Chapter Twenty-Four #3
Though I knew deep down if I didn’t let them in, I’d end up regretting it. At the end of the day, they were a connection to my mother that I hadn’t had before. Aside from that, I had a feeling they’d prove wise to have around.
“It’d be my honor, Lady Billie,” I assured her.
She barked out a surprised laugh at my formal response. “Please, at least drop the titles from our names. We’ve agreed we’re all family, after all.” Her smile grew before adding, “And maybe someday we’ll be Nan and Pops to you, too.”
The bright grin she wore was so infectious, I couldn’t help but smile in return.
“Billie it is, then,” I agreed.
“Before you go, you have to try the dessert croissant!” Geoff exclaimed, picking up the plate of said treats and passing it around the table.
As the rest of the evening carried on, I found myself feeling more joyful than I had in a while—outside of being with Byn. Being with the Ashfords felt so… easy.
And when the night came to a close, and I stepped outside into the midsummer air, I could’ve sworn I felt a cool breeze from the North kiss the skin at the back of my neck.
If I were to let myself dream in that moment, I’d have said maybe that was a gentle caress from Mother, letting me know she was with us—even when she wasn’t.
Yet, a tiny, hopeful voice inside of me whispered.
She wasn’t with us yet.
***
Matea and I walked back to The Haven under a moonlit sky. We made small talk about how dinner had gone as we walked, which we decided together was an overall success.
As we approached the open gate leading into The Haven, I waved toward the two guards that were on duty. They each rested a fist over their heart in return.
After Matea and I had passed through the main gate, I came to a slow stop, making sure we were out of earshot of the guards.
Matea, realizing I was no longer next to her, turned around, puzzled.
“I said I’d walk you to the door, Viva. We’re almost there,” she commented.
“I… want to show you something,” I said, motioning for her to backtrack to where I stood.
Raising an eyebrow, she approached me, then crossed her arms over her chest. “Let’s see it.”
I swallowed forcefully, then slid the dagger I’d been gifted by Dimitri out of its hiding place and into my hand. The same dagger I hadn’t gone anywhere without since I’d received it. I made sure to hold it in a way that covered the Ashford family insignia on the side of the hilt, facing up.
“Dimitri gave me this right before I left the North. He’d said he found it in Mother’s things, and at first I didn’t believe him, but the family crest matches up with the Ashfords’.
” I slid my fingers away to reveal the insignia of the deeply rooted willow tree with a small bird on one of its many branches.
The green gem embedded below the carved image sparkled as though the sun had shone on it at that moment.
“I have a feeling,” I flipped the dagger over to reveal the other side, “that it should belong to you instead.”
The other side was carved with an image of a great ocean wave. There were stars over the wave, and a blue sapphire embedded in that side of the hilt.
I’d been thinking about it lately—how Mother had come to own a dagger with an unknown crest on it, along with her own. There had only been one explanation that made sense to me.
And my sister’s reaction told me everything I needed to know.
Upon seeing the second insignia—the one I’d never been able to identify—Matea gasped.
Quick as the lightning I wielded, Matea snatched the dagger from my hands. She tilted it toward the dim light coming from torches near the guards we’d passed, but as she shifted it in another direction, it dawned on me that she didn’t have the gift of Northern sight.
Lifting a hand, I conjured a small flame to rest in my palm and held it closer to my sister to light up her surroundings enough to see whatever it was she was searching for.
Shifting her weight to lean closer to my flame, she lifted the dagger to the light, her eyes scouring over every detail.
“Do you care to fill me in on your findings, or am I to guess?” I questioned, becoming a tad impatient at her lack of an explanation.
“You’re right—the first side is the Ashford family crest. But on the other side… that’s my father’s.” My lips tilted downward as her voice cracked on that last word.
Her father. Ethan.
I didn’t know much about the male, and I wasn’t sure how much Matea herself knew, either. She’d likely heard stories of him and our mother growing up, but stories weren’t the same as knowing somebody—or having a piece of them.
“Matty, I—”
“I have to go,” she stated, abruptly turning tail and dissipating into shadows, the dagger disappearing with her.
“Wait!” I called out, taking a step toward her shadow form, but she was already through the main gates and out of sight.
Well, at least I’d guessed correctly, I thought.
Sighing, I decided to let Matea have her space. Even if I chased after her, there was no way I’d be able to catch up now. Plus, she’d lived in Cairnyl her entire life. She could likely shake me from her trail in a matter of seconds.
After letting my flame go out, I carried on into The Haven.
There were very few fae milling about at that hour, as I’d stayed at the Ashford estate longer than I’d intended to.
I headed for the royal wing of the castle, not paying much mind to my surroundings—I was just ready to be in my husband’s arms and recall our days together.
My daydream was rudely interrupted, though, as I turned the corner into the royal wing and ran directly into something hard, causing me to stumble back a step.
Lifting my gaze, I came face to face with Quinn.
She was only a little taller than I was, though in that moment it felt as though she was looming over me. Her eyebrows creased in anger, and her green eyes reflected the torchlight on the walls in a way that made it look as though the flames were framed in that emerald green.
The fire seemed to suit her current mood, though, as before I could even open my mouth to speak, she erupted.
“How dare you,” she hissed. “He was not ready to be thrown back into all of this. You’ve been off scouting and such, and the moment you get back, you feel entitled enough to throw a hammer into our plans?
He’s still in pain—and I don’t just mean physically.
He was tortured, Aviva. Tortured and mutilated and then healed just enough to do it all over again the next day.
That’s the kind of family you have. Fae who would do that to another—and an innocent, no less.
You better wish to the Stars that I don’t ever meet him on the battlefield, because he will be going down for what he did.
But you? Oh, it’s obvious it must run in your Heartshire blood.
The Ashford blood couldn’t cleanse you of that. ”
She practically spat the name Heartshire, and the venom dripping in her voice almost had me taking a step back.
I knew Quinn could be harsh sometimes, but I’d never heard her like this.
“Quinn, I didn’t—”
“Yes, you did, Viva! You messed it all up! He was not ready.”
“Was it him that wasn’t ready?” I asked, my voice as soft as one of my feathers. “Or was it you?”
At that, Quinn took one step back, her expression flickering to show all the pure shock and distress she must have felt due to what I’d just asked.
Quinn quickly slid on her mask of fury again—which was, I imagined, the only thing she knew how to feel on a large enough scale that must’ve blocked out the pain she was feeling.
Before either of us could utter another word, I suddenly realized there was an additional weight on the ground below, just behind Quinn. A weight that I had been too busy arguing with Quinn to realize was there—for how long, I didn’t know.
Slowly, I stepped to the side of Quinn, resting my gaze on the small figure standing there.
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Margo asked, “Who are you two talking about?”