Page 79 of Lady of Starfire (Lady of Darkness #5)

Talwyn

“C ome on,” Talwyn muttered, tugging on the tether around Thorne’s feathered neck.

The griffin had the audacity to squawk at her. Fucking squawk. He dug his back paws into the ground, his front talons making an awful screeching as he dragged them along the stone path.

“Idiotic beast,” she snarled, glaring at him.

He glared back.

She propped her hands on her hips, the rope still in hand. Huffing, she blew stray hair from her face.

She’d been out here for nearly three hours, arriving before the sun rose.

Now it was above the horizon, bathing the world in the first day’s light.

Ashtine had been sleeping soundly when she’d left.

The princess had been … Well, not better, but not quite as sullen, perhaps?

She still didn’t eat much, but she took the tonics Hazel prepared for her without argument.

She still slept much of the day, but she accompanied Talwyn down to the aeries every day too.

Talwyn wasn’t entirely sure what she was supposed to do with the griffin. The High Witch just kept telling her she needed to spend time with him to strengthen their bond.

The bond they absolutely did not have.

She was sure at this point the creature had only approached her that day because it had wanted the apple she had been eating.

The plan had been to go for a short flight this morning, but that wasn’t going to happen when Thorne wouldn’t let her close enough to touch him.

It had taken her an hour to even get the tether around his neck.

It was the first time she had truly missed her magic.

Conjuring a vine to use as a lead would have been so much easier than swinging a godsdamn rope above her head and tossing it at him over and over until it finally looped around his neck.

Then there had been getting him to even leave the fucking aerie.

In the last two hours, they’d made it a whole fifty feet from the doors. She was exhausted, sweaty, and irritated as hell.

Not that the griffin gave any sort of fucks.

“Fine, you overgrown buzzard,” she growled. “We’ll just sit here and take up space.”

With that, she plopped down onto the ground. Thorne blinked at her, his head tilting in that avian way birds do. Then his wings rustled, and he began pecking at the ground and digging at the dirt with his talon.

Godsdamn dick of a beast.

And that was how the High Witch found her.

“Why are you sitting in the dirt?”

Talwyn looked up, startled out of her thoughts. She hadn’t heard the Witch approach, and the griffin certainly hadn’t given her any type of warning. No, he had moved off the path as far as his lead would let him, now digging for whatever the hell he was looking for.

She quickly pushed to her feet, dusting off the back of her pants. Hazel stared back at her expectantly, waiting for an answer.

“We were going for a walk together. To bond,” Talwyn gritted out, yanking on the lead. Thorne didn’t even look at her. When she turned back to Hazel, she could have sworn there was the briefest glimmer of amusement on her face, but if there had been, it was fleeting.

The High Witch walked over to the griffin, Thorne raising his head at her approach. His wings shifted, feathers flaring slightly, but when Hazel lifted a hand, he bowed his head and allowed her to run a hand along his broad neck.

Dirty godsdamn traitor.

“Do you know why the griffins were banished to our kingdoms?” Hazel asked, continuing to stroke Thorne’s neck.

“The Witches were the only beings who could control them,” Talwyn replied.

“And do you think that is what we do? Control them?” Hazel countered.

Talwyn blinked at her, knowing this was some kind of trick question. “Is that not what you do with any animal?”

“Did you once control your wolves?”

“They were not mine to control.”

The High Witch arched a brow. “No?”

She pursed her lips, fists clenching at her sides.

Hazel’s attention returned to the griffin. “Most griffins select their riders when they are fledglings.”

“What?” Talwyn demanded. “If most Witches raise their griffins, how am I supposed to bond with a full-grown one?”

“Thorne was once bonded with another.”

“What happened to his rider?”

“She was killed by Alaric, but she left Thorne long before that.” When Talwyn stared at her in confusion, she added, “Thorne was Eliné’s griffin.”

Talwyn opened her mouth, then closed it. She tried to speak again, but nothing. Hazel continued stroking the griffin’s neck.

“After your mother’s death, Eliné did not visit nearly as often.

The responsibilities of running four Courts and caring for you took all her time, as they should have.

The last time she visited was when Scarlett was born here.

She said goodbye to Thorne, and he has not let anyone ride him since.

” Hazel’s violet gaze connected with Talwyn’s. “Until you.”

Talwyn still didn’t know what to say. She’d always known her aunt was close with the Witches, but close enough to have a bond with a griffin? She hadn’t known that Eliné had once visited the Witch Kingdoms so often that she’d flown in the skies with them.

