Regret (Lady of Toryn Trilogy) (18 page)

“Yeah,” she said. “I hope you
don’t mind me bailing on you like this.”

“Why would I mind? Restlyn’s got
everything under control. Besides, you’re leaving in broad daylight and you
already told me where you’re going,” Skye said, and she smiled guiltily.

“Later, boss,” Aaron said,
saluting Skye as he turned to follow Ashlyn up the ramp.

“Be safe,” Skye called after
them.

Ashlyn stood beside Aaron as he
pushed the button to fold in the ramp. “Hey, Aaron?” she said, staring out at
the city below them.

“Yeah?” The pilot closed the
hatch, sliding the bolt into place.

“You think we could swing by Rode
when we come back from North Camp?”

“It ain’t exactly on the way.”

“I know, but…well, when I came to
Toryn in the boat with Kou, I had to leave my horse. I trained her to go back
to Rode if we ever got separated. I’d…like to see if she’s there.”

Aaron scoffed as he straightened
up, dusting his hands off on his pants. “No promises, kid. We’ll see.”

“Thanks.”

He left for the bridge, and
Ashlyn headed for the bunkrooms, knowing that Aik would have gone to his usual
sleeping place there.

“Hey,” she said to the wolf, who
was curled up on his mattress, looking for all the world like a domesticated
dog. (She would never tell him that.)

“No air sickness?” he said
mildly, and Ashlyn stumbled into the wall as the ship lifted off the ground,
her stomach plummeting in response to the ascent.

“You jinxed me,” she said with a
grimace, and slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. “I think
I’ll be okay. When we flew here from the southern part of the island I was
pretty proud of myself for not barfing even once.”

“The gods be praised,” Aik said
wryly.

One side of her mouth curved
slightly. Why was everyone in FLD so sarcastic? She remembered that month
they’d traveled together, and the hilarity that often had her in stitches even
during dangerous and deadly situations. This time around hadn’t been nearly as
much fun. The players were the same, but
she
was different.

“What’s that?” Aik asked when she
pulled the book out of her knapsack.

“It’s a book on Toryn customs
from the gong library. I’m trying to figure out if I can designate a non-Toryn,
or even a half-Toryn, to take over for me if something should happen to me. I
don’t want to kick the bucket and leave Toryn in a big mess like the one it’s
in now.”

“I found something about that
during our research in Cosmea,” Aik said.

Ashlyn’s head shot up. “Really?
About successors to the throne?”

“Yes.” The wolf yawned, his pink
tongue lolling. “It wasn’t of any use to us at the time, but I do remember
clearly what it said. Non-Toryns can only lay claim to the throne if they
married into the bloodline.”

Ashlyn wrinkled her nose. “So if
I wanted Skye to be my successor, I’d have to marry him? I can’t think of
anything less appealing.”

“I’ll be sure to tell him you
said that.”

“I’m sure he’d agree with me!
What about half-Toryns? Don’t say anything, but I was considering naming
Restlyn as my successor. I mean, she’s doing such a great job as interim Lady
right now.”

Aik’s ears twitched as he laid
his head on his paws. “There was nothing about half-Toryns in the book. I’d
definitely have remembered that.”

She frowned, and looked down at
the book in her hands. “Well, maybe there’s something in here. Not like I have
anything else to do right now, anyway.”

Chapter 9

My Sweet Girl

“I don’t get it.”

Aik stirred on the mattress, blinking
his yellow eyes sleepily. “Pardon?”

Ashlyn scratched her head,
realizing too late that her ponytail probably looked like it had barely
survived a tornado with all the head-scratching she’d been doing over the past
several hours. Oh well, it wasn’t like Aik cared how her hair looked anyway.

“I have read this book cover to
cover,” she said, “and it has no mention of half-Toryns whatsoever, which is
annoying. But it does say the same thing you mentioned earlier- that a non-Toryn
can ascend only if they’re married to the reigning Lord at the time of the
Lord’s death.”

“Lord or Lady,” the wolf replied
diplomatically.

