Chapter Four
Avari
The uncomfortable silence stretched as we gathered around the giant conference table, bracing for the discussion ahead. The images from Ortensia clung to me. The greenish hue of the corpses’ cold skin carved itself into my memory until it was all I saw whenever my eyes closed.
Maddie fussed over us, reading the strain in our expressions, but there was nothing she could do. Not for the mental anguish of what we had witnessed in Ortensia. Even the mug of hot tea she offered couldn’t warm my freezing hands. They were already growing stiff.
River’s knee brushed against mine and lingered. I should have moved it away, but his presence eased some of the tension.
At least until my fire demanded I submit to the stifling need for connection.
The yearning burn at least offered a brief reprieve from the chill settling in my spine. It radiated upward toward my mind, where a storm raged, freezing every good thought into blocks of ice.
The smell.
That decay.
The silence of a court that should have been full of life.
It was exhausting.
‘I informed the Committee,’ River said, loud enough for everyone to hear. His eyes never left me. ‘An Elder is coming to gather our statements.’
That made sense. Why hadn’t I thought of that?
They needed to know. Whatever had happened there was bigger than all of us. Bigger than the grimoire and maybe even bigger than the gem war. The sheer number of people murdered and left to rot… It wasn’t just inhumane; it was evil.
‘Ava?’ Father broke through my contemplations. Concern glistened in his dark eyes. ‘Were you listening?’
Clearing my throat, I met his gaze and noticed that Miriam still looked sickly pale as she sat beside him. The poor girl would probably get nightmares. Or was that impossible for someone who commanded them?
Gods, I needed to learn more about shadows.
‘Ava?’ Father repeated.
River’s hand settled on my knee. At first, the sudden touch made me flinch, which surprised him. I quickly leaned back in my chair to look less… disturbed.
They shouldn’t have been worrying about me; there were bigger problems they needed to focus on.
His warm hand rubbed the skin above my kneecaps, and I silently cursed. It shouldn’t have, but it helped me. Treacherous fire, meet treacherous body. How long until my mind gave up on me too?
Embarrassed to keep them waiting, as they watched for a response, I hurriedly responded, ‘Yes?’
They glanced at each other before the Lord of the Isles sighed and continued, ‘I was asking how you’re feeling. I know you don’t usually deal with—’
He paused, looking for a fitting description.
‘Death,’ River offered solemnly.
They worried about me. I worried about the future of our realm. Everyone expected the queen to go after her enemies, but she went after her own. What did that make her besides deranged? And how did one fight somebody so unpredictable?
A slight tap ripped me away from the assault of thoughts.
River shifted in his seat, his massive shoulders angled toward me, as if he could shield me from the darkness of the world.
‘I can speak for you,’ he offered in a voice so soft it was almost unlike him, looking at me as though I were some fragile thing always in need of saving.
It was in his eyes, this worry that I could die or break at any moment.
‘If you’re not up for it, I’ll tell them what we saw.
It’s not like they aren’t there judging the situation in person already. ’
The way he cared for me made it difficult to hate him. But he wasn’t forgiven. He couldn't be. ‘No. I can’t keep burying my head in the sand every time something bad happens.’
Something in his face faltered. ‘Don’t look at it like that. You’re not a soldier, so you aren’t used to such carnage. I would never have let you go there if I’d known what awaited us.’
There we go. The bubble had burst, confirming what I’d realised some time ago. ‘I’m not your property, River. You don’t get to order me around.’
He paled. ‘It’s not what I meant, Ava, just that—’
‘Save it.’
A sigh ripped from my chest as I noticed our captivated audience. Did they not have the decency to look away?
Father made a small tsk sound, and just before I could obliterate him verbally, the door opened. The man we had met earlier greeted us with a curt nod.
Closing the distance in long strides, he ignored us until he reached a chair at the very end of the table. Pushing his cloak aside, Ramonds folded his arms on his chest. ‘This was unexpectedly prompt. I thought I’d have at least a few weeks before meeting you again.’
