Ash (18 page)

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Ash

But when Ash was once again alone at Quinn House, days passed with no sign of the huntress, and Ash felt anxious and low. In the past, she and Kaisa had made plans when they could, and when they could not, Kaisa eventual y came to the garden gate to find her. It was almost as though Kaisa had a sixth sense about it, for she never came when Lady Isobel was home. Ash didn’t ask how she knew, afraid that if she drew attention to it, Kaisa would stop coming. It was better, Ash told herself, to let it be as it was, for it would surely end soon enough. But now it had been weeks since they had seen each other, and Ash wondered, her heart sinking, if it had been the last time.

After several days of waiting in the empty house, listening for any sound at the garden gate, she decided go for a walk, unable to stand being inside for another minute. It was a hot day, and she almost immediately regretted leaving without changing into a lighter dress. Sweat was sliding down her back even before she reached the trees, and the shade was not much cooler. At the deserted riverbank, she knelt on the ground in the ful sun and cupped the cold water in her hands, drinking deeply. She splashed the water on her face and ran her wet hands through her hair, pul ing it loose from the knot at the nape of her neck. She undid the top buttons of her dress and splashed the cool liquid on her skin, sighing in relief as it trickled down her neck. She did not hear the footsteps behind her, and when she stood and turned to go back into the shade she was startled to see Kaisa standing there.

“I thought I might find you here,” Kaisa said with an amused smile. She looked as if she had just done the same 152

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thing that Ash had done: Her black hair was damp from the river, her collar unbuttoned and wet, the skin of her throat pink from the heat.

“It is a hot day,” Ash said inadequately.

“It is indeed,” Kaisa agreed. “I would suggest that you come into the shade.”

Ash did not know what to say, suddenly feeling shy, so she stood there at the very edge of the shade and looked down at the ground. Kaisa’s dark brown boots were comfortably worn and scuffed, the leather lined and aged. In the silence between them the buzz of insects in the hot summer air seemed to crescendo: thousands of tiny wings beating. At last she looked up at the huntress, who was watching her with a curious expression on her face; when Ash met her gaze she thought she saw Kaisa color slightly, but perhaps it was only the heat, for the air was sticky with it. Ash twisted up al the courage inside herself and said, “I was waiting for you.” When the words came out of her they seemed to hang in the air in a cloud of desire, and the texture of them surprised even Ash.

Kaisa said gently, “There was no one at your home.”

“They went to Seatown.” She could feel the summer heat surrounding her as if it were rising from her body, and she reached up and squeezed the last droplets of water from her hair.

“Why did you not go with them? It seems as though the whole City has gone there.”

“Ana said she had no need of me there,” Ash answered.

“And she thinks it is a hardship for me to stay here, in the heat. But I am glad that I stayed.”
Because I wanted to see you
, she 153

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almost added, but the words caught in her throat.

“I am glad, too,” Kaisa said. The quiet afternoon opened up between them like a woman stretching her limbs. Ash felt the water from her damp hair sliding down the back of her neck, but she was stil suffused with heat.

Kaisa said, her tone careful y conversational: “I dislike Seatown in the summer. It is all young ladies and their mothers, seeking out suitable husbands.”

Ash let out a laugh of recognition. “That is what Ana went to do.”

The huntress smiled. “Besides, I had work to do. Prince Aidan will be hunting with us this fall after several years away, and the King wishes to hold a great hunt at the beginning of the season. It is only a few weeks away.”

“Oh,” said Ash, feeling slightly disappointed. She suspected that once hunting season began, her days with Kaisa would end.

But Kaisa said, “If you would like to ride with us, I would welcome you.” Ash was simultaneously overjoyed and worried her stepmother would never give her permission and her hands flew up to cover her mouth, but she could not contain her smile. Kaisa laughed at the expression on her face and said,

“I take it that means I can expect you to join us?”

“I will try,” Ash said, and at that moment, she had never wanted anything more in her life.

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When Ana returned from Seatown, her cheeks were blooming with what Lady Isobel described as the invigorating sea air. As Ash unpacked Clara’s trunks, her stepsister reported that progress had been made with Lord Rowan. “He seemed quite intent on proposing this fall,” Clara said, “but I am not sure if Ana wil continue to entertain him.”

“Why not?” Ash asked, unfolding Clara’s blue gown.

“Because everyone says that the King wil announce that Prince Aidan shal choose a bride this year,” Clara explained.