Ashlyn grinned. “Well, yeah. But
see, here’s the thing. Up until about twenty-five ago, there were laws
specifically saying that only men could lead Toryn. There was no such thing as
Lady of the Pagoda. And actually, there hasn’t even been one yet. I’ll be the
first.”

“Toryn is progressing, much like
the rest of the world,” said Aik. “Does that seem unusual?”

“It does, because my grandfather,
at the recommendation of my father, is the one who changed the law,” Ashlyn
said. “It happened just before my father ascended the pagoda. Actually, they
changed two laws together. The first law my father threw out was the one saying
that Toryn lords could only marry fellow Toryns. He made it so that Toryn lords
can marry outside of Toryn blood- Landians, Northerners, anyone they want. The
second law he changed was the one about women being able to take over
leadership.” She shrugged, flipping through the pages of the book. “I guess it
wouldn’t seem so weird, except that as far as I can tell, my dad hasn’t lobbied
to change any other laws since he accepted Lordship of Toryn. Isn’t that…weird?
Why those two laws? Why did he do it right after he ascended the pagoda? It’s
like he was planning something that never came to be.”

“Perhaps he did it for you?” Aik
suggested. “You are his firstborn, and you’re clearly female.”

Her mouth dropped open in mock
horror. “Seriously? I’m gonna be nineteen in a few weeks, not twenty-five. I
wasn’t anywhere close to being born when he did this. Actually, I don’t think
he was even married to my mom then. I wonder…” She paused, the idea occurring
to her for the very first time. “Do you think my dad had a secret love? A
non-Toryn?”

“You can ask him yourself,” Aaron
said, appearing in the doorway. He braced one elbow high up on the doorjamb,
leaning against it casually. “We’re about to land at North Camp.”

“You think he’s awake? And
talking?” Ashlyn put the book down and set about finger-combing her hair into a
less rumpled ponytail.

“No idea, kid, but he’ll be glad
to see ya if he is, I know that.”

Her heart warmed at Aaron’s
comment, but she covered her rush of emotion by scoffing. “Right. I’m sure
he’ll have all sorts of lectures for me on how I’m a disgrace to the Li
bloodline, shirking my responsibility for three years to run around and fight
monsters-”

“Ya came through when it really
mattered,” Aaron interrupted. “Don’t forget it.”

“Thanks.”

She remained seated as the
airship began its descent. Aik got up off his mattress and padded out of the
room, but Ashlyn was clinging to the rails of the bunk beside her, trying
valiantly not to throw up.

She tried to focus on something
else.

It didn’t appear that she was
going to have any luck choosing Skye as her successor, but Restlyn was still a
possibility, considering her half-Toryn heritage. Or Ashlyn could follow in her
father’s footsteps and change the laws herself…but that meant more research.
She leaned her forehead against the cool steel of the bunk and closed her eyes
tiredly. Would this be her life now? Books and laws and politics? How had her
father managed for so long?

The airship’s engines cut off,
but Ashlyn stayed where she was. She blew out a breath, feeling it stir the
shorter strands of hair hanging in her face. Before she ascended the pagoda,
she would have to get a haircut- a real haircut, not another hack job from
Skye. It was a good thing she hadn’t been overly attached to her long hair to
begin with.

She remembered that morning at
Restlyn’s house in Storim, when Vargo had met her by the stable and told her,
“I liked you better with your hair down.”

At the time she’d thought he was
just trying to get into her pants- and actually, maybe he had been. But her
feelings towards him had completely changed since that day. Before she’d gotten
to know him, Vargo had seemed like a womanizing creep, the kind of smarmy jerk
that she wanted to avoid. Now she knew better. His honesty and candid behavior
was a welcome contrast to Drake’s annoying volatility. There was something to
be said for a man who made up his mind and stood by his decision, even if that
man was an irritatingly lewd Spartan who had risked his life to save hers.

Ashlyn pulled the
resist
stane necklace over her head and
climbed slowly to her feet, shoving the necklace into her pocket. She didn’t
want to wear it right now.

