Chapter 10 #2
“This is more than that, Ashtine. Tell me what drove you to the cliffs today,” he said softly, bringing her hand to his mouth and brushing a kiss to her knuckles.
“I already told you this. The winds are unrelenting,” she answered.
“Still about a coming war?”
“Yes, among other things. They speak so often, so quickly. So many things all at once …” She trailed off, the peace she’d been basking in already dissipating with his line of questioning.
Ashtine pulled her hand from his grip before sliding off him and slipping from the bed. Briar let her go, but he followed, getting to his feet just as quickly.
“Tell me one,” he said, reaching for her hand once more and tugging her to stop.
“Tell you one what?”
“Tell me one thing the winds say that drove you to the cliffs.”
She barked another laugh, but this one was humorless and harsh. “So you can carry such burdens too? I cannot do that to you, Prince Drayce.”
He snarled as he yanked her into him, tilting her head back with his finger while his other arm wound around her waist. “Stop trying to distance yourself from me, Ashtine. We can share burdens. We are not designed to face this life in solitude. We have centuries. What would be the point?”
“Then why was I given a gift no one else possesses?” she cried, and Briar’s eyes went wide, his grip on her falling slack.
“I was given a gift that so many covet, but they should not, Briar. The winds are both loving and cruel. Their gifts are a blessing and a curse, and you rarely know which until their musings come to fruition. What good is knowing of the happenings in other realms? What is the purpose of driving me mad until I wish I were anyone but who I am? I cannot use these warnings to protect my people. I cannot use their omens to warn the realm. I cannot understand any of it.”
Her power gusted, blowing through the room with such force the plate of food beside the bed was overturned and pillows were tossed to the floor. Frames slipped from the walls, glass cracking, and pages rustled as books fell from shelves.
“Ashtine.”
His voice was soft and so full of an understanding he could not possibly possess, but he pulled her into his chest, arms wrapping tightly around her.
They come.
It was barely a whisper from the winds before there was a knock on the door. “Princess? Prince? Is everything well?”
Ermir.
“We are fine,” Briar called back, keeping her close. “Give us a minute, and we will be out.”
“Do you always speak deception, Prince?” she asked, her voice muffled as she kept her face buried in his tunic. She was anything but fine. She was certain she had never been fine.
“It was not a lie,” he said, a hand smoothing down her hair. “You are not fine right now, but I refuse to believe this was the life fate wanted for you. We will find harmony with the winds, Ashtine.”
“It is not possible.”
“And yet you told me they are less when I am near,” he countered.
“You cannot be with me all the time, Briar.”
“Perhaps not, but I can be there when you need the reprieve until we figure it out.” He took her shoulders, gently easing her back. “But you must make the choice to let me help, Ashtine.”
“I fear the more time I spend with you, the more I will desire things we cannot have,” she whispered.
He smiled, but it was a sad tilt of his lips. “We will figure that out too.”
“And if we do not care for the outcome?”
“Our friendship will remain,” he answered, swiping a thumb across her cheek. It was only then she realized she was crying. “Do you need another moment before we join Ermir in your sitting room?”
Ashtine nodded, stepping from his touch and retreating to her bathing room. She took her time dragging a brush through her tangled hair, a product of the windstorm she’d summoned.
A storm Briar had walked to the center of to find her.
A storm no one else had dared to even try to help her manage.
But he’d dared.
Foolish or brave, she could not decide.
She changed into a fresh dress, pulling on wool socks rather than slippers, before she stepped back into her bedchambers. Briar was standing near the window, hands clasped behind his back, but he immediately turned when she emerged.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
No.
“Yes,” she answered with a tight smile, but the look Briar returned told her he saw right through it. Then she wondered when she had learned to read social cues. Except she hadn’t. She was only learning to read him.
Briar moved to her side, his hand falling to her lower back as he pulled open the bedchamber door and guided her through. She should care that Ermir was seeing him touch her in such a way, but after everything that had happened that day, she doubted it would matter in the end.
She wasn’t met with one male in the sitting room, however; she was met with two. Ermir and Sawyer both stood when they emerged, both of them bowing their heads.
Ermir stepped forward, reaching a hand for her, but she found herself drawing back and stepping into Briar. Her Second’s brow arched, while Sawyer sent a knowing look to his brother.
“What is the plan here?” Sawyer asked.
“I received a message from the Fire Prince. I was planning to go visit with him tonight,” Briar answered, his hand sliding lightly up and down her spine.
“That is not what I meant, and you know it,” Sawyer countered. His gaze flicked to Ashtine then back to his brother.
“I do not understand what you are asking,” Ashtine said.
“Are you going to speak of the clear relationship between the two of you?” Sawyer asked plainly.
“Sawyer,” Briar warned.
“There cannot be a relationship,” Ermir cut in. “Old laws of the gods forbid such a thing, but that was not what this is. Is it, Princess?”
“Of course not,” she answered, Briar’s hand pausing before it slid back to her lower back once more and lingered.
“Bullshit,” Sawyer scoffed, folding his arms across his chest. “There will be pushback, but it would be better to come forth with this from the start.”
“Calling the Wind Princess a liar is ill-advised,” Ermir cut in, his tone condemning. “But if Briar can help her learn to manage the winds, we welcome his aid.”
“Even if that was all this is, which I still very much doubt, the Water Prince and the Wind Princess working so closely together ought to be disclosed.”
“People will not understand,” Ashtine said, shaking her head. “It breaks laws of old, and they will make other demands to prove it is not more.”
“What other demands?” Sawyer asked, still eyeing them both.
“The Courts will push for both of them to take partners,” Ermir explained. “But that should start being discussed either way. It is long past time—”
Ashtine tensed, but Briar said, “That does not need to be discussed at this moment after the day we have experienced.”
“I think this does need to be discussed before we leave this room,” Sawyer argued.
Briar didn’t appear bothered in the slightest as he smoothly stepped in front of Ashtine.
How he’d known that’s what she needed, she didn’t know, but his presence between her and the others eased something in her chest. It was a statement.
He was choosing her—and whatever this was—over their Courts.
He couldn’t do that. They couldn’t have this.
“We will discuss this at home, Sawyer,” Briar said.
“Godsdamn right we will,” his brother retorted, the room starting to feel chilly as the siblings argued.
Ignoring his brother’s retort, Briar turned to face her. “You will be all right if I leave?”
Of course not. The moment he left, the winds would pounce.
“Yes,” she answered, stepping back from him and forcing a smile. “Thank you for today. Be well, Prince.”
His eyes narrowed, and she knew he was upset over the formal address, but he couldn’t choose her.
She wasn’t an option for him to choose.
“The next day and the next and not regret a moment of it, Ashtine,” was all he said before he turned away from her. “Ermir, do not hesitate to send a message.”
“Of course, Prince,” her Second answered, but his gaze was pinned on her.
Sawyer followed Briar from the room, the door clicking shut behind them.
“I will ask once, Princess: is it more?” Ermir said, watching her closely.
The balance tips.
She forced her smile brighter, suppressing the wince as the winds descended. “No, Ermir. The wrath of angry gods is not something I seek,” she answered. “Is dinner nearly prepared?”
He studied her a moment longer before nodding. “It is if you are feeling well enough?”
“I would enjoy a meal with you,” she answered, placing her hand in the crook of his arm when he extended it to her. She let him lead her from the room as the winds followed.
Lies and truth, who can tell?
Maybe she was the liar in all of this after all.
The rivers will run red.
A genesis brings death.
A prince of water will fall.
She breathed deep and wished she was still lost to her dreams.