Page 60 of Winds of Darkness

“I will be waiting.”

“And if I do not show?”

He stepped into her once more, brushing a soft kiss to her lips and savoring the taste of her. “Then I shall wait the next day and the next and not regret a moment of it.”

“Be well, Briar,” was all she said, her fingers dragging along his bare forearm as she moved past him.

He didn’t reach for her again. Didn’t try to keep her any longer. He conjured a water portal, and the Wind Princess didn’t look back when she stepped from his rooms.

Chapter 8

Ashtine

She hadn’t planned to go there.

When she’d stepped from the White Halls, she’d wandered for a while, letting the winds take her where they would. And when they’d dumped her on the shores of the Water Court, she hadn’t had it in her to truly care. Anyone could have found her. His Inner Court would have likely felt her cross into their territory, but Briar would have felt it first. She didn’t know what she’d do when they came for her either. But no one would find that out of the ordinary.

She was the sheltered, peculiar Wind Princess who spoke in oddities and was difficult to understand. Hard to converse with, yet simple to dismiss. Easy to pass her concerns off as the idle chatter of the breezes and lack of faith in her advisors.

For weeks, Briar’s words had plagued her as much as the winds, and she’d realized he’d been right. But how does one demand consideration for something no one can understand?

So for a few moments, she’d dropped to the sand and tried to simply exist. She’d said her piece. She’d passed the winds’ warnings along. What the others chose to do with those cryptic words wasn’t her concern.

And yet she knew it wouldn’t be enough either.

Not as her winds swirled around her, throwing her hair across her face and whispering more and more as the waves methodicallyrolled to shore. She’d been so distracted by their newest musings, she’d missed Briar’s arrival. But with each passing minute of his presence, the winds had quieted, and when Abrax had let her run her fingers along his muzzle, she’d found the smallest breath of peace she’d been seeking for months. Years. Decades.

Ashtine had expected to go back to the House of Water and dine with him, but she had not anticipated being escorted to his private quarters. It had made sense, of course, but after his weeks of silence, it had still been a surprise.

But not as surprising as his admission to wanting to kiss her.

Not as shocking to her desiring the same thing.

Not as unforeseen as both of them giving in to that longing.

And now she was confused about more than the winds.

She moved to her bathing room, peeling off her dress. Now that she was feeling more herself, she realized how sweltering it had been in the Water Court. She bathed, wishing she could take her time in the water, but consequences for her brash actions earlier in the day would certainly find her soon. Sure enough, she’d been in the bath all of five minutes when she felt the power cross her wards. More than one.

A light knocking sounded, and Noelle entered the bathing room. “I apologize for the interruption, your Grace, but Ermir asked me to tell you Queen Talwyn is here along with Prince Azrael.”

She was already moving to retrieve towels and preparing to help Ashtine get ready.

“Is Tarek also present?” Ashtine asked.

“No, your Grace.”

Ashtine nodded. “Renly and Sion?”

“Are also here.”

She nodded again, already tired at the thought of dealing with all of this. She was also a touch annoyed that the winds could plague her with ominous warnings but not warn her about who was coming to her Court.

Perhaps useful information would serve us all better,she snapped internally.

Answers lie across the sea. Find the one to go there.

By the gods,she sighed, standing from the bath so abruptly, water sloshed over the sides.