Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
FYN
They had taken half the ore—taken Ashlyn back under their claim.
If only someone hadn’t taken my sword from me.
We sat in an argument for an hour between Estlen, Bailoc, and Nythrel. With Ashlyn spoken for, the King of Bailoc had everything he needed to quietly take what should have been ours—what we had already agreed to.
I wrote to Lioran, but by the time a reply reached me, it might be too late.
“Lord Fyn.” Remus followed me back down the hall after the session ended. “Something we haven’t seen before came in on a shipment. I hope you can advise me as to what it is—and what we should do with it.”
“I don’t oversee the packing.” I had no patience for any of it.
“But perhaps you can assist us in identifying it. My men are most perplexed, and if it is an error, your people may want it back.” He gestured back to the council room we had just left.
As I stepped inside the empty chamber, he pulled a slender vial from his pocket. Violet liquid swirled inside the glass as he turned it in front of me.
A fae potion—that was only used for one purpose. It made no sense that it would be here.
“That tiny vial came in on a trade and you found it?” Certainly no one would be so stupid as to bring it across the border.
“You look as if you recognize it, Lord Chancellor.” He placed the vial in my hand.
“That I do, but I assure you it’s of little value to your people. How many came in on a shipment?” I wrapped my fingers around it.
“Twenty, maybe.” There was an intensity in his stare that almost made me uncomfortable. “You seemed determined not to tell me what it is, and now I’m afraid my curiosity has gotten the best of me.”
There’s no way I’d tell someone who hated magic that it was a potion. Humans seemed to like the word tincture. “It’s a fae tincture.”
“What ailment does it tend to?” He wouldn’t let it go, and now I was being forced to awkwardly describe what it was used for to a lord I had quickly grown to despise.
“Pregnancy.” My eyes held his. “I assure you it was a mistake.”
“A woman who is pregnant would take it to achieve what?”
Stars above. “It is taken to prevent pregnancy.” I tucked the vial back into my pocket.
“Why would any woman want to take part in that?”
“Listen, I don’t think it’s my place to debate why a female would choose that for herself, seeing as our realms have wildly differing opinions, but clearly someone will be reprimanded for this rather uncomfortable ordeal.
” I scratched my head. There wasn’t enough coffee to drink this morning for all of this.
“You may return the vials to me or one of my men.”
He nodded. “It is a most surprising discovery. Maybe Nythrel needs a better handle on all of their shipments.”
“I assure you, I will personally see to correcting this misfortune mix-up.” I fought the urge to say anything else. With the look on his face, I wasn’t sure if he could handle my normal commentary.
“I’m certain that you will. You are dismissed,” Remus said.
“Wonderful.” I turned from him, hoping never to have to endure another conversation like that one again. That was surely enough for my career.
I would have to go interrogate all of my men, but first I needed to check on Ashlyn.
A guard directed me to the royal sitting room. I waited to hear her voice as I approached, but the silence left me uneasy.
“Are you certain?” I asked.
“She went in there an hour ago.” The guard knocked before pulling the door back.
Ashlyn sat staring out the window, by herself. Green light washed over her from the stained glass, making the blue of her hair appear only bolder. Her face seemed paler than before.
“May I help you, Lord Fyn?” her lady’s maid asked.
“I am here to check on the princess.” I stepped closer to Ashlyn, but she didn’t turn to face me. “Where is the prince?”
“He had a matter to attend to,” Eva replied. “Do you need to speak with him, Lord Fyn?”
I shook my head, pulling back the chair beside her.
A single tear clung to her cheek, but she didn’t turn to look at me.
“Your Highness?” I softly whispered.
“My lord.” She watched the garden outside the window.
“You certainly would succeed at a staring contest.” I studied her.
“I’ve never been in a staring contest,” she said.
“You must have had a very boring childhood then.” The vial rolled in my pocket as I tapped my side.
“Some might say so.” Her gaze held, unnatural and calm in a way it shouldn’t have been. It was unlike her not to try to surpass me with a surprising reply.
