The Lady of Toryn Anthology (Lady of Toryn trilogy) (65 page)

Klotild nodded. “There were a few fiends beyond the
doors in the Caverns,” she said. “Nothing we couldn’t handle, fortunately.” She
stepped back. “Won’t you come in?”

“Ashlyn!” someone called out from behind her, and both
Jackson and Ashlyn turned to see Skye at the entrance to the city.

“Is anybody else planning to show up unexpectedly
today?” Ashlyn said in exasperation. “Seriously! Vargo just
had
to leave!”

Jackson chuckled. “Why don’t you go see what Skye
wants,” he suggested. “I’ll get an update from the Spartans. I know you’ve got
other, more pressing matters to deal with.”

“Thanks. I hate to leave you like this, but…well…I
guess I have to.” Ashlyn edged sideways, then hesitated, unsure of what decorum
required in terms of bidding the president farewell. “It was good seeing you,”
she said lamely.

Jackson’s smile made his dark eyes sparkle. “You
too, Ash. We’ll catch up later.” Sparing her any further awkwardness, he
stepped through the doorway, having to duck to fit through the doorway. Like
Aaron, Jackson was exceptionally tall, but his unassuming manner made his size
easy to forget.

Skye met Ashlyn halfway to the entrance. “What is
Jackson doing here?” he said by way of greeting.

“It’s nice to see you too,” she replied,
“considering last time we met I was near death.”

“Is that why he came here? To make sure you were
okay?”

Gosh, Skye was awfully single-minded sometimes.
“No,” Ashlyn said grumpily. “He came here because of something else entirely-
something that you’ll probably be involved in soon enough, don’t worry. And on
that note, what
are
you doing here?”

“I told Vargo we’d be back today,” Skye answered.
“Didn’t he tell you?”

“No.” Vargo sure was disappointing a lot of people
this morning.

“Your coronation is scheduled for tomorrow morning.
I’m here to take you back to Toryn.”

Her coronation? “Tomorrow?” Ashlyn squeaked. “Isn’t
that a little soon?”

Skye ignored her question. “I’ve got a surprise for
you, too.”

“Oh, joy,” she said weakly as he put his arm around
her shoulders and steered her towards the entrance.

“It’s actually Aaron’s surprise, but he sent me to
get you.” Skye pushed her gently towards the stairs, and she grudgingly began
to descend, noting the difference between Skye’s careless treatment and
Jackson’s precise manners. She almost mentioned it to Skye, but decided against
it. Jackson was the exception, not the rule. Even Drake didn’t hold doors for
her and help her down stairs.

“Did you find Kou?” she asked instead, and when Skye
didn’t answer immediately, she knew he hadn’t.

“We’re still looking,” he said. “We’ll find him,
Ash. I promise.”

She hadn’t really expected him to find Kou. Somehow,
in her heart, she knew that Kou would find her when he was ready. And she would
welcome the chance to avenge her father.

A flash of white caught her eye as she stepped off
the last stair, and she shaded her eyes with one hand, looking towards where
the airship had landed. At the base of the ramp, Aaron stood, holding the leap
rope of a sorrel horse. The sun was glinting off the mare’s flaxen mane.

“Suki!”
Ashlyn
shrieked, and took off at a sprint.

The horse nickered and bobbed her head as her
spastic owner drew closer, and when Ashlyn threw her arms around Suki’s neck,
the mare lowered her chin to rest on Ashlyn’s shoulder, in the closest thing to
a hug that a horse could manage.

“Oh, I missed you so much,” Ashlyn murmured,
inhaling the mare’s familiar horsey scent. For years, Suki had been her only
companion. After being forced to leave the horse on a dock outside the village
of Industry, Ashlyn hadn’t been sure if she’d ever see Suki again. She had
trained the mare to travel to Rode in the event that they were ever separated,
but she’d never dreamed that Aaron would actually find Suki for her.

“Thank you,” she said to Aaron, who was grinning
goofily. “Thank you so, so much.”

“You’re welcome, kid,” Aaron said affectionately,
reaching out and handing Ashlyn the lead rope. “Figured you could use a
pick-me-up, after the month you’ve had.”

