Page 116 of The Ashborn

Broan jolted his head so quickly that he nearly whiplashed his neck. “I may need to clean my ears. What did you fucking say?”

“Kienna,” the Lorekeeper spoke again, in a tight whisper.

Broan held his face steady, but his insides begged for a reaction. For a snarky response he could give to hide the fact that he was utterly shocked. He turned to Kaelthar and Ithril, gleaning their reactions. Ithril remained expressionless, as if the information didn’t spark her one way or another. Kaelthar, on the other hand, seemed troubled. He placed his hand to his beard and chewed on the side of his cheek.

“You don’t seem pleased,” Ingrid said.

“She was with me in River Storm. She’s…a complicated bitch.”

“Explain,” the jarl demanded.

Broan searched Kaelthar. Kaelthar inhaled deeply and said, “She’s an Elvish princess, but also related to the magic king.”

“And you want her on the throne?” Harlik spat at Kaelthar.

Skald nodded slowly. “This is what the prophecy spoke of. Fight beside her or be lost forever. Not even Eldry can help us.”

Broan rolled his eyes. Yet another piece of information that he had to catch up on. Studying maps with Ithril didn’t get him there fast enough. He wanted to know the world he had missed out on his whole life. “What is the prophecy? And why her?”

Skald seemed to drift from them, a cloudy color encompassing his other eye. When he came back, he said, “She is strong. I see a battle well fought…” He paused again, as if searching his mind for the words. “The power within her will serve the realm well next to the man of light. Her position will be enacted by one with a blue sigil and sealed by the one with the red.”

There were a lot of things Broan wanted to discuss from Skald’s words. Who was the man of light? Why did Kienna get fucking powers and a prophecy? Red lightning jagged across Broan’s temple. “Who has the blue?”

“A healer.”

“Fucking Danek?” Broan laughed. “No shit! He gets one, too?”

Harlik remained silent alongside Yrsa and Thane. He stood and turned slowly, the weight of his broad frame creaking the floor beneath him as he moved. The firelight caught in the iron of his eyes, and for the first time, they did not burn with rage, but calculation. A grunt escaped his throat, not dismissive, but closer to a reluctant approval.

“Ingrid and Lief will be goin’ with ya.”

Broan gave a tight nod. “I’ll use what I’m given.”

“You say goodbye to yer ma before you leave. And take the fucking Lorekeeper.”

“Aye, but after that, I want to know where we stand. If I take your blood with me into war, I expect to know what comes next.”

“The Elvish cannot keep you,” Harlik said narrowly. “We will make a Viking of you yet, Broan Darsen of the Mountainborn. But, if you want my full army behind your cause, I’ll need more than a speech and a fuckin’ prophecy. Bring me proof that Queen Elira stands with her people and not above them. Only then will the mountain rise for war.”

Chapter 47

—Kienna—

Kienna woke in a bright room, a faint hum coursing through her bones after the magical phenomenon. She hoped she would never see this room again after Dalelry, but her luck in battle seemed to be zero for two, and the room was less like one meant for healing and more like an endless loop in a terrible dream.

The once peaceful views of the trees out the window, herbal aromas, and chirping of birds reminded Kienna of her failures. She grunted, placing her head back against the pillow woven from the finest silk. She sat alone for the first time since her body broke. As she closed her eyes, the gallop resumed, the ache of motion beneath her ribs.

Connak had rushed her through the forest with Tristian, horses laced with magic as they ran swiftly over the forest ground. They covered a day’s ride in a few hours. Connak gripped her sides, guiding her as they made heftier turns off the original path to Trinity. His body was warm then, but his presence was cold.

She tried to call to his mind, whisper she was sorry…anything. Her voice was muddled by the pain surging through her. No whispers knocked back. Only silence and whimpers from Ruva begging for Kienna to mend as she ran behind the horses.

When they arrived, Kienna ebbed in and out of alertness with images of glowing magic and fragments of voices. Seredai commanded the room, her purple eyes and silver-streaked skin illuminating as crystals floated around them. Kienna heard yelling before falling asleep from the pain.

“The aura’s fractured… Seal it before it scars…”

She didn’t know what it meant. It sounded nice. Perhaps it was only a dream. Her eyes fluttered closed again.

Kienna was back in Dove Port.