The Lord of the Isles snorted, and I shot him a look promising consequences if he didn’t behave. Surprisingly, it worked.
Maybe I just needed to be meaner to get people to act right?
‘That’s what I’ve been telling you for ages. Make them respect you, or wipe the floor with them,’ Anya reprimanded in my mind.
‘How do you suppose I should have done that, being a powerless excuse for a halfling?’
She screeched. ‘That is precisely the mindset that keeps holding you back. Man up.’
‘Because the men in my life are such exemplary models of self-control and virtue…’
‘Yet they get what they want, don’t they?’ my dragon countered.
‘I have a moral compass that I will not—’
‘Boring. Set some shit on fire. Live a little. Scorch his hair for betraying you. Burn your father’s moustache for annoying you. Do something to make me proud for once.’
‘Shall we?’ The Elder’s plummy voice tore me away from the heated discussion with my bonded. ‘What exactly were you doing in the Ortensian court?’
River squinted. ‘Didn’t we already tell you we needed to speak to the queen earlier today?’
His jaw tightened as he looked straight at me. ‘Now it’s going on record,’ the councillor said, ‘so instead of mouthing off to me, start answering the bloody questions.’
Before anyone else could speak, I scrambled for an excuse. ‘We needed to speak to my mother regarding a new family development. You see, I recently met my father. As you might imagine, it was quite a shock and called for a family discussion.’
Eyes snapped in my direction.
River’s gaze sharpened. He understood immediately.
‘Okay,’ Ramonds said, writing it down. ‘Who’s your sire?’
‘Friderick, pleased to make your acquaintance,’ father quipped from across me, bowing his head theatrically.
The councillor’s lips pressed into a thin line. ‘And where did he come from? Who is this mysterious father of yours?’
‘A human halfling,’ I rushed to say before he had a chance to speak for himself. Something wasn’t right here.
‘What heritage?’ Ramonds demanded, checking off a list of questions.
My mind recalled how easily Alec made his shadows seem like wind. ‘Air Kingdom.’
‘An air mutt,’ the councillor repeated as he wrote it down in his notepad in immaculate cursive.
Father sucked in a breath and turned to Miriam, as if expecting her to share his offence. She didn’t.
‘And as a mutt…’ Ramonds basked in my father’s soured expression. ‘Can you wield at all?’
He snorted. ‘A little something-something.'
The councillor sounded bored as he spoke, ‘The visitation period extends to six months. Thereafter, you’re required to register with the Council as a citizen.’
That would never happen.
‘Fret not, councillor,’ he said, his voice edged with irritation. ‘I intend to be on my way home right after this meeting.’
Everybody watched in silence. I knew I needed to step in but didn’t know what to say. My eyes snapped to Miriam, seeking help, but she looked too tired to care.
‘Do you dislike our kingdoms so much?’ A glint lit the Elder’s eyes. ‘Life in the human lands must be so much richer in experience. You certainly look like a busy, hard-working man. A farmer, perhaps?’
The Lord of the Isles let out a sinister laugh that promised trouble. ‘Entertaining you certainly feels like dealing with a load of crap. Sorry—manure.’
Ramond’s notebook slammed against the table, rattling our glasses. ‘Excuse me?’
‘Excused,’ father quipped. ‘Are we done?’
‘Did I say we were done?’ he seethed, and I tried to steer the conversation in another direction, but they spoke over me.
‘Perhaps I’ll visit that farm of yours one day,’ he warned, clicking his pen shut.
‘Careful, councillor. My chickens are fiercely territorial, and their beaks are sharper than you’d think. Step too close to their eggs and you might regret it.’
Silence.
A fight for dominance. Who would look away first?
Ramonds reached for his notebook, shifting toward me. ‘Tell me what you witnessed in the Ortensian court.’