Wasn’t
that
the
understatement of the year?

“She was in Rode, just like you said she’d be,”
Aaron continued. “Spent most of yesterday teachin’ her how to load into an
airship, so you shouldn’t have any more problems with her.”

“Hear that, sweetie?” Ashlyn cooed, stroking Suki’s
muzzle affectionately. “I told you there was nothing to be scared of.”

“When can you be ready to leave?” Skye said, appearing
beside her.

Buzzkill.

Ashlyn leaned her forehead against Suki’s, fighting
the urge to sulk. “Whenever you’re ready, I guess,” she said. “I just have to
check in with Aik before I leave.”

Skye took the lead rope from her and handed it back
to Aaron. “Go ahead and find him, then,” he said. “It’s time for us to go.”

Chapter
Six

The
Places Others Have Gone

Restlyn enveloped Ashlyn in an embrace the moment
the younger girl stepped off the airship’s ramp. Ashlyn, who was mentally and
physically exhausted after having spent the better part of the day on the
airship discussing the Spirit of the Caverns and mapping out potential
locations for the Stane of
Novem Milia
with Skye, hugged her adopted sister back reflexively. When she felt a tremor
run through Restlyn’s body though, Ashlyn hugged her tighter, realizing
abruptly that Restlyn must have been an emotional wreck after learning that Kou
had tracked Lord Li to North Camp.

As if to confirm Ashlyn’s revelation, Restlyn
sniffled and said, “I was so worried about you. I’m so sorry about your dad.”

“Me too,” Ashlyn murmured. She was still numb inside
over her father’s death, and still highly suspicious of his almost-nightly
appearances in her dreams. She wasn’t sure if she believed in an afterlife, but
if there was one, it seemed unlikely that her dad would spend his time invading
his illegitimate daughter’s dreams, offering cryptic and ultimately useless
advice.

Restlyn pulled away, hastily wiping the tears from
her own cheeks and offering a watery smile. “I’m so glad you’re finally here-
and look at you! Why on earth are you wearing shorts? It’s the middle of winter.
But you look great anyway. I can’t even tell that anything happened.”

“I guess I heal pretty fast.” Ashlyn had a fresh
batch of scars on the inside of her left arm, but scarring was a small price to
pay for surviving an encounter with a hostile wolf. “How are things going
around here?” she asked, immediately noticing that all the tourist signs, with
directions and advertisements written upon them in Merchant Tongue, had been
removed.

“Things are good!” Restlyn exclaimed. “I’ve made a
couple of changes- just making Toryn more like it used to be. I hope you don’t
mind.”

“Of course not. Everything looks great,” Ashlyn
answered, the words thick on her tongue. She turned back towards the ramp.
“Maybe I should get Suki settled in.”

Skye was already exiting the airship, and shook his
head when she looked up at him. “You need to get ready for your coronation
tomorrow,” he said. “Aaron and I will take care of Suki.”

“I know you’re going to love this,” Restlyn said,
putting an arm around Ashlyn’s shoulders and purposefully steering the younger
girl away from the airship. “I had the ceremonial kimono cleaned for you. Try
to contain your excitement.”

Ashlyn groaned. “Seriously, Restlyn?”

“And I even found matching shoes.”

“Restlyn!”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” Restlyn laughed,
sounding happier than Ashlyn could ever remember her being. “That stupid kimono
is so big no one will know if you wear shoes or not. You could probably wear
your regular clothes underneath it. And your sneakers.”

“All the better to use for running away,” Ashlyn
muttered under her breath. The sky in Toryn was a gloomy gray, punctuated with
ominous-looking storm clouds to match Ashlyn’s mood. With any luck, lightning
would strike her father’s house tonight and start a fire to burn up that awful
kimono. Restlyn was right- it would be much too big for Ashlyn. Every leader in
Toryn history up till now had been a man, and the kimono had been made to fit
the Li men. Ashlyn would be all but swallowed up in the thing.

