Page 50 of Winds of Darkness

Briar didn’t need to answer. The mountain chalet was where the Fire Prince went to sort himself out. The problem was, he’d never let another soul into that grand mountain estate. Wards kept everyone out, but the gods knew they’d tried. When Eliné had first left, Sorin had spent almost a month there and only came back to the Fiera Palace when Eliza had threatened to burn his mother’s garden to piles of ash. Drastic measures, sure, but it’d done the trick. Now he only stayed gone for a day or two. Most of the time.

Normally, Briar would have talked through all his thoughts about Ashtine’s concerns with him, but Sorin had his own turmoil to deal with. He didn’t need Briar’s piled on top of everything else right now.

“Thanks for the help, Rayner,” Briar said, turning to head back down the stairs.

“Drayce,” Rayner called out.

Briar looked back over his shoulder to find him pushing off the wall.

“Was he like this after the Royals were killed? His parents?” Rayner asked.

“No,” Briar answered. “He grieved, of course. We all did. Together. But he’s never been like this.”

The unspoken hung in the air between them. They didn’t know how to help him, and they didn’t know if he’d ever be the same.

Rayner was gone in the next blink, and Briar made his way back down to the main floor. It took a few minutes, but he found Sawyer at a table situated beneath a window. There were a few books on the table, and he dropped into the chair across from his brother. Someone had brought them a pitcher of water and glasses, and he poured himself a cup.

“The staff is locating more,” Sawyer said. “But they warned me that a lot of the information contradicts itself.”

“That’s not surprising,” Briar muttered. He and Ashtine were having the same difficulty with the texts in the Wind Court, and that only seemed to aggravate her for some reason. He was still learning how to read her, so he hadn’t pushed.

No.

That wasn’t it.

He was learning to read her too well, and that was a problem. He shouldn’t know that she was getting aggravated when she smoothed her hand over the page, as if hoping the text would change. He shouldn’t know that she preferred wool socks over slippers or boots. And he shouldn’t know that if he used his water gazing magic on the water in his glass, he’d find her in her cozy nook in the catacombs because, although they brought her food and drink there, she never touched it, giving him the perfect view to observe her.

“I found something that should be of interest to you,” Sawyer said, sliding an open book across the table.

Briar picked it up, skimming the page, then let the book fall to the table. He met his brother’s gaze, icy blue eyes that mirrored his own.

“You’ve been spying,” Briar accused.

“You’ve been sneaking around,” Sawyer replied, not a hint of remorse in his tone.

“This,” Briar said, tapping the pages of the book, “is not something that needs to be worried about.”

“If you say so,” his brother said, reaching for another book. “I just thought it was something you should keep in mind.”

The text Sawyer had shown him spoke about Fae powers not crossing, specifically those of powerful bloodlines. It was common knowledge that the Courts did not mix bloodlines. It wasn’t unheard of for the common, less powerful Fae, but strong bloodlines? It was taboo on many levels, and the only way around it was if you were twin flames. A fated bond could trump the unspoken laws of old, and even then, the Courts would have issues if Royals formed a union. There would be worries about heirs and an imbalance of power and—

And none of this mattered because that wasn’t why he was spending increasing amounts of time in the Wind Court.

That wasn’t why he was wondering if she’d remembered to eat today.

That wasn’t why if Sawyer weren’t sitting across from him, he would have already spelled the water in his drinking glass to watch her comb through texts.

This was to keep their Courts safe and prepare for war, not create more division among them all.

He sighed, glancing once more at the warning his brother had offered before flipping the book shut and reaching for another.

Perhaps distance would be the wiser option.

Chapter 6

Ashtine

She took a deep breath as she stepped from the winds and stood before the White Halls. The sprawling castle was Talwyn’s home. Or rather, it was the home of the Queen of the Eastern Courts. It was situated at the northernmost point of the Tykese River on the border between the Fire Court and Wind Court.