Page 152 of The Ashborn

If she was to fight this war—to stand as the Ashborn and decide who deserved her defiance—she needed to know the truth. Not the kind handed down by queens or carved into doctrine, but the truth that had raised her, hidden in plain sight. And if drawing Vaerin away fractured the battle he brought to M’Ran, if it eased the pressure on the others even for a moment, then perhaps this choice served more than herself.

Or perhaps it was another lie, neatly webbed and waiting.

Kienna wasn’t certain of anything. All she knew was that she couldn’t turn away without knowing. She glanced back at Connak, apology flickering in her eyes as his shoulders sank. Then she reached for the king’s hand and let him pull her through.

Chapter 60

—Connak—

The world around him resumed. Umbrin swarmed the city from all angles, falling in on Broan. Danek and Baila fell out of their paused stances and dropped to the ground, surprised by the sudden shift. Danek looked around desperately. “Where is she?”

“Fuck!” Connak screamed, then turned and ripped his blade into the belly of an Umbrin. The king shouldn’t have been able to get out of the wards. Either he found a way around the magic, or he was strongly projecting. Regardless, it was cause for concern.

He couldn’t hear Kienna’s mind, but he sensed her presence. Wherever the king took her, they were close but too far for him to reach. Ruva tore through the clearing, growling and ripping through Umbrin as they closed in on her. The savage look in her eye and the foam around her mouth indicated the same thing. She, too, couldn’t reach Kienna.

The Umbrin continued to flood around them. Broan erupted the ground, flinging the Dead Army through the air and giving Connak enough time to approach where the king took Kienna. To study it. Feel the air. There was still a magical tether to the location. He could sense the deep pull of the gravity around him. They’d be back. He needed to be ready for it.

—Kienna—

They walked along the forest floor near the Ashborn tree. No Maren in sight. Kienna could have kicked herself for thinking he would take her to her mother. She recognized the initials carved into the bark immediately. A+G. Avenna and Galric.

Vaerin stood next to her. “Let yourself see, child.”

Something within her shifted first, as if a knot was being untied. The pressure released in her mind, and then the world shifted around her, back to the familiar scene of her parents holding her near the tree. Before Vaerin seized them.

“She’s perfect, Gal.” Avenna’s voice sighed melodically.

Kienna clung to the words, stepping toward her. She froze the scene in her mind and studied Avenna. Hair of ash and speckled brown eyes, trying hard to be the gray that nearly matched her brother’s. Honey bronze skin. Incredibly youthful, her mother outshone the world in beauty. Kienna tried to paint the lines of her face, envisioning what Avenna would look like if the fire removed itself from her veins. In the right light, she was part of River Storm. So familiar in her childhood. Warm tears surfaced, tugging Kienna away from her thoughts.

Weary from the sight, she pushed the vision forward. King Vaerin watched with a smile that dared her to trust him, a reminder that she couldn’t fully trust anything in front of her.

Avenna handed the baby to Gal, the bright lullaby glowing in the enchanted forest. Watching him, Kienna realized she knew nothing about her father. She knew everything about her mother’s hopes for her. Everything about who she was and the people she surrounded herself with. The Elvish never talked about Galric.

Why?

He ended his song. “Kienna has been protected with the roots of Trinity.”

How odd, she thought. The first time she saw this vision, Galric used the name Kalyra.

“Visions can be fickle,” Vaerin said behind her as if reading her thoughts. “If you have the right sorcery, they can be manipulated.”

“Are you insinuating the queen manipulated what I saw?”

“Move the vision forward a little,” Vaerin suggested. Kienna did as she was told until he stopped her right at the attack. “I only mean to say that there are two sides to every coin. You’ve never bothered learning mine.”

Large blasts of red magic flew around them. Gal and Avenna deflected, but they weren’t deflecting King Vaerin.

“Run!” Gal said. “Take Kienna. Get her out of the forest. Get her away from my mother!” This, too, was different from what Kienna heard when she saw this with the queen. With Elira, Gal told Avenna to get the baby to the queen. Kienna rewound it in her mind.

Away.

Gal told Avenna to get the baby away from the queen.

“It’s convenient for you that I’m seeing this.” Kienna crossed her arms, watching the playback of Galric falling to the ground.

Avenna rushed to him while King Vaerin walked to the baby in the tree. He picked her up, handing her over to his soldier, Dren. “Take Kienna to River Storm, and tell the troops to retreat.” He peered back into the forest, eyes resting distantly.

“What about the Elvish City?” Dren asked, holding the baby.