Dawn with the Wolf Knight by Elise Kova

Author:Elise Kova [Kova, Elise]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Silver Wing Press
Published: 2024-08-02T00:00:00+00:00

Evander takes me to Aurora’s tent first thing in the morning. I didn’t have to ask. He rightly assumed that I would want to see her before we left.

I suspected she might be cross with me, but the air in the tent feels colder than the outside. As icy as her stare and as unflinching as the back she puts to me.

“Aurora—”

“I trusted you.”

“Aurora, please⁠—”

I take a step closer. She spins in place and spears me through with a look. I don’t dare proceed. She is the forest on a dark, cold winter solstice. When the last light has died and there is nothing that keeps the spirits of a more wicked nature at bay. She is a barrier set up by another witch that fizzles against my skin, that cautions against progressing. She is primordial strength, fate itself turning against me.

Not welcome are the two words the whole sensation of being in her presence can be boiled into.

“I told you of my powers, of my past. I taught you how to harness your gifts and mine together. I…I introduced you to one of my oldest and dearest friends and you used up so much of her power that now she must lie dormant to recover.” Her voice cracks and she looks away, as if frustrated by the betrayal of her mortal body showing how deep her wounds are cut. “You’re just like the rest of them, in the end. All you care for is yourself. All you want is your own benefit.”

“Aurora…” All I can manage is a weak whisper of her name. Silenced when she looks away, as if offended I would dare even speak it.

“And you know, Faelyn, I might have been able to tolerate it if you wanted the power for you, but to share it with him…”

“No.” I burst forward and push past the invisible barrier she’s tried to place between us. I take both her hands in mine, which brings her attention, and her ire, back to me. I speak before she can this time. “Not with him. Never for him. I will die a thousand painful deaths before I let him use my powers or any spirits. I vowed as much last night.”

My conviction stills her. The air shifts. She’s inquisitive. But still skeptical.

“I don’t blame you for what you thought of me, not after all you’ve been through,” I start. “And I know how it looks—how I wanted it to look.”

“Wanted it?” she repeats softly.

“Yes. I…I was going to be caught in a compromising position. Which was my fault, and I’m sorry.” I can’t bring myself to tell her that the “position” involved Evander. “I had to think quickly, and I thought that if I showed Conri Brundil, he would realize my merit and give me a longer leash. Which would, in turn, give us a better chance of escaping.”

Aurora withdraws her hands, folds her arms, and continues to look skeptical. But I take her silence as a good sign and continue.

“I privately asked Brundil before calling upon her, and she agreed.

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