Page 35 of Winds of Darkness

She sighed internally. This is why people thought she was odd. Or part of the reason, perhaps? She honestly didn’t know. While others grew up with peers and families, her company growing up was the books in the catacombs. And Talwyn, she supposed, but that relationship was forged out of necessity, even if they considered each other friends now.

“Princess?”

She opened her eyes, finding Renly standing before her, his dark blue eyes studying her carefully.

“Yes?” Ashtine asked.

“Ermir has been looking for you.”

“He clearly was not looking in the proper location.”

“Or a princess was not where she was supposed to be?” Renly countered, a brow arching.

“Who is to say where one is supposed to be? The gods? The Fates? Time itself?” Ashtine replied.

The ones across the sea.

Enough,she snapped at the winds, her gaze going to where a window was open.

The winds could find her anywhere, but they weren’t as loud when the doors and windows were shut. It was part of the reason she spent so much time in the catacombs. No windows down there. Everything was calmer, more peaceful. Even the winds there were more subdued, letting her be with her books and thoughts as she tried to decipher everything they whispered to her.

Noelle cleared her throat lightly, glancing knowingly at Renlybefore asking Ashtine, “Would you like dinner in the catacombs tonight, Princess?”

“That is unnecessary. I will simply procure food later when I am finished,” Ashtine answered, feeling the air stir around her.

The others felt it too, and Renly and Noelle seemed to have some sort of silent conversation. Ashtine had never understood how others could do that. Then again, social cues had never been one of her strengths. It had never really bothered her until recently. It’s not as though she hadn’t tried, but being so guarded growing up, she wasn’t around other children. When her primary sources of company had been mature Fae, fitting in with other children didn’t come naturally. Talwyn was the same way, and now, as royalty …

Some days, it seemed rather pointless.

She used to prefer the company of the winds over others, but that had changed these past years.

“May I escort you to the catacombs?” Renly asked, pulling Ashtine from her thoughts. She blinked, finding them alone in the foyer. Noelle had disappeared.

“That is not needed,” she answered quickly.

“I would enjoy the company,” he said, holding out an arm and gesturing for her to move ahead.

She sighed internally again, and Renly fell into step beside her.

His father had served as her mother’s Third. From what she’d been told, he’d been killed protecting her mother in the Great War. Renly had spent all his years determined to honor his father’s memory by obtaining the same position. It was at Ashtine’s own coronation that she had asked him to be her Third, the position having been vacant since his father’s passing. While Ermir was like a father to her, Renly was akin to a brother.

Or what she assumed a brother would be like. An older brother, perhaps? She really didn’t know.

“It has been a week’s time since you have joined your Inner Court for dinner, Princess,” Renly ventured as they turned a corner.

Had it truly been that long?

When she didn’t answer immediately, he added, “Noelle also informed us you haven’t been eating regular meals.”

“It may have escaped me a time or two,” she replied absent-mindedly.

“One does not simply forget to eat,” he said, a hand gently gripping her elbow and tugging her to a stop. When she looked up at him, he added, “Except you. You have a tendency to forget to eat when you are trying to figure out the winds.”

“That is an impossible task,” she said with a slight scoff.

“And yet you spend hours trying to do just that.”

Ashtine pursed her lips, her gaze darting to the side. “I cannot simply ignore their warnings, and that is what is being asked of me.”