Chapter 47
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
FYN
There was a peace she kept as she slept.
The key still hung around her neck.
I liked the way it looked on her.
Lioran’s letter poked out of my tunic jacket across the room. My duty had led me down nearly every path, but this one.
Soon, I’d have to wake her. My arm throbbed as I stretched in the bed.
“Fyn.” Ashlyn yawned loudly as she reached for me. “What do we do now? Soren—”
“There will be fallout. Trade may be impacted temporarily...” We had made a mess of everything, but I didn’t need Ashlyn to worry about it.
She needed a moment without anything weighing on her.
I would face whatever consequence Lioran handed me.
“I don’t think it will be temporary,” she said.
“Soren threatened me with it. I picked you. I wanted to go with you. And then he told me going with you would stop the ore. I didn’t want to do that to Nythrel—to Aelira and Lioran, especially after they had done so much for me, but he said if I didn’t... ”
“Breathe.” I combed the hair back from her eyes. “What did he threaten you with?”
“You, Fyn.” She swallowed hard. “I could have survived however they chose to punish me, but I couldn’t let him harm you.”
“I could kill him.” It was getting harder to keep my fury at bay.
He orchestrated all of it so that Ashlyn would take the brunt of the blame—and he would just escape it all. No one in Estlen would know his part in any of it.
The door jolted when someone banged on it.
“Fyn, whatever you’re doing in there, make yourself decent and open the door,” Jayln cried. “Now. There is no time to waste.”
“Give me a moment.” I looked at her.
“Open it,” she said.
I darted to the door, unbolting the lock. “Come in.” I peered out in the hall. No one was with him.
Jayln tried to catch his breath. “Estlen has halted trade. They say you violated the Princess of Bailoc and took her from her bed in the middle of the night. Word was already sent to the king.”
“It’s not true,” Ashlyn said.
“They’ve demanded her immediate return.” Jayln paced the corner of the room. “I had to pay for Hana’s silence. She’s furious you’ve dragged her into this and wants you both gone. I can’t pay for the village’s silence. You need to leave.”
“Get my mare,” I said. “If anyone asks…”
“I haven’t seen either of you. Do whatever you need to do and do it quickly.” He shook his head before he closed the door.
“We need to go back to the Heart. Aelira and Lioran will understand. We just have to explain it all to them.”
“I won’t take you there.” I unfolded Lioran’s letter and handed it to her.
She nodded, closing it back up as her eyes filled with tears. “Seems very official—and you thought you’d ignore it?”
“You were all that mattered to me.” The promise of more ore was gone. The reconstruction and expansion would remain incomplete. Lioran’s spend would seemingly be for nothing. “The council will push for an immediate resolution if I return with you. They’d want to—"
“Send the Princess of Bailoc back to Estlen so trade can resume?”
“I won’t give anyone the chance.” I promised it as if I could give her protection when I still didn’t know if I could.
“What will happen to me then?” she asked. “Where will we go?”
It was hard to look back at her when I tightened my belt in place. “I don’t know what kind of future I can promise you.”
“It doesn’t…” Her eyes rolled back into her head. The weight of her body crashed into mine when I reached out to brace her.
“Ashlyn.” She grew heavier as I lowered her onto the bed. “Come back to me.”
Her chest rose. I lifted her hand in mine, pressing it to my lips.
“You are everything I’ve ever wanted. I love you,” I whispered as I brushed her hair back. “I’m not ready to let you go.”
A jagged breath slipped past her lips as her eyes opened. “Fyn,” she cried.
“Thank the stars.” My eyes burned as I looked at her. But when I did, I saw just how brightly hers glowed.
“I tried to lie. And then starlight burned.” Her voice shook. “It still burns.”
It stopped her from lying.
It took her energy the moment she uttered it. The starlight took her from me and all I could do was wait to see if she returned. “I’ve got you… we will get you to a healer. To…” I didn’t know where we’d go yet.
“Not now. We have to leave,” she said.
I pulled the wool cloak around her and lifted the hood to cover her hair. When I grabbed her hands, they were quaking—the color was gone from her cheeks.
“Were you going to say it doesn’t matter?” I needed to know the truth she hadn’t spoken.
“I was.” A whistling breath dragged from her. “It matters, Fyn. I chose you. I need you.”
She slid her thumb across the key that was still around her neck.