Rosalinde Tatiyana. Rosalinde for my father’s mother and Tatiyana for mine.
Favorite food?
Strawberry tart cake. Yours?
Cheese. Every kind of cheese. He looked up at the carpet of stars above them and searched for another question. Another detail to round out what he knew of Lorelai. How did you get a gyrfalcon as a pet?
Sasha would peck out your eyes if she knew you’d just called her a pet. Lorelai grinned at him.
Then please keep that breach of bird etiquette to yourself.
She leaned back, her shoulder still brushing his, and stared at the sky. It was a few weeks after we’d run from the castle. There was a darkness beneath her words, and Kol didn’t have to look far to see images of her terror and grief when her plan to expose Irina fell to pieces and left her orphaned and homeless. We were staying with an old woman in the Falkrains who was doing her best to treat Gabril’s leg. I wasn’t supposed to leave the cabin, but Leo convinced me to sneak out one afternoon so we could explore the woods close by. Sasha was just a baby, and she’d fallen from her nest. Her wing was crushed.
I picked her up. She turned her hands over, palms facing up, and examined them as if she could still see the gyrfalcon lying there. I held her in my bare hands, and the magic was just there, waiting. I spoke an incantor, and my magic entered Sasha’s body and healed her.
And that’s why you share a mental bond with her?
She nodded. I took her back to the cabin because she would’ve died out there on her own. She was too little to hunt. That’s when Gabril decided I needed to start wearing gloves. He didn’t want my magic to touch anything else in Ravenspire in case it had been bespelled by Irina.
A wise man.
She smiled. Yes, he is. But enough about that. What’s your favorite memory?
He thought it would be impossible to find an answer, but a memory rose to the surface unbidden. He was six, standing on the field behind the academy, the rest of his class lined up to his right, receiving a ribbon for the best flight time out of all the first-year cadets. Father was smiling proudly, his hand on Kol’s shoulder, while his mother winked at him, her arm around Rag, who looked as superior and unimpressed as a nine-year-old could manage. Brig played at his mother’s feet, unconcerned with the honor her brother was receiving.
That’s a nice memory. She smiled at him.
It’s the one time I remember my father being proud of me.
She met his eyes. I’m sure he was proud of you far more often than you ever realized.
He shrugged as though her words didn’t matter, but he knew she could see the truth. So what’s your favorite memory?
An image of Lorelai as a child sitting outside on a blanket eating berries while a woman with Lorelai’s pale skin and brown eyes knelt behind her, braiding the princess’s long hair. A boy who looked remarkably like his sister slept on the blanket beside Lorelai.
Your mother and Leo? he asked, though he could already see the answer.
She nodded, and they sat in companionable silence listening to the ebony boughs creak gently while somewhere in the distance an owl hooted. Finally, she stirred restlessly, and he could already see the plans taking shape in her mind. Wake Gabril. Pack the tent. Destroy the intersection and spread the damage wide enough to prevent anyone from traveling to the capital until the road was repaired.
Before she could say the words, he stood and leaned down to offer her his hand. She took it and allowed him to pull her to her feet.
I’m glad we’re friends. Her tone was serious, her smile shy.
I am too. He watched her turn back toward the tent and let the warmth of their friendship push against the whispers that wanted him to destroy her.
THIRTY
IT WAS TIME to make her next move against Irina. Lorelai’s pulse raced, and her stomach ached. Just days earlier, she’d provoked Irina by using magic and had nearly died, pinned underwater by a statue sent by the queen to kill her. There was no telling what spell would lash out or what creature would awaken and submit its heart to Irina’s this time.
Maybe the queen had been so weakened in her battle with Lorelai for control over Kol that they were no longer in danger from her. Or maybe she still had enough strength left for another terrifying fight.
Lorelai needed to be ready to defend herself and the others. She needed to be ready to run if necessary. And she needed Kol and Gabril to be ready to do the same.
Which meant she had to win an argument that had been simmering for almost two weeks.
“Before I destroy the roads, I’ve got one very important thing to take care of.” Lorelai locked eyes with Gabril as he hoisted his travel pack onto his back while Kol finished rolling up the tent in the silvery light of the stars.
“What’s that?” Gabril asked.
“Your leg.”
This should be interesting. Kol raised a brow and shoved the tent into its sack.