“It was al anyone was talking about in Seatown.”

“Does Ana somehow think he wil choose her?” Ash asked dryly.

Clara laughed. “You have no faith in my sister’s abilities to twist things to suit her desires.”

“If there is one thing I believe Ana capable of doing, it is that,” Ash said.

“Al she needs,” Clara said, “is for Lord Rowan to
believe
that she has a chance with the prince.”

“Why?”

“It wil make him jealous, of course, and he wil propose more quickly. You real y have no idea how these things are done, do you?” Clara gave Ash a condescending smile, and Ash bristled.

“And you do?” Ash said. “You are only sixteen.”

“The Queen was betrothed when she was sixteen,” Clara said.

Ash turned from the wardrobe and looked at Clara incredulously. “Do you think that
you
will make the prince fall in love with you?”

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Clara’s cheeks turned pink and she looked slightly embarrassed, but she said indignantly, “Why not? Everyone says the King is going to announce that Prince Aidan wil choose from among all the eligible girls in the country. I am eligible.”

“Wel , in that case so am I,” Ash said, “but I doubt the prince will choose me.”

Clara gave her a strange look and said, “You may be our servant now, but you are the daughter of a gentleman, and you must know that you are far prettier than Ana.” When Ash simply stared at her, dumbfounded, Clara said, “It may not be your dream, Stepsister, but do not scoff at those who do dream of it.”

The next day a messenger came to deliver an invitation stamped with the royal seal, and Ash hovered in the doorway to the parlor as her stepmother unfolded the letter and read it.

“There wil be a hunting party to open the season,” Lady Isobel said, scanning the notice, “and afterward we are invited to attend upon His Royal Highness at the Royal Pavilion in the King’s Forest, where he shal make a special announcement.”

“When is the hunt?” Ash asked.

Her stepmother looked up at her and said, “In a fortnight.

What interest do you have in it?”

“Perhaps she wishes to present herself to Prince Aidan as a possible bride,” Ana said sarcastical y, and Clara looked down at her embroidery, saying nothing.

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Ash frowned at her. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said.

“Ash, go and clean something,” her stepmother said, irritated. “You have no cal to be here.” She stood up and closed the parlor door in Ash’s face, and Ash heard Ana break into laughter.

Sidhean met her that night by the side of the river, where she sat on a rounded boulder holding the medal ion in her hand.

For a moment she thought she had seen a glimmer of light in its depths, but it had quickly faded and now the stone seemed as black as the night sky. She did not hear him approach, but she felt him the air shivered a bit before his arrival and when she looked to her left he was standing there motionless, his hands behind his back as he looked down at the gurgling water. “How do you know where I am?” she asked.

There was a small smile on his face as he said, “Magic.”

She had not seen him since he had given her the medal ion.

Now, she realized that the part of her that had once been always aware of him had quieted. And yet, seeing him again, she felt something within her bending toward him as though drawn on threads pul ed taut by his hands. But he did not come closer to her, and she had the distinct impression that he was holding himself back, even though his face was expressionless. He asked, “What is your wish?”

Ash opened her mouth to reply, and hesitated. She had heard many tales about men and women who had been foolish 157

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enough to make wishes in the presence of fairies, and for a moment she wondered what she was getting herself into.

Though Sidhean might grant her wish, she knew there would be a price to pay. In al the tales, the price for a life was a life to bring back the dead, a newborn child would be given up. But what would be the price for a day of freedom? She told him,

“The huntress has invited me to ride with them on their first hunt of the season.”

“Ah,” he said, and she noted that he did not ask why she was invited, or how she had come to know the King’s Huntress, and she suspected that he already knew that he had known what she would ask for.

“The prince has proclaimed that he wil make some sort of announcement at the hunt,” she continued, “and my stepmother and stepsisters wil be there. I wish to go without them knowing.”

He stood there for a long moment in silence, and to her astonishment he had never looked more like an ordinary man with his head bowed and his shoulders slumped, he seemed almost weary. At last she stood up and went to him, putting her hand on his arm, and he was very real: He wore linen, and it was as pale as the starlight, and when she pushed his hair out of his eyes it was as fine as silk. She looked up at his shadowed eyes and asked, “If you grant my wish, wil there be a price to pay?”

He reached for her hand and brought it to his lips, and he kissed her knuckles. She felt lightheaded then, as if she had drunk a very great deal of wine, and if he had not caught her she would have stumbled. But he held her steady and ans-158