Windburn

Her words stopped me. “What do you mean, not the one for me? How can you know?”

“I’ve said enough. You need to figure the rest out on your own.” She trotted ahead of me, stopping beside Cactus. “Prick, are you coming with us or staying here to play with the seedlings?”

I opened my mouth, words on the tip of my tongue. But she was right. I snapped my mouth shut. Cactus stood, saw me, and grinned. His love for life was contagious. I smiled back, but the smile faltered, as I understood what Ash had meant about not being able to share.

I could never tell Cactus I slept with Ash. Until I could tell him I’d picked Ash over him without a question in my mind. And I wasn’t sure I would ever do that.

Damn my heart for its ability to love more than one person at a time. Apparently my father’s blood ran truer than I’d previously believed. The royal lines of the Terralings were littered with mistresses and children born out of the monarch’s official marriage. That wasn’t unusual to us; it was normal as far as we were concerned. But I’d thought I was above that, only ever bedding Coal.

I grimaced at the thought of being anything like my father.

Cactus stepped beside me and slung an arm over my shoulders as we walked. “Wanderers like us, we never really settle down, Lark. So where do you think your pop is?”

“I don’t know.” I brushed his arm off, feeling the traitorous desire to leave it there. “We’re going to Niah’s to speak with her.”

“The old storyteller? Is she still alive?”

“She’s not that old.” I laughed, but the laughter died as I thought about Ash having to deal with Vetch. “Come on, I don’t want to waste time.”

We jogged to Niah’s, silence between us. Peta bounded through the forest, her pleasure flowing through the bond between her and me. Stopping suddenly, she pounced on something that squeaked, then let it go. She turned a sheepish face up to me. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. I’m glad you like it here.”

We came to a stop at the edge of the Rim. Niah’s house was built into a redwood not unlike my previous home. Only instead of being fifty feet in the air as mine had been, the entrance to her home was on the ground. If I remembered correctly, she had a bear as a familiar that didn’t look a whole lot different than Karhu. Tangling with one bear was enough for me. I didn’t go to the door, but instead called out.

“Niah, are you here?”

There was silence for a moment, then the door swung open on well-greased hinges. Niah peered out, her long gray hair hanging in braids to either side of her face. “Larkspur?”

“Yes. I was hoping for some guidance.”

She peered at Cactus. “Why have you got a lizard with you?”

“This is my friend, Cactus. He’s a half-breed like me. He used to live here in the Rim as a child.”

She snorted. “Ain’t nobody like you, Lark. Come on in, bring your cat with you.”

“Your familiar won’t mind?”

That stopped her. “Why would my familiar mind yours?”

I closed the distance between us and held the edge of the door. “Vetch has been named the heir and has two of Father’s familiars. They attacked us.”

Niah gasped and put a hand to her throat. “Fool boy, what does he think he’s doing?”

“I think Cassava still has some hold on him.” I didn’t want to explain about Blackbird. We didn’t have time for a long story, and that was what Niah loved more than anything. Eating and storytelling.

The three of us stepped into her home. I had to blink several times to adjust to the dimmer light. The room cooked with heat from a fire roaring on one side of the room and a kettle squalling on the stove. Being late summer, it wasn’t exactly cold outside. Sweat popped out on my brow immediately.

More surprising than the fire was Griffin sitting in a chair, his long legs stretched out in front of him. His dark eyes swept over me as he gave me a toothy grin reminiscent of his wolf form. “Larkspur, keeping out of trouble yet?”

“Not yet,” I muttered, as I took a seat. Niah brought me a mug of tea without asking and I let out sigh. This would not be a quick visit. I wasn’t sure if that pleased me. A part of me wanted to hurry, to find my father and bring him home to straighten out Vetch. The other part didn’t want to find him at all. With my father gone, though, we would have to battle Vetch, and I didn’t want to start a civil war. . . but that would settle things. I was not so sure my father would be able to rule if his mind was broken as badly as we thought.

Peta jumped onto my lap and curled up so her tail wrapped over her nose. “Griffin.” Her voice was muffled through her fur.

“Kitten. What are you doing here?” He leaned forward and ran a single finger down her spine. She shivered, but she wasn’t bothered by his touch, or I would have pushed his hand away.

Her green eyes blinked up at me, then back at Griffin. “Long story. Your consort said I was needed, so I am here.”

His eyebrows shot up. “With Larkspur? Shit, she must be in for a wild ride then, yeah?”

I lifted my tea and took a sip, choosing not to respond. Niah waved her hands, fluttering them like bird wings. “Not a word until the boy sits down. His red hair makes me nervous.” She winked to soften the words, though I felt a thin string of truth running through them.

The distrust between our families ran deep and long.