Page 2 of On Silver Winds
Try as he might, Silas could not keep the smile on his face. He would not lie to her. Not about this. He took her hand and spoke gently.
“Your mother is a Queen first and foremost,” he said. “She loves her Kingdom most of all.”
Chapter 1
Adeline
Asea of elbows.
That’s what the tavern had become; a too-tight tangle of joints for her to weave through, a bog of sodden cloak tails for her to trip and skid past. It was too bloody hot in here, despite the fresh snowfall gathering outside the breath-fogged windows. The air was thick with sweat and cider, humming with music and overlapping chatter. Her ears rang as she pushed through the crush, so loud she could barely make out Gerard’s voice behind her, bellowing her name over the heads of the crowd, calling for her to stop, to wait.
Leave it, Adeline!
But she couldn’t. It wasn’t will that moved her after all, but something sharper and edged with fear. She could taste it, acidic on the back of her tongue.
“Stop!”
Adeline shouted at the top of her lungs, and the ringing command carried her voice enough that several heads swivelled towards her as she passed, even with the muffling roar of music and chatter that hadn’t stuttered when the commotion broke out.
He didn’t turn.
The Captain’s back was squared off to her, long grey cloak rippling like stormy waters as he moved; graceful, somehow, like violence was a dance he knew well. His leg swung smoothly, and the drunken man in his grasp fell to his knees; she was close enough now to hear thethunkof his head hitting the brass railing beneath the bar. A sickeningpopthat might have been his elbow joint, his wrist still tight in the Captain’s white knuckled grip. He was convulsing;sobbing, she realised when she caught a glimpse of his reddened face between the Captain’s knees. And still the Captain lifted one heavy booted foot to the man’s shoulder and–
“DON’T!”
“Adeline,wait–”
Her hand landed on the Captain’s arm and he dropped the drunk man immediately. She might have felt relief at that, if given the time to feel anything at all. As it was, in the split second that followed, the Captain finally whipped around to face her.
And sent her crashing into the bar.
Patrons scattered beneath her like wooden pins. Pain came in an afterthought, a sharp crack across her jaw, a spike of fire all the way up her arm. Her wrist had caught the edge of the wooden counter when she stumbled back under the blow. Gerard was yelling her name from across the tavern, and unfamiliar hands steadied her from behind. Adeline caught her breath with a wheezed“Fuck”,and the air around her stilled, the music finally dying down, voices scattering to a solid hush. In the shocked silence, she had the briefest impression of the Captain’s cold, iron stare narrowed on hers, his arm cocked back as though he’d strike her again. Her nerves shrank away from her skin, that fiery resolve wilting at the snarl tugging his thin lips. But then he blinked. His eyes widened, only slightly, recognition flashing, arm lowering. All this in just a moment, just one long breath - before a wall of outraged patrons surged around him and the hold of his stare released her.
Then all hell broke loose.
???
The summons arrived as Adeline was stepping out of the bath.
She’d struggled to wake that morning, her mind peeling from the depths of sleep to a body more battered and aching than seemed fair.No good deed, and all that. But she wasn’t going to let a throbbing wrist and a mild hangover spoil her mood; not today.
She’d dragged herself from her nest of blankets, and a long soak in hot water and fragrant, herbal oils had soothed the pain in her wrist enough that she could ignore it as she wrapped herself up in her fluffiest robe. Padding through the early morning stillness of her home might have been a rather relaxing start to the day, if she weren’t already humming with an anxious sort of excitement. Because today was New Winter’s Eve – and tonight, she would be with her sisters.
It was easy to hold on to that excitement, if she focused hard enough. Like so many people her age, Adeline found that holiday visits to her family home could be… well. Complicated. But Goddess above, it would be worth every second of tension, every barbed remark and sideways glare. She’d take all of it for the promise of those quiet, untouchable moments with her sisters on that frosty balcony.
When she got to her room, a mug of tea had appeared on her dresser, still steaming and sweetened so heavily she could smell the honey wafting on its warm fumes. She knew who’d set it there; had heard Gerard fumbling noisily with the front door to her apartment at the arsecrack of dawn before collapsing in the living room, too plastered to risk sneaking back into the barracks.
He must have roused himself from his hungover sleep to fetch her morning tea while she bathed, and she found a smile tugging on her lips and heart at the thought. This was New Winter at its core really – little gestures of love for the people who mattered most. She was still smiling as she reached for the mug.
Her smile dropped when she saw the corner of parchment poking out beneath it.
Ah. Not just a sweet gesture then, but a placating one – for that thin slip of paper, so neatly pressed and folded, was sealed with the pale blue wax of the palace stationary.
Adeline narrowed her eyes at it.
Then snatched it up and ripped it open.
Her breath hissed out of her at the short, pointed words, all that cheer deflating in her chest.