“Where is my dad?” she asked suddenly. “Skye said
you already lit the funeral pyre.” Her initial frustration at being absent for
the immolation had dissipated when she recalled that, according to Toryn lore,
the soul of a noble was trapped within the body until services had been
performed. Ashlyn had never believed it herself, but out of respect for Lord
Li, Restlyn had constructed the funeral pyre immediately after his body had
arrived on the island.

“He’s in the memorial pagoda,” Restlyn answered.
“Would you like to go see him?”

Did she want Restlyn to be present the first time
she saw her father’s final resting place? No, Ashlyn thought. She wanted to be
alone for that. Out loud she said, “No, it’s okay. I’ll go later. I was
actually hoping you could give me a hand with my hair.” She had braided it on
the airship in an attempt to hide the horrible chop job Skye had done on it
last week, but strands were escaping, hanging limply around her ears.

“I’ve been waiting for you to ask me that since the
day we beat the
shift
army,” Restlyn
responded, rolling her eyes skyward. “Skye did such a terrible job!”

“Good thing he’s not trying to make a living as a
barber,” Ashlyn joked, not feeling humorous in the least. The unexpected
haircut had occurred while they’d been fighting Kou’s
shift
army, and Drake had lost the
resist
stane and attacked Ashlyn. Skye had saved her, but he’d also
managed to shear off half the length of her hair in the process. If there was
one thing to be happy about right now, it was that Restlyn could fix the mess
Skye had made.

“Do you want to stay in your house tonight?” Restlyn
asked. “I didn’t even think about it, I just assumed you’d bunk in with me in
your dad’s house, but if you don’t-“

“No, that’d be fine.” Ashlyn brightened momentarily.
“It’ll be just like the slumber parties we used to have when we were kids!
Except my dad won’t be around for us to tickle his nose with a feather.”

“Maybe we can sneak in and prank Aaron,” Restlyn
suggested, a devilish gleam in her eye.

“Oh my gosh, that would be awesome. Warm water
trick?”

“Ew!” They both cracked up as they climbed the steps
to Lord Li’s house. “Do you remember when we did that to Soryl, the day after I
moved in?” Restlyn exclaimed. “And he-“

“Wet the bed and then tried to p-pretend like
nothing happened!” Ashlyn slapped her leg, laughing so hard that she could
hardly draw a breath. “I swear h-h-he was
so
stubborn!”

They dissolved into fits of giggles, Ashlyn leaning
heavily on the porch railing when her legs threatened to give out. When she had
calmed down somewhat, she turned and impulsively gave Restlyn a hug. “I’m so
glad you’re here.”

“Me too. I’m excited for your coronation- even with
the ceremonial kimono,” Restlyn said loftily, and Ashlyn groaned.

“Just had to bring that up, didn’t you? I swear I’m
going to find a way to light that thing on fire.”

“Well, you have less than twelve hours to do it, so
start brainstorming.” Restlyn stepped through the doorway and moved aside so
that Ashlyn could enter.

The koi pond was exactly the same, elegant fish
darting around in its dark depths, some hiding beneath lily pads and others
daring to mouth the surface of the water, begging for food.

“I totally forgot about Dad’s stupid fish,” Ashlyn
said affectionately. She knelt next to the pond and reached into the pot where
Lord Li kept the bread crumbs. When she scattered a handful into the water,
there was a flurry of movement as each fish tried to claim their rightful
share. Did they even know that their master was gone? For years, Lord Li had
fed the fish, nurtured them, helped them grow from tiny little hatchlings no
bigger than Ashlyn’s finger into beautiful, colorful adults.

Now they were orphans, just like her.

The hole in her heart was as painful as ever, but at
least she could think about her father now without bursting into tears. Vargo
had graciously tolerated her blubbering for those first few days, but Ashlyn
had struggled to maintain composure in public, constantly plagued with
ordinary, everyday reminders of her father. These fish were the same. Ashlyn
wanted to sniffle pathetically, but she tamped down the urge. No use crying
over what had already transpired. And now that she was in Toryn, she had a
pretty good idea that Kou would come to find her. There would be plenty of time
to remember her father when she had Koudai Devlyn Lunai on the end of a katana.

“Are you ready to cut your hair?” Restlyn asked.
“The scissors are in the kitchen.”