“The weather looks lovely today. Would you care for a walk? Then you can see whatever you’re staring at so intensely.” Whatever it was, maybe it would make me forget about the extremely awkward meeting I just came from.
“I’m not staring, Lord Fyn.” An awkward lull held her words.
“What exactly are you doing then?”
“Contemplating.”
I waited for her golden eyes to find mine, but she didn’t move. “I see. Let’s get you some fresh air and then you may contemplate whatever you wish.”
“She had requested rest,” Eva said.
“Do you require rest, Princess Ashlyn?” I pulled at my tunic collar, desperate to get it away from my throat.
“No.” Ashlyn’s eyes finally met mine, but the way she looked at me, it was almost like she was seeing me for the first time during the war. The same fear—the same unease was hidden behind her once familiar gaze.
I tugged on her arm, helping her rise.
“Lord Fyn.” The lady’s maid stepped in front of the door.
“We would certainly hate for her to trip over you.” I glared at her until she moved.
Ashlyn kept an unsteady pace in the hall, but still she clutched my arm.
“Are you still processing the news of the pact?” It had to have been the reason.
“I don’t think so.”
“Do you care to tell me what was going on in there, then?” My words leaked out of the corner of my mouth.
“No.”
“Okay then.” Nothing about this was normal.
I kept my mouth shut as I followed the short hallway that led to the garden. Whatever she didn’t want to say in there, she could tell me outside, where our voices would barely carry.
If it was her heartbreak—if it was her fear—I would tend to her as best I could.
When we passed the last guard, I led her down the maze of paths that their silly little garden held.
“You may tell me whatever you wish now.” I waited, but she said nothing.
Maybe she was afraid to tell me—maybe I needed to tempt her with something she couldn’t resist taking a jab at.
“The most unusual thing happened to me this morning. A very controversial fae item made it into the recent shipment. It seems to offend the humans greatly. It may have been the most awkward moment of my political life.”
“Fascinating,” she said.
“Fascinating? Don’t you want to say something or laugh at my expense?” My forehead scrunched as I squinted at her.
“No.” She flinched hard until she nearly stumbled.
This version of her was suffocating. “I see.”
“The flinching… it’s your—”
“Magic.” She said the word like she wasn’t afraid of it.
“It happens when I lie? Or when you do?” I made my voice even lower.
“Both.” A chilling calm carried through her voice.
“You didn’t want to lie just then, did you?” I asked.
“No.”
I couldn’t take much more of her silent treatment. “Ashlyn, for the love of my sanity, can you please tell me what’s happening? Are you mad at me?” Female guessing games were never my forte.
“Why would you ask that?” Water collected under her eyes.
“You’re not yourself.” I finally said it.
“I am not.”
“Stars above. At least we agree on one thing.”
Her eyes slipped closed as her hand clutched onto my arm.
“I mean this in the kindest way possible, but if you’re not distraught or angry with me, then there’s something terribly wrong with you right now.”
Her explosion should have erupted in mere moments, but when she opened her eyes she stared at a bush instead. “Maybe.”
“Were you like this when you woke up this morning?”
“No.” A tear fell down her cheek.
“Okay. And you’re not choosing this?” It took everything for me to take her hand in mine.
“No.”
She was acting as if she had been altered. Maybe her magic could have, but I had never seen anything like this.
There were other things that distorted people—some that could take a life. Ashlyn was too important to them. They’d never poison her. They needed her alive. “Did you eat or drink something different this morning?”
Her left eye twitched at the corner. “Yes.”
“Okay.” I desperately wished for something that could end this arrangement so I could take her back with me.
If they had done something to her, if they would continue to—what I wanted didn’t matter anymore. All that mattered was that she was whole.
“Maybe don’t eat that thing again.”
“Okay.” Her tears hadn’t stopped.
“I’m here with you,” I whispered to her.
“Stay,” she said only a single word, but it broke my heart.