“Gods, I hope so. I can’t wait to get out of here and see my dad. Are you coming with us? Actually,” she slowed her jogging, thinking it over, “actually, it might be helpful if you did come with us, and stayed with my dad when I have to leave for the coronation ceremony. I hate the thought of leaving him alone for very long. I know Sara’s with him, but…”
“She’s a scientist, not a warrior,” Aik said dryly. “I’d be happy to accompany you, Ashlyn.”
“Oh good. Well- hurry, because if I had it my way Aaron wouldn’t even touch down before we turn around and head back to North Camp.” Ashlyn whirled and started running again.
The airship was just landing when she reached the town square, and she danced impatiently around the clearing, wanting nothing more than to jump into the ship and order an immediate take-off. The engines cut off first, and then the ramp began to descend slowly- way too slowly- as Ashlyn dashed up to it and waited impatiently for Aaron to exit.
“Hi!” she said excitedly when the pilot finally appeared at the top of the ramp. “How’s my father? Is he okay? Can we go back now? Do you need to recharge the airship or anything?”
“Calm down, kid,” Aaron said, holding up his hands as his heavy boots clanged on the ramp. “What’s goin’ on? Last I saw there was a big battle brewin’.”
“Oh.” Dang, she’d totally forgotten that when Aaron had left yesterday, Kou’s army was about to attack. She supposed she did owe him an explanation. “Everything’s fine. Everyone’s fine- well, Vargo was hurt but he’ll make it, thank Drago. Kou and Tag got away, along with a few of their soldiers. For the most part…they’re all dead.” She frowned. It didn’t sound so great when she said it out loud. If there had been any way to save those ninjas, or if they had surrendered rather than fighting to the death, she certainly would have welcomed them back into Toryn with open arms, but it hadn’t happened that way.
Aaron looked vaguely impressed, and took his unlit cigarette from his mouth. “So why ya so desperate to get goin’?” he asked, sticking the cigarette behind his ear.
“I don’t want my dad to be alone,” Ashlyn said. It was the truth, but not the whole truth. “I just talked to Restlyn and she’s handling everything for now. I’d like to stay with my dad at least until my coronation- and hopefully by that point he’ll be well enough to come back anyway. How is he? Is he doing okay?”
“Better than Sara expected,” the blond pilot replied. “Even woke up on the way to North Camp. Askin’ after you somethin’ fierce though.”
“When can I go to him?” At the moment, the simplicity of seeing her dad again, holding his hand and seeing him smile, was so overwhelmingly necessary that Ashlyn felt like she might just jump in the ocean and swim to North Camp.
Aaron sighed. “Kid, if you’re really that desperate, just let me touch base with Skye, and then we’ll go.”
“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Ashlyn stood on tiptoe to plant a kiss on his stubbly cheek. “Let me just get my stuff, okay? I’ll be right back.”
Aaron turned to head back up the ramp, no doubt going to tell his crew that they weren’t done flying just yet, and Ashlyn took off for her house. “Oh! Aik!” she said, skidding to a halt as she passed the wolf. “We’re leaving in a few minutes! Do you need me to carry anything for you?”
“No, thanks,” he answered. “I’ll meet you inside.”
Ashlyn sprinted to her house and wiped off her feet at the door, shoving her sneakers back on before she entered. She took the stairs to the basement two at a time. The strong smell of ammonia hit her when she reached the bottom, and she paused for a moment to look at the corner where Vargo had been attacked. The women of Toryn, so grateful to help out their future Lady, were nothing if not thorough. Her floor looked cleaner than it ever had, with no trace of the carnage from the night before.
She shuddered, and whispered another brief prayer of thanks to Drago for the otherworldly calm and determination that had steadied her hands as she had struggled to keep Vargo alive with heal. She was perfectly capable of healing minor wounds, but had never attempted anything more than cuts, scrapes and bruises, or at worst a few gashes. A shredded stomach was something else entirely, and she’d never been so scared as she was when she kneeled in a pool of Vargo’s blood, clutching his hand and hoping against hope that her heal magic would save his life.
Ashlyn went to the cabinet in the corner and keyed in the long combination to unlock it, grateful that Kou hadn’t accessed her weapons during his stay in her home. She grabbed a knapsack and loaded it with several small throwing knives, along with one large hira shuriken that she’d never much liked for its lack of balance. Her sword was already strapped to her back, and she planned on using that as her primary weapon.
She put the book in the knapsack as well, reminding herself that she would read it on the ship once they were on their way.
As an afterthought, she went upstairs to her dresser and shoved a handful of clothing into the knapsack too. After this war was over, she would definitely start paying more attention to her wardrobe. And I’ll definitely be getting a haircut, she thought as she tucked an errant lock of hair behind her ear. Skye’s chop job wasn’t doing her appearance any favors right now.
When she went outside, she saw Aaron and Skye at the bottom of the ramp, deep in conversation.
“…Move him to Cosmea,” Skye was saying as she walked up. “He should be stable enough within a day or two.”
“Poor kid,” Aaron said. “Takes some guts, attackin’ a bear unarmed. Glad he’s gonna be okay.”
“It’ll be a long recovery,” Skye replied. “Drake did as much as he could, but there were some injuries that were just too precise to attempt. He’ll need time, and a real healer to keep an eye on him.” He nodded to Ashlyn as she drew closer. “Are you ready to go? Aaron tells me you’re pretty anxious to see your father.”
“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 fa
ther 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.
The Lady of Toryn Anthology (Lady of Toryn trilogy) Page 35