every advantage offered to you so that we can delay the eventual release of your Staying as long as possible. That means taking godsdamn care of yourself.”

Oh.

Oh.

Her features softened some. “I get it, Az.”

“I want every second the Fates will give us. If we can barter for more of that time by doing simple things like this, then we are damn well going to do them.”

“Okay,” she whispered, gently uncurling his fingers from her arm.

He helped her with the wound care before they steered their horses back into position.

Not everyone had horses. It would be easier to stream bodies through the portals that were going to be created rather than having everyone on horseback.

The Avon leyans, having never been there, couldn’t simply Travel.

Ashtine wouldn’t be going with them to fight, but she would be creating a portal here.

Azrael would be going to create one for the Shifters, and Briar would be going to the Witches.

Scarlett was just waiting on signals from the other territories that they were in position.

Their forces were tired. Many of them weren’t able to go right into another battle a few days later. It wasn’t ideal, but at least most of the Witches and all the Shifters would be in prime fighting condition.

She had to hand it to Scarlett. The female had taken her sweet time coming back from Avonleya, but she had returned not only with an army but also with plans.

There was nothing slow about her tactics now.

She moved from one plan to the next, one battle to the next, as if checking them off some sort of twisted list. The queen had so many plans and power moves, Talwyn truly wasn’t sure how she managed it all.

Then again, she did know. Scarlett had figured out the one thing it had taken Talwyn far too long to realize.

Loyalty earned is far more valuable than loyalty demanded.

She looked over to where Scarlett was standing with her brother, the Avonleyan Queen, the Avonleyan Commander, and several other Avonleyan warriors.

She appeared to be listening intently to something one of the warriors was saying, then she threw her head back, laughing while her brother shook his head with a half-grin.

Scarlett would Travel them when they received word from the others.

Hazel and Arantxa wouldn’t be there yet, but the Witches stationed along the borders were closer.

By the time those leaving from the Wind Court arrived, they would be able to offer a reprieve to those in the sky if needed.

It was a strategic move to keep the aerial host from tiring all at once.

A small unit had also stayed behind to watch over the Citadel and Ashtine.

That was the only reason Briar was coming to fight with them.

“You are sure you won’t go through my portal?” Azrael asked, grip tightening on the reins he held in one hand.

“You know why that is a bad idea,” she replied, eyes sweeping over the rest of the assembled forces.

She knew Azrael was a seasoned enough fighter to maintain his focus, but she also knew if she were near him in her new vulnerable state, she would be a distraction to him.

Sure he trusted her skills, but as he’d just proven with the herbs and ointment for her arm, her own wellbeing was a top concern.

He didn’t need that in the middle of a fight.

Azrael appeared as if he were going to say something else when a flourish of violet-tinged shadows appeared, followed almost immediately by the same of teal. The signals Scarlett had given to the Witches and Shifters.

Everything began happening at top speed after that. A Wind Portal was opened, forces streaming through. Scarlett checked in with the Fae Princes before she was gone with her small group of Avonleyans.

Talwyn steered her horse to the portal, but she looked back over her shoulder, meeting Azrael’s gaze. “Meet me on the battlefield, Prince.”

He held her stare a moment longer before he Traveled out. As she positioned her horse to go through the portal, she caught Ashtine’s eye.

“Be brave, Talwyn,” her friend said, a sad, tight smile tilting her lips.

Talwyn nodded, urging her horse forward and into the winds. Soldiers were forced out of the way of her horse, and she felt like an ass for it. But when she emerged on the other side, she forgot all about those feelings.

There were seraphs here, but not nearly as many as there had been in the Wind Court fight a few days ago.

However, there were Night Children. Everywhere.

They’d been hoping to beat the vampyres here.

The Earth Court had been taken by surprise, though.

Talwyn could see they were scrambling, trying to get people into positions.

There were frantic orders being yelled, and soldiers not fully armed rushing out to meet them.

But Scarlett and her Court had planned this well, having the portals appear on three different sides of the Alcazar.

She had Traveled her small party in on the fourth side, effectively surrounding Tarek and his forces.

Talwyn joined the fray with her sword swinging, cutting into a vampyre and knocking him to the ground.

Shirastone would be needed to keep him down, but someone else could get to him while wounded.

She needed to stay atop her horse as long as possible.

She didn’t have the speed or strength anymore, and while she had fighting leathers on, they wouldn’t be as effective without that Fae grace and fluidity she’d once possessed.

Azrael had suggested heavier armor, but she didn’t have time to train and learn how to move properly with it.

She managed to make her way to the outer walls of the Alcazar before a Night Child tackled her from her horse.

The air was knocked from her lungs when she hit the ground hard, her back screaming at the impact, but instinct had kicked in.

She had a shirastone dagger shoved into the vampyre’s chest with her fangs inches from Talwyn’s throat.

Working to suck down air, she shoved the female off of her, getting to her feet.

Her horse had run off, and she had lost one of her swords in the fall.

Drawing her other from her back, she kept the dagger in hand and let decades of training take over.

All that training kept her going longer than a regular mortal would have been able to, but as the minutes of battle dragged on into hours, she knew she would need to find somewhere to take a reprieve.

She knew the Alcazar as well as she knew the White Halls, so when she finally reached a side gate, she slipped in and raced for a stairwell that would take her to a parapet atop the wall.

There would likely be an archer or two inside, but she could handle them and then breathe. For just a moment.