“You are an inner guard, Ash?”
“Yeah.” He spoke like he didn’t believe his own voice. “Yeah, you could say that. Sure.”
“Then I suppose I will see much more of you when we return to Kloshglas.”
Ash chuckled. “Klockglas. You’ll see some of me. I do often spend time in the fae kingdoms of the South.”
“Oh?” From maps provided to me by the Ever Queen, I understood there were four main territories of the earth fae lands. My new home would be on the eastern coastline. Strange to have a dedicated inner guard travel to neighboring kingdoms. “Are you more of an ambassador?”
“Gods, we haven’t had any of those for turns. No, my wife is a lady of a lower court among the glamour fae.”
“And the king simply allows one of his inner guards to leave for such a stretch of time?”
Ash didn’t answer for a breath, taking a pause to see to it I did not stumble as I stepped onto the dark sand of the shore. “To be honest, I never really thought to ask.”
No permission from his royals? No contracts between courts to craft similar alliances for a warrior and a noblewoman in another kingdom?
“May I ask, are you an alver? I understand there are mortals who live in your realms, and forgive me, I don’t know how to tell the difference.”
Ash grinned. “Draw blood on an alver and it’ll smell a lot like piss and rotting plums.”
My nose wrinkled. Memories of fetid scents during the battle were there, but I assumed it was all the death from the fallen warriors.
“I am an alver,” Ash went on, “what we call a Rifter.”
All gods. The sort who reveled in pain and broken bodies. What a pity, he seemed so . . . kind.
“From the look of fright in your eyes, I’m guessing you’ve heard a thing or two about Rifter folk.” Ash shouldered a satchel from one of the stacks of supplies. “I won’t lie, I could break you if I wanted, Princess. I could sense where it would hurt the most. But I’ve no need, and I have a feeling you’re going to unsettle my little ass of a prince. I look forward to watching it.”
A strange, choked sort of laugh slipped through. “I don’t know about that, but I am grateful you have no plans to break me.”
“From what I hear you could just eat me with your mesmer.”
“Mesmer? That is what you lot call your affinities, yes? You don’t seem uneasy at the thought of mine.”
“Should I be?”
I didn’t have time to respond before Cara shouted my name, waving her hands as she approached. Clad in a simple dress, Cara had her smock tied around her waist and her light hair braided in a crown over her head.
With a hesitant glance toward Ash, she stepped between us. “I will escort the princess from here.”
“Join us if you wish,” Ash said, “but I’m to see that she safely reaches her room.”
Cara took Ash in from his head to his boots. “We’re on elven lands. She is perfectly safe with her folk.”
Not always.
The kindness of Ash’s face faded into something more cunning, something reminiscent of the prince’s sneer.
“I’m certain she is.” He slipped the satchel over his head, settling it on one of his shoulders, then leaned in so his face was close to Cara’s. “I’m still going to see her safely there. Prince’s orders.”
With a sniff, Cara stepped in front of us.
Ash opened an arm, mutely signaling me to walk ahead.
“You call your prince an ass, yet follow his order without wavering.” I bit down on my cheek to keep the smile from cracking.
Ash winked. “Only the orders I want. This one seemed important to him, so at your service I’ll be until the vows.”
