ASHBORN: A TALE OF THE FORGOTTEN THRONE

er left the

, soaking through bone. Even in the growing season, the mist here thickened when the outside

ridge paths and how the soil beneath her feet grew softer when something ancient stirred be

, half-filled with shadow root and frost leaf, their bitter scents curling up beneath the cloth covering them. The herbs wer

broke the

glan

down, head tilted, feathers glinting the co

te," she s

e a soft burnished gold, the other clouded white like marble. A scar spl

from the branch with a sharp flutter of wings,

of the woods the night the fire took the old royal keep, but Ashra barely remembered that night at all. Only th

m Sable. And Sabl

hin, cold light across the village. A place of slanted rooftops and mould-stained chimneys, it was le

Ashra and Lor

crooked house at the hill's end. He flapped once, t

ed open before

ulders were smaller than Ashra remembered. She seemed to have shrunk in the last winter

far out agai

g, setting the basket on the table. "Th

uldn't recognise that crow of yours? You think they do

ned. "He's j

s older than the st

he chimney, as if

ss and root dangled from the beams, and glass jars filled with pickled thorns lined the shelves.

lowly these days, her joints stiff, her breathing shallow. The cost of old magic, she claim

ed through tod

ree Travellers. One with his face hidden, one

d over. "And

st fields. I paid a fishe

ooking for

ays looking

frowning. "This ti

ssure behind the mist. The Hounds weren't here for random searches a

g, she sat

that felt quiet, even

, sharp jerks. He rarely left her side anymore. Not since the fi

the tangled braid slung over her shoulder like a whip. She pulled her sleeve back and touched t

mark me?" sh

asn't quite a crow's cry. It was deeper. S

d always felt wrong inside her skin. Like somethin

eil of hanging ash. On the other side, the trees had been twisted, the light strange. She had hear

the Ash

t. But it was the first time Sable had landed on her

et. Bu

bowl of water filled with crushed roots and bits of bone. Sh

ooking for

froze.

The crown-blo

said automatically. "They

So they were told. But

u were born in ash, child. Marked in flame. The crows knew. The roots k

red. "You said I was

lie

o was my

name was Serayda. Queen of the old line. Your fath

, backing away. "No.

n the table with a harsh thud. His eyes bur

. Watched you crawl through the ash. Watched th

ared at

in that moment, somethin

, screams, st

ispering her name, "Ash

d on marble. A sigil-a crown

bling back, clut

w?" she

es," Lorna said quietly

e outside the cottage. Sable

, but beneath it, something stirred. The ear

her bones. The

r. Not

rom

dozens of crows gathering in the mist, silent s