Ambrosia (Frost and Nectar, #2)(69)

As I was finishing my apple, Torin opened the door to his room, flashing me a lopsided smile as he took off his shoes. “You’re awake.”

My pulse raced. “Did you find Shalini and Orla?”

“Both of them, in fact. And Aeron. He was leading them to a cabin in the woods when the flood hit, but they were within the boundary of our walls.”

I exhaled a long breath. “Are they okay?”

He slid into the bed next to me, sunlight washing over him from above. “They will be, but Moria hung them in cages. They need time to recover.”

My eyes widened, cold fury crackling through my chest. “Shalini, too? What the fuck did Shalini ever do to anyone?”

“Nothing, of course. It’s just that she was your friend, and thus a demon lover.”

I supposed it was a good thing the person I wanted to murder was already dead. Saved me the effort. “And she’s fine?”

“She had some frostbite, but I healed it. In a way, she seems better than Orla. Orla was in the cage longer, I think. She seems very rattled by the whole thing.” He ran a hand through his hair. “She keeps talking about the cold like she can’t get warm.”

I shuddered, shadows flitting through my thoughts. “It must have been horrible. Can I see Shalini?”

“She’s sleeping, but soon. Of course.” He slid into the bed next to me. Sunlight slanted in through his ceiling, lighting up his features with dabs of gold.

I turned to lay on Torin’s chest, and he stroked a finger down my lower back. I licked my lips, and they tasted of sweet, tangy apples. Light warmed my skin, and I felt as if I fed off it, just like trees.

My muscles throbbed with exhaustion. After I’d burned all the power from my body, strength was slowly seeping back into my limbs. Still, I wanted to sleep for days, wrapped in Torin’s arms.

I traced my fingertips over the red scar at his throat. “See? I’m still alive.” I arched an eyebrow. “No curse.”

“I still don’t understand.” He caught my finger in his hand. “How were you so certain?”

I hadn’t been one hundred percent certain, but I didn’t need to mention that now.

I turned onto my back and nestled in the crook of his arm. “Mab told me several times that what she wanted was her heirs on the throne of Faerie. With us, she could get that.” My mouth curved in a smile as I felt Torin’s heart against my arm. For so long, I’d thought he was dead. I’d never take the feeling of his beating heart for granted.

“Yes…but why torture us, then?”

I sighed. “Everything that happened there was a test. First, they wanted to see if I’d come as a spy. But really, what she wanted to know was whether you loved me, and if I was strong enough to be queen. You broke me out of the cell, and that suggested you cared about me. When they captured us again, they wanted to know if you loved me enough to make me queen. She issued the most horrific threats to castrate you if you came to see me. And you did it anyway. She could have stopped that from happening, I’m sure. She could have put us on opposite sides of the castle, guarded. But that was part of the test. She wanted to know if you’d risk your own life. Because if you would do that for me, maybe I could end up on the throne of Faerie. Even as an Unseelie, horns and all.”

He arched an eyebrow. “The fight was to see if I would sacrifice myself for you. Did she care if you loved me?”

I nodded slowly. “I think she did, because they kept telling me the strength of Unseelie magic came from the pain of love. Maybe from the desperate anxiety of needing to keep loved ones safe. She wanted me to be strong. Without magic, without my wings, I wouldn’t be a Dark Cromm queen. So, the next test was whether I was strong enough to be her heir, strong enough to take down my enemies, like we did today.”

“Love,” he said doubtfully. “Their version of love is twisted.”

“It’s not the gentle, comforting kind of love. They worship the ash goddess. Their love is a forge that burns them and everyone around them. It’s the kind of love that makes a mother throw her child off the side of a castle to see if she can fly.”

“Is that love?” Torin sounded disbelieving. “It sounds like Moria’s father putting her outside in a cage to make her strong.”

“Maybe.” I sat up and stretched my arms over my head. “But she was a little girl, and I’m supposed to be a warrior. I still don’t know if Mab wanted Morgant to fly after me to keep me safe, or if he did that himself. But I suppose nothing there happens without her consent, does it? It all worked out like she hoped, and she took the curse away. Now she can have what she wants, a Dark Cromm heir on the throne of Faerie.”

“You’re not going to convince me to be grateful to her.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” A phantom breeze rippled over us, carrying with it the scent of apples. I licked my lips, considering another one. “Those apples are surprisingly addictive, Torin.”

His pale blue eyes lifted to the tree that arched above his room. “Yes. They’re called Blood of the Avon apples. They’re bright red, named after the brutal battle of the Avon River between the Seelie and Unseelie centuries ago. We nearly wiped each other out. The apples hardly ever grew in our kingdom because of the curse. They need exactly the right temperature and sunlight, and the soil must be fed with blood. And if not, they grow up twisted and thorny.”