“We cannot force a bond. Griffins value control as much as a Witch does,” Hazel continued.

“He did not exactly choose me,” Talwyn grumbled, crossing her arms.

“Of course he did. I just told you he has not let another ride him since Eliné left him behind.”

“So, what am I supposed to do?”

Hazel stepped back from the griffin. “It is not my bond to work out.”

“You have no instruction to offer?” Talwyn gritted out.

“Spend time with him.”

“What do you think I have been doing?”

“Bonding with a griffin is not done sitting in the dirt,” Hazel said curtly.

She glared at the High Witch. “Why are you down here? Did you need something?”

Likely not the smartest move to speak to the High Witch in such a manner, but after three hours of battling wills with a griffin, she had about as many fucks to give as Thorne did.

Hazel’s eyes flicked over Talwyn’s shoulder at the same time Thorne lifted his head and clicked his beak. It was answered by the cry of a hawk.

“She has news from the west,” came a lilting voice.

Talwyn turned to find Ashtine behind them, Nasima soaring above her and circling in the sky. Talwyn frowned at her appearance. She still looked unwell, despite everything. Still pale. Still exhausted.

“You should not be out here yet, your Highness,” Hazel said. “The mornings are cold in these lands, even in the warm months.”

Ashtine had her cloak clutched tightly around her, the hood up and her hands shoved deep in the pockets. She wore silk shoes that could not possibly be keeping her feet warm. With a weak smile, she said, “They remind me of my home. High in the cliffs.”

“Can you take Thorne back to the aerie?” Talwyn asked Hazel. “I will escort Ashtine back.”

“The winds summoned me,” Ashtine said, moving closer to the griffin. “What news do you carry, Lady?”

“I received word last night that Scarlett visited the Southern Islands two days ago as planned,” Hazel answered, stepping back more to give Ashtine room to pet Thorne.

“Did she find what she was seeking?” Ashtine asked.

“I do not know that, but I do know she left the cliffs in ruins.”

Talwyn couldn’t contain her small gasp. The power it would have taken to desecrate those cliffs would have been astronomical.

“She had a trap set. Most of Alaric’s forces that had accompanied him were inside the cliffs when she destroyed them. He returned to the continent upset.”

“That is nothing new,” Talwyn muttered.

“He retaliated,” Ashtine said softly.

Talwyn stilled because she was right. When Scarlett had tricked Alaric by trading him a powerless once-queen, he had retaliated by coming after Ashtine. He would have retaliated out of fury again.

“What did he do?” Talwyn asked.

Hazel’s keen gaze was on Ashtine, whose own eyes were fixed on the feathers she was smoothing down on Thorne’s neck. The beast bent his head, shuffling closer to her.

“It was reported that mortal rebel camps were discovered near the Wind Court border in Toreall. They were attacked, and some Wind Court Fae crossed to defend them. They were all killed, but he now plans to attack the Court. To solidify his holding there,” Hazel said.

Ashtine’s hand had stopped, fingers curling into Thorne’s feathers. She was trying to hide her trembling, but Talwyn could see it.

“Ashtine?” she asked tentatively.

She could already see all the progress the princess had made since coming here beginning to drain away at this news. The winds were picking up, piles of dirt swirling in the gusts. Nasima let out a disgruntled cry, shooting higher into the sky.

“Ashtine,” Talwyn tried again. “Ashtine, let us walk a bit.”

Hazel had taken Thorne’s lead, urging him to back up.

“Ashtine.”

Talwyn reached for her, but a gust of wind slammed into her so hard she was thrown backward, landing hard on her back.

She scrambled up onto her elbow to find ice swirling around Ashtine, her winds creating a swirling mass of the crystals, obscuring her from the rest of the world.

There was nothing Talwyn could do. She couldn’t counter the wind and ice.

She couldn’t reach Ashtine to try to calm her.

She was utterly helpless as she watched her friend break all over again.

Talwyn couldn’t hear anything outside of the howling winds. They continued to swirl violently, but the ice—

The ice was being pulled from the vortex the princess was cocooning herself in.

Ice shards were collecting in the air as if someone were piling them up, and then they melted, water cascading to the ground.

Ashtine’s winds caused it to spray, and Talwyn felt the cold drops splatter on her face and hands.

She lurched to her feet, trying to figure out the cause.

Hazel had managed to get Thorne back to the aerie, but it wasn’t a Witch Talwyn’s gaze settled on.

It was Briar.