River beat me to it. ‘Tens of corpses littered around the castle in varying states of decay. Some with mortal wounds, others with no visible injuries. Floods of water—possibly from battle, since it pooled in the areas of most gore. I’m sure you’ve already seen it yourself.’
‘If you so kindly refrain from assumptions, this is an interview, not a conversation,’ he scolded. 'But you are right. And your description fits the scene.’
‘Do you know what could have happened?’ I asked, struggling to keep my voice steady.
‘Not yet.’ He clicked the pen shut. ‘Our investigators are on-site. It appears your sisters and the queen are missing.’
Wouldn’t life be good if it stayed that way?
The rest of the meeting passed in a blur.
River and Miriam answered most of the questions. I was grateful that father kept his mouth shut. Now wasn’t the time for his escapades, and he had a tendency to make everything more complicated than it had to be.
‘Thanks,’ I said as River held his office door open.
It felt like centuries since I had last been here. The last time must have been… when Alec kidnapped me home.
Following River toward the enormous map of Medeis displayed across the wall, I took in the green pins scattered across the islands like a trail of desperate guesses.
‘What are they?’ I asked, tracing some routes. There were so many…
His throat tightened as he swallowed and took in the disarray. ‘I knew Alec when we were younger. He once claimed he lived on an island drowned in shadows.’
I admired the unpredictability and lack of order. Some of them focused on the islands closer to Fogoya and the Earth Kingdom, while most clustered around the Elder Island and the mortal lands. ‘So these are your suspects for the Isles of Shadows?’
He couldn’t meet my eyes. ‘No. They’re the ones I crossed off my list.’
My hand stilled as I took in the hundreds of locations. How was that even possible in such a short time?
A flash of heat spread through my chest, travelling upwards as I tried hard not to blush while he analysed my reaction, worry etched into his eyes as though he expected me to scold him.
He looked for me. Across half of the realm. ‘You searched all of these?’
‘Eventually, I would have found you and brought you home,’ he murmured, his voice growing quieter as he took a tiny step toward me.
The thought warmed something inside my chest. I hated that it did. The attempts at redemption didn’t negate his betrayal.
Keeping my voice calm, I reminded him and myself because it felt too easy to get lost in the way he made me feel. ‘River, I have a home. The Isles are my home now.’
His bottom lip trembled before he bit it down, and I had to focus on something else.
I wasn’t responsible for his hurt. My gaze shifted back to the map just as his demeanour changed, slightly more in grasp of his emotions.
‘I’m glad you found them. I just wish it had been under better circumstances. ’
‘Me too.’ The heaviness of the moment was too much. It was too soon. ‘What did you want to show me?’
Opting for orange pins, he placed some in several regions of his kingdom, turning back to look at me after each one. ‘These are the places we should start looking.’
A clear plan came to view as he stepped back to showcase his choices.
‘The instruction said, "You will scout the sultry lands, where every breath is airless and every step unsteady. You will reach the abandoned place that once flourished and find your heart’s desire.
" I believe it refers to one of these lands, but the description is so broad…’
Oh, no. Did he think I would let him join me in the search?
‘River, I appreciate the offer, but—’
‘I’m going,’ he said flatly, leaving no room for discussion. My blood boiled. ‘Ava, just because you know the lands around my castle doesn’t mean the Fire Lands aren’t dangerous.’
I nodded, realising that I needed to make him realise things between us changed. For good. ‘There are people I could take who know how to fight.’
‘But they don’t know my lands,’ he countered when a bead of sweat rolled down his temple. ‘They don’t know the dangers. They will take twice as long to find the abandoned places. Look at it logically—I’m your best bet.’
Modest as ever. And annoyingly right.
‘For the sake of this conversation, let’s assume I agreed. We’d need someone else searching for the second location. Otherwise, it could take months.’
Snow-white teeth flashed in a relieved smile that sent heat pooling through my body. ‘I’ve already arranged that.’