She was kind of wondering if this
was something that girls normally talked to their dads about. She’d never been
particularly close to her father, and now certainly wasn’t the time to talk
about romance anyway, but maybe now that Lord Li was safe, they could start
over again. Maybe now they could build the relationship she’d always wanted-
the kind of relationship where she could get his opinion on matters of the
heart.

Aaron was waiting for her by the
ramp. “There ya are,” he said, and held up a heavy coat for her to slip her
arms into. Ashlyn accepted it gratefully, feeling sheepish for not having
considered the weather in North Camp before leaving Toryn.

“He’s at the inn,” Aaron said,
nodding towards the exit hatch.

She frowned. “You’re not coming
with us?”

“Hell, no. I got things to do,
kid. Jackson told me at the beginnin’ that I’d be pickin’ up the rest of the
Spartans once you got Kou’s army under control, and I gotta move Vargo to
Cosmea for healin’ after that.”

“Oh.” She supposed that made
sense, but she didn’t like the idea of being stuck in North Camp for so long-
or the idea of more Spartans in Toryn. She’d come to terms with Ellis, Trace
and Vargo, but she certainly hadn’t made peace with the remaining seven
Spartans, and didn’t much like Jackson making these kinds of decisions without
her. “You know what? Tell Jackson that we’ve got it under control. You can pick
Vargo up and meet me here either tomorrow afternoon or the following morning.
We’ll move my father and Vargo to Cosmea together.”

Aaron raised his eyebrows. “I
ain’t so sure-”

“I
am
sure. The Free Lands Democracy has no jurisdiction in Toryn. I
have gladly accepted Jackson’s help- and your help- and I’m grateful for it.
I’m grateful for the assistance we’ve gotten from Ellis, Trace and Vargo. But I
don’t know the other Spartans, and I don’t want them in Toryn without me there
to keep an eye on them. Bring Trace and Ellis with you when you pick up Vargo.
I’ll leave them in Cosmea with Aik to protect my dad.”

Aaron shrugged. “It’s your
funeral.”

“Thanks a lot.” She wasn’t too
worried about the fallout. Three years ago, Jackson had been even-tempered and
diplomatic, and he probably hadn’t changed much. He should at least understand
why she didn’t feel comfortable letting more Spartans into Toryn without being
there herself. “Tell Jackson he can talk to me if he has an issue.”

She turned towards the hatch,
then paused and turned back. “Aaron, thanks for getting me here so fast. I
really appreciate it.”

He nodded, looking none too
pleased, but saying nothing. Ashlyn ducked through the hatch and made her way
down the ramp, grimacing at the snowflakes hitting her face. She’d never liked
cold weather, and she especially disliked North Camp. It was a relief to know
that she’d only be spending a day or two here.

She stepped off the ramp and
trudged through the snow. She should have brought snow boots. Why had she
decided to bring her dad
here,
of all
places?
Because everyone else hates this
place as much as you do,
she told herself gloomily.
It was the best option you could think of on short notice.

That didn’t mean she had to be
happy about it.

The inn door was cracked open,
and she stepped through, immediately grateful for the wave of warmth that hit
her inside the lodge. As she shook the snow off her shoulders, she looked
around and suddenly remembered that the only thing she’d ever really liked
about North Camp was the homey, rustic feeling of the inn. A fire crackled in
the stone fireplace in the corner, and tourists lounged in couches, sipping hot
cocoa and trying to warm their hands on steaming mugs.

It really was the perfect hiding
place.

Aik caught her eye from the
corner, and inclined his head towards the hallway. Ashlyn hurried towards him,
shrugging off her jacket, harness and knapsack and hanging them on the antler
coat hanger on the wall outside the corridor before following Aik to the door
at the end of the hallway.

Ashlyn opened it hesitantly and
looked inside. Sara was standing next to the bed, writing something on her
clipboard. She looked up as Ashlyn entered, and smiled. “He’s been asking for
you,” she said.