Page 5 of When Ashes Fall

They’re for Briar.

I wasn’t sure if Briar had ever told her mother how much she hated the flower, probably not, but I was sure the queen knew. She’d also worn so many for me and the other shifters, to remind us of the curse she and her friends released on Wildwood.

If mother and daughter hated each other so much, then how did Marina know of our plans to leave the kingdoms behind if Briar didn’t tell her?

That was the sticking point I always came back to. The one that constantly made me question everything I’d ever known about Briar and our relationship, even when I wanted to trust her.

“Knox it is then,” Alwin stated. “Is there somewhere we can all sit and speak?”

“About what?” I inquired.

“About the fact you stole my daughter,” Marina murmured.

“I didn’t steal anyone.”

“You entered one of our sacred places⁠—”

Before she could say anything more, I interrupted her. “You’re the one who first forced me into that sacred place.”

Fire flashed through her eyes before she suppressed it. “You were not a resident of our harem when you took Briar.”

“Not taken. Your daughter left willingly.”

“That’s not what the witnesses say.”

“What witnesses?”

Devnair better not be one of them. If I’d freed the elf for him to turn on us, I’d kill the bastard.

“There were other eternals inside the harem,” Cozameal said.

“One of them is a gorgon,” Petra stated.

The flash of anger in her brown eyes told me that she didn’t approve of this, but she couldn’t do anything about it. The queen of the gorgons couldn’t interfere with the ways of the casters.

If they’d imprisoned a gorgon, it was because that gorgon did something wrong. All the kingdoms took prisoners. If Petra made a big deal about the casters’ captives, then she’d have to look to her own prisons.

“I told them the girl left willingly,” Devnair said with a pointed look at Marina. For a second, his calm façade cracked, and hate flashed through his black eyes. “But the casters insisted on seeing her.”

“It’s something we must discuss,” Alwin stated. “And we will speak with the girl.”

“Whether she left willingly or not doesn’t matter; she is my daughter and will return to Nightshade,” Marina said.

Alwin lifted an eyebrow at her haughty demeanor. “We will see what the girl has to say.” Turning to me, Alwin asked again, “Is there somewhere we can go?”

I would not invite these men and women into my home or the bailey. “There’s a meeting hall down the road a bit.”

When I waved toward the large building back the way they’d come, they twisted on their mounts to view it.

“Very well,” Zarmen said. “We will talk there.”

“We will speak with the girl too, Knox,” Petra said.

I didn’t want Briar anywhere near these fuckers, but if I intended to prevent a lot of death today, then I didn’t have a choice. Turning, I lifted my hand and waved at the others to indicate they should join us.

Uneasiness grew in my stomach as Lyra and Pierce flanked Briar while Dromon led the way. What will Briar tell them?

She’d tried to run when she learned of her mother’s presence here, but that could have been an act. For all I knew, she’d throw me to the wolves the